Talk Radio:
Bill Bennett
Mike Gallagher
Dennis Prager
Michael Medved
Hugh Hewitt
BREAKING NEWS
Register
|
Sign In
Search
SIGN UP NOW!
Columns, funnies & more in your inbox!
Login
|
What's Hot
Townhall Daily Alert
Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
White House & Capitol Report
Townhall.com’s weekly inside scoop on what’s happening behind the scenes in the world of politics. When news breaks, we report.
Daily Conservative Cartoon
Signup to receive the latest daily Townhall cartoons
Columnists
|
News
|
Video
|
Podcasts
|
Photos
|
Cartoons
|
Blog
|
Your Blogs
|
Issues
|
Get Magazine
|
Finance
Mike Gallagher
|
Mary Katharine Ham
|
Hugh Hewitt
|
Michael Medved
|
Michael Barone
|
Thomas Sowell
|
Tony Blankley
|
Ann Coulter
|
Dennis Prager
|
More
Tuesday, December 31, 2002
If you believe that people are basically good
by
Dennis Prager
0
Dennis Prager's Email
|
Dennis Prager
|
Author Biography
Read Comments
|
Post Comments
Forward
Print
Share
Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
[+]
Text
[-]
What was the biggest suprise of Election Day?
McDonnell winning in VA by 18 points
Christie winning NJ by 5 points
Maine rejecting gay marriage
Hoffman losing in NY-23
McDonnell winning in VA by 18 points (3 %)
Christie winning NJ by 5 points (35 %)
Maine rejecting gay marriage (30 %)
Hoffman losing in NY-23 (31 %)
No issue has a greater influence on determining your social and political views than whether you view human nature as basically good or not. In 20 years as a radio talk show host, I have dialogued with thousands of people, of both sexes and from virtually every religious, ethnic and national background. Very early on, I realized that perhaps the major reason for political and other disagreements I had with callers was that they believed people are basically good, and I did not. I believe that we are born with tendencies toward both good and evil. Yes, babies are born innocent, but not good. Why is this issue so important? First, if you believe people are born good, you will attribute evil to forces outside the individual. That is why, for example, our secular humanistic culture so often attributes evil to poverty. Washington Sen. Patty Murray, former President Jimmy Carter and millions of other Westerners believe that the cause of Islamic terror is poverty. They really believe that people who strap bombs to their bodies to blow up families in pizzerias in Israel, plant bombs at a nightclub in Bali, slit stewardesses' throats and ram airplanes filled with innocent Americans into office buildings do so because they lack sufficient incomes. Something in these people cannot accept the fact that many people have evil values and choose evil for reasons having nothing to do with their economic situation. The Carters and Murrays of the West -- representatives of that huge group of naive Westerners identified by the once proud title "liberal" -- do not understand that no amount of money will dissuade those who believe that God wants them to rule the world and murder all those they deem infidels. Second, if you believe people are born good, you will not stress character development when you raise children. You will have schools teach young people how to use condoms, how to avoid first and secondhand tobacco smoke, how to recycle and how to prevent rainforests from disappearing. You will teach them how to struggle against the evils of society -- its sexism, its racism, its classism and its homophobia. But you will not teach them that the primary struggle they have to wage to make a better world is against their own nature. I attended Jewish religious schools (yeshivas) until the age of 18, and aside from being taught that moral rules come from God rather than from personal or world opinion, this was the greatest difference between my education and those who attended public and private secular schools. They learned that their greatest struggles were with society, and I learned that the greatest struggle was with me, and my natural inclinations to laziness, insatiable appetites and self-centeredness. Third, if you believe that people are basically good, God and religion are morally unnecessary, even harmful. Why would basically good people need a God or religion to provide moral standards? Therefore, the crowd that believes in innate human goodness tends to either be secular or to reduce God and religion to social workers, providers of compassion rather than of moral standards and moral judgments. Fourth, if you believe people are basically good, you, of course, believe that you are good -- and therefore those who disagree with you must be bad, not merely wrong. You also believe that the more power that you and those you agree with have, the better the society will be. That is why such people are so committed to powerful government and to powerful judges. On the other hand, those of us who believe that people are not basically good do not want power concentrated in any one group, and are therefore profoundly suspicious of big government, big labor, big corporations, and even big religious institutions. As Lord Acton said long ago, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton did not believe people are basically good. No great body of wisdom, East or West, ever posited that people were basically good. This naive and dangerous notion originated in modern secular Western thought, probably with Jean Jacques Rousseau, the Frenchman who gave us the notion of pre-modern man as a noble savage. He was half right. Savage, yes, noble, no. If the West does not soon reject Rousseau and humanism and begin to recognize evil, judge it and confront it, it will find itself incapable of fighting savages who are not noble.
Share:
Digg
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Newsvine
My Web
MySpace
Forward
Print
Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
About The Author
Dennis Prager is a radio show host, contributing columnist for Townhall.com, and author of 4 books including
Happiness Is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual
.
TOWNHALL DAILY: Be the first to read Dennis Prager's column.
Sign up today
and receive Townhall.com daily lineup delivered each morning to your inbox.
News Articles On This Topic
Obama pressed into role as healer, inevitably
Health care issues: The public insurance plan
CAPITAL CULTURE: Obama pastry chef the Crustmaster
Sources: Obama near decision on Afghanistan troops
Obamas to attend Fort Hood memorial service
Obama's "crustmaster" shares his pie recipe
US to send envoy to NKorea for nuclear talks
AP sources: Bill Clinton to speak to Dem senators
Radical imam praises alleged Fort Hood shooter
Radical imam praises alleged Fort Hood shooter
Popular Articles By
Prager
Why President Obama Was Awarded the Nobel Prize
Child Rape and the Values of People Who Make Films
Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
Join The Debate!
Post Your Comment
(
0
comments so Far)
View in ascending order
View in descending order
(
Read all 0 comments
)
Sign Up to Post Your Comments
Sign Up to Post Your Comments
If you are already registered, click
here
to login. Otherwise, please take a few seconds to register with Townhall.com. Once you sign up, you’ll be able to post your comments immediately, use the action center, get podcasts, and more!
Need an account?
Login
Login
Your Email:
Password:
Get Your Password
|
Register
Note: Fields marked with a red asterisk (
*
) are required.
Salutation:
Mr.
Mrs.
Ms.
Miss.
First Name:
*
Last Name:
*
Email:
*
Nickname:
*
Note:
Nick name will be shown when you post comments.
Address 1:
*
Address 2:
City:
*
State:
AE
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
*
Zip:
*
Phone:
Townhall Daily Alert
Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
Townhall.com Spotlight
(Bi-Weekly) We highlight the best opportunities from our partners for surveys, action items and more.
New Blog Posts
Video
Audio
So, Would Osama Bin Ladin Qualify As A Terrorist For The FBI?
posted at 09:52 AM
Scozzafava Resigns From GOP Leadership Post
posted at 10:26 PM
Newt Has Ideas...
posted at 10:05 PM
Morning Market Update
posted on:06/05/2009
Keepin' Away the Skeeters
posted on:06/05/2009
Man vs. Animal
posted on:06/05/2009
Panel Discussion: Remembering Reagan
posted on:06/23/2009
Chris Daggett
posted on:10/07/2009
The First Team Hour 2
posted on:11/07/2009
Today's Columns
Prager :
Intimidated Americans Claim...
Feulner :
Counting the Cost
Limbaugh :
Suicidal Political Correc...
Buchanan :
The Two Faces of Maj. Has...
Thomas :
Jihadists in the Military
Grossman, M.D. :
Way to Go, Planned ...
Schlafly :
Good News about the 2009 ...
Hawkins :
4 Reasons The American Dre...
Norris :
Enemies Within
Sowell :
Random Thoughts
Charen :
Backlash Hogwash
Murchison :
Mrs. Pelosi Thumbs Her N...
Saunders :
The Shrink and the Terror...
Wheeler :
A Tale of Two Shootings
R. Jackson, Jr. :
Social Issues Stil...
Park :
Obama Court Nominee Looks to ...
Fumento :
The Swine Flu Boogeyman
Barone :
Freewheeling Young Voters S...
Shaw Crouse :
The Underlying Meaning...
Adams :
Weak Negotiating Fathers
All Columns
AE
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Save my list
THANK YOU
Your email has been sent.
News
Video
Audio
PAMELA HESS and EILEEN SULLIVAN : Radical imam praises alleged Fort Hood shooter
LIZ SIDOTI : 2010 elections: Democratic fears, Republican hopes
DOUGLASS K. DANIEL : GOP officials say Dems put agenda ahead of country
The Associated Press : Health care issues: Tax increases for overhaul
Talk of the Town: Rihanna to talk about attack
Talk of the Town: Martin, Baldwin to host Oscars
Talk of the Town: Rihanna embarrassed
Showbiz Week
Yearly box office could hit 10 billion with holiday season
Carrey's A Christmas Carol tops box office.
Michelle Obama's Vision Of America
SRN Hourly News
Governor Sarah Palin
James Lileks as Andrew Sullivan discussing the weather.
Andrew Sullivan
Today's Cartoons
Tuesday, Nov. 10
Eric Allie
Gary Varvel
Lisa Benson
Michael Ramirez
More