What Happens When Crime Has No Consequences - Sunday Fireside Chat

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Hi everybody, Dennis Prager with Fireside Chat number 211? 212. 212. All right, not bad. This is Otto, my wonderful, beloved, and of course famous bulldog. By the way, had you been with me right before the chat, you would have seen a precious moment. His brother Snoopy, the basset hound, was in the bed. And Otto is a very easygoing dog. So he didn't nudge Snoopy or bark at him. He just stared at him, or really stared out with a concerned look like, Nathan, aren't we doing the broadcast? Nathan's our video man. And Nathan then said, I don't, I don't, I don't really know what to say to you. And then Snoopy said— I'm really flipping out. Anyway, it was very funny because Snoopy wouldn't move and Otto knew it's showtime. Anyway, Nathan did coax Snoopy out with the promise of a hot dog. Nathan, you owe him a hot dog, just for the record. By the way, that's Nate the Great, for those of you who don't remember. From our last fireside chat.

And the second Snoopy left, Otto—

Yes, that— oh, that was the precious moment. The second Snoopy got up, Otto went in. That is exactly right. That was the key line that I missed. Anyway, everything here is spontaneous, for better and for worse. I sometimes have to read something because I'm not a great one at memorizing statistics and data. There are other guys who can. I'm not one of them, which is not, not a terrible curse in my life, but you got to know what you can and can't do. So I'm going to read to you some data on the question of a column I recently wrote, Is Stealing Wrong? Now you would think, what kind of bizarre topic is that, is stealing wrong? Ah, but the, uh, the, the title was Not on the Left, and that really will sound to many of you as bizarre. Are you saying, Dennis, that leftists don't think stealing is wrong? And my answer is most do not. Liberals think it's wrong. Conservatives think it's wrong. But leftists don't think it's wrong, and I have some proofs. The biggest proof is— here you go— Proposition 47, a California ballot initiative passed in 2014 under which stealing less than $950 in goods is treated as a nonviolent misdemeanor, no longer a felony. And rarely, rarely prosecuted. As a result, California cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles have seen retail theft soar. We have videos of guys walking into stores, taking about $900 worth of items, and walking out with it. And since stores have told their employees never try to stop someone from stealing because it's dangerous, So they know literally nothing will happen. Even if they're caught, nothing will happen, let alone nothing will happen in the store. By the way, I am not happy that we live in an America where employees are told, don't stop people from stealing. I understand that it comes with some risk. All of life comes with some risk. But the price we pay by announcing we will not stop you from stealing is a bigger price, I believe, than the dangers that would accrue to somebody who tried to stop someone from stealing. Clearly, if the person is armed or if there is a bunch of these thieves, that's a separate issue. But where it's one person, I, I, I find it very sad that we have come to the point where we watch as people sort of tear down society's rules. Not sort of, actually do tear them down. So what has happened is, let me give you an example. Walgreens in San Francisco are racking up 4 times the average amount of theft in Walgreens stores across the country. They spend on security guards in San Francisco 35 times more than Walgreens average in other cities. It has closed— since 2016, Walgreens has closed 22 stores in San Francisco. Now let me tell you something else that I find a proof that on the left stealing is not wrong, provided of course— oh, this is key— provided that it is either a poor person or a person of color. That's very important. They don't think stealing is okay for some groups, but they do think it is for other groups. I will come back to that in a moment. But here is another proof. NPR, National Public Radio, had a, an interview last year for quite some time. It was a prolonged interview, and it was with a woman who authored a book Let me get the— let's get that title right. The book is In Defense of Looting. Okay, a left-wing writer, a woman, wrote a book in defense of looting. She was not challenged once by the NPR interviewer. I hope that this is coming across as clearly as I intended to, that on the left, stealing is not wrong. Under $950. And by the way, you could do that every day. So long as you keep your, your, your, your stealing under $950, you can, you could, that's a lot of money every week. It's great income when you think about it. There were more examples here. Let me give you one more. Oh yeah, in the last election, Los Angeles voters elected San Francisco's previous district attorney, George Gascon, as LA's district attorney. In other words, the people of Los Angeles thought he did such a great job in San Francisco that he should now do that job in Los Angeles. How has it come to— how have we come to that point where a woman could write a book and be on NPR in defense of looting and where it is not even a prosecuted crime if it's under $950. How did that happen? So I'd like to offer you some thoughts on that and then take your questions. One reason is moral relativism. Moral relativism means that there are no moral absolutes. When the Ten Commandments says, "Do not steal," it doesn't have an asterisk. Oh, it's okay if you're poor. Oh, it's okay if you're a person of color. Oh, it's okay if it's from a chain but not a mom-and-pop store. There are no asterisks. Thou shalt not steal is an absolute. It's an example of a moral absolute. We have entered the age of moral relativism. We entered this in the beginning of the 1900s in Europe. This is not brand new at all, and it's not new because it's new in the United States. It is widespread. And Paul Johnson, one of the greatest historians of the last century, Paul Johnson, the English historian, explained in, in the beginning of one of his great works of history, he said what happened in the beginning of the 20th century was this: people applied relativism of physics, of the natural world, to morality. What, what after all did, did Einstein prove? That everything is relative, even time. No motion, no time. Time is relative. Everything is relative in the physical world. And they applied physical relativism to moral relativism. That's the tragedy. And why did that happen? Because of the collapse of Judeo-Christian values. The difference between a Bible-based view of the world and a secular-based view of the world is over the issue of absolutes. Well, one of the differences— moral absolutes. What is a moral absolute? It's wrong because it is wrong with a capital W, not because people say so, because people could say anything is right or anything is wrong. In other words, it's not an opinion. And it's universal. It applies to everyone, whatever your race, whatever your ethnicity. It applies to everyone. This has been shattered. Everything is now a matter of opinion. All morality is a matter of opinion. And that's why you could have somebody write in defense of looting and be respectfully interviewed on National Public Radio. Another reason for this is the Marxist view of morality. It's not a division between right and wrong, but between rich and poor. So the poor have a different moral value system than the rich, and, and that makes sense to a lot of people. Oh, poor people stealing is not the same as rich people stealing. And there you go. It's okay if the poor steal. It's very hard to imagine how a society can survive when it renders morality relative, when there are no longer moral absolutes. And I do believe the Western world is in danger precisely because of that. So when I ask, is stealing wrong? It's not an odd question any longer for a lot of people. It isn't. All right, so, so we begin. Time for your video question.

Hi Dennis, I'm Priscilla, I'm 19 years old, I'm from Montrose, California, and I have two questions for you. First, what is your favorite book in your library, and what is your favorite country that you've ever visited and why?

They're not easy questions, I gotta say. Favorite book in my library? Well, look, I, I fully acknowledge that the Bible is my favorite book because I got my wisdom from it, and without wisdom there's no chance for goodness in this world. A lot of nice people do a lot of harm because they don't have wisdom. I've talked about that, I assume, but probably worth doing another one on it. On the question of wisdom, and that's my favorite. That's why I devoted so many years to writing a commentary on the first 5 books of the Bible. 2 of them are out, Genesis and Exodus. The 3rd, Deuteronomy, is coming out in a few months. And for those of you who find what I have to say important at all, that's really worth reading. It's called The Rational Bible. I've worked very hard on that. That's the culmination of all that I have learned in my life and explaining the greatest works, because you can't understand them if you just pick up a Bible and read it. I mean, to be honest, they have to— it has to be explained. A lot of it is self-explanatory and a lot of it is not. Anyway, that's number one. Number two is Man's Search for Meaning. By Viktor Frankl, a man who went through the Nazi concentration camps. He was a Jewish psychoanalyst, an Austrian Jew, and that book I read in high school and again last year. It, it changed my life in high school. So many things about it were so powerful. For example, he was asked after relatives including his wife, were murdered by the Nazis. He was asked after the war, do you hate the German race? That's the way the question was posed. And he answered no, because there were only two races: the decent and the indecent. By the way, that is my philosophy of life. There are only two races: the decent and the indecent. That's why I don't divide America or the world between black and white. They're of no interest to me. They're of no importance to me. Skin color is as important as shoe color, maybe less important. Well, what matters, the distinction that matters is between the decent human beings and the non-decent, the good and the bad. That's the only division that really matters in the final analysis. So that was in his book. So too, he taught another thing. There were 3 things that changed my life, and it's a short book. 3 things in a short book is a lot. Another one is that he said we have no freedom to control what happens to us. The human being only has one freedom, and that is how to react to what happens to us. Boy, did that change my life in high school. That's my freedom, how I react to what happens. And the third one was that the greatest yearning of the human being after food is meaning. And that too was so powerful. See, Marx said it was economics, Freud said it was sex, and Viktor Frankl said it was meaning. And he's absolutely right. There are people who have very little sex, some people with— who have none, but if they have meaning, they can have a happy life. But if you have a lot of sex and no meaning, you are not a happy person. Now, for the record, it's good to have both, but meaning is number one. So those were three spectacular lessons that I got in high school from one book, Man's Search for Meaning. Other than that, as you see, I'm surrounded by books. They're probably, I don't know, in this room, I don't know, 1,000 books. And I have about 5,000 books I think, by the way, every home should have a bookcase. Every home. Even if you don't read the books, you should have a bookcase because it's a statement that you think learning is important, that you think reading is important. It's a very good thing to have a bookcase, even if you do, as I often do now, listen to books on Audible, uh, or read them on, on the internet. Nevertheless, the physical book is a blessing, and it's worth having a bookcase, at least one bookcase full. What— when people come into this room, which is where I do my work, a lot of my work, they just stare. It's so interesting for me to watch people react to this room because they haven't seen a room with this many books. And it, it moves them. A lot of people spend a lot of time in here just looking at the titles, and I don't blame them. It is fascinating. It's a beautiful thing, the book. So those were the— those are the top 2, and then there are about 1,000 tied for third. My favorite country. Okay, that's another very common question. I've been to 131 countries. Which is my favorite? There is no answer to that. If you've been to 10 countries, maybe there's an answer, but if you've been to 130, I don't think there is. So it all depends. Do you mean the most beautiful? Do you mean the most interesting culture? Do you mean the nicest people? Do you mean any, any variation of on a theme? The truth is I have loved visiting every single one of the 131 countries. And, you know, some have a special place in me for sheer color, in the, in the best sense of the word. It's just a spectacularly fascinating, endlessly interesting country— India. I've been there 4 times, I think maybe 5, but certainly 4. And I would go back tomorrow. It's just endlessly fascinating. Israel as well, and most people who visited feel that way. And when I asked myself why India and Israel, I then came up with an answer. They're the only two countries with their own religions. India is, is Hinduism, And Israel is Judaism. That's the Hindu country. Yes, I know Hinduism is practiced in, in a few other places, but the Hindu, Hindu country is India. The Jewish country is Israel. There are many Christian countries, there are many Muslim countries, but there's a Hindu country and a Jewish country. And so that makes it a different place. So it makes it inherently interesting to begin with. In terms of physical beauty, so many. I, I tell you one that you wouldn't think of that's, that sticks in my mind, that's Taiwan. Taiwan is gorgeous. In fact, Taiwan's— one of Taiwan's original names in the West was Formosa, the island of Formosa. Formosa is beautiful in Portuguese because the Portuguese explorers were the Europeans who found Taiwan. And so they named it Ila Formosa, a beautiful island. And it is. But there's a— there's natural beauty in almost every country in the world. And then I also have my list of the 5 friendliest countries. Now, what— you're nodding as if— have I ever mentioned that?

I'm aware.

You're aware of it? I wonder, is it— a while ago? Yeah, it was a while ago. And you're probably all curious. So now why do I have a choice? So I have to remember them now. So in no order of, uh, there's no order, just the 5 that I remember. I found Filipinos extremely friendly. I found the Dutch very friendly. Americans are very friendly. They certainly were pre-COVID. I don't know if there's been a permanent change. I'm not kidding. I don't know. It's a very sad question. And let's see, what else? There were two others. Anyway, those are three that I remember now. It's a fun issue. By the way, you're married to a Filipino. Do you agree with me?

They're very happy.

They're very happy and friendly. Oh, go to— yes. Yeah. That's very interesting that you agree. You do experience that. I'm sorry?

And I went to the Philippines.

And in the Philippines, not just Filipinos in the United States. That's been my experience. I mean, look, there are disgusting Filipinos and there are beautiful everybody else's. We all know that. But as a generalization, that struck me. Same with the Dutch and the same with Americans. God, there were two others and it's driving me nuts. But I don't want to drive you nuts, so I'll keep going. Okay, here we go. That was a long answer to a very short question, as it happens. Okay, next. All right, let's see. Tyler, 12 years old, Castaic, California. Hi, Dennis Prager! Two exclamation points. That is— that's rich. I was simply wondering if you believe that the creation happened in 7 days or that the 7 days symbolized a longer period of time. Say hi to Otto and Snoopy. God bless you. Hello, Otto and Snoopy, when I see him. So I deal with that minimally in my commentary on Genesis. I think people preoccupied with whether it is literal or not are missing the point. What was, what was the Bible supposed to say? In the first 3 billion years, God did the following. The second 3 billion, 462 million, 766 thousand years did the following. Day in the Bible, and I know my biblical Hebrew pretty well, yom can mean an era, just as it does in, in English. In our day, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. Doesn't mean today. So if you want to believe it's literally 24 hours, I don't have an argument with you. If you don't believe it's literal, I don't have an argument with you. I don't think it's important. What's the difference? Does it make the miracle of creation any bit less, the length of time it took? Logan, 20, Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas. Hello Dennis, this is amazing. Ready? Hello Dennis, Otto, Snoopy, Megan's arm, Nathan's occasional voice in the background, Dennis occasionally looking at his wife in the background, and God knows who or what else I am missing. That's funny. That's a true fan. Yes. Your videos have made me think about politics, philosophy, and morality in ways I never have before. I grew up in a secular household. I never went to church or read the Bible at all— at all is capitalized— growing up. Your videos dealing with God and religion made me curious, so I went out and purchased your Rational Bible on Genesis to see if it would speak to me in some way. I have made it up to Chapter 8 so far, and I can already see why Judeo-Christian values are essential to the creation and uniqueness of the West and of good people. It honestly makes me a little jealous of people I know who have grown up with religion in their lives, as they tend to be some of the nicest and happiest people I have ever met. Tell me, do you think it is too late for anyone, even someone like me who is 20 years old, and didn't grow up in a religious family to embrace a religious life? If it isn't too late, what advice do you have for me so that I can further embrace such a life? I normally don't read such a long question, but it was that important to me. By the way, I'm sorry that this sounds like an ad. Nobody writes a Bible commentary to get wealthy, so I feel pretty safe in saying it is life-changing what I've written in The Rational Bible. This is an example. You understand what matters. And that's, that's everything. The answer to you, first of all, how can it be too late at 20? The truth is, if you were 80, I wouldn't say it's too late. Every day you have is as important as any other day of your life. So I don't— there's nothing, no answer to the question too late. You know, when it's too late, it's definitely too late to take up baseball at 70. I acknowledge that there is no chance you'll get into the major leagues. In fact, there's no chance if you take it up at 35. Okay, but that's not what you're asking about. You're asking about this, about religion. So the answer is, to me, to me, the, the answer, because, and this is a very personal answer, there's no one answer to your question. For me, the road to God and religion is through the mind. That's why I call my commentary The Rational Bible. I love reason. I love the mind. I love the intellect because that's, that's how I think. That's, that's my approach to everything. I have a deeply emotional side, but that's a separate issue. I, I, I, I, I love my emotional side, but that doesn't determine my, my understanding of life and of values and so on. So the first thing you need to do is study, study, and study. That's what I believe. The more you know, the more you will have your vehicle. In my— for me, that is my vehicle to God. Studying religion, studying the Bible, studying commentaries on it, reading great works of religious ideas. That's, that's my vehicle more than prayer. For some people, it is prayer. One is not better than the other. I'm only telling you my vehicle. My vehicle is the, is the mind. If it's yours, that's a great way. If you find a tremendous benefit in prayer, obviously you should be praying. One doesn't negate the other. There are people who love both. But I prefer the life of the mind coming to God. The other is, eventually, what you should do is look for a community through Bible study, for example, through a synagogue or a church, and try them all. If you have no background whatsoever, try everything. And by the way, this will bother some religious people, And I'm, I'm okay with that. But I do want to say in advance, I don't mean to bother you, but it might. I do not believe that the search for, quote, the true religion is a, is a fully valid search. How do you know what the true religion is? That's belief. So there's no, there's no perfect answer to that question. I, you know what, my answer to what is the true, what is a true religion, my answer is judge the fruit. Whatever produces, whatever religion produces God-centered, good human beings is for me a true religion. I don't judge religions by their theology. I judge them by their outcome. That's, that's my way of doing it. And so you should look. And by the way, you'll never be 100% satisfied with any religion. Very few people have no issues with their religion. Every thinking religious person I know has issues with their religion. So if you're looking for the perfect religion, you know what it reminds me of? The person who's looking for the perfect candidate for office. One with whom they agree on everything. The only person you agree with on everything is you. So you should run and vote for you. Or make up your own religion. Then you'll have no problems with your religion. But if it's already— whatever the religion is, Catholicism, any, any of the Protestant religions, LDS, Judaism, you're going to have issues with it. So what? You'll have issues with whoever you marry. You'll have issues with your kids. You have issues with your parents. Issues with doesn't mean anything bad, just means you're alive. Okay, hope that helped. What's our timing? Almost to 29. A lot of rich stuff today, or long answers to— well, that was a long question. So let's see, what's the answer here? What should we do, one more or not? Yeah, you know what, this might not be thing long, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna make this shorter. Sam, 24, in Denver, big fan of the show, etc., etc., and he has, he has a grandfather Bill whom he loves, and he says he turns 90 next month and is not doing well health-wise and I'm seeing him next month for his birthday, and it feels like this is the goodbye trip. How should I approach my final hours with him? I feel like I have so much to say to him, but I don't want to burden him with existentialisms. I don't think it's a burden of existentialisms. You should say everything that's on your mind to your grandfather. The very fact that you would write to me about him is such a statement of how you regard him. You should tell him that, you know, Grandpa, whatever you call him. I even wrote to this guy Dennis Prager about you because I, I really love you, and I wanted to know what to say seeing that you're not all that well at this time. It'll mean the world to him. That, that almost suffices. So you don't have to develop some brilliant existentialisms. Just tell them you love them. I'm Dennis Prager. See you next week.

Tomorrow on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.

Reason and God are both necessary. God without reason often leads to fanaticism, which can lead to evil. And reason without God leads to nonsense, as, as we see with the men give birth movement among the godless. So, uh, they are both absolutely necessary— the God of the Bible and reason. One without the other doesn't work.

Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. This has been 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 in their network, including shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.