Dennis Prager is a turd

If you still doubt the hypocrisy from the so-called religious and political right when it comes to religious freedom, I only need to point you to the topic and discussion that happened on the November 30 edition of Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes about incoming Rep. Keith Ellison’s (D-MN) reported intention to use a copy of the Quran apparently during the ceremonial photo op on the day he is sworn in to Congress. Rep. Ellison is Muslim and is the first Muslim elected to Congress.

The guest on the show was right-wing turd Dennis Prager. He is a writer and radio talk show host from the Los Angeles area. He is also notable because he was the one who replaced Rush Limbaugh when Limbaugh quit his TV show 10 years ago.

Prager wrote a column for the conservative Townhall.com website where he said:

Devotees of multiculturalism and political correctness who do not see how damaging to the fabric of American civilization it is to allow Ellison to choose his own book need only imagine a racist elected to Congress. Would they allow him to choose Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” the Nazis’ bible, for his oath? And if not, why not? On what grounds will those defending Ellison’s right to choose his favorite book deny that same right to a racist who is elected to public office?…

But these naive people do not appreciate that America will not change the attitude of a single American-hating Muslim by allowing Ellison to substitute the Koran for the Bible. In fact, the opposite is more likely: Ellison’s doing so will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones, as Islamists, rightly or wrongly, see the first sign of the realization of their greatest goal — the Islamicization of America.

America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on

And this is why Prager is a turd. Saying something without even doing some basic fact checking just to “fire up” the homeys shows he has shit for brains. And as he wanted, he shines a spot light on himself, and consequently turns the light on religious and political conservatives who are hypocrites when it comes to their support for religious liberty. His comments also cause an issue where no issue existed – much like Bill O’Reilly’s crusade for Christmas.

Rational thinking has left Prager and that is apparent when confronted with facts that fly in the face of his religious intolerance. For example in this exchange with show host Sean Hannity:

COLMES: Let me just point out: FDR was not sworn in using a Bible. William Weld, when he was governor of Massachusetts, didn’t use it —

PRAGER: No, that’s not true — I don’t know who — OK, I don’t know told you this. The only president who did not have a Bible was Theodore Roosevelt, first term, and it was because [President William] McKinley had just been shot. Every president used a Bible.

HOLMES: Well, I’m — Dennis, I’m quoting a Boston Globe story from 1991, when he was actually sworn in. And William Weld — I’m sorry, the Library of Congress. That was my source for that. But according to the Boston Globe, William Weld, in 1991, when he was sworn in, also did not use a Bible, and I didn’t hear any outrage or outcry. This is because it’s the Quran. That’s why there’s this kind of reaction —

PRAGER: Wait a minute — no, no, it’s not true. If it had been a Scientologist using Dianetics, or if it had been a Buddhist using some of the works of the Buddha, I would have had the exact same reaction. It is not —

COLMES: What if it was an atheist? Should someone swear on a book that that person does not believe in?

PRAGER: Yes, because you are swearing on the book the society believes in. I don’t — we are in the age of narcissism, which all that matters is, what do I care to be valuable? I care what America cares to be valuable. I am a Jew. If I were elected, I would use the Bible, even though the New Testament is specifically Christian and the Old Testament is for both.

Hannity suggested use of Quran in representative’s swearing-in same as using “Nazi bible” Mein Kampf

and then there is this from the November 30 edition of CNN’s Paula Zahn Now:

PRAGER: Well, the issue isn’t expressing religious freedom. As I also wrote in there, I would fight for his right to worship as a Muslim, to run for Congress as a Muslim. That’s not the issue. The issue is exactly as you put it earlier. What is the book that these people affirm as the central text of American life? Now, some people will say the Constitution. But the Constitution derives its legitimacy from that Bible. Secular congressmen have all used the Bible. They don’t believe in it. Mormons do not ask for the Book of Mormon. If a Scientologist ran, would he ask for Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard? If a racist ran, would he ask for Mein Kampf? We are starting a very unfortunate further unraveling of the fabric of American life. That’s my worry.

Prager and many who think as he does that religious liberty means freedom only for those who use the Bible, but they forget that our form of government prohibits religious tests for elective office. The Constitution derives its legitimacy from the people not from any holy book.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Preamble of the US Constitution

I wish there was more support for real religious liberty and less talking from turds like Dennis Prager.

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2 Comments

  1. Christopher Brooks
    January 5, 2007

    Calling a person a turd says more about you than it says about Prager. What Prager is saying, in nutshell, is that America is philosophically rooted in the Bible (can you name a deeper root?). Societies that disdain their roots are in deep trouble. For an example of such a society adrift, look at Europe, which is not reproducing and is economically and culturally stagnant.

  2. January 26, 2007

    You say that Europe is “not reproducing and is economically and culturally stagnant.” So, I have to ask “compared to what?” History shows that power shifts to different parts of the globe. The US got it at the end of World War I and probably in the next 50 years you will see a huge growth in Asia (especially China) as a power base. It is the ebb and flow of history.

    I also disagree that America is philosophically rooted in the Bible. As I have pointed out in many posts here, historically the US was founded from the Enlightenment – not the Bible.

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