Does Atheism Make Human Life Meaningless? | Ultimate Issues Hour

Life Audio.

On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom.

New York Times Magazine has a piece which raises a subject that is near and dear to my heart, and that is the increasing non-specialness of the human being. The view of so many who are atheists that the more we know about the Greatness, the, the incredible vastness, incredible, unfathomable vastness of the universe, the more insignificant we humans become.

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

Precious metals dealers come and go. This is Nick Grovich, president of Amped 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.

To be or not to be, that is the question.

Where was God? Isn't God supposed to be good? Isn't he supposed to love us? Does God want us to suffer? 10 years, you're not finished yet?

Morty!

Why did you do this to me?

Who are you?

Bruce, I am God.

Bingo!

Yahtzee!

Is that your final answer? Our service has God!

Bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing!

Well, it was nice to meet you, God.

Thank you for the Grand Canyon, and good luck with the apocalypse. Hi everyone, Dennis Prager, and it is the weekly Ultimate Issues Hour, an hour on the great— on some great issue of life. New York Times Magazine has a piece which raises a subject that is near and dear to my heart. And that is the increasing non-specialness of the human being. The view of so many who are atheists that the more we know about the greatness, the incredible vastness, incredible, unfathomable vastness of the universe, the more insignificant we humans become. We used to think that the sun went around the Earth and we were the center of the world. Then we learned that in fact the Earth was just one of many planets, or not many, but of some planets that went around the sun, that the sun itself was just a medium star, that there are countless stars out there to begin with, and that so many of them have other planets around them, and that's only in one galaxy, and there are any number of trillion galaxies out there. And so we— the more we know about the universe, the more obvious it is that we are, we are—

Tiny.

Beneath worms, that worms are far more significant to the Earth than the human being is to the cosmos. And so there was again another piece on this in the New York Times Magazine, and it speaks about— it's, it's, it, it in part, it just has a few paragraphs on the worthlessness of us humans. I will read that to you. It's, it's always sneaked in somehow. We are only coincidences of evolution. We are only coincidences of the Big Bang. Everything is random.

It is—

if you turn back the clock, we never would have been made. The universe is incredibly vast. I have told you often, my friends, that I had Carl Sagan on my television show, the The most well-known astronomer probably in American history, who's popularized it with his famous television PBS series Cosmos. And he said, Dennis, the more I look into the universe— I'm paraphrasing here— and see how vast it is, the more I realize how insignificant we people are. And he said it with this big smile, as if there was some joy in announcing how utterly and totally insignificant we are. I just, I found it remarkable that he had some joy. You know, if he had said it and said, you know, Dennis, I'm sorry to say, but we're really, we're infinitely less significant than any worm. At least if he would acknowledge that his emotional reaction was one of sadness, but he seemed to revel in the fact that you and I are absolutely worthless nothings in a universe that couldn't care less about us and is so vast anyway that we are far smaller to the universe universe than a worm is to the Earth. You realize that, folks? We are far, far smaller in the scheme of the entire universe, or the universes that they now say exist, than any worm is to Earth, or any ant. We're probably, I guess, on the size of an atom compared to the universe, not hardly a worm. So I read to you from the New York Times piece. It is about how that we are coming up to realize that as cosmologists, astronomers, physicists, that we know nothing about the vast majority of the world, of the universe. Nothing. And now you have to understand, it doesn't mean we can't get there with telescopes. It's that we know nothing because it's not knowable. 96% of what's out there is not matter. It's not energy. We don't know what it is. We can't measure it. We can't see it. It has no gravity. We don't know what it has. We don't know anything about it. 96% of the universe. So I read to you, a revolution that has forced their colleagues— that is, the, the colleagues of these 2 professors of physics That the article speaks about. A revolution that has forced their colleagues to confront a universe wholly unlike any they have ever known, one that is made of only 4% of the kind of matter we have always assumed it to be— the material that makes up you and me and this magazine and all the planets and stars in our galaxy and in all 125 billion galaxies beyond. The rest, 96% of the universe, is— who knows? Cosmologists often refer to this possibility as the ultimate Copernican Revolution. Not only are we not— you remember what the Copernican Revolution is? That said that the sun was at the center of the solar system. Obviously, that's what solar system means. The sun is at the center and the Earth is not at the center. So he said, that already made us less special when we realized we go around the sun and the sun doesn't go around us. But now, he writes, this is the ultimate Copernican revolution. Not only are we not at the center of anything, we're not even made up of the same stuff as most of the rest of everything. We're just a bit of pollution. I love it, I love it! That's it, we're a bit of pollution. That's even better! I said worm. Worms are far better than pollution. I love this. This is the best. Alan, we must remember this. We are just a bit of pollution, Lawrence M. Krauss, a theorist at Case Western Reserve, said not long ago at a public panel on cosmology in Chicago. If you got rid of us, And all the stars and all the galaxies and all the planets and all the aliens and everybody, then the universe would be largely the same. We're completely irrelevant. I love it. See, this stuff, it's funny, these things have the opposite effect on me. The facts of the story, I don't challenge their facts. Science is science. I don't know enough science. I don't have a clue. If they tell me that 96% of the universe is not made up of anything that we're made up of, that's fine. I believe them. I wish it were 99.9%. We're pollution. Did you hear that, my fellow pollutants? I think I'm going to begin each day, hi everybody, my fellow pollutants, welcome to the Dennis Prager Show. Now they go on to say that the thing that— what is the 96%? They now call it dark matter and dark energy because they have no better term. They know nothing. I mean, folks, you have to understand, nothing about it. Nothing. It's hard for us to imagine that there are 96% of the universe we know nothing about. And not only do they know nothing about, they have no way of believing that they will ever know anything about it. It doesn't— it's not governed by the same principles that our 4% are. Astronomers still wouldn't know what dark energy itself is. The term doesn't mean anything, said David Schlegel of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory this past fall. It might not be dark, it might not be energy. The whole name is a placeholder.

That's right.

Whatever it is that dark energy involves, we know it's not normal either. That's— so that's dark energy as opposed to dark matter. In that case, maybe the next round of evidence will have to be not only beyond anything we know, but also beyond anything we know how to know. We don't even know how to know what we don't know, is what the article says.

All right.

1-800-PRAGER-776. Number one question. If indeed the statistics are accurate, and I will not challenge them, I have no basis on which to do so, that only 4% of the universe consists of anything, consists of everything. 96% of the universe consists of nothing. In other words, I'm just paraphrasing what I just read to you. We humans, we physical beings, the physical universe that we know, the galaxies, the planets, the suns, the stars, they're all of this, all of this, even energy is only 4% of the universe. Now, if you are only part of that which makes up only 4% of something, does that make you more insignificant?

No.

Or more significant. I will talk about that and more about how human significance has been rendered— well, we're pollutants! We're just pollution! And that is the atheist look at the human being. An honest atheist look. And that's this subject for the Ultimate Issues Hour on the Dennis Prager Show.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

Who answers America's call for more energy? Our people do. They've helped boost Chevron's U.S. energy production by nearly 60% in the past 3 years, helping fuel national energy security, and drives down the open roads that make America. Learn more about what our people do at chevron.com/america.

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

Dennis Prager here, the Ultimate Issues Hour, and this, this particular hour is devoted to the following. The atheist position— and I'm not arguing atheism. This is not— I'm very precise on what we talk about on any given hour. I'm not arguing atheism, not arguing against it, not arguing for theism. I am making the following statement: atheism inevitably leads to the utter and total insignificance of the human being. It is ironic when there are people who are atheists call themselves humanists. I know they mean well. That is not my point. My point is never about their motives. It is about the intellectual inconsistency. You are not— you can't elevate the human if you have a position of atheism. That is why I read to you from this New York Times Magazine piece that we are, as this great physicist said, we are pollution. We humans, that's all we are. We're pollution. We're nothing. We are worse than nothing. We're pollution. Does he love his children? I have no doubt he loves his children. Does he have friends? I have no doubt he has friends. That's not my point. My point is that intellectually, life is pointless. It is pointless if you're atheist. It's pointless. Because we are utterly insignificant. We are undesigned, unmade, unformed. We have no soul. We are in the image of nothing except this tiny 4% of the universe which is measurable, and that's it. We're pollution. Now, I believe that it ultimately has an effect on the way people do behave, and, and maybe not the first generation of people who believe we're pollution, But by the second and third generations. Because if we are truly just nothings, why act nobly? Why elevate? There's nothing to elevate yourself to. Nothing. That's why I consider this article in the New York Times Magazine so important. We go to your calls. Helen in Denver. Dennis Prager, thank you for calling.

Hello.

Hi, thanks for taking my call.

Right.

I love your show.

Good, me too.

Are these scientists that are telling us this now the same scientists that are coming from the same universities that are telling us that we're ruining the world with global warming? I mean, how can you have it both ways?

Yeah, why not? Why not? Right, exactly. What difference does it make? We're just pollution to begin with.

So it shouldn't matter, whatever effect we have should not really affect the universe.

Well, it certainly— oh, right. Well, that they would have to acknowledge. It will not affect the universe, it would only affect the Earth.

Oh, I see.

Yes, that's what they would— that's exactly what they would answer. All right, thank you, Helen.

Thank you.

All right, take care. And let's go to Nancy, a 7th grade teacher in Mesa, Arizona. Hi, Nancy.

Hi, Dennis. Thank you for taking my call. My husband and I love your show.

Oh, wonderful.

I have been so weary of hearing comments from my students and reading in their essays, and this has been going on now for the last 3 years, how important the animals are, how the animals of the world are so much more important than their very lives are. They virtually worship the animals, and of course they're getting this from their elementary school indoctrination, and they're getting it from liberal parents and so forth. And the other day, I had just had it. I went out on a limb. I figured, what can they do, fire me or sue me? But I'm going to teach these children. And I told them that their lives, each one of them, are of infinite worth, that they are more valuable than they can even begin to imagine, that the animals are here for them. They're not here for the animals, that the animals are the creations of God and they are his offspring. And there is an enormous—

You said this in a public school class?

I said it in a public school classroom.

Are you still employed?

I'm still employed.

All right, that's good, that's good.

But, but the things these children are believing— and I told them that if they understood their worth, if the— if our children and our teenagers and our young adults, and if they understood their worth, perhaps they wouldn't feel so inclined to destroy their lives with drugs and with alcohol and to desecrate their bodies with tattoos and piercing and all the things they do, if they understand how very, very valuable they are.

Well said, Nancy. That's the whole point of this Ultimate Issues Hour. I'm not trying to convince atheists not to be atheists. I'm not trying to convince anyone to believe in God. I am far more interested right now in, in your understanding that if an atheist position must lead inevitably And it does. It does to the belief that we are worthless. We humans are worthless. I have talked to you at another time about how life is obviously, therefore, if there is no God, meaningless. But please understand that we have no worth. We are— I love this professor's statement in the New York Times Magazine piece— we are pollution. That's it. What else pollutes? We pollute. We're the only things that pollute. The universe would be just fine not only if we didn't exist, the universe would be fine if nothing existed because 96% is nonexistent anyway. That's the point of this whole article. But there are consequences to that belief. And the other belief, the belief that we have inherited from what we call Judeo-Christian values, is that the human being is created in God's image and is infinitely sacred. The human life is infinitely— you are infinitely valuable. There was a Hebrew saying that I learned in my Hebrew school. Bishveli nivra haolam. For me, the entire world was created. What a difference. What a difference. The opposite of what's called the Copernican Revolution. Of course, I have no problem with the Earth revolving around the sun. That's what it is. Why are we more valuable if the sun goes around us? This notion that I am valuable or not valuable based on The revolution of the Earth is preposterous. It's preposterous. One has nothing, nothing to do with the other. 1-800-PRAGER-776 is the number. And let's go to Phil in Long Beach, California. Phil, Dennis Prager, hi.

Morning, Dennis. First of all, the science makes me laugh. I remember you talking to a scientist that admitted that The multiverses and the rest of it is absurd compared to believing in a God. Stephen Hawking, in his latest book, A Briefer History of Time, I believe it was on page 76, but somewhere along in there, said— and I don't know why it hasn't been noticed or acknowledged— that it is impossible to explain why we're here other than a God created us.

Is that so?

Yes.

I must— I will check that up during the break.

Check that out.

That's— to come from Stephen Hawking? Yeah, we must look into that immediately. I thank you. I can't either. Alan, for another Ultimate Issues Hour, the question that we should raise is, is God good? God's existence is to me a given. It is the only thing that makes rational sense. But the goodness of God, that's a belief factor. We'll be back in a moment. You're listening to the Ultimate Issues Hour on the Dennis Prager Show.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

Who answers America's call for more energy? Our people do. They've helped boost Chevron's U.S. energy production by nearly 60% in the past 3 years. Helping fuel national energy security and drives down the open roads that make America. Learn more about what our people do at chevron.com/america.

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

Dennis Prager here. This is the Ultimate Issues Hour. the hour each week devoted to some great issue, and the one today is that atheism leads inevitably— not because atheists are bad, there are good atheists and bad atheists, there are good religious people, bad religious people, I say that all the time— but atheism leads inevitably, by its own logic, to the utter de-emphasis of any worth to the human being. Pollution we are, as this professor in this New York Times article about how insignificant— another one about how insignificant we are in the universe. Not only are we infinitesimally small, but we are part of an infinite— a very small part of what makes up the universe. Only 4% of the universe makes up anything that we can see or anything that we can measure. And so we are nothing. We are nothing. And we are just coincidences of evolution in the same view. On the other side is the notion that we are created in God's image, that we have infinite value. Since when does how big we are matter? The universe is so large. That even if we were the size of a planet, if you were the— if every one of you listening were the size of Jupiter, you would be insignificant. So what is the point? It isn't the size that matters, as funny as that statement is with its double entendres. It's so obviously so. Either we are of value or we're not of value, but our value can't be on what percentage of the universe do we make up. 1-800-PRAGER-776. 1-800-PRAGER-776. And we go to Rabbi Steve in Vacaville, California. Hi, Rabbi Steve. Dennis Prager.

Hi, Dennis. I gotta tell you, Ultimate Issues and Happiness Hours are my 2 favorite hours of the week.

Well, thank you. I'm happy to hear that.

I just have a challenge. It's really, I guess, not really a disagreement. Obviously, I'm a believer, but, you know, as a philosophy major at the UJ, and I just, I have to say that logically, number one, it doesn't have to inevitably lead, and for many atheists would say it wouldn't, because if you find a $10,000 bill, if there is such a thing, it's not less valuable because it's random or it's chance.

So...

You know, yours and my favorite Woody Allen movie, Crimes and Misdemeanors, he makes the same argument. Precisely because we're rare, one could say even without God, therefore we're more valuable. We have to do whatever we do to make our value more. So both on a logical basis as well as on a will basis, an atheist can argue it doesn't have to inevitably lead to our worthlessness.

Yeah, if you equate rare With significant.

But an atheist could do that. It can inevitably lead to value.

Well, no, it's a choice. I think, Steve, I think it's a choice that the atheist would then be making, and I want him to make that choice, but I don't think that it intellectually is inevitable.

I didn't say it's inevitable, but you're saying it's inevitable.

Ah, yes, I am.

That it's going to lead to meaningless if one finds A $10,000 piece of gold, it could be just changed.

Yeah, but what if one finds— all right, but what— no, no, no, no, no, but that's different, because that $10,000 piece of gold matters. You can do something with it. But what if you find a very rare piece, a unique piece of garbage? That's what we are in the universe. That's the point of this article. We are garbage. We're not $10,000 bills.

But that's the difference, you see. You're making a fallacy of equivocation, because the fact, as you said—

You mean of equivalence.

The fact is the fact. But the opinion is an opinion. A fact doesn't have to be an opinion.

No, but it is a fact that we are meaningless to the universe. That if we, and for that matter all matter, died out, it would make no difference. That's a fact.

No, that's an opinion.

No, no, no, no, no. That's not— no. You are confusing subjective with objective. It would have no impact on the universe if Earth exploded tomorrow. Absolutely not. It would impact your feelings, and, and it would impact a lot of atheist feelings. They love their children like theists do. I have no doubt about that. But objectively speaking, which is what scientists do, we have no impact. Our disappearance would have no impact. And that's what they're talking about. I'm honored that you listen and that you call Rabbi Steve. We continue on the Ultimate Issues Hour on The Dennis Prager Show.

Dear Mr. Prager, this is Emilio Rodriguez, and I've listened to you for years. I just want to tell you that you are a blessing to humanity. I am praying for you, so God bless you. May the Lord heal you soon, and I always wish you the best. You're an incredible man. I admire you in so many ways. I respect you. And if anybody ever asks me who would I have liked to have the opportunity to sit down and dine and get to know a person, you will be first in my book. So God bless you. Again, this is Emilio Rodriguez. And I'm a longtime listener. I've been a longtime listener of your show. You take care and may God be with you always and your family.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

Dennis.

Dennis. Dennis.

Dennis Prager.

Do you have a question you've always wanted to ask Dennis Prager? Well, now's your opportunity. For upcoming Ask Me Anything episodes of Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager, we're inviting you to leave Dennis a voicemail. He'll personally answer selected questions, and your question could be featured on a future episode, whether it's about faith, morality, politics, history, relationships, happiness. Or simply navigating life, Dennis would love to hear from you. Just call 877-243-7776 and leave your question. Oh, and be sure to include your first name and where you're calling from. That's 877-243-7776. And while we can't feature every question, Dennis will listen to every voicemail. So call today. You may hear Dennis Prager answering your question on an upcoming episode of Timely Endless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. And thanks for listening and supporting Dennis Prager.

Dennis Prager here, The Ultimate Issues Hour. An effect of atheism, one consequence, and I'm not debating whether or not there is a God this hour, so don't even call in on that. That's not the issue. The issue is whether or not humans are more or less valuable if there is or isn't a God in whose image we're created, or who gives us a soul, or whatever belief you have about God and humans. And it is so obvious that we are more significant if you have the— what we have, what we call loosely a biblical view of the human being, and that is that we are created in God's image and that we have therefore some deep sanctity. The whole concept, and I talked an hour about this, of holiness, which I define as elevating us from the animal-like to the God-like— if there is no God, there is nothing holy. But I, but I specifically am talking about human worth. We are pollution, says a professor, and he's right. That's the point. We are pollution. If there is no God in this universe, we are, we are specks of pollution. That's, that's, that is exactly what we are. In this, uh, in this New York Times Magazine piece that I've been quoting to you, it's titled Out There. And it is about how the 96% of the universe is completely unknowable. We don't even know how to know it. We're just a bit of pollution, Lawrence Krauss, a theorist at Case Western Reserve, said not long ago at a public panel on cosmology in Chicago. If you got rid of us and of all the stars and all the galaxies and all the planets and all the aliens and everybody, Then the universe would largely be the same. We're completely irrelevant. There you go. As opposed to the view that we have infinite worth because a God designed us.

See?

Powerful stuff. Vernon Hills, Illinois. Dennis Prager. Pete. Hello, Pete. Thanks for calling. Hi, Dennis.

Hi.

Thanks for taking my call. It's truly an honor and privilege to talk with you.

Thank you very much.

I have to say, first off, I'm not a great thinker of the world, so what I'm going to tell you is just— or what I'm going to talk to you about is happenstance that I remember from reading Ayn Rand's books. But didn't she postulate in Rational Objectivism that our ego is self-derived value in and of itself, so that we can exist outside of God and have value and create intrinsic worth?

Yeah, but that— I understand every word you said, but it's all subjective. And even ego itself, ego itself is just a psychological term. It's a construct to better understand us. But there is no— you can't find an ego if you dissect the brain.

But does that diminish its worth in and of itself? I guess is what I'm trying to say.

Does that diminish the worth of what?

Of one's deeds and one's actions, because isn't it our actions and our deeds that define us?

They only matter insofar as you ascribe importance to them, but that's a completely subjective call. Objectively, it's quite irrelevant if you murder, torture, or build hospitals.

Right. I agree with you.

I'm not—

obviously altruism is the state of being that you want to be in. As far as morality goes.

Well, it's the state of being that you and I hopefully want to be in, but it isn't the state of being that a lot of people— and by the way, even religion itself doesn't guarantee that you'll be in a state of being of altruism, as we see the murder in, in the name of, of God today taking place, where people are slaughtered and, and religious incantations are made. So we have to be intellectually honest. Religion doesn't guarantee anything. I'm not even talking about that. That's another question we'll do another time. Does religion make people better? Alan, that's a good one for a UI hour, an Ultimate Issues hour. My only question today is, do you, do you, or do you not acknowledge that atheism leads to the utter and total insignificance of the human being? That's all I ask you. It doesn't mean you'll be bad. It doesn't mean you won't be able to enjoy Uh, great music or your grandchildren. That's not the point. Okay, let's, uh, let's go to James in Phoenix, Arizona. Hi, James, Dennis Prager, and thank you, Pete.

Hello, Dennis, how are you doing?

Okay.

Very quickly, uh, when I first heard you throw that statistic out about the 94% that we do not understand and can never understand, the first thing I thought was, does that not at least open up the possibility than that there is in fact a spiritual world, and in fact—

Yeah, it is. I know, it's almost as if God is saying, hey, hello, hello, dear scientists who are a little bit arrogant.

Exactly.

You, you would now acknowledge that you don't even know how to discover 96% of the universe.

Precisely.

So, so why are you all, all so arrogant about that nothing non-material exists? Because you acknowledge right now That 96% of the universe is non-material. It is not matter, it is not energy. You don't know what it is, but by golly, you know there's no God. Very good, James. Well said, exactly right. Over to Utah. And is that Syracuse, Utah, Patrick?

Yes.

Hi.

Hi, how you doing?

Well.

I'm no genius, but when I hear what you're saying about these scientists and the point that they're making that, you know, we're such an insignificant percentage of all the matter in the universe, or that all matter is insignificant quantity, to me, I look at it like it's similar like a diamond. You know, if every rock was a diamond, a diamond wouldn't mean anything. It wouldn't have any value. But because, you know, if this is the fact that we are such an insignificant percentage, then— Wouldn't that argue exactly the opposite point of what they're saying? That we are in fact even more special because of our—

Well, yeah, this was what the rabbi who called up earlier said that the atheists could argue, but that presumes that rarity makes something significant. But if I— but as I said, what if I found a unique piece of garbage?

Yeah, I understand.

Uniqueness isn't valuable. And nor is— nor does common make something not valuable. If there were, uh, if there were 500 billion people, we would— every single one of us would still, still be infinitely important. If you believe that there is a God who invests us with a soul and in whose image we are created. Final We have a great segment coming up. I will tell you the ramifications of all this when we return. I'm Dennis Prager.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

Who answers America's call for more energy? Our people do. They've helped boost Chevron's U.S. energy production by nearly 60% in the past 3 years. Helping fuel national energy security and drives down the open roads that make America. Learn more about what our people do at chevron.com/america.

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

Final segment here of Welcome to the Ultimate Issues Hour. Every week at this time, at this hour, 3rd hour of my radio talk show on Tuesdays, I broadcast the Ultimate Issues Hour. And today it has been about the insignificance of us humans when you adopt an atheist worldview. It is not an argument for God's existence. That would be a separate hour. It is not an argument that religious people are better than atheists. That is not the point at all. There are some beautiful people who are atheists. It is a fact of life. It is simply that one needs to take seriously what one believes or doesn't believe. And if, in fact, one believes that there is no designer, no creator, no God, then one believes that we are indeed, as this professor in this New York Times Magazine piece that I have been citing to you, Said, we are just a bit of pollution. We are completely irrelevant to the universe. 96% of the universe, in any event, is not even matter or energy. They don't— not only do they not know now, scientists, what nearly all of the universe is, they don't even know how to figure out what it is. And as one listener pointed out earlier, one caller, But then they're certain that there is no designer. They admit that they can't even understand the idea that something isn't matter or energy, that the universe is not composed of that. Well, they call it dark matter and dark energy, but as one professor put it, it's just a placeholder. It's just a word that they use in order to say we don't have a clue. We don't even have a clue how to find out what it is. And what are the ramifications? They are huge. If you raise a generation of young people to think that ultimately it's all insignificant, we are just coincidences, do you not acknowledge that that will have a deep impact on the way in which people see themselves, see other people, in the way in which people will behave? Of course it will. Why not just live for the moment? We all die and it's all pointless anyway, and we're all a coincidence in any event. Why bother trying to elevate my life? Why bother putting a check on my own animal nature? Why? That's what I am. I'm nothing but an animal anyway. That's what they are taught. I'm not arguing against evolution. I am arguing for understanding the consequences of teaching all these things as if there is no God. There are huge consequences. You don't think that a generation raised to believe that it is in fact essentially pollution will not act in a polluted way? Pollution acts polluted. And those who believe that they are in God's image may aspire to something higher. There are consequences to atheism, and this is one of them, as spelled out on the Ultimate Issues Hour on the Dennis Prager Show. I thank you for listening.

Tomorrow on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.

Question for those of you married that I would like to have your input with regard to. I think it might help others, and maybe I can help some of you who don't know. What do couples do who have religious differences? And I don't mean 2 different religions. That's one of the religious differences, obviously. But what do you do? I think even more common than being in different religions is one being religious and one not.

I think one of the things that attracted me to my wife 23 years ago, or 24, 25 years ago, when we were dating was that I was going to be a missionary pilot, and that I had a strong sense of wanting to know God and who he was. I'm a shegitz.

So you are a non-Jew?

That's correct.

Right, okay. You're using a term I'm not a fan of, but it doesn't matter. It's a Yiddishism for non-Jew, but go ahead.

Right, and actually, I consider you something of my rabbi.

Okay, I'm honored by that, thank you.

I listen to you all the time, and your discussions on religion have been valuable to me and to my wife. It's not always been that easy.

Thank you. Now, are you in any religion?

I'm Catholic, my wife is Jewish.

Okay, go ahead.

So we made decisions early on. When we were first dating, she was, you know, she had been bat mitzvahed, but she wasn't very observant. And when we decided to get married, you know, we got married by a priest and a rabbi, and the rabbi and the priest both counseled us that we should bring the children up in a religion and not try to do both. It was too confusing for the kids. I recently caught my wife cheating on me. With another man.

Oof.

And this is— when I say recent, this is probably only 4 days ago.

Mm.

And our problems have spawned from the topic you're talking about right now.

Mm-hmm.

I, I've always been religious growing up, and— but when we dated, we weren't religious. Uh, I was semi-religious, I guess you would say. And then when we got married, the older I got— we've been married for 2 and a half years. The older I got, the more religious I got, because I guess maybe the wiser I got and the more I felt that religion became more important to me as we went on. And the reason I've hurt her and I guess pushed her away is I wanted her to be involved with this religion.

Well, what is your religion?

I, I'm a Christian. I attend a Church of Christ. Mm-hmm.

And so when you married, neither of you was particularly religious?

Not necessarily, no. I was on the inside, but I didn't outwardly—

OK, but from her perspective, the two of you were similar religiously?

Uh, yes.

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 in their network, including shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.

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.