Speaker 1: Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Here thousands of
Speaker 1: hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs. And
Speaker 1: to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to Dennisprager dot com.
Speaker 2: Believe it or not, this is the Ultimate Issues Hour
Speaker 2: on the Dennis Prager Show. The third hour every Tuesday
Speaker 2: is devoted to a great issue of life. But give
Speaker 2: us the Christmas music. It is, after all, the last
Speaker 2: ultimate Issues hour prior to Christmas. Yes, special time of year.
Speaker 2: And I made the argument in the first hour that no,
Speaker 2: what is this the third hour? Already? Wow? Ghost fast Wow.
Speaker 2: I though it was the second is but of course
Speaker 2: it's the third. I made the argument that you got
Speaker 2: to take these two weeks and relax. It's very important.
Speaker 2: And believe me, I know about the world tensions and
Speaker 2: the domestic tensions. I read them, I write them, I
Speaker 2: talk about them, I live them. I care about them.
Speaker 2: But you have to at some point there is a
Speaker 2: reason to have holidays and Holy days. You have to
Speaker 2: take time off because next year is going to be
Speaker 2: very intense. The whole year. The future of the United
Speaker 2: States will be decided in November of twenty sixteen Ultimate
Speaker 2: Issues Hour. The Ultimate Issue is really a big issue.
Speaker 2: People don't know how big it is. I don't even
Speaker 2: think that many people who do say Merry Christmas to
Speaker 2: people realize how big it is. That's why I want
Speaker 2: you to please see my column this week. It's going
Speaker 2: I don't know about viral, but it's extremely widely reprinted
Speaker 2: on the internet, including Real Clear Politics, which takes what
Speaker 2: it considers the most important left and right articles each day.
Speaker 2: So you can go to National Review, town Hall, RealClearPolitics,
Speaker 2: Dennisprager dot com. And the title that I gave it
Speaker 2: is what title? Because they gave a different title National Review.
Speaker 2: Let me see the title that I gave it is
Speaker 2: saying Merry Christmas is very important. That's exactly what it is.
Speaker 2: It is very important. This is a huge issue, huge.
Speaker 2: That's what I want the people to understand. So I'm
Speaker 2: going to tell you why. Let me begin by reading
Speaker 2: this to you. What I wrote. The nearly universal change
Speaker 2: from wishing fellow Americans Merry Christmas to wishing them happy
Speaker 2: Holidays is a very significant development in American life. Proponents
Speaker 2: of happy Holidays argue that it's no big deal at all,
Speaker 2: and that proponents of Merry Christmas are making a mountain
Speaker 2: out of a mole hill, especially when proponents say that
Speaker 2: the substitution of Happy Holidays is part of a quote
Speaker 2: war on Christianity. But the happy Holidays advocates want it
Speaker 2: both ways. They dismiss opponents as hysterical while at the
Speaker 2: same time relentlessly pushing through it in America of Merry Christmas. So, then,
Speaker 2: which is it? Is the substitution of happy Holidays for
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas important or not? The answer is obvious. It
Speaker 2: is very important. That's why the anti Merry Christmas crowd
Speaker 2: has worked so hard to make this greeting a thing
Speaker 2: of the past, and they have been extraordinarily successful. I
Speaker 2: have been wished Happy Holidays by every waiter and waitress
Speaker 2: in every restaurant I have dined, by every one of
Speaker 2: the young people who welcome me when I go to
Speaker 2: the gym, by every flight attendant and pilot on every
Speaker 2: one of my flights, and by every individual I have
Speaker 2: dealt with on the phone. When I respond thank you
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas, I sometimes sense that I have actually created
Speaker 2: some tension, while many of those to whom I wish
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas may actually be happy that someone felt free
Speaker 2: to utter the SA word. All the sensitivity training that
Speaker 2: they've had to undergo creates cognitive dissonance. Christmas has also
Speaker 2: been eliminated by many, probably the majority, of our elementary schools,
Speaker 2: high schools, and universities. Thus, for example, they no longer
Speaker 2: have a Christmas vacation, but a winter vacation. The opponents
Speaker 2: of Merry Christmas and other uses of the word Christmas
Speaker 2: know exactly what they are doing. They are disingenuous when
Speaker 2: they dismiss defenders of Merry Christmas as fabricating some war
Speaker 2: on Christianity. Of course, it's a war on Christianity, or,
Speaker 2: more precisely, a war on the religious nature of America.
Speaker 2: The left in America, like the left in Europe, wants
Speaker 2: to create a thoroughly secular society. Unfortunately, most people do
Speaker 2: not realize that the left believes in secularism just as
Speaker 2: fervently as religious Christians believe in Christ. That's why Merry
Speaker 2: Christmas so bothers the anti religious left. It is perhaps
Speaker 2: the single most blatant reminder of just how religious America is,
Speaker 2: and it must therefore be removed from public discourse. Here's
Speaker 2: a safe prediction the ACLU and other secular activists on
Speaker 2: the left will eventually move to have Christmas removed as
Speaker 2: a national holiday. The left doesn't announce that its agenda
Speaker 2: is to thoroughly secularize America. Instead, activists offer the multiculturalist
Speaker 2: argument that saying Christmas as in Merry Christmas, or Christmas
Speaker 2: party or Christmas vacation is not quote inclusive unquote. This
Speaker 2: inclusiveness argument plays on American's highly developed sense of decency.
Speaker 2: Most Americans don't want to gratuitously offend other Americans, so
Speaker 2: the inclusiveness argument has been effective. But the argument is preposterous.
Speaker 2: Who exactly is being excluded when one wishes someone marry
Speaker 2: Christmas non Christians. I'm a non Christian, I am a Jew.
Speaker 2: Christmas is therefore no more or religious holy day for
Speaker 2: me than Ramadan. But I am an American and Christmas
Speaker 2: is a national holiday of my country. It is therefore
Speaker 2: my holiday, though not my holy day, as much as
Speaker 2: it is for my fellow Americans who are Christian. Irving Berlin,
Speaker 2: an American Jew, wrote white Christmas as a celebration of
Speaker 2: an American holiday, his holiday. Not wishing me or merry Christmas,
Speaker 2: you are not being inclusive. You are deliberately excluding me
Speaker 2: from one of my nation's national holidays. But even if
Speaker 2: Christmas weren't a national holiday, I would want companies to
Speaker 2: have Christmas parties, schools to continue to have Christmas vacations,
Speaker 2: and pilots to wish their passengers Merry Christmas. Just because
Speaker 2: I don't personally celebrate Christmas, why would I want to
Speaker 2: drop the word Christmas from public discourse When Christmas is
Speaker 2: celebrated by ninety percent of my fellow Americans. It borders
Speaker 2: on the misanthropic not to mention means spirited to want
Speaker 2: to deny nearly all of your fellow citizens the joy
Speaker 2: of having their Christmas parties called Christmas parties, or to
Speaker 2: have to force them to replace Merry Christmas with happy Holidays.
Speaker 2: A majority Christian country that treats non Christians so well
Speaker 2: deserve better. Narcissism, misanthropy, meanness, and ingratitude. That's what the
Speaker 2: leftist campaign against Merry Christmas and Christmas parties boils down to.
Speaker 2: So say merry Christmas and Christmas party. If you don't,
Speaker 2: you're not inclusive. You're letting the real life grinches win.
Speaker 2: There we go I want you to have that. I'd
Speaker 2: like you to read it at your Christmas party, at
Speaker 2: a Christmas table, I should say celebration. No matter what
Speaker 2: your opinion, it would provoke a very interesting discussion. While
Speaker 2: I'm not for debating politics, I think this is a
Speaker 2: this is a good one. It's time to fight back.
Speaker 2: It's one of the stupidest things. And it's the whole
Speaker 2: thing's fraudulent, non inclusive. It's a fraud to my fellow Jews.
Speaker 2: A very simple question, should a you in Israel not
Speaker 2: say Happy New Year during the Russiashana season? After all,
Speaker 2: they the Hebrew iss Shahnatova good Year? So should they
Speaker 2: not say that? After all, almost a quarter of Israel
Speaker 2: isn't Jewish. A fifth of Israel is not Jewish. So
Speaker 2: should they stop saying Happy New Year? When a fifth
Speaker 2: of Israel Israelis don't celebrate it personally? I bet you
Speaker 2: they I bet you it doesn't even occur to them.
Speaker 2: This is an American leftist invention, not inclusive. If you
Speaker 2: don't say Merry Christmas to me, then you are not
Speaker 2: being inclusive. There's nothing more inclusive than trying to bring
Speaker 2: me into your celebration. It's like, uh, it's like, I'm
Speaker 2: not going to celebrate your birthday because it's not my birthday. Hey,
Speaker 2: you're not inclusive. It's not my birthday. It's only yours.
Speaker 2: One eighth Praguer seven seven six. This is worthy of
Speaker 2: an Ultimate Issues Hour. It is an ultimate issue. Please
Speaker 2: get the article and send it along. You're listening to
Speaker 2: the Dennis Prager Show. We continue. One eighth Prager seven
Speaker 2: seven six. Hi, everybody, this is the Ultimate Issues Hour,
Speaker 2: third hour every week Tuesday is on some great issue.
Speaker 2: And I consider the removal of the word Christmas from
Speaker 2: the American public vocabulary to be an ultimate issue. Absolutely.
Speaker 2: Please read my column today saying Merry Christmas is very important.
Speaker 2: That's the title of the column. And it's all over
Speaker 2: the It's not all over, it's in many places on
Speaker 2: the internet, National Review, town Hall, Real Clear, Politics, and
Speaker 2: many other places. It's a national holiday. Anyway, I read
Speaker 2: you the entire piece. I'm not going to re review
Speaker 2: all of the points. I'm going to take your calls though.
Speaker 2: The schools no longer have Christmas vacation, it's winter vacation
Speaker 2: and so on. By the way, even Happy New Year.
Speaker 2: I don't know why they say Happy New Year. Jehovah's
Speaker 2: witnesses don't just celebrate the New Year. To the best
Speaker 2: of my knowledge, they don't celebrate birthdays. If you're going to.
Speaker 2: If inclusivity is your point, then you can't say anything
Speaker 2: about anything. Why even say happy holiday? Not everybody is
Speaker 2: observing any holiday? Right? Why say that inclusive totalitarian notion?
Speaker 2: And it's meaningless inclusive? If you wish me a merry
Speaker 2: Christmas and I happen not to be Christian, how am
Speaker 2: I being excluded? Exactly cold? Somebody tell me that, how
Speaker 2: am I being excluded? Aren't you in including me in
Speaker 2: your celebration? Isn't that the nicest thing you can do?
Speaker 2: Like everything else on the left, it's it's preposterous. It's preposterous. Birmingham, Alabama, Jonathan, Hello, Jonathan, Hey.
Speaker 3: How you doing all right?
Speaker 2: Thank you good?
Speaker 4: You know, Christmas is really just a celebration of the
Speaker 4: Winter Solstice, which is a pagan holiday that is kind
Speaker 4: of scraping it over by Christianity. And this is constantly
Speaker 4: you know, Christmas is constantly through Is.
Speaker 2: There anybody who celebrates Christmas who was celebrating the winter solstice?
Speaker 2: Is there anyone celebrating Christmas today? Who was celebrating the
Speaker 2: Christmas Solstice? Excuse me, the winter solstice.
Speaker 4: Well, it doesn't make it any less true that.
Speaker 2: That's what it's about, but it makes it completely irrelevant.
Speaker 2: It's true, but irrelevant.
Speaker 4: Well, I mean that's just why is it relevant?
Speaker 2: Why is it relevant? Everybody who celebrates Christmas as a
Speaker 2: religious day is not celebing the the place of the
Speaker 2: earth visa vi. The Sun. They are celebrating the birth
Speaker 2: of their savior. So why is it important to note
Speaker 2: that thousands of years ago it was the time of
Speaker 2: the winter solstice. I'm serious, I'm I'm not arguing with you.
Speaker 2: I want to know. Why do you think it's an
Speaker 2: important point?
Speaker 4: Well, I mean it's you know, it's it's recognized, what's
Speaker 4: recognizing what our ancestors went through to get us here.
Speaker 4: At one time, it was a big celebration about the
Speaker 4: harvest or whatever it was about. I'm not a historian,
Speaker 4: but no.
Speaker 2: No, I'm why did you call to tell me that
Speaker 2: it was originally the winter solstice? I'm not I'm not
Speaker 2: challenging you. I don't understand the point of the call.
Speaker 4: I mean, because it was stolen. It's stolen, it's sprayping
Speaker 4: it over by Christians. It's not it's not Christmas. Christmas?
Speaker 2: Who what does it mean? Okay? So are you aware
Speaker 2: of the fact that virtually every Biblical holiday, uh, and
Speaker 2: I'm talking as a Jew about the Hebrew Bible ultimately
Speaker 2: had a corresponding pagan basis. Did you know that the
Speaker 2: whole greatness of Judaism and Christianity is to pour new
Speaker 2: wine into old bottles. Otherwise people wouldn't know what they're
Speaker 2: doing in order to wean away Do you know, for example,
Speaker 2: the greatest I'm sure he wouldn't know, and I don't
Speaker 2: expect you to. The greatest Jewish philosopher whoever lived is
Speaker 2: mimonodes To eleventh century. And his point he completely Orthodox
Speaker 2: jew obviously, and he said the whole reason for the
Speaker 2: sacrificial system in the Bible was to wean away people
Speaker 2: from human sacrifice, the whole. Whether you agree or not,
Speaker 2: the point is that the greatness of elevated religion is
Speaker 2: to take traditional frameworks and fill them with moral essences.
Speaker 2: Concentrates you're concentrating on the bottle, whereas the point is
Speaker 2: to concentrate on the contents of the bottle. That's all
Speaker 2: that matters. All right. That's very important because because I
Speaker 2: see that. I always read comments on my pieces because
Speaker 2: I like to see maybe I did I made a
Speaker 2: wrong point, and maybe I could make the point stronger
Speaker 2: in the next column or on the next show. And
Speaker 2: I get this winter solstice stuff as if it means anything.
Speaker 2: Oh so therefore what so? Therefore America should not have Christmas,
Speaker 2: Christians should not celebrate Christmas? So what it doesn't mean anything? Okay,
Speaker 2: won eight Praeger. But I'm glad you called, Jonathan, and
Speaker 2: I thank you for the call. And Shaska, Minnesota and Karen, Hello,
Speaker 2: Karen of Chaska.
Speaker 5: Hey there is Chaska.
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh one minute, I like getting the right Karen
Speaker 2: of Chaska.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: This actually has more to do with your last hour.
Speaker 5: But I was listening to it in the discussion about
Speaker 5: whether or not you should tell children that Santa Claus
Speaker 5: is not real at a young age or not, and
Speaker 5: it just struck me that you're breaking your own principle,
Speaker 5: which is tell the truth first and then give your opinion.
Speaker 2: Right, So you should know that my policy for your
Speaker 2: kids is if your child asks you is Santa real,
Speaker 2: then you have to tell them the truth. However, there are.
Speaker 5: Lots of questions in life that they don't ask, but
Speaker 5: you still tell them the truth.
Speaker 2: That's right, but you see it. So I'm curious, as
Speaker 2: as I point out when I do the subject each
Speaker 2: year on Santa Claus, if you read to your child's Pinocchio,
Speaker 2: do you tell your child please know Pinocchio is not real.
Speaker 2: It's a made up figure by the author.
Speaker 4: Yes, okay, you're.
Speaker 2: Real like I do Cinderella, and you tell your kids
Speaker 2: there really was never a Cinderella.
Speaker 5: I'm not aworried that there ever was, so they would
Speaker 5: be still no.
Speaker 2: No, I'm not right. Okay, So this is a story.
Speaker 5: Santa Claus is a story, so I would tell them
Speaker 5: the same. It's a story. It's not real.
Speaker 2: No, that's what I'm saying. Before you read your kids Cinderella,
Speaker 2: you say this is not real.
Speaker 5: I don't know if before I opened the book, I
Speaker 5: would do that. But they would tell at a young
Speaker 5: age that it was a story.
Speaker 2: No, they don't know that that's not true. I'll bet
Speaker 2: you they believe Cinderella lived.
Speaker 5: But I would tell them when they were old enough
Speaker 5: to understand the difference between the truth and a story.
Speaker 2: So all right, So you would, according to you, you
Speaker 2: lie to them until they're older. That's your own that's
Speaker 2: your own accusation against me.
Speaker 5: No, Dennis, because there are lots of things that you
Speaker 5: do in life, you do to teach them things.
Speaker 2: That's exactly right. And that's exactly why I don't think
Speaker 2: there's any reason to tell your kid about Santa until
Speaker 2: they ask.
Speaker 5: Okay, well, sorry, I already did, by the way. I
Speaker 5: was raised in a family where I knew that Santa
Speaker 5: Claus was not real, but we still had christ of
Speaker 5: gifts under the tree.
Speaker 2: Believe that, and I believe that. I believe that, and
Speaker 2: I'm glad you did. I don't know anybody who's been
Speaker 2: harmed by having been raised without being told Santa Claus
Speaker 2: is a myth. Okay, I don't think it's a battle
Speaker 2: worth making. It's not my biggest passion in life. The
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas issue is a big passion. Back in a moment,
Speaker 2: you are listening to the Ultimate Issues Hour on the
Speaker 2: Dennis Prager Show.
Speaker 3: We're riding in a wonderland of.
Speaker 2: Hi, everybody, I'm Dennis Prager. This is the Ultimate Issues Hour.
Speaker 2: The third hour every Tuesday is on an Ultimate Issue
Speaker 2: this week. It is my column. I actually read my column.
Speaker 2: I don't do that. I mean maybe three times a
Speaker 2: year I do that. Maybe that's how significant I consider
Speaker 2: this column. And it's up at my website, National View,
Speaker 2: Real Clear Politics, town Hall and many others. It's as
Speaker 2: you might want to print it out and read it
Speaker 2: at your Christmas dinner. It's it's a it's a it's
Speaker 2: an important I think it's an important piece on why
Speaker 2: it is totally inclusive to say Mary Christmas and completely
Speaker 2: narcissistic to make the substitutions for it. Happy Holiday. Incidentally,
Speaker 2: our our guest here also here is happy holiday in
Speaker 2: the singular, not just happy holidays. CHRISTI in Inglewood, California,
Speaker 2: Dennis Prager High m Okay, Christy. Christy is currently one
Speaker 2: of the volunteers on the Martians Space Cruise and is
Speaker 2: calling from many miles away. Christy, I can't hear a word.
Speaker 6: Can you hear me?
Speaker 2: Now? I can? Great?
Speaker 6: Okay, Hi, thank you for taking my call. I have
Speaker 6: to tell you that you're such a blessing to me
Speaker 6: and my mom, who's almost ninety three. We listen to
Speaker 6: you every morning. I take care of her at home,
Speaker 6: and it's part of our morning routine. And I was
Speaker 6: walking through the dining room and I was hearing you
Speaker 6: explain to that lout caller some thoughts you had about
Speaker 6: the winter solstice and Christmas. And I have to tell
Speaker 6: you, you've never heard anyone explain.
Speaker 2: The give an answer to that.
Speaker 6: Yes, the elevations of paganism.
Speaker 2: That's right, Yep, that's right.
Speaker 6: The way that you did it was truly a special
Speaker 6: moment for me, and I hope it was for a
Speaker 6: lot of other people. You ares just so brilliant at
Speaker 6: explaining things.
Speaker 2: Well, that's very kind of you, you know. Just recently,
Speaker 2: it was very interesting. Recently, a very pre dominant Christians
Speaker 2: looked at me and he said, do you know how
Speaker 2: many people you have brought back to Christianity? And I
Speaker 2: said yes. And the fact is I brought a lot
Speaker 2: of Jews back to Judaism. And because there are great
Speaker 2: arguments to be made, I mean not arguments, there are
Speaker 2: great truths to be told. And the truth is that unfortunately,
Speaker 2: well intentioned clergy just haven't had these answers. There's this thing, Oh,
Speaker 2: it's really the winter solstice is an irrelevant point and
Speaker 2: it's not true. The greatness of religion is to take
Speaker 2: the pagan and elevate it, just as Christy was so
Speaker 2: happy to hear. That's its greatness. If people are celebrating
Speaker 2: a certain date and you can change that date from
Speaker 2: celebrating Zeus into celebrating one God and celebrating love your
Speaker 2: neighbor as yourself, and all the other greatnesses of the Testaments,
Speaker 2: then that's great, isn't it. Isn't that the best thing
Speaker 2: you could do. I mean, just to give you an example,
Speaker 2: let us say it's not a perfect example. Very few
Speaker 2: times is an analogy perfect. Let us say somebody took
Speaker 2: the swastika and made it into a symbol of love,
Speaker 2: an active symbol of love. They have taken it away,
Speaker 2: they have filled it with something beautiful. Okay, let's go
Speaker 2: to uh uh right, let's see, let's see, let's see,
Speaker 2: let's see. Okay, I'm sorry, Rob in Garden City, New York.
Speaker 2: We're not going to talk about Donald Trump this hour.
Speaker 2: I'm only laughing because it's so easy to get politics
Speaker 2: into anything. But now we're just talking about this subject.
Speaker 2: So yeah, call call tomorrow. That is exactly right. Okay.
Speaker 2: So we've opened up a line, folks, and I may
Speaker 2: open up a couple of others. Oh yeah, David, and
Speaker 2: fort Worth notes, those who say Santi is and real
Speaker 2: are misinformed. He was a real person. Okay, But obviously
Speaker 2: the way we refer to Santa Claus today, coming down
Speaker 2: the chimney and bringing you gifts and getting letters into
Speaker 2: the north pole, that's that's the one we're referring to.
Speaker 2: I see no harm done.
Speaker 6: You know what.
Speaker 2: I'm a big believer in folks, really really big believer
Speaker 2: in common sense. Back in a moment. You're listening to
Speaker 2: the Dennis Prager Show, the Ultimate Issues.
Speaker 7: Hour, just to share I love black yours bok.
Speaker 2: Hello, my friends. I'm Dennis Prager and this is the
Speaker 2: Ultimate Issues Hour, the third hour every Tuesday, and some
Speaker 2: great issue. I read to you my column today. Tuesday
Speaker 2: is my column day, nationally syndicated column, and it is
Speaker 2: about why saying Merry Christmas is so important. I do
Speaker 2: consider it an ultimate issue. People like to trivialize it.
Speaker 2: At the same time that they trivialize it, they are
Speaker 2: making war against it. No, no, no, Schools don't have
Speaker 2: Christmas vacations, they have winter vacations. We don't say Merry Christmas,
Speaker 2: we say happy holiday, and we don't have a Christmas
Speaker 2: party at work? We have a holiday party? Holiday party?
Speaker 2: What does that mean? Tell me, isn't there Isn't there
Speaker 2: something more meaningful to the word Christmas party than holiday party?
Speaker 2: I mean? Right? And you know what's happened. You see
Speaker 2: what leftism? Leftism is ultimately a form of narcissism. I
Speaker 2: don't celebrate it, so why the hell should you. I'm
Speaker 2: not religious, so let me tear down the religiosity of America.
Speaker 2: That's what it really is, That's what it is in
Speaker 2: its essence, and I want to fight back. I want
Speaker 2: to fight back. All right, Let's see what else we
Speaker 2: have here, and let's go to Colorado Springs. Pat, Hello, Pat,
Speaker 2: Dennis Prager.
Speaker 3: Dennis, I would love to talk to you one on
Speaker 3: one for about four hours.
Speaker 2: I learned so much from Would you bring a very
Speaker 2: good cigar?
Speaker 3: Absolutely?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 1: All right?
Speaker 2: Oh? Makes it certainly makes it more tempting. Yes.
Speaker 3: The attack against Merrick Christmas, I think is just another
Speaker 3: indicator of what's going on in the bigger picture. We
Speaker 3: wrestle not against flesh and blood. We wrestle against sprints,
Speaker 3: taalities and powers of darkness. I think we're in a
Speaker 3: spiritual battle in America.
Speaker 2: We are ultimately, There's no doubt in my mind it
Speaker 2: ultimately comes down to the God issue. There is no
Speaker 2: doubt in my mind that that is what is about
Speaker 2: leftism in the final Now, since Marx has been ultimately
Speaker 2: about that. Marx hated religion. It's the opiate of the people.
Speaker 2: God is Man, Man is God. What is it? Man
Speaker 2: is God? That was I believe Marx. God is Man.
Speaker 2: That was Engels. Ever since the beginning, it has been
Speaker 2: they have understood either the left winds or religion wins.
Speaker 2: And that is why Europe has essentially no religion. And
Speaker 2: what is the result. People don't get married, people don't
Speaker 2: have children, people don't have ultimate meaning. The place is soulless.
Speaker 2: I love visiting Europe. I love it. By the end
Speaker 2: of the next cruise, I will have been Europe has
Speaker 2: an incredible number of countries. I will have been to
Speaker 2: every European country except uh, maybe Slovakia because I was
Speaker 2: in Czechoslovakia, but that was before it divided into Czech
Speaker 2: Republican Slovakia and I and we're going to Slovenia correct
Speaker 2: on this cruise. So Slovenia on Albania and Montenegro, So
Speaker 2: what's left. I've been to Croatia, I've been to Serbia,
Speaker 2: So what's left in Yugoslavia the former Yugoslava. I think
Speaker 2: I will have been to every I and I studied
Speaker 2: in Europe for a year. I've been back a dozen
Speaker 2: times at least. But it's solis, folks. It is soulless
Speaker 2: and and that's what the left creates. It's a soulless place.
Speaker 2: Everything is about the material. How much do you make,
Speaker 2: how much time do you have off, what are your
Speaker 2: what is your retirement age? That's it. It's all material.
Speaker 2: It's because because obviously, if there's no God, what is
Speaker 2: Everything is just material? So he the caller is right, Pat,
Speaker 2: You're right, it is ultimately. I've always believed that it
Speaker 2: is ultimately about the God issue. You know how we
Speaker 2: know that at pre University. It's interesting, you know how
Speaker 2: much you know what's get the most hate of our
Speaker 2: videos the ones that advocate God's existence, not the ones
Speaker 2: that advocate small government, not the ones that advocate lower taxes.
Speaker 2: I mean, we have a lot of controversial and not
Speaker 2: even the ones that from the founder co founder of
Speaker 2: Greenpeace who spoke about the UH the lack of threat
Speaker 2: in global warming. Even those didn't get as much hate
Speaker 2: as the completely rational videos on behalf of God's existence.
Speaker 2: That's really what that's really in the final analysis, the
Speaker 2: most angering aspect. Oh Kadoki, Let's go to more of
Speaker 2: your calls, and again, thank you. Pat. Free up a
Speaker 2: line there, dearborn Michigan, Karen, Hello, Karen.
Speaker 8: Dennis Prager, Hi, Dennis, Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 8: I wish I would have had your column read before
Speaker 8: I went into an appointment that I just left about
Speaker 8: an hour ago. I am a Christian. I do have
Speaker 8: a Muslim person that I know through work that I
Speaker 8: needed to visit his house, and he and I have
Speaker 8: had times. He's a very mature gentleman. It's been in
Speaker 8: this country over forty years, and is Muslim. We've had
Speaker 8: discussions in the past, very pleasant discussions about our respective religion.
Speaker 8: But today I visited him in his house and he
Speaker 8: had a Christmas tree front and center in his living
Speaker 8: room window, and I thought he is American, and I
Speaker 8: think that really hones into what your whole column was about,
Speaker 8: that despite our differences, he embraces America well.
Speaker 2: I think it does exemplify that he does exactly. That's
Speaker 2: not to say that every non Christian doesn't have a
Speaker 2: Christmas tree, doesn't embrace America. But it's I understand your point,
Speaker 2: and I agree with you, of course. I mean it's
Speaker 2: his He wasn't converting to Christianity. He was celebrating an
Speaker 2: American holiday, and it is a national holiday, folks. Easter
Speaker 2: is not a national holiday, but Christmas is a national holiday.
Speaker 2: And I honor my fellow citizen. I'm not just Dennis.
Speaker 2: Here's a great here's a great thought for people on
Speaker 2: the left. You're not only you or a member of
Speaker 2: your ethnic group or racial group. You're also an American.
Speaker 2: I know that that's a chakaru, but it's worth thinking about.
Speaker 2: Back in a moment. I get so involved and wrapped
Speaker 2: up in these Christmas songs that I I don't start
Speaker 2: talking on top now, who is that? I know that,
Speaker 2: I know that that's Frank, Yeah, of course, of course,
Speaker 2: exactly what an era? Now, these were the crooners, right,
Speaker 2: it was the krooner era. Yeah, it's like Dean Martin
Speaker 2: was a crooner too, right, It's just I know it's
Speaker 2: just a term, but they but they used it. Well, well,
Speaker 2: not in the crooner era now, so that's why I
Speaker 2: use the word era. Maybe it was an era to
Speaker 2: use era. Hello everybody, I'm Dennis Prager. This is the
Speaker 2: Dennis Prager Show and this is the Ultimate Issues Hour.
Speaker 2: Please get my column today. It comes out on Tuesdays
Speaker 2: on why saying Merry Christmas is so important. It is
Speaker 2: a huge issue in the United States. Huge Ah. Okay.
Speaker 2: Stephanie in Scottsdale, Arizona. Hello, Stephanie of Scottsdale.
Speaker 3: Hello, ooh that was beautiful.
Speaker 9: Hello, thank you.
Speaker 4: I have a question.
Speaker 9: My question is, as a Jew, how do we teach
Speaker 9: our children how to honor Christmas and say Mary Christmas
Speaker 9: without confusing them about the fact that we're Jews and
Speaker 9: we practice Judaism not Christian Now, it's very interesting, Americans,
Speaker 9: we want to honor us.
Speaker 2: Well, you just did it perfectly. Frankly, if you just
Speaker 2: said that, this is one of the great calls of
Speaker 2: my history, you answered the question. I don't have to
Speaker 2: say a word. I can only add an anecdote for you.
Speaker 2: I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home where we
Speaker 2: wore a yamlda all the time in the house. Okay,
Speaker 2: and on every Christmas Eve, except if it was Friday
Speaker 2: night because we didn't watch television. On Friday night, every
Speaker 2: Christmas Eve, my whole family would gather around the television
Speaker 2: set and watch the Mass from the Vatican. And I
Speaker 2: remember when I was five or six, thinking, look, he
Speaker 2: where's a yamulka two? Looking at the Pope, there was
Speaker 2: never a confusion. I was raised in a home to
Speaker 2: love my fellow American, to love America, and to honor
Speaker 2: the holiday called Christmas, because that's a national holiday of
Speaker 2: the nation that has treated Jews better than any in history.
Speaker 2: Is that a good enough reason to say Merry Christmas?
Speaker 2: I'm Dennis Prager.
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