Posted by
TommCatt on Thursday, September 06, 2007 2:42:07 AM
I'm an atheist -- once a born-again Christian -- and Dennis Prager is my favorite radio talk-show host. Though, of course, I disagree with much of what he believes, he still maintains the highest intellectual level of any other show and has brilliant insights on moral and social issues. (I can't listen to, for example, people like Michael Savage. That's when I turn to the music channels.)
In
this article, Dennis poses his question about 10 men approaching you in a dark alley. I've heard Dennis pose this question several times on his show. My response is that, yes, I would feel relieved. Why? Because Bible-believers are less likely to turn violent than non-believers? Absolutely not. History argues against that. But they do put on a public appearance of morality. For each of the believers in the group, the other nine constitute an audience. Believers are much less likely to misbehave in front of an audience. If I saw one lone man coming toward me in the dark, knowing he had just come from a Bible study would not allay my fears in the least.
In thinking more about it, I also thought that I would be relieved to know the ten men were coming from a Chess club meeting, a bowling tournament, a library book reading, or just about any organized activity. Just knowing they were not roaming the streets looking for some "action" would be a relief. I was thoroughly disappointed to read Dennis' response to a similar answer. The odds of meeting these other people in the real world has
what to do with this particular hypothetical scenario? Dennis' response was more of an evasion than that answer.
Actually, Dennis should probably table that particular question. He himself emphasizes that he is talking about an American city and that by saying a Bible study (rather than a "prayer meeting") he means that the men are either Jews or Christians. His point is that the Judeo-Christian religion(s) as practiced in the US of today has a recognizably high moral standard.
OK, let's concede that point for a moment. But these religions, as practiced today in the US, are far more secular in nature than practiced in just about any other part of the world or in just about any point in history. Just how does this support Dennis' premise?
I'm an Objectivist (a philosophy advanced by Ayn Rand -- Atheistic in nature with a highly defined morality). If I could, I would ask Dennis to consider the same scenario but with ten Objectivists walking toward him. I would be hard pressed to imagine him (or any gay/black/whatever) in a safer situation. I just wonder if he recognizes that.