Transcript [00:00] One of the themes that I've talked about [00:01] in a number of my videos and written [00:03] about as well over the last couple years [00:08] especially since this war started after [00:09] October 7th is the problem [00:13] of [00:14] lack of conviction [00:17] by people in the West [00:19] to see good and evil clearly to have the [00:23] conviction that they are on the side of [00:25] good that we are on the side of good and [00:26] it is our responsibility [00:29] to destroy evil a conviction that we saw [00:31] in earlier generations and I I recently [00:34] saw [00:35] a [00:37] a clip I just saw a clip of Dennis [00:40] Prager being interviewed by Abigail [00:42] Shrier the author Abigail Shrier and he [00:44] was talking about morality wasn't [00:47] talking about the war per se [00:49] but he said some things that [00:52] gave me some clarity so I want to play [00:54] you this clip and then I'll share my [00:56] thoughts I think there's something very [00:58] important here [01:00] in this in what in what Dennis Prager [01:03] has to say so here's Dennis [01:05] new book if there is no God with a [01:08] provocation you've presented to hundreds [01:10] or thousands of high school students [01:12] over the years [01:14] your beloved dog and a stranger are [01:17] drowning who do you save first do you [01:18] ask them and you say typically that [01:21] two-thirds of the kids high school kids [01:24] vote against the stranger roughly [01:26] one-third say the dog one-third say the [01:28] stranger and one-third typically say [01:30] they don't know [01:31] and when you ask high school kids why [01:33] would you let a human being drown the [01:36] response is various consistent they say [01:39] I love my dog I don't love the stranger [01:42] and I'm wondering where have you seen in [01:45] our own time feelings based morality [01:48] predominate on an important moral [01:51] question oh oh I can give you [01:56] an almost infinite number of examples [01:59] but here's one [02:01] before Tucker Carlson [02:03] became somewhat notorious [02:06] for his views on Jews and Israel [02:10] I wrote a column so there's proof that I [02:13] did this [02:15] years ago [02:18] criticizing him [02:20] for his position [02:22] that anyone who defended [02:26] the Hiroshima and Nagasaki [02:28] atom bombs over Japan is evil [02:33] that that's that was his word you're [02:36] evil if you defended them [02:39] because killing [02:41] innocents is always wrong [02:45] so no matter how many [02:48] innocents lives [02:50] were saved because it ended the war [02:54] was irrelevant [02:56] he felt for the innocents [02:59] who were were killed in Hiroshima and [03:02] Nagasaki [03:04] that's a perfect example of not thinking [03:07] through a moral issue and having your [03:13] emotions [03:15] dominate your thinking [03:17] but it it happens [03:19] all the time [03:21] young people especially [03:23] by the way I should note [03:26] when you note that [03:28] I've asked this of [03:30] predominantly high school students [03:33] I've also done it with college students [03:35] but mostly high school [03:38] I've done this over 50 years [03:42] so the high school students of 50 years [03:45] ago [03:46] are now in their late 60s [03:50] and it doesn't matter I would get the [03:53] same results [03:54] >> wow [03:55] that that's the important thing to note [03:58] the only difference is [04:01] when I first started asking this [04:04] oh I've told this to very few people [04:07] you'll get a kick out of this Abigail [04:09] >> yes [04:11] when I first started reporting [04:14] for example I would be scholar in [04:16] residence [04:18] at some [04:20] let's say synagogue later and even more [04:24] so churches but in the beginning [04:27] synagogues [04:29] so I would then report [04:31] I just want you to know [04:34] that two-thirds of your children here [04:38] at the synagogue [04:40] or at this day school [04:43] would not save the stranger [04:46] first they either don't know or they [04:49] would resolutely [04:51] vote for the dog they love [04:54] all all the time [04:57] someone would get up and say [05:00] Mr. Prager [05:02] or I was so young [05:04] Dennis [05:06] they would say [05:09] I don't believe you [05:12] I don't believe that two-thirds of our [05:15] kids [05:16] would not vote for the stranger [05:20] now no parents [05:24] ever ever [05:25] object [05:27] to my saying that [05:30] they're proud of their kids [05:32] they're the former high school students [05:35] now parents [05:38] so the there's [05:40] there's no constituency [05:42] for the stranger [05:45] and of course the answer is [05:48] if you don't believe in God and I'm not [05:51] even arguing that God exists I'm just [05:55] saying if you don't believe in God [05:58] then you don't believe that the human [06:00] being is created in God's image [06:04] obviously [06:05] and that's what gives us [06:08] our biblical basis [06:10] for the unique value of the human being [06:15] animals are not created in God's image [06:19] you know I'm wondering in the last 18 [06:21] months there have been some very strange [06:24] and from my point of view and I think [06:26] yours incredibly unhealthy developments [06:29] on the American right and I can tell you [06:31] that I personally have had the thought [06:33] so many times over the last 18 months [06:35] gosh we really need Dennis Prager back [06:38] to full strength right away and and of [06:42] course you know you know wishing and [06:44] praying for your very speedy and full [06:46] recovery as quickly as possible [06:49] and examples of these unhealthy [06:51] developments on the American right would [06:54] include assertions that American Jews [06:56] are all Israel first [06:59] that Israel was somehow involved in the [07:01] murder of Charlie Kirk [07:03] that American support for Israel is [07:06] being elicited by blackmail over Jeffrey [07:09] Epstein's crimes [07:11] that today's Jews aren't the real Jews [07:14] of the Bible as Tucker Carlson recently [07:16] suggested and of course Tucker [07:19] Carlson's most recent claim to his [07:21] millions of viewers that Chabad the [07:23] Hasidic movement within Orthodox Judaism [07:27] was somehow involved in America's [07:29] decision to strike Iran [07:31] and I wanted to know what appears to be [07:34] happening from your point of view these [07:36] are not ideas we saw emanating from [07:39] mainstream voices on the American right [07:41] for generations if ever what is going on [07:44] nobody knows the answer [07:47] what animates Tucker Carlson [07:51] to have this [07:54] if anybody has [07:56] Jew first [07:58] or Israel first [08:00] it's he and [08:02] and Candace Owens [08:04] they're the first people they blame [08:06] for whatever happens [08:08] including Charlie Kirk's murder for [08:11] example [08:13] you know what what what's interesting is [08:15] that the you know Tucker Candace [08:17] worldview that you've been describing is [08:20] is so dark it's so uh damning of America [08:25] and I wonder what is the antidote to its [08:29] growing popularity in this country what [08:31] do we do [08:33] the antidote is courage [08:36] it's always the antidote [08:38] to what is bad [08:41] people have to [08:44] come out and say [08:46] they're advocating [08:48] bad indeed evil ideas [08:52] when [08:53] given another example [08:56] is Candace Owens [08:58] in her [09:00] very long dialogue [09:03] with Tucker Carlson [09:05] said near the end [09:08] that Israel is [09:10] the demonic country [09:13] the [09:16] in other words it's the most [09:18] evil country on earth [09:21] that she will never support it [09:23] and so on I mean [09:25] these are incredible statements [09:28] Israel's one of the most decent [09:29] societies in the world [09:33] the accusation that it's an apartheid [09:35] state and committing genocide [09:39] these are libels [09:41] they're they're not true [09:44] there are more [09:47] Palestinians there are five times as [09:49] many Palestinians today [09:52] as there were when Israel was founded [09:55] that's not an effective genocide. [10:00] Okay. [10:02] That's the clip. So, I found this to be [10:06] very thought-provoking. You know, when [10:07] you the way he talks about the moral [10:10] decay or the [10:12] uh the lack of [10:14] value [10:16] for humanity. [10:19] And then he connected it with Tucker [10:20] Carlson and that and what Tucker said [10:23] about Hiroshima. [10:25] It made me think of [10:27] of another [10:29] of another thing that Tucker said [10:31] recently. And I think that they're [10:32] connected. I think they're coming from [10:33] the same from the same set of values. [10:35] Before we get on with that, just want to [10:37] remind everyone that uh we are in a war [10:40] with Iran and there are missiles flying [10:41] at Israel and there's a lot of stresses [10:44] on the ground [10:45] for a lot of families across Israel for [10:47] a whole variety of reasons and Israel [10:49] 365 has stepped up and we're raising [10:51] funds and distributing them where needed [10:54] for a whole range of issues. So, please [10:55] go to Israel 365charity.com [10:58] and click on the Israel under fire [11:00] banner or scroll down to the current [11:01] projects and click on the Israel at war [11:04] project. And uh and you can contribute [11:07] there and it's a great way to [11:08] participate in strengthening Israel's [11:10] home front. So, the other quote that I'm [11:12] talking about is just a piece of the [11:14] speech that Tucker Carlson gave at [11:17] America Fest this past December. I was [11:20] um [11:22] uh I was in the room at the time. It was [11:24] an interesting uh it was an interesting [11:25] moment. [11:26] But take a look at at what he says here. [11:29] I And now let me just introduce it. What [11:31] he was talking about is that his [11:32] brother, Tucker's brother Buckley, is [11:36] uh even more rabidly anti-Israel and [11:39] anti-Jewish than Tucker is. And he says [11:41] some outrageous things online and Tucker [11:45] uh is talking about that. [11:52] Remember my brother once said I have one [11:54] brother who is my best friend and he [11:56] once said something lunatic as brothers [11:57] do. [11:59] And I remember all these reporters, one [12:01] from the Washington Post, which used to [12:02] be a newspaper in in Washington, [12:05] calling me and being like, [12:07] "WILL YOU DENOUNCE YOUR BROTHER?" [12:09] I SAID, "SON, [12:11] IF MY brother went on a drug-related [12:13] murder spree, [12:15] I would not denounce him." What? "ARE [12:17] YOU FOR DRUG-RELATED MURDER SPREES?" NO, [12:19] I'M FOR MY BROTHER. [12:21] And nothing will ever make me not for my [12:24] brother. Not probably tell him, "No more [12:25] drug-related sprees for you." [12:28] I'm not for that. [12:29] I'm not for a lot of things, actually. [12:31] But I will never ever denounce people I [12:35] love to satisfy the mob. [12:38] Okay. [12:41] So, this was a very interesting moment [12:43] in his speech because [12:45] I mean, first of all, the crowd was was [12:48] not with him, which was very [12:49] interesting. Uh there were there were [12:51] not a lot of applause during his speech [12:53] and at that moment there were a lot of [12:54] people who were sort of like quizzically [12:55] looking at each other going like, "If my [12:57] brother went on a drug-related murder [12:58] spree, [13:00] I'd turn him in. [13:01] Of course I'd denounce him. He's a [13:03] murderer." [13:04] Uh and that's actually a biblical value. [13:06] You see that in the book of Exodus where [13:08] at the at the sin of the golden calf [13:10] where Moses [13:11] uh you know, [13:13] comes down and he sees what's happening [13:15] and he actually [13:17] says, "Whoever is for God, come with [13:19] me." And and the Levites join him. And [13:22] he says to whoever to whoever stepped [13:24] forward that you have to now go um [13:27] basically exact punishment on everyone. [13:29] And he even specifically says and people [13:31] should should you know, even if it's [13:33] your family members. [13:35] Um [13:36] And regardless of of you know, the [13:39] the commentary on that particular scene [13:40] in the book of Exodus, the point here [13:43] is that [13:45] there has to be a moral compass [13:47] uh uh where good and evil is the [13:50] ultimate value, [13:52] which brings me to another connection [13:55] that I think I think this has everything [13:56] to do with what [13:58] with what Dennis was talking about. And [14:01] it's this poll that I've been thinking [14:02] about since I [14:05] since I saw it about a month before the [14:07] war with Iran broke out. Take a look at [14:09] this poll. [14:11] It's a it was a poll conducted by [14:13] Breitbart exclusive poll. Americans want [14:16] to topple Iranian regime but unwilling [14:19] to risk even a single American life to [14:22] do so. And it talks about how there was [14:23] overwhelming support for the toppling of [14:27] the Iranian regime. [14:29] And you know, the stunning new data [14:31] shows that yes, Americans do not like [14:33] the regime in Iran and would love to see [14:34] it wiped out. [14:36] But look what it says here. [14:41] Um and and it talks about how the [14:43] numbers are actually quite high uh for [14:46] for the toppling of the regime among [14:48] among Republicans it was uh 60%. Okay, [14:51] look what it says here. [14:56] While that seems strong on both [14:58] accounts, among Americans broadly and [14:59] among Republicans specifically, it's in [15:01] the follow-up questioning where things [15:03] get dicey. Almost everyone who supports [15:05] almost everyone who supports the US [15:08] toppling the Iranian regime [15:10] only does so if zero American lives are [15:14] at risk in in so doing. [15:16] When asked how many American fatalities [15:18] are an acceptable number to stomach for [15:19] the US to topple the regime in Tehran, a [15:21] majority of all Americans and [15:23] specifically Republicans said zero. [15:26] Among all Americans and among [15:27] Republicans specifically, 51% of each [15:30] group said they would tolerate no [15:31] American casualties to achieve the [15:34] mission. Now, [15:38] why is this so fascinating? And I find [15:40] it absolutely fascinating. [15:42] Because [15:44] they believe that it is a moral good to [15:47] destroy the Iranian regime, to bring it [15:49] down, [15:51] overwhelmingly. But equally [15:53] overwhelmingly, [15:55] they're not willing to even suffer a [15:57] single casualty to do so. [16:00] What does this mean? [16:02] What does this mean? [16:04] So, I I really believe that it's [16:05] directly connected with what Dennis was [16:07] saying about that that thought [16:10] experiment about your beloved dog and a [16:13] complete stranger. [16:15] Which is [16:17] that [16:18] I'm un- I'm unwilling to sacrifice [16:21] anything for something that is a higher [16:23] good. Because saving a human life is [16:26] obviously a higher good than saving your [16:28] dog. It's obviously a higher good [16:30] because human human life is more [16:32] valuable than dog life. [16:35] But if it means that I'm sacrificing my [16:38] dog to save a human life, I'm unwilling [16:41] to do so. You see what I'm saying? It's [16:43] actually the same type of thinking. [16:47] My brother [16:50] is goes on a drug-related spree I and [16:53] and justice must be done when someone [16:55] goes on a on a on a on a drug-related [16:58] killing spree, [17:00] society demands it. But if it requires [17:03] me to make a sacrifice of something that [17:05] I care about, I'm unwilling to do so. [17:08] All right, I want the Iranian regime to [17:10] fall, but if it means that I have to [17:11] sacrifice anything anything, if there [17:14] has to be any sacrifice on our part, I'm [17:16] unwilling to do so. [17:21] Imagine if the Americans felt that way [17:22] in World War II about the regime in Nazi [17:24] Germany. Now, people if people [17:26] throughout the centuries, good people [17:29] have understood that to bring about good [17:31] in the world and to defeat evil it [17:33] requires sacrifice on our parts. And [17:36] that's part of having a a strong sense [17:39] of ethics and morality that's based in [17:42] faith [snorts] in higher values, in what [17:45] is most important, and that what is most [17:48] important, what is of the highest value. [17:49] That's what we say when we talk about [17:51] believing in God. Yes, we believe that [17:52] there's a God, but it's that God has put [17:55] before us a set of values and a way to [17:57] live and we and that is and that it it's [17:59] more important than our own lives. [18:01] That's why people are willing to die for [18:05] great causes. [18:08] The logical extension of the Tucker [18:10] Carlson view of the world as laid out in [18:12] that speech and in that example of [18:14] Hiroshima and Nagasaki that Dennis [18:16] Prager um put forward is that you're not [18:18] willing to die for anything. [18:22] Because why would you sacrifice anything [18:25] that is important to you [18:27] for any higher good? [18:30] So, I I I think that there's something [18:31] very important here [18:33] uh in in understanding the depth of the [18:36] moral decay. And and also, let me [18:38] highlight this. Let me focus in. Dennis [18:41] said something fascinating there when he [18:43] he talked about the answer he gets from [18:45] the kids, but then he said that the [18:46] answer from the parents has changed over [18:48] the years. [18:50] Right? That the parents of today are [18:52] proud of their children that they would [18:54] choose the dog first or that they or [18:56] they simply don't raise any objection to [18:58] their children choosing the dog first. [19:01] And what that means is that one of the [19:04] correctives, one of the correcting [19:06] mechanisms that's supposed to exist in [19:08] society [19:10] of the older generation being wiser and [19:14] and being able to transmit correct [19:17] values to the younger generation is no [19:19] longer there. [19:21] It's no longer there. [19:23] And maybe that speaks to the lack of [19:25] conviction in general about staring evil [19:28] down. This moral relativism, which has [19:31] become [19:33] a big problem on the world stage, on the [19:35] diplomatic stage, [19:37] is seeing evil regimes, evil despotic [19:41] regimes that that that persecute and [19:44] murder their own people as legitimate [19:46] governments [19:47] is a lack of moral clarity. It's a lack [19:49] of seeing good and evil and [19:51] understanding which side you're on and [19:53] having the conviction to say that you're [19:54] on the side of good and that it is your [19:56] responsibility to the death to defeat [19:59] evil in the world. [20:01] It's very sad to see. [20:03] And I say this also as someone I live in [20:04] Israel and in Israel there is a clear [20:06] understanding. We mourn terribly. We cry [20:09] terribly for every loss on the [20:10] battlefield. [20:12] But there is almost universal conviction [20:14] among the people of the state of Israel, [20:16] among the Israeli people that [20:19] it requires sacrifices to defeat evil. [20:22] And that we and that we knowingly [20:24] clear-eyed, we know that we're going to [20:25] make those sacrifices. But that there's [20:27] a higher good that we're fighting for. [20:29] And it's that exact lack of clarity [20:33] that is that is infecting the Western [20:36] world. And let me add, the lack of of [20:38] family formation, the low birth rates in [20:41] the Western world are coming from the [20:42] same place. Because having children [20:45] is a financial burden. It makes your [20:48] life less comfortable. It makes things [20:50] more difficult in a lot of ways. And why [20:52] bring that inconvenience on yourself? [20:55] Right? In the old world, long before [20:57] centuries ago, having kids was an [20:58] economic benefit. You'd have more [20:59] workers on your farm. You'd have people [21:01] to take care of you when you got older [21:02] cuz there was no there was [21:04] there was no social security or pension [21:06] system. [21:07] Nowadays, [21:10] it makes me more uncomfortable. So the [21:11] entire inclination of the human [21:13] condition right now [21:15] goes much deeper than the examples of [21:17] like a crisis moment like your someone [21:19] like your dog is drowning. But the [21:21] entire orientation of people to their [21:23] moral, you know, to society and to [21:25] themselves and to what's worth [21:28] sacrificing for even if it's a minor [21:30] sacrifice [21:31] is so focused on on what what makes me [21:36] comfortable and what I care about on the [21:37] on the most basic [21:39] uh um [21:40] you know, most basic human level, but [21:43] not not not higher values. [21:47] Wha [21:47] Wha Why should I make myself [21:49] uncomfortable? [21:50] Why should I disrupt my life to do so? [21:52] Why should I incur those expenses? [21:55] I think that that's subconsciously part [21:57] of this. You know, part of the problem [21:59] of the decline of Western civilization. [22:01] I think there's a lot in [22:02] this um in this conversation. I think [22:05] I've just you know, touched the tip of [22:06] the iceberg. I hope you found this [22:07] interesting. [22:09] Uh please drop a comment. Let me know [22:10] what you think. I think this is an [22:11] important conversation to have. [22:14] And I'm happy we're having it. And I try [22:16] to read as many of the comments as I [22:17] can. And I greatly appreciate all your [22:20] help in helping grow this channel. [22:22] Please like and share and subscribe and [22:24] all that great stuff. May God bless you.
