| 5-8-98
Prager poured out derisive terms at the beginning of his 5/8/98
show, calling a man he does not know, a "moron and an idiot." The
man's crime? His daughter says he is the biggest anti-smoker in
the world. Daughter says in Monday's 5/4/98 USA Today that her smoking
cost her a place on the school track team and damaged her relationship
with her father.
A caller challenged Prager: The girl probably lost her place on
the track team because it hurt her stamina. P contended that the
school kicked her off. But when Prager found the USA TODAY reporter,
it turned out that the girl lost her place on the team because she
lost her stamina.
In the 1960s, liberalism meant race blindness says P. Since then
it has meant racial preoccupation. Cornell has race based dormitories.
A caller and Prager agreed that P's greatest gift was articulating
common sense.
In his second hour, Prager talked about what parents should ask
of their children. P says that parents should have limited areas
where they harangue their kids. Parents should emphasize character
and goodness.
A couple of wimpy sounding homosexual men phoned Prager in his
second hour. They felt hurt that P did not honor their homosexuality,
did not back them up, so to speak. They felt annoyed that Prager
thought their sexual expression was inferior to heterosexual marriage.
They felt that Prager put them down, poked fun at them, separated
them from everyone else.
Prager finds homosexuality the most wrenching issue in modern
life. Prager "knows" that a homosexual has not chosen to be one.
But that is not the only issue. Prager believes that society chooses
how much homosexuality it will have.
P believes that the inclusion of bisexuals in the gay liberation
movement undermines its central argument - that homosexuals have
no choice. But bisexuals, by definition, do choose.
Dennis has long said that the inclusion of many groups in the
civil rights movement has been a terrible disservice to black Americans
who uniquely suffered in the United States.
Wall Street Journal 5/7/98:
By DENNIS PRAGER
The details of the alleged crime were gruesome enough: Larry Froistad,
29, confessed to his on-line alcoholism support group that he had
murdered his five-year-old daughter, Amanda, in 1995 during a custody
battle with his ex-wife. According to the New York Times, Mr. Froistad
set his house on fire with Amanda inside, climbed out the window,
and then, in Mr. Froistad's words, "set about putting on a show
of shock, surprise and grief to remove culpability from myself.
Dammit, part of that show was climbing in her window and . . . hearing
her breathe and dropping her where she was so she could die and
rid me of her mother's interferences."
If anything could be more horrifying than this, it is the reaction
of some fellow members of the support group, Moderation Management.
While several reported the confession to authorities, others opposed
informing and expressed support for Mr. Froistad. One member, for
example, expressed concern that Mr. Froistad "might be contemplating
suicide" over "what seems to have become for you an awful situation."
He urged Mr. Froistad "to seriously think about contacting a therapist
and working things through with yourself in a safe manner."
Another user sent an angry e-mail to a man who had informed the
authorities: "Just how big a pervert are you? I bet you really get
off talking to the FBI. Wow. Did you ask them if you could see their
guns?" (Mr. Froistad has been charged with murder; his lawyers have
indicated he is "mentally ill" and will plead not guilty.)
The reaction of Mr. Froistad's support group provides a microcosm--and
an explanation--for much of America's moral confusion. Since the
1960s, America has become a big support group. We are expected to
support our fellow citizens, however antisocial they are, and not
to judge them. Deviance has been defined down, in Daniel Patrick
Moynihan's memorable phrase; and when deviants "open up," they are
cheered, as on some television talk shows. This world view can be
summed up in a few basic principles:
Psychological explanations trump moral standards. Since the 1960s,
the words "good" and "evil" have been largely expunged from the
vocabulary of sophisticated Americans. They speak instead in terms
of "healthy" and "sick." That is why we are expected to feel sympathy
for people who commit evil acts--after all, they're not responsible
for their sickness. Even the Soviet Union, in this view, was a sick
empire rather than an evil one: When Moscow shot down a Korean passenger
plane in 1983, a psychologist writing in Psychology Today warned
against labeling it an act of "aggression." Rather, it was an act
of "paranoia."
Feelings matter more than behavior. One day when my older son
was two years old and playing in a park, a five-year-old boy walked
over to him and threw him onto the concrete. The boy's mother, seeing
what her son had done, ran over to him and cried, "Honey, what's
troubling you?" I knew nothing about this woman, but I was certain
that she was highly educated. One must learn to respond the way
she did. The average mother a generation ago would have severely
reprimanded any child of hers who threw down a toddler.
Self-esteem is more important than self-control. This shift in
emphasis from character to psyche is not only morally wrong but
foolish....
From
Prager's Web Site:
Friday, May 8, 1998
Dennis started the show discussing an article that appeared in
Monday's USA Today about a high school girl whose father ostracized
her because she began smoking cigarettes. According to the article
her father broke off the relationship because he is a devout anti-tobacco
proponent. Dennis said that for the sake of the show and because
the article appeared in a quality publication he will assume that
what the girl said is true. He said that what the father did was
stupid. He said that if the father broke off the relationship with
his child because of cigarettes, she is better off without him.
Cigarette smoking is not an evil. This girl did not commit a crime
legally nor morally. Dennis said that stigma years ago came when
high school girls became pregnant, or committed a crime; now, the
stigma comes from smoking. Dennis said that this is another example
of our society's broken moral compass.
In the final hour Dennis told his listeners that parents can't
drive their kids crazy about too many things. They need to pick
that which they care most about and try to let the rest go. You
can't mold your child into a perfect being. Dennis has chosen character
and goodness for his kids. He wants them to take school seriously
but he does not make a big deal over grades. He said that he drives
his kids crazy over their character and being kind to others. His
kids, even the five year-old, knows that this is what mommy and
daddy care most about. One caller asked Dennis if he would be proud
of his oldest son if he told Dennis he were gay? Dennis said "no."
He also said he wouldn't be proud of him if he came to him to tell
him that he were heterosexual. Dennis said that you should be proud
over your child's actions, not what they are. Dennis said of course
he would want his son to be heterosexual because he believes it
to be society's ideal. But, just because you don't live up to an
ideal does not mean you should be loved or viewed negatively. Dennis
gave a personal example. He said that he considers "intact" families
to be society's ideal. He divorced; therefore, he did not live up
to an ideal. Dennis said that if his eldest son told him he were
gay he would feel disappointment but that he would not love him
or honor him one iota less. The same caller asked Dennis how he
would feel if his son chose a different religion? Dennis said that
he would feel bad because he is not a Jew because he likes it the
same way some people like cars or collecting stamps. He is a Jew
because he believes the Jewish religion to be a true path to God.
Therefore, he would like his son to carry on the Jewish religion
and pass it on to his children.
Thursday, May 7, 1998
There was a picture in the Los Angeles Times of the Pope praying
by 3 caskets. The caskets contained the bodies of two murder victims
and the murderer. Dennis began this show lamenting the Pope's decision
to honor the murderer. Dennis said that if he was the murdered he
would not want his murderer to be placed next to him and that he
would find it insulting if the Pope honored his murderer. And, if
he was the loved one of the murdered he would be sickened to see
the caskets next to each other and angry at the Pope for honoring
the evil thug who stole his loved one's life.
In the third hour, Dennis discussed the issue of putting feelings
before actions. He told the story of when his eldest son was 2 and
playing in a park, for no reason a 5 year-old boy he did not know
came over to him and pushed him down onto the cement. The older
boy's mother ran over to her son, hugged him and said "what is troubling
you darling?" Dennis said that he knows nothing of this woman other
than that she probably went to graduate school - because her reaction
was a learned behavior. He said that a natural reaction would have
been to run over to her son and tell him that what he did was wrong
and that he should never do that to a baby. If she wants to find
out later what's going on with the boy, why he would do such a terrible
thing, that's fine; but her initial reaction should have been that
of condemnation. Dennis said that it is not good for society that
children are being raised only to focus in on their own feelings,
that the focus should be on their actions to others and that although
it is important (and shouldn't be ignored), their feelings should
be addressed secondarily.
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