Dennis Prager 3

Dennis speaking at a CUFI event in April 2010

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Nonprofits & Activism

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• Dennis Prager
• CUFI
• Israel
• Jews
• Christians

[Mustang5X5]

Dennis makes so much sense.

[Uushilumbu79]

"Without God, there is no wisdom!"

True words!

[TheJediCharles]

@darwinkilledgod

Did you read the article?

[TheJediCharles]

@darwinkilledgod

1st of all, your gripe is not with him, but the passage in the Bible he's pulling from.

2nd, I can only say so many times that the mere presence of an exception is not the negation of the rule.

3rd, the greater society, not just the religious, is benefitting from the morals that comes down from moral wisdom. It is illustrated by the "cut flower" analogy, when clipped from it's roots, it can still be pretty a long time, but will die unlike it's counterpart still in the soil.

[darwinkilledgod]

@TheJediCharles I'll take your point about "moral" wisdom completely. It's still disdainful to say that people who reject "god's word" are morally unwise. I'll cite Hitchens again as a very clear moral thinker. I'll take myself as a second example. There are quite a few societies that have no belief in the Judeo-Christian god and manage to still condemn murder, love their neighbors, value freedom and seek to help those less fortunate than themselves.

He's just factually wrong here.

[TheJediCharles]

@darwinkilledgod

But, if that answer does not suffice, and you truly want the answer, get it straight from his mouth. Google "how I found God at Columbia."

There you will find... wisdom. :D

[TheJediCharles]

@darwinkilledgod

Intelligence is knowing information. Wisdom is knowing how apply intelligence to life. Without God, the most fundamental boundary in life is foggy, the divide between good and evil. To Atheists, it's all subjective. Furthermore, I do believe it's obvious that the brand of wisdom Prager refers to is moral wisdom. Now, before you say "but he didn't say that, therefore I can criticize his lack of specificity", realize in matters of real life, not theory, the correlation is there.

[darwinkilledgod]

@TheJediCharles Could you repeat yourself? I really don't think I got your point. What exactly does "Without God, there is no wisdom" mean?

If I said, "Without a Y chromosome, there is no wisdom" would women find that distainful?

If I said, "Without socialism, there is no wisdom" would capitalists find it distainful?

If I said, "Without evolution, there is no widom" would creationists find it distainful?

I think so on all three cases. Why is god different?

[TheJediCharles]

@darwinkilledgod

Yes, I knew what you were referring to, and I was responding to your response to it.

He never said that people who do not believe in God cannot be wise, and nor does the phrase mean that, most especially in regards to not emanating from disdain.

I won't simply repeat what I said, but just say maybe you might reread what I said.

Hitchens is not "wise." He knows a lot of sophisticated, scientific data and quick recall. That's not wisdom, it's intelligence.

[darwinkilledgod]

@TheJediCharles I was responding to a quote from Prager that said, "Without God, there is no wisdom." That's just wrong. People who are "without" god can have plenty of wisdom. The source of wisdom is thus not a belief in god. Believing in god may make you more wise..., but that's not what he said. Words are important. It is an expression of distain to say that people who do not believe in god cannot be wise. Perhaps that's not what he said...but it sounds a lot like it.

[TheJediCharles]

@darwinkilledgod

The expression does not mean there are no wise Atheists. Similarly to how Prager illustrates there are over-all qualities and advocations of the political parties, there will be exceptions. For example, there are individuals who are pro-choice who otherwise describe themselves as Republican, but doesn't mean that the party is, or that the parties are indistinct. There is no centralized wisdom in Atheism "as a party". Atheism has nothing to offer it's adherents but raw data.

[darwinkilledgod]

Again as an atheist, I have no problem with Good Friday, and even if I did have a problem with it, it is certainly not my right to stop others from respecting and celebrating it. I celebrate Christmas and have very fond memories of it as a child that I hope to give my own children. That said...

You can have wisdom without God. Christopher Hitchens is very wise. Oskar Schindler was best described as an "indifferent" Catholic. Thomas Paine was very wise...