WEBVTT - Are People Basically Good? 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:03.040 On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom. 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:06.400 Just like there is an hour each week devoted to happiness, 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:10.440 We're going to devote an hour each week at this 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:15.920 time on Tuesdays to the great Ultimate issues of life. 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:20.119 This is the Ultimate Issues Hour, and I feel that 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.079 the best way to inaugurate this series is with a 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:26.840 great question that people that have not thought through clearly enough. 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:31.840 That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Welcome 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:36.120 to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Here thousands of hours 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:39.519 of Dennis's lectures, courses in classic radio programs, and to 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:45.960 purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to Dennisprager dot com. 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:51.640 Well, hello, everybody, this is Dennis Prager, and I have 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:56.640 a big smile on my face as I inaugurate the 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:00.840 Ultimate Issues Hour. Just like their is an hour each 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:05.440 week devoted to happiness, We're going to devote an hour 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:09.400 each week at this time on Tuesdays to the great 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:14.039 ultimate issues of life. Give it to me, Sean, give 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:28.399 it to me. Yes, indeed, everybody, this is it. This 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:33.560 is the Ultimate Issues Hour. Because I believe, in conjunction 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:37.720 with happiness, that what people need is a philosophy of life. 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:40.720 We need to be clear on the great questions of life, 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:42.840 and that is what this hour will be. It's to 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.720 take a great question, whether it has to do with religion, 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:47.760 whether it has to do with morality, whether it has 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.040 to do with human nature, whether it has to do 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.440 with men and women, whether it has to do with whatever, 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:58.320 the timeless great questions of life. And I think you'll 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:00.400 love it as much as you love the Happiness this hour. 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:02.920 Wherever I go, people tell me that that hour they 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:05.880 just love it. They absolutely they don't want to miss it. 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:06.760 That's what I mean. 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:08.440 I want you to feel that about every hour of 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:12.200 my radio show, to be perfectly honest, But I have 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:15.079 a particular affection for the Happiness Hour as you do, 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:19.320 and I hope that it's likewise for the Ultimate Issues Hour, 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:22.800 the ultimate issues of life. And I feel that the 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:26.000 best way to inaugurate this series is with a great 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.280 question that people that have not thought through clearly enough, 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:34.720 and that is the question of are people basically good? 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.200 Are people basically bad? Are people basically in the middle? 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:44.519 And I learned long ago in my radio life. Long 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:48.680 ago I learned that the difference on the views on 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:54.400 that one issue perhaps more than any other single question 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.639 will help people determine whether they are liberal or conservative, 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:01.639 whether they are writer or left, whether they will have 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:06.880 a liberal or conservative position on most social issues. Hey, listen, 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.680 If you believe people are basically good, here listen. Clearly, 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:14.359 if you believe people are basically good, if we are 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:20.160 born good, then you will attribute human evil to outside influences. 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:25.040 Why do people murder? Why do people rape? White do people? 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:30.639 Why do people burglarize homes? Why do they mug? Why 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:34.600 do they do all these evil? Well, if we're basically good, 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:42.840 something must have distorted that person's goodness. But if you 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:47.040 believe that we're not basically good, then you'll say that, well, 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.840 the person who murders, the person who steals, that person 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:55.800 is in fact giving in to his nature because it's 0:03:55.920 --> 0:04:02.920 natural to kill, it is natural to steal, natural to rape. 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:06.040 So it is a huge it is one of the great, 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.480 huge questions, And that's what I want to talk to 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:13.520 you about on this Ultimate Issues Hour A. People basically 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:16.120 good or not? Now Here are the different positions as 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:18.520 I have learned them over the course of my lifetime. 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:21.520 There are those who believe, and they tend to be 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.960 secular people there are those who believe we are born 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:29.600 basically good. They are very fond for example, of quoting 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:33.039 Anne Frank, the famous Anne Frank from the Diary of 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.680 Anne Frank, the teenage Jewish girl in Holland who is 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:39.760 murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust, who kept the 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:45.560 most famous diary ever written in history. And her diary 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:49.400 includes the line that even though she sees such darkness 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:52.880 and she is hiding in a little tiny attic from 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:55.320 people who wish to murder her and her whole family 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:58.520 just because they're born Jews, still in all she says, 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:00.880 I believe that people basically good. 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:01.840 And she is. 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:04.440 Cited by people who believe that people are basically good. 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:08.760 She's cited all the time. Now. Who can't love Anne Frank, 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:12.320 But to cite a teenage girl's view of humanity as 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:17.200 an argument for that view, I've never found that terribly compelling. 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:20.559 I just happened not to agree with her. I also 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:23.120 wonder if when she, the poor thing, was sent to 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:27.039 a Nazi concentration camp where she was murdered. I wonder 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:29.440 if she believed till the end that people were basically good. 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:33.480 But literally only God knows the answer to that question. 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:38.160 On the other side are those who believe that were 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:45.760 born bad, that human nature is utterly corrupt, and only 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:51.159 with a religious affirmation can one can one deal with 0:05:51.640 --> 0:06:00.480 a dark, sinful nature. And there are all views in between. 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:05.680 Tell you my view. My view is that we are 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:09.560 not born basically good, and we are not born basically 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:12.640 bad by the way the view that we are born sinful. 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:17.320 Of course we're born sinful. I mean that's yes. The 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:21.320 whether or not one needs a specific religious affirmation to 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:23.719 undo it is not my topic today, So don't even 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:27.919 call with it. I'll happily deal with that on another occasion. 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:32.520 That's not the question. We stick to the question how 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.880 is human nature? Is it good or bad? I believe 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:42.880 it it has kernels of both. We have bad tendencies 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:47.080 and we have good tendencies, and the human being is 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:56.039 responsible therefore for his goodness or his badness. And this 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:01.000 is a view that in real life works. It works 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.200 because then you blame people for the bad they do, 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:08.320 but you understand as well that there is goodness that 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:10.720 you can appeal to in people. If there is no 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:14.800 goodness in human nature, then how can you appeal to 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:19.640 people to be good? Religiously or secularly. How could you 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:22.160 appeal to people to be good if there's no goodness 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:25.840 in their nature that will hear you. In fact, let 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.680 me tell you something. The irony is that there is 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:30.800 a lot of goodness in human nature, and it is 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:36.280 perverted very often by value systems, by philosophies that say 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:38.640 that evil is good. And people think they're doing good 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:45.040 when they're doing bad. Yep, I mean there's no comman. 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:49.160 Terrorists think they're doing good. They're saving the world for 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:52.280 their religion. They think they're doing good. They don't think 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:56.640 they're doing bad. They're doing staggering evil, but they have 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:59.440 been given a philosophy of life that tells them that 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:03.840 it's really good when you blow up people in trains. 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.960 The Nazis thought, they said, we're doing good. Ridding the 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:12.240 world of Jewss is a good act. So ironically, there 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:16.200 really is goodness in human nature, but it is easily 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:21.400 perverted by a philosophy, or by by psychology or something else. 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:24.200 But there is also badness in human nature. We are 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:28.600 born with jealousy, we are born with greed. We are 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:34.080 hardly born, especially men with a monogamous nature. I said 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:35.600 earlier that rape is natural. 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:36.760 It is. 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:41.080 It is natural for a man to take the object 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:45.520 of his sexual desire and have sex with that object 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:51.440 is natural. You need a value system to say, hey man, 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:56.600 you can't do that. That is why those of us 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:59.640 who don't believe people are basically good are so keen 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:03.840 on teaching values to people that we don't think that 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.800 love alone will work. You have to also give people values. 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:13.839 You can actually end up with well loved barbarians if 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:15.760 you just give them love and you don't give them 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:22.520 a value system. One eighth Prager seven seven six. And 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:24.960 here is what I'd like you to do, like on 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:27.760 the Happiness Hour, is more or less react to what 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.840 I'm saying, because a lot of you already called because 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:32.880 I know everybody has a view on this, and I 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:37.120 fully or and I fully respect that. But I want 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.360 to give the benefit of a lifetime of thought on 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:41.880 these issues on this the Ultimate Issues Hour, which I 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:45.680 am inaugurating today, an hour on the great questions of 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:49.600 life to help people develop a philosophy of life, because 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:54.880 otherwise life is very confusing. It's something one needs in 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:57.679 life to have a philosophy of life and to really 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:01.760 think it through. So when I say that I believe 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:03.920 that people aren't basically good. I am not saying I 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:07.880 believe people are basically bad. I am saying that people 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:12.080 are torn, and that we have to do everything we 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:21.240 can give value systems, reinforce goodness, punish bad. We have 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:26.920 to do everything we can in order to help people 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.480 go towards the good side of their nature, which does 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:35.360 exist too. There are there are, I will acknowledge, there 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:40.160 are psychopaths, people who are are conscience free. That is 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:42.800 another That is another issue. By the way, I do 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:46.440 I do believe there are people that apparently have what 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:49.760 for whatever reason there is, there is no goodness inside 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:54.600 of them. They are truly pathologic. But that is that 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:58.280 is a fairly rare breed. One eight Prayer seven seven six. 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:03.680 Welcome and email me through the new website address Prager 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:08.360 Radio dot com your reactions to the Ultimate Issues Hour. 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:12.240 This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this. 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:23.880 Now back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom. 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:27.959 Alrighty, everybody, welcome to the second segment of the Ultimate 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:31.719 Issues Hour. I am inaugurating and I am aching for 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.079 your feedback. Since there's obviously a limited number of calls 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.080 that could be taken at any given time. Please, ado 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:41.640 was just send me a letter an email on what 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:45.600 you think about the idea of this hour each week, 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:48.839 just as I do one dedicated to happiness, one now 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:52.959 dedicated to the ultimate issues of life, and that's to 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.040 pragerradio dot com. Just send me an email through that 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:59.680 and spell Prager radio with one hour or two hours 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.559 the the uh. Also, I'm curious to get your feedback 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:08.560 on the opening theme that I have at least tentatively chosen. 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.920 It's it's a great piece by Franz list l I 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.720 s z t late prelude Sean. If you have that, 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:22.240 I want to play it. Yeah, h m. 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:58.240 Hm, alright, anyway, I love it. 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:02.760 But well, we're we're open into two reactions, and let's 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:06.360 talk about this. People basically good or not? The while 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:13.120 the widely accepted version in the secular West is that 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:17.079 people are basically good born good. The reason for that 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:20.400 is that if you can't believe in God, you better 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.079 believe in humanity. It makes perfect sense either you believe 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:24.760 in a good God or good humanity. There are people 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:26.640 who believe in both, I understand. But if you don't 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:28.280 believe in a good God. You better believe in a 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:31.600 good humanity or you're really going to end up in despair. 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:36.040 So secular society, not believing in a good God, has 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:40.320 decided to believe in a good humanity, and that is 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:44.800 not rational based on the moral record of humanity. On 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:47.040 the other hand, I don't believe that we are born 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:51.600 evil either. We have a choice, and the human being 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:55.679 is born with that choice, although we certainly have to 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.280 work very hard to make sure the choice goes against 0:13:58.400 --> 0:13:59.360 nature and. 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:00.120 Is a good one. 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.600 All righty, let's take your calls here and we'll begin 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:07.880 with Jim in Minneapolis. Jim Dennis Prager, you are the 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:09.960 first caller to the Ultimate Issues Hour. 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:10.800 Thank you. 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:12.320 In Shaloon, Dennis, thank you. 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:15.640 Just wanted to give my thoughts. I think we are 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:19.280 both as well for the reason that I think that 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:22.200 we're created in the image of Yahweh, and that in 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:24.960 that image you are giving a conscience and a conscience 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:29.200 broken down con with science knowledge, and so whatever we 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:32.320 do wrong, we do wrong with knowledge. But we have 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:34.800 a per sin in nature, a propensity. 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:34.920 To do wrong. 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:38.160 Okay, we're together on that one. But let me just 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:40.480 explain to a lot of people who argue with me 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:44.440 and say that, well, we are born basically good because 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:47.800 they believe in the Bible, and they will say that 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:51.280 we're we're created in God's image, so we must be good. 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:55.120 But that's not what created in God's image means. Creating 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:59.600 God's image means two things. One that, like God, we 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:03.360 know good and evil. Animals don't. There's no such thing 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:06.240 as a good or a bad dog. I'm sorry, I 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:09.800 know this is painful to many of you, but there's 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:12.400 no such thing. A dog is a dog. Dogs do 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:16.840 not morally contemplate their actions, nor to cats or hamsters 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:18.400 or gorillas. 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:19.680 They do not think. 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:24.560 You know, my nature is to grab that female, but 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:27.720 I won't because I don't really know. If she feels 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:34.600 comfortable having me, it doesn't happen. But human beings are 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:40.480 capable of saying no to their nature. So that is 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:45.400 one in God's image definition. The other is that unlike animals, 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:49.160 we are creating God's image means, unlike we are, human 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:52.440 life is more sacred than animal life, which bothers a 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:54.960 lot of people today in secular life as well. But 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:59.720 I'm just explaining what that means. Okay, let's go to 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:04.520 Matt in Gino, California. Matt Dennis Prager, thank you for 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:05.600 calling hi. 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:06.120 Hi. 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.800 I totally agree that we're both good and bad inclination, 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.160 that we are in the image of God and that 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:14.320 that's the root of our good. 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:15.160 But because of the. 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:19.600 Fall, we can also do bad. I shared this with 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:20.440 one of my classes. 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:22.640 Yeah, but we could, We were able to do bad 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:27.640 before the fall. That's why Adam. Adam went, Adam and 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:30.280 Eve went against God's will before the fall. That's how 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:30.720 they fell. 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:37.840 Okay, well I never thought of it that way, but 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:41.600 I I I. My understanding is that it was the 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:43.800 choice to sin against God. 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:45.960 Well, that's right, but that but so then how do 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:50.760 you make that choice if you're all good? Okay, listen, 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:55.120 this is very important. This is I am asking all 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:59.760 of you religious, secular. I'm asking you to do what 0:16:59.880 --> 0:17:02.760 I believe in any event, if you, if you believe 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:04.800 in God, God wants us to do. Is to think 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:11.360 we secular people too often just repeat what they were 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:14.280 taught secularly, and religious people too often repeat what they 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:15.240 were taught religiously. 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:20.160 And we are we are allowed, in fact. 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:23.320 That it is a credit to whatever we believe in. 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:29.080 If we think a second time about it, and that 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.760 that's that is a big deal, big deal to do that, 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:35.160 and it's credit to your religion when you do it. 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:36.720 It doesn't upset it or anything. 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:38.440 Anyway. 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:41.520 I thank you, I thank you, Matt. I appreciate that. 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:46.840 And let's go to uh the Pocono's. Oh my god, 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:50.320 is that touching to me? You're in the Poconos in Pennsylvania. Yes, 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.840 let me you know. I went to camp in the 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:55.000 Pocono's as a kid. 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:57.160 Yeah, are you near? 0:17:57.400 --> 0:17:59.679 Are you near Tannersville? 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.199 I lived for fifteen minutes from Timesville. I live in 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:04.720 the Effort, in Effort. 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:08.040 I went to camp in Effort. I can't believe it. 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:08.960 I have the chills. 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:10.920 Maybe he went behind my house. 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:14.399 It's no longer there, or maybe it's a different camp. 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:17.720 But I went to camp for three years in Effort, Pennsylvania. 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:21.080 Okay, there's a there's a lake and close to that's. 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.400 Right, exactly? All right, Carlos, go ahead. 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:26.200 Okay, Dennis, Uh, Well, I'm glad you told this guy, 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:29.359 this guy that just called you put him right on 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:31.960 the spot, because this is supposedly a guy that believes 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:35.600 in God, and he tells you that Adam and is 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:39.479 sin and you told him that they sin before they 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:43.359 were evil. Yeah, so because what I believe the reason 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:45.720 I call it because I believe that we need a 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:48.679 good or evil. It's all a prospective how we perceive 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:54.119 life together with our emotional and our behavior, how we 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:58.320 thought since we were children, it was going to determine 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:03.840 and also balance mental chemical balance will dictate. 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:06.439 How we behave right, So do you believe do you 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:11.440 believe that we have a free moral will? No Ah, 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:13.280 very interesting, I didn't think so. 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:15.440 Yeah, so you feel that. 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:18.520 And so therefore that. 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.480 So we learned the logically that the more logic that 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.919 we learned to react better, the better human beings that 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:26.399 we will be. 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:30.760 So, so you don't blame anybody for the bad they 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:31.520 do or you do. 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:36.639 Well, I agree that people have to be taught and they. 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:38.600 Have to be stopped, but what about blamed? 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:40.080 But what about blamed? 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:42.879 Blame is something that is useless? 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:45.160 Okay, all righty wonderful, We'll be back. 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:49.800 This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this. 0:19:55.320 --> 0:20:02.200 Now back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom. 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:04.720 All right, everybody, you're listening to the Dennis Prager Show. 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:08.720 Love your feedback when you'll get a chance to internet 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:12.239 me to email me. Try it through Prager radio dot com, 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:14.920 which you should visit anyway, because you can download shows now. 0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:18.040 It's a lot of fun and you could play it. 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:21.160 You could send it to friends. A lot of new 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:25.280 things available with the show and the internet. I am 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:30.760 introducing today the Ultimate Issues Hour, the Great Questions of Life, 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:33.280 one hour a week on them. I have chosen this 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:38.040 hour on Tuesdays, just as we have a certain hour 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:42.160 on Fridays on the subject of happiness. Today, the great 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:47.160 Ultimate Issues question is are people basically good, basically bad? 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:48.280 Or in the middle. 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:54.080 I choose for the middle, but it is for many people, 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:57.560 of course harder to be good. But I do not 0:20:57.720 --> 0:21:01.159 believe that we are created with all bad. It's not 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:03.800 I do not believe, and certainly not all good. I 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:06.560 mean that that notion that we're basically good cracks me up. 0:21:07.280 --> 0:21:09.960 It is the It is the choice of the secular 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:15.040 world to believe that, largely because they have dropped the 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:17.240 belief in a good God. And if you can't believe 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:19.160 in a good God, you better believe in a good 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:25.639 humanity or you will despair. One eighth Prager seven seven 0:21:25.800 --> 0:21:27.920 six one eight p R A g E R seven 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:30.960 seven six. The hours go so fast that I have 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:33.240 to get another point in here before I take more calls. 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:35.639 And that is those who argue, well, we are born innocent. 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:40.880 Look at a baby. There are no bad babies. Ah, 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:44.360 of course there are no bad babies. Babies don't murder babies, 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:46.560 you know, except for what's his name. 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:47.440 Stewie. 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:53.680 Stewie on family guy. Yeah, he's a bad baby. But 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:59.040 that's a that's a riot, it's a joke. Of course. 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:01.199 You know you're not gonna see baby's picture up at 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:06.520 a post office wanted. But babies aren't good. They're innocent. 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:09.199 I acknowledge they're innocent, but they're not good. And innocent 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:11.760 and good are not the same thing at all. Innocent 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:15.320 means doesn't know about evil, but it doesn't mean you're not, 0:22:17.960 --> 0:22:20.639 or it doesn't mean anything about whether you're good or bad. 0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:23.480 You can be innocent and bad and do bad. Did 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:27.320 any baby ever say? You know? Gee, you know I've 0:22:27.359 --> 0:22:30.640 been throwing up and coughing and vomiting for the last 0:22:30.960 --> 0:22:33.439 I already said throwing up, but you know, just causing 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:35.760 a riot here. And my parents haven't had any sleep 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:38.040 and they you know, they haven't had sex in the 0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:41.240 last three weeks or three months. 0:22:40.880 --> 0:22:41.480 Because of me. 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:44.800 So I think I'll just shut up tonight, of course 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:46.560 not I you say, well, a baby can't do that, 0:22:46.600 --> 0:22:49.440 because they shut up, they'll die. I mean whatever the readson, 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:52.399 But babies don't think that way. So don't give me 0:22:52.440 --> 0:22:55.880 babies as a model of goodness. They're adorable, thank God, 0:22:55.920 --> 0:23:00.280 they're adorable. Will be a lot more infanticide. Okay, hey, 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:05.480 let's go to more of your calls here and let's 0:23:05.520 --> 0:23:09.159 go to Shazad in Bloomington, Minnesota. 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:12.480 Hello, Dennis Prager, Hello sir, how are you doing? Okay? 0:23:12.560 --> 0:23:12.959 Thank you. 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:19.639 I believe that just because we're made in the image 0:23:19.680 --> 0:23:22.280 of God means we're just made in the image of God, 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:26.080 doesn't mean we have his conscience. Or basically the Indian 0:23:26.160 --> 0:23:29.439 thought is. I heard some Indian guys that you have 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:31.960 a good dog and a bad dog. Every person has 0:23:32.040 --> 0:23:35.400 that it depends what dog you feed more. The dog 0:23:35.440 --> 0:23:37.840 you feed more is going to overcome. 0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:39.400 I like that. 0:23:39.640 --> 0:23:42.600 I like that that and the people you said that 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:45.960 are lost conscience. Those are the guys who said the 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:49.320 bad dog so much that the bad dog killed the 0:23:49.359 --> 0:23:52.000 good dog for good conscience anymore. 0:23:52.240 --> 0:23:54.560 That is a if, So that is a is that 0:23:54.600 --> 0:23:57.560 a Hindu of you? Is that a Hindu teaching? 0:23:58.200 --> 0:23:58.720 No, it's not. 0:23:59.119 --> 0:24:03.520 I heard. I'm Indian and that's an Indian school of thought. 0:24:03.760 --> 0:24:06.760 It's just a well, how do you just how do 0:24:06.760 --> 0:24:09.959 you distinguish between Indian and Hindu? That's what I'm asking. 0:24:10.040 --> 0:24:15.240 I guess is somebody who has the Indian culture in 0:24:15.280 --> 0:24:18.480 them and Hindu is somebody who could be in America 0:24:18.520 --> 0:24:19.160 and yet. 0:24:19.320 --> 0:24:20.359 No, no, no, you can't. 0:24:20.400 --> 0:24:23.080 No, no, it's Hindu then, because the truth is, you 0:24:23.400 --> 0:24:26.560 can't be a Hindu if you're not Indian. You can 0:24:26.880 --> 0:24:30.320 learn from Hinduism, but but you can't be Only Indians 0:24:30.320 --> 0:24:33.120 can be Hindus. It's just just like only Persians could 0:24:33.119 --> 0:24:37.040 be Zoroastrians. But anyway, thank you, though, I think it's 0:24:37.080 --> 0:24:40.359 a wonderful I think it's a wonderful teaching. That's a 0:24:40.440 --> 0:24:41.080 very good point. 0:24:41.119 --> 0:24:41.399 It is. 0:24:41.480 --> 0:24:45.320