Counting Calories, Wanting Kids, and Petitionary Prayer - Dennis AMA

Life Audio.

On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom.

Hey Dennis, this call was intended to make you happy, not sad.

I called Krispy Kreme—

Wait, no, on the contrary. If I have the summary correct and you are right, it will make me unhappy.

Go ahead.

Okay, I called Krispy Kreme Donuts in South Carolina. They told me that each doughnut is 190 calories. 5 times 190 is 950 calories. And then I went into the kitchen and measured out Grape-Nuts like I eat them. And I don't just eat 1/2 cup, which they say is a serving. That doesn't satisfy me. I always eat a cup. So that's 400 calories. And then I have lots of milk, 2 cups. That's 200 calories. And then I put on 4 teaspoons of sugar. That's 60 calories. A low-fat yogurt, which I wouldn't eat myself with it, but it is 190 calories. And then 1 banana, 4 ounces, is 106 calories. You add that all up and that comes to 956 calories, a little bit more than 5 donuts.

You know, I'm a little ticked off at you.

That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.

Precious metals dealers come and go. This is Nick Grovich, president of Ampfed Coin and Bullion. We've stood the test of time since 1983. With the flurry of coin and bullion dealers coming and going, how do you know who to trust and what to buy? At AmFed Coin and Bullion, we value educated consumers. We want to alert you to good bullion buys in the market and help you steer clear of the tricks and bad deals. Call AmFed Coin and Bullion for a free coin performance review. 800-221-7694 or americanfederal.com.

Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Hear thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs And to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to DennisPrager.com.

This is the hour. Dennis Prager here.

You call on anything under the sun, as I always say. Anything about you, anything about me, ask anything.

But first, we revel in this once-a-week theme. Amazing.

Never loses its power. Hello, my friends. I'm Dennis Prager. This is the hour in which you ask about anything.

I particularly welcome calls on cigars, fountain pens, and stereo. Unfortunately, my producer gets to the screeners before I do and threatens them, outright threatens them with bodily harm if they take calls on cigars, fountain pens, or stereo.

So what we have to do is work it out to get around the screener, but I don't know how to do that.

They are the gatekeepers of the show.

Nevertheless, if enough of you do it, they— he or she cannot block everybody. So I implore you to ask about those subjects. Okay, my friends, let's go to your calls here.

And Altadena, California. Rick, thank you for calling. Rick Dennis Prager.

Hey, good morning. Yeah, I was just wondering how an argument between you and your wife would go, in that you're the, you know, logical discourse king, and I don't know about you, but that doesn't work with my wife.

Okay, I, I, uh, here goes, and Alan can vouch for this because he knows my wife well. I am married to a very rare breed of incredibly logical— in fact, my wife is turned on. I'm being very, very, very revealing here. She is turned on by talk of tax policy. The only woman perhaps in the world where talking about tax policy is stimulating.

What a strange person.

That's correct.

I admit that. So you can't really use her as an example. I am probably the more— I don't know what the word would be, but the more whatever it is.

Well, not illogical, but in any event, let me answer you because your answer applies to vast numbers of marriages, and this is not my first marriage, and I certainly understand what you're asking. So, okay, logic doesn't work. Well, first of all, this is a battle. I, as just as men have to battle their tendencies towards physical aggression and towards sexual predatory behavior, women have to battle their tendency toward emotions dominating. I mean, there's no solution. I don't believe that the solution lies in the man. I don't. Men have tried to, you know, you know the old saw, well, I learned, I'm married 42 years and I've learned the most important two words in a marriage is "yes, dear." That's not true. That isn't the best two words. And I'm not even sure that the wife wants to hear "yes, dear" that often because she wants a man who is strong. Not strong for the sake of macho, just strong for the sake of being a strong human. So I don't think the answer lies, frankly, Rick, Unfortunately, you want it to lie in your hands. It doesn't. It lies in her hands. If in fact, and I don't know her obviously, but if in fact she resorts to illogic when there is a difference between the two of you. Now, there's not much you can do except for her to hear from me, the stranger, because you can often hear a stranger before an intimate, or better even from women, that the way to talk to a man is usually through the use of logic. Because there's no, what are we going to do? You can't battle emotion versus emotion. Of course there are still things I think you can do. You can, you know, you can perhaps deflect certain things humorously. You might want to discuss it when the emotions aren't there. You might want to go for clarity over agreement. I mean, there still are tactics that you can use, but ultimately there is nothing one can do against the irrational, whether it is man or woman.

I'm sorry?

You've done it for 41 years? So why are you calling me?

I'm curious how it went. I just can't envision this, you know, the argument.

Oh, I see. I got you. All right. How it goes in my house.

All right.

Well, the truth is, it is, you know— I'm very fortunate in that arena, and I fully acknowledge it. And I do believe that she is atypical. I think that it is a battle that most women have to wage, just as there are battles— I keep saying this. I mean, that was the theme of the Happiness Hour, folks. There are battles. Everybody has to wage battles. But since feminism, women think that only men have to wage battles. Men are the problem is a feminist belief, that men are the problem. You can't get stupider and more narcissistic than that. But hey, that's what you've spent $40,000 to send your kids to college to get a degree in foolishness and narcissism. That's exactly— especially your daughters, because they will reinforce this idiocy that men are the problem. There's no such thing. Men are a problem and women are a problem. We are different, but we— our problems for the world are in different arenas. And whereas boys are raised, by and large, to check their tendencies toward aggression and sexual predatory behavior, most girls are not taught to check their tendency toward emotionality over rationality. Okay? That's the problem. And then they get a degree in emotionality, like, uh, women's studies courses. Have a BA in, in emotionality. By the way, if you don't believe me, just go to any college bookstore and see the books that are in the women's studies department. And they are one after another about how awful it is for women and how men are a problem. That's what it's about. The day George Gilder's books on men and women are on a reading list, I will take back my words. That's why we started Prager University, to counteract This is exactly why— to counteract in 5 minutes what your kid got in the whole semester. So help us with, uh, with viewing it and then sending it along. Uh, let's go to Greeley, Colorado, and Cheyenne, who's 13. Is that correct, Cheyenne?

Yes.

Hi, thank you for calling.

Well, thank you for taking my call.

Well, you're nice.

Um, I just wanted to, um, let you know that about your guest on Tuesday, the scientist who talked about how your brain and your mind are sometimes different. I wanted to say that usually my brain and my mind are completely different lots of the times, especially usually in class.

So, Cheyenne, the fact that you know that at 13 puts you approximately 70 years ahead of most people. Most people by 83 don't know the conflict between their brain and their mind, and I'm very serious.

You're—

and you know how I put it? Do you know the example I used to explain it to people? Brain wants cheesecake, mind doesn't. Does that make it clear?

Yes, it does.

That's terrific, Cheyenne. Thank you so much for calling. You made my day.

Thank you.

Thank you. All right, I want her as a child. Where do we send the kidnap crew? Cheyenne's parents, if you're listening and you want a, like, a 2-week vacation, I'll take her. I'm telling you right now, on behalf of my wife, our tortoises, and Moronic Basset Hound, which is basically a— now that's basically redundant, but he's unbelievably lovable.

Unbelievably lovable and funny.

My view of a dog, by the way, I have views on this. My view is that your dog's primary— I don't want love from my dog. I want love from people. I'm just talking about me. I gotta talk about this one day, what I want from a pet. I want my dog to make me laugh. I'm serious. That, if a dog makes me laugh, that is the greatest contribution he or she can make. I am not looking for love. Man, I get more laughs from this basset hound than you can count on.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

Rising interest rates, stock volatility, out-of-control inflation. People are concerned about what the future holds financially. This is Dennis Prager for AmFed Coin and Bullion. There's no better time than the present to move a portion of your IRA into precious metals. You should know there's a right and a wrong way to set up your precious metals IRA. Mistakes could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in IRA IRS fines, call AmFed Coin and Bullion, 800-221-7694, AmericanFederal.com. That's AmericanFederal.com.

Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

All righty, everybody. Prager University is our antidote to the feelings-based education rather than reason-based education your kids kids get. Perfect example is the textbooks that are given to your kids to make them feel good. Oh, you're a woman? We have X number of women in the textbook. Oh, you're, uh, you are a member of this ethnic group? We have this number of ethnic, uh, members of that ethnic group in it. Uh, you're of this religion? We have this number of people of that religion in the group. Whether or not it corresponds to the, the actual contributions to American history which have overwhelmingly been by white Anglo-Saxon Protestant males, uh, is irrelevant. And I am not one of them, so I am truth-telling rather than feel-gooding. And it is feel-gooding, uh, that is, uh, that animates, uh, education rather than reason. So that's, uh, that's the antidote. It takes the form of left-wing politics, but it is ultimately, uh, that it is all about making you feel good rather than learn. The purpose of learning is not to make you feel good. It is to tell you the truth, which is not a value at our universities, to the great, great, great tragedy of what has happened in Western education. It's true from Oxford to Berkeley. Crystal in Houston.

Uh, it is an indescribable pleasure to speak with you, Dennis Prager.

Well, thank you.

My boyfriend and I both listen to your show, and he is particularly grateful for your male-female hour.

Um, oh, I understand that code. Your boyfriend owes me.

He does, he does. Um, the issue I'm calling about today is actually one, um, of having children. Um, he and I are in a very good relationship. Um, we have the same values, we get along very well. He has, um, recently decided that he does not think he wants to have children, and I think that I would like to have children someday in the future.

And how old is—

how old is he?

He is 35 and I am 32.

A 5-year— how long are you together?

Um, we've known each other for a year. We've been dating for about 8 months at that time.

And you're hoping to marry? Well, I—

that's the direction our, our relationship is moving. Neither of us is dating casually at this point.

Right. Okay, so let's say in 2 years you're married and he's 37. So he's now saying to you, at least he's open about it, and I take it you do want children.

Yes, I would like to have children.

I don't—

Okay, you say your boyfriend— all right, first of all, if your boyfriend owes me, that means that he will listen to me with an open mind. So let me just say to your boyfriend, and this gives me a very good idea for an Ultimate Issues Hour, why have children? We did why get married. This is harder.

Yes.

Yes.

No, no, I'm—

I, I— let me, let me just say that it— in life's— if life's— one of life's purposes is to experience it fully, it cannot be done without children. You can experience much of life without children. There are terrific people who don't have children. I, I know of what I speak, believe me. And indeed there are terrific people who never get married. But for the vast majority of us, a fuller life is had via having children. I didn't say necessarily happier. There are, there are great risks the day a child is born. You don't know— forget that they will cause problems. I mean, they may just not be healthy. I mean, any, any, there's any, any number of possible things. So you have to ask your boyfriend Does he want a full experience of life or does he want to take the safe way? And that's the reason that people don't have children. They want safety over, over the risk of, of, of children. That's by and large the reason. And I understand it. I do. I always say, first tell the truth, then give your opinion. There are rational arguments not to have children. But it is a hierarchy of values. What do you want from life? Do you want the safe way or do you want the full way?

Okay.

And so I guess my— then my question, um, from my perspective, if he ultimately says he doesn't want children, is that an automatic deal breaker?

I guess this is— that is only something you can answer because good men don't grow on trees. However, however, having said that, uh, uh, does it speak to other things about him? And I don't say it does. That he doesn't want children. That is something that you would just need to explore. It's a very hard question, but I've been as honest as I can to you, and I'd love to speak to him one day on the open line hour. Okay, thank you for that, Crystal. Appreciate it very much. Denver, Colorado. Joe. Hello, Joe. Dennis Prager.

How are you, sir? You're a good man, and thanks for helping me be one as well.

Oh, what a beautiful statement.

I have, uh, I've got an honesty dilemma. I know what the answer is, but I just need you to help me rationalize it. So I applied for a life insurance policy, got an initial quote of one number, and it was what I thought it should be. Go through all the tests, go through the questionnaire, the whole bit, come back, and they delivered me a number that's twice that. And I asked them why, and it's because I was honest with them about smoking a cigar within the last 12 months.

And now, wait, what do they, what do they ask?

Tobacco use? Is that the wording? Yeah, okay.

Anything.

And they mean anything, right?

I mean, anything. Yeah, okay.

This is a, this is a fraud on the part of the insurance companies. It's fraudulent. They're lying and they know it because they know, as everybody, everyone knows, there's no comparison between cigarettes and cigars. None. In fact, I would actually bet money that cigar smokers live longer than nonsmokers. That is how certain I am that not only doesn't, on the average, take away life, but the calming effect and other aspects of it, for example, the slight nicotine— because remember, just for those listening who don't know this because of the lying about tobacco, you don't inhale cigars, you do inhale cigarettes. So immediately there's no comparison. And for those of you who talk to me about tongue cancer, yes, that exists, and it is about as likely as you're being hit by lightning. And so they are— they do it solely to raise rates. That is the only reason. It's a fraud on the part— and I have defended insurance companies— this is fraudulent. The question for you in this matter here, and I am always for honesty,— but if they're fraudulent, it presents moral, if not legal, dilemmas here. Is, what if you are caught? See, will they honor your policy if they find out later when you ask for something, "Well, he lied about having smoked a cigar last November." Yeah, but I'm no George Burns.

I've got a better chance of ash falling on me and me catching on fire than actually dying from smoking a cigar.

No, no, you won't die from smoking a cigar, but in the fraudulent world that exists today, they will attribute— let us say, God forbid, you have a heart attack and you need a heart bypass operation, and then they will look and they will look and they will look and find out, oh, this man lied about smoking a cigar last November, we can't honor his policy. That's my worry for you, and you have to just find out about that. But this is a good example of where You have the propagandists and big business in cahoots. It's a perfect example, that question, lumping all tobacco together as if they are the same thing. Okay, let's go to Houston, Texas, and Chris. Hello, Chris. Dennis Prager.

Well, thank you very much for taking my call.

I— at the second I saw it, I knew I had to go to it.

Yeah, I was in the car yesterday and I heard you reading a letter from a I don't want to say a fellow liberal, but another liberal, and I'm a liberal myself, taking umbrage at your generalizations about the left. And, you know, first of all, you know, and he was taking it very personally, and I feel the same way. I take it personally, and I recognize, and hopefully you recognize, that the left is not monolithic. But I think that you cherry-pick a lot of foolish examples. You know, I'm pro-Obama, believe in global warming and I wanted single-payer healthcare, but I'm not against Mother's Day, I'm not against America. I served in the Peace Corps. We're pragmatic, we're patriotic— patriotic, that's a joke for my class I make, excuse me— and we, you know, I think that you tend to highlight the extremes. If I were to highlight the extremes of the right, for instance, I'm reading DeLorenzo's How Capitalism Saved America right now, and he calls Hamilton and Lincoln, neo-mercantilists. You know, when I say, well, the right is against any government involvement in the economy whatsoever.

Yeah, but you would know that that's not true.

Oh.

But I don't know.

Have I said anything about— and that's why I give examples. The Mother's Day example, of course, is not typical of the left. It's only leftists who oppose Mother's Day, but it's most leftists don't oppose Mother's Day. Look, you see, I wish, and I invite you, I rarely do this, but I invite you to call me again. On any day. It doesn't have to be a Friday. I just want to say that you at least acknowledge this. Every time I talk about the left, I always say I'm not talking about leftists, I'm talking about leftist positions.

You do that, and that's why you're my favorite talk show host.

Okay, thank you for acknowledging, and that's why you're one of my favorite callers, and I mean it. Call me anytime, whatever the subject, and I want to handle that and even greater, greater detail and length with you. I appreciate the call tremendously. Don't go away, everybody. You're listening to The Dennis Prager Show.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

You have changed my life. I have read your books. I listen to your Timeless Wisdom show every day. And I want to be like you when I grow up. Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for being a true person for God. I can't say thank you so much, uh, enough. My name is Tina. I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I am praying for a full recovery. Continue to fight it. You're doing awesome. Thank you again.

Goodbye.

Are you enjoying Timeless Wisdom? We'd love to hear from you. Call 877-243-7776 and leave a review, share your thoughts, or just even an encouraging word for Dennis Prager. Your voicemail might just make it on the show. That's 877-243-7776. That's 877-243-7776. Thanks for listening and for your support. Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

Greatest since Beethoven. All right, Brahms.

Since Brahms.

All right, all right, all right, all right.

Don't send me hate mail. It's the greatest music since Brahms.

What?

What?

What?

What?

Dionne and the Belmonts. That's how it works. It goes Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dion and the Belmonts.

That is—

I'm telling you folks, I'm dead serious here. Ah, well, with the pot— wait, wait, wait, with Louis in the middle. No, no, no, Louis Armstrong goes, goes Tchaikovsky, Louis Armstrong. Who?

Jimmy Durante?

He's the greatest in a different way. Alright everybody, Dennis Prager, 1-800-PRAGER-776. The, um, what the guy should— I was thinking about the guy and that phony rate change because he never smoked a cigarette in his life, but because he smokes a cigar. What you should do is just say you can, and I think you could be totally honest this way. You, uh, it's a computer that checks it off, and you say you understand it as cigarettes. If you are asked, and believe me, you will be upheld by anybody with sanity because there's no comparison between the two. How sweet. Okay, alright, let's go to some more calls here.

Let's go to Clearwater, Florida, and Jim. Hello, Jim.

Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis. I'm a long-time listener. I really, really enjoy your show.

Good.

I'm 58 years old. Since I've been interested in politics, I've seen pretty much a mixture of Democratic and Republican presidents. You know, we had Carter, we had Reagan, we had Clinton, we had Bushes, and it seems— I think, you know, it seems pretty equal. And my problem at this point is this: I'm really questioning the system. What I see over the years, you know, your right-wing beliefs are very similar to mine. It's a great philosophy, it sounds great, but I find that Republicans and Democrats, what they say and what they do once they get in office are two different things. I think a big part of it is the system of compromises that they must go through.

So what's your alternative? You sound like Michael Moore. He said capitalism stinks, so I said, well, what system works? He said, we'll invent a new one. You going to invent a new one, Jim?

No, no, and I don't have a total solution. I wanted to get your viewpoint on it because I listen to you and I agree with you and I go, that's, that's the answer.

Is the answer is the right people. That's the answer. The problem is that the media have made the right people almost impossible to run because of the dirt searching.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

Rising interest rates, stock volatility, out-of-control inflation. People are concerned about what the future holds financially. This is Dennis Prager for AmFed Coin and Bullion. There's no better time than the present to move a portion of your IRA into precious metals. You should know there's a right and a wrong way to set up your precious metals IRA. Mistakes could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in IRS fines. Call AmFed Coin and Bullion, 800-221-7694, americanfederal.com.

That's americanfederal.com.

Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

And we go to Beaverton, Oregon. First time in 29 years I told a caller while— that I'm going to tell him he's wrong. Go ahead, Alan.

Hey Dennis, this call was intended to make you happy, not sad.

I called—

wait, no, on the contrary. If I, if I have the summary correct And you are right, it will make me unhappy.

Go ahead.

Okay, I called Krispy Kreme Donuts in South Carolina. They told me that each donut is 190 calories. 5 times 190 is 950 calories. And then I went into the kitchen and measured out Grape-Nuts like I eat them. And I don't just eat 1/2 cup, which they say is a serving. That doesn't satisfy me. I always eat a cup. So that's 400 calories. And then I have lots of milk, 2 cups. That's 200 calories. And then I put on 4 teaspoons of sugar, that's 60 calories. A low-fat yogurt, which I wouldn't eat myself with it, but it is 190 calories. And then one banana, 4 ounces, is 106 calories. You add that all up and that comes to 956 calories, a little bit more than 5 donuts.

You know, I'm a little ticked off at you.

Listen, you can now take any—

No, no, no, let me say, okay, here's the— no, seriously now.

This—

I am fascinated by nutrition, so let me ask you a question, and it's really a real question. I'm not trying to make an argument here. Do you believe that a calorie is a calorie, and irrespective of what it consists of?

Absolutely.

My wife is the last honest fat person in America. She wrote the book Diary of a Fast Housewife. Rosemary Green's her name, and We've been studying this for over 20 years, including under the tutelage of a bariatric physician.

Go on.

And a calorie is a calorie. That's it. When you're talking about fat, that's all that matters. Now, nutrition-wise, the donuts wouldn't be as good for you as the grape nuts, of course, but I'm just talking about what would make you overweight. That's calories.

Yeah, I—

that—

there is a lot to be said about that.

That's your position, right? Everybody named Alan that I know— you in Oregon, Alan here— you believe in calories a calorie. So in other words, if I ate— if I drank a sugar-filled can of soda and with high fructose corn syrup and the like, and I don't know, what is it, so it's like 250 calories?

What is a can of soda?

Probably around 250.

250. And if I had 250 calories of, let's say, avocado and of spinach and the healthiest possible foods, in terms of weight gain, there is no difference. That's what you're saying?

That's what I'm saying.

Even if a—

even—

well, the reason that I'm suspicious is that sugar, non-complex carbs, turn into fat much more readily than complex carbs do. So a calorie isn't a calorie, because not all turn into fat as readily. And spinach doesn't turn into fat nearly as readily, or ever, as much as, you know, Reese's peanut butter cups.

What makes you fat is if you take more calories in, in your daily consumption of food, more than you burn in your daily activities. Right. That's what makes you fat. Excess calories is what makes you fat.

No, no, I believe— yeah, well, I believe that, and yet I think that there is an added factor to what constitutes that calorie. But it was a great call, and I mean it, because people who want to lose weight or not gain weight and are using food— and by the way, another interesting thing is that diet is much more effective than exercise in losing weight. Exercise is great for your body. Diet is what makes you lose weight. I agree that we gain based on excess calories. Look, we had a man who didn't come on.

It's fascinating.

It almost never happens that somebody doesn't come on. I don't know why this man didn't, uh, but it was a professor we read about Dennis Prager, who lived what, for a month? Longer than a month, just on candy, cookies, cake, ice cream, and didn't gain any weight. He had the same amount of calories as he did on a normal— I mean, that's what he claimed. And maybe it's true, and maybe people should just count calories. By the way, the good news in that is then you can have the dessert you want, just make sure you keep it keep it down, uh, to keep that number down to a certain number. I think losing weight for the average body in America is under 1,500 calories. Then you're guaranteed to lose weight. I think I did a 1,200-calorie one for a while, and I, I lost, uh, a lot of weight. I mean, proportionate to what I have to lose. You know, happily not— don't have to lose a lot.

I could— you—

I could lose some, would be great.

All righty, uh, let's go, uh, to, uh, Philadelphia and Deborah. Hello, Deborah. Dennis Prager, thanks for calling.

Hello, Dennis, thanks for taking my call. I called today because I know you're a deeply religious man, and, um, I consider myself deeply religious too. I'm a Roman Catholic and I'm a practicing one. I go to church and I pray. And I recently lost my sister and, um, I prayed so hard for her to get better and I honestly believed that she would. And now I'm struggling because I, like I said, I lost her. She died and I'm having a real hard time with my, um, I can't pray anymore.

Okay, good, good. Stay on with me. I, I don't know if my answer will satisfy you emotionally, but I think it will help at least intellectually. I, I do, I actually have an answer. It may, again though, it may not be emotionally satisfying. We'll be back in a moment.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue continue right after this.

Precious metals dealers come and go. This is Nick Grovich, president of Ampfed Coin and Bullion. We've stood the test of time since 1983. With the flurry of coin and bullion dealers coming and going, how do you know who to trust and what to buy? At Ampfed Coin and Bullion, we value educated consumers. We want to alert you to good bullion buys in the market and help you steer clear of the tricks and bad deals. Call Ampfed Coin and Bullion for a free coin performance review. 800-221-7694 or americanfederal.com.

Now back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.

Dennis Prager here. This is the hour you ask me anything about everything. Deborah asks the 64,000 question, whatever the thousand is— euros, shekels, dollars. Dar, dear hum. Deborah, my heart goes out to you on two accounts. First, the premature death of your sister. Secondly, the threat to your faith, or at least to your belief in prayer. You're an active, daily praying Catholic, and God didn't answer. Now, I'm going to only talk to your mind. I have nothing to say to your emotions that will help. So let me just ask you this.

Okay.

When you have heard in the course of your life of the, the millions upon millions who have died prematurely, some through horrific deaths by persecutors, through torture and so on, how did you reconcile that with your faith?

I don't know.

I just, I guess I just always accepted that death was a part of life. I don't know. I I guess I never— I mean, I lost both my parents. I lost them at a young age, so I looked at their deaths differently as I looked at my sister's. I don't know. I honestly don't know how to answer your question.

Okay, that's very fair. Uh, you see, this is why I beg people— all right, I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna let you go and I'm gonna answer this, uh, with you off the line. I mean, you know, you're still there to hear, but of course, but Folks, let me, let me, let me answer this because this— and we should do an Ultimate Issues Hour on this subject. Okay, so listen please, folks, carefully, especially those of you who are religious. A very big mistake has been made within the religions, including my own, within major religions, to assume— I say to assume, I'm not saying that to pray has been the mistake— but to assume that our requests will be answered. I don't know where it developed. I just don't know. But, uh, it is, it is so obvious that in the vast majority of instances, God says no. I don't know why, and I'm not, I'm not, I'm not right now going to delve into that. It's too long for this one call. But, uh, let me give you an example. A woman called me— this is one of the handful of calls I remember from 28 years of radio— a woman called me to tell me, Dennis, I now agree with you about capital punishment for murder.

I said, really?

What did I say? She said, you didn't say anything. Something happened. I said, what happened? My brother was murdered. And I said, so let me understand, and my heart goes out to you, needless to say, about your brother, but I want to understand something. So when everybody else's brother was murdered, you were against capital punishment, but now that your brother is murdered, you're for capital punishment? She said, yeah. I said, well, okay, I'm for capital punishment on behalf of everybody else's brother. I don't believe that God will necessarily answer request prayers, petitionary prayers, on behalf of everybody else even before it may have happened to me. That, that's my answer. That's the reason we need wisdom. Wisdom is to be able to know what is true about life without having had to go through the experience of learning it directly. So what then is prayer? Prayer isn't please give me X, Y, and Z. That's what prayer is. Prayer is many, many things. Maybe one of them is yes, because I believe in you and love you, I want you to know what I would like. That's fine. But I have known people who have believed that if somebody wasn't really— was religious enough, their cancer would be cured. And, and the fact that the cancer killed them proved that they didn't have enough faith. That, that makes God look disgusting. Makes God look disgusting. And that I really don't like.

All right, let's go to Aaron in San Diego, California.

Hello, Aaron.

Dennis Prager.

Hey, Dennis.

Glad to get to speak to you.

Thank you.

I've heard you in the past, almost sounds like you speak disapprovingly of the period before no-fault divorce, which kind of surprises me because I'm a divorce lawyer, and it, to me, no-fault divorce has really cheapened the institution of marriage. And I see some real, real inequities come of it.

Yeah, all right, tell me, tell me what they are. What are the inequities that result from that?

Um, one party or the other decides that they want to go find themselves, leaves the family, and the high-earning spouse gets to keep on supporting them for that.

Whereas in the past What would the person who wants to find herself or himself have done? They would have been barred from divorcing by society?

Okay.

Not barred from divorcing, but at the minimum, no spousal support.

Oh, I see. That's an interesting point. So in the past, you would have to figure out who was responsible more for the divorce.

Yeah, at least that's my understanding.

Okay, well, well, let me tell you my— this was all right, this was my understanding, that in the past, because you had to have a cause, and the most common would be charges of adultery, or what was done is people would— one or the other would hire a, a private detective to get proof that the other one was having an affair. And so, uh, and, and what struck me about that was that it did far more harm than good.

Uh, because—

where is this? Well, because whereas the people might have divorced with less rancor, now there— it's inconceivable that there would not be great, even hatred, of the spouse that committed the infidelity. The children, the children would be, instead of having parents divorce for whatever reason and then dealing with that and so on, now you have the children angry at one of the spouses and may not, and that may not necessarily be the spouse who should have the anger against him or her.

Uh, even with the no-fault, there's still, you know, majority of the cases, great rancor Yeah, but that's caused—

all right, well, that's not caused by no fault. That's caused by often a bitter, angry, amoral spouse.

Oh no, I'm not saying that it is.

I'm not right. So I, I don't—

right, I don't— look, no fault doesn't cure it. It just has cheapened the institution of marriage.

Oh, I don't— I, I— that I don't agree. Yes, you can walk away. Yes, you can.

I, I—

what is our choice, to tell people you can't divorce?

That, or to have some kind of significant penalty for walking away for anything.

Yeah, but how about— well, wait a minute, but then they'll lie. But then they'll just lie. I'm going away because he mistreats me. I don't like the way he treats me. How— it can't be proved.

It would be physical. I think it would have to be physical.

Okay. All right.

Well, all right, he's a bunch of—

then now you know why I'm— now you know why I'm for no-fault divorce. If that's the only way— in other words, you can be maltreated emotionally for 25 years and it cheapens the institution of marriage that you can't divorce because— only because you've been abused verbally for 25 years. See, this is what happens. This is an area where I don't agree with conservatives, and I think conservatives, in the name of their values, stop telling the truth, because the truth is there is no— there's no fix. It's unbelievable to me that we would think that it was in advance that you can only get divorced for infidelity or physical abuse. So just plain abuse, just plain being ignored being treated like, uh, with contempt. You gotta hang it in there, man, because that's good for society that you guys stay together. Okay, I don't buy it. I don't think it's a conservative value. I don't think it's a religious value. I don't think it's any value.

I think it's, uh, it all—

it perpetuates human misery. And if that's a religious value, then, uh, call me agnostic. Obviously I feel strongly about it, and it was a great question for our divorce lawyer. It cheapens the institution of marriage? I don't even buy that notion. I'll tell you what cheapens the institution of marriage is then when people live together and don't get married. That's what cheapens— divorce doesn't cheapen the institution of marriage. That's like saying that car crashes cheapen the institution of driving. The fact that some marriages crash doesn't mean that marriage is cheapened. Marriage is cheapened by people not deciding to marry. Oh, it means so little to me. Ah, it's just a piece of paper.

Let's just live together. That cheapens marriage, but not divorce. I've not—

to me, it's been a total non sequitur, that argument.

People divorce.

If people don't get married, that's the only way to cheapen the institution of marriage. Divorce doesn't cheapen it. Divorce is a tragedy for the vast majority of people. If folks in Hollywood, you know, do it for 6 weeks and then decide that somebody prettier or more handsome has showed up, that's Hollywood. By the way, that's the one— it's the one values difference between the Old and New Testament that I could find on divorce.

It's an interesting subject unto itself.

They, values-wise, they have tremendous similarities. That's why we can have Judeo-Christian values. We don't have Judeo-Christian theology, but not on divorce. Even though most Christians live the Jewish view of divorce. Most Christians do acknowledge the right of people to divorce, even if there isn't infidelity.

Tomorrow on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.

Now, here's the question today, and it will seem to you to be very odd. And that's part of the beauty of the question that I'm posing today, and it's to, to, to talk about with you. And that is, here is the question, and you never hear this question. We have discussed the question, why do people do bad? That was, and that is a great ultimate issue, right?

So we have discussed that.

Now I want to discuss, though, something people never ask: why do people do good?

Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles. We want to take just a second to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the podcast. Go to lifeaudio.com to find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts and their network, including shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.

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