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Jewish World Review July 13, 2004 / 24 Tamuz, 5764

Dennis Prager

Dennis Prager
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http://www.jewishworldreview.com | In an interview with The New York Times Magazine, William F. Buckley Jr., on the occasion of his taking leave from National Review, the magazine he founded 50 years ago, was asked a series of questions. Needless to say, given the politics of The New York Times and its interviewer, the questions were nearly all challenging. But nothing quite prepared a reader for this one:


"You seem indifferent to suffering. Have you ever suffered yourself?"


In one sentence, a New York Times interviewer summed up the liberal view of conservatives — "indifferent to suffering." As I have long believed, in general, conservatives think liberals are fools and liberals think conservatives are evil.


"There are signs, too, even dramatic ones, that fissures are opening up inside the Sunni-driven insurgency" (New York Times).


You needed to read to nearly the end of the article to read the above. The world's news media are rooting against an American, meaning a George W. Bush, victory in Iraq. But there are reasons for optimism regarding America's effort to introduce freedom to the Arab world.


A major reason aside from the extraordinary work of the American military and its courageous commander in chief is Iyad Allawi, the prime minister of Iraq. As a rule, the world recognizes great people only after they have died, and Allawi may turn out to be another Arab dictator. But based on what he has thus far accomplished, on his anti-Saddam activities before that and on his extraordinary courage in the face of repeated attempts to murder him, Allawi may be one of the few great leaders in the world today. Even if you're an atheist, you should pray for him. The bad guys, and they are very bad guys, hate him more than they do President Bush.


The Connecticut branch of the ACLU, the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union (CCLU) "informed the Windsor Locks (CT) School District that it would face (legal) action if education officials chose to allow a presentation by clergy at Windsor Locks High School on homosexuality and related topics."


The high school had previously invited a gay activist organization, the Stonewall Speakers, to address students on homosexuality and same-sex marriage. In order to attempt to present an alternate view, the school then invited clergy to speak to the students.

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Because "the clergy was supposed to offer a view based on religious scripture," Annette Lamoreaux, a legal director of the CCLU, "reported that the clergy presentation could violate the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution and the Connecticut Gay Rights Law, which prohibits discrimination based upon sexual orientation. . . . She added that it would have violated the rights of gay and lesbian students to equal protection . . ."


Here is another "smoking gun" illustrating the secular and leftist brainwash American children receive throughout their school life. For no defensible educational reason — especially given the poor general education that so many Americans receive — a public school invited gay activists to address students on behalf of same-sex marriage. But clergy defending man-woman marriage are not allowed to be invited. The story also illustrates what ought to be considered a truism: The threat to an open society almost always comes from the Left. The most effective myth of my lifetime has been that the threat to an open society comes from the Right. In light of the fact that nearly every totalitarian regime in the 20th century was of the Left, the effectiveness of this myth is all the more remarkable. Yet, this successful attempt by the ACLU in Connecticut to stifle freedom of speech is just one more example of the totalitarian temptation that lies at the root of leftist ideals.


Finally, if civil libertarians now demand the stifling of speech on behalf of man-woman marriage, imagine what will happen if same-sex marriage becomes legal. Traditional Christians and Jews will increasingly be marginalized by the Left in the media, academia and in law — and declared as immoral as racists.


And a nationwide Canadian poll found that more than 40 percent of Canada's young people consider America "evil." It is not possible to overstate the destructive effect that the leftist education establishment and the leftist news media have had on Western civilization. Combine this with a similar poll in Europe that found Europeans believe that the United States and Israel are the most dangerous countries in the world and you begin to understand the moral havoc wrought by schools and news media.

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JWR contributor Dennis Prager hosts a national daily radio show based in Los Angeles. He the author of, most recently, "Happiness is a Serious Problem". Click here to comment on this column.

Up


06/29/04: A child's innocence is ruined by power hungry media
06/22/04: So, we're hated
06/15/04: We are not making happy Americans like Ronald Reagan
06/08/04: Taliban come to L.A.
06/01/04: One man wore jacket and tie at high school graduation
05/25/04: The greatest sin
05/18/04: The news media and Nick Berg 05/11/04: Shame on the news media, too
05/04/04: Same-sex marriage: Good for gays, bad for children
04/27/04: Pat Tillman, one of the 36
04/20/04: People are beautiful, the world stinks
04/14/04: Bob Kerrey clarifies the liberal view of blacks and women
04/05/04: Why no Christian suicide bombers? — and other thoughts on Islamic terror
03/30/04: What does 'Judeo-Christian' mean?
03/09/04: Who supports same-sex marriage?
03/02/04: Frisco and the Islamists: Fighting the same enemy
02/24/04: Why young women are exposing themselves, Part Two
02/17/04: Why young women are exposing themselves: Part One
02/10/04: Probing the Massachusetts justices' minds
02/03/04: My minute with President Bush
01/27/04: On public cursing and other public sins
01/24/04: $#^% Republicans
01/13/04: A column about my last column
01/06/04: JIMMY CARTER: ‘COMPASSION FOR MORDOR’
09/09/03: The Dems' counter-revolution
08/12/03: What makes a liberal?
08/05/03: A grand victory at the Grand Canyon
07/29/03: Vanessa Bryant deserves admiration, not contempt
07/22/03: Tony, you're killing us: Inside a Leftist brain
07/15/03: Would you rather your teenager smoke or cheat?
07/01/03: Liberal damage to black America is enormous
06/24/03: Unlike any other arrogance
06/18/03: More innocents die when we don't have capital punishment
06/10/03: Only a Palestinian civil war will bring peace
06/03/03: The legal system is now our enemy
05/28/03: Monkeys and atheists
05/20/03: Women pretending to be men
05/13/03: My week at Stanford
05/06/03: Burn families, barbecue chickens: why some can't tell the difference
04/25/03: Much talent, little wisdom
04/15/03: America the good
04/08/03: Dear Germany: Have you learned anything?
04/01/03: Saddam offered professorship at U.S. college
03/25/03: Grieve for Rachel Corrie's parents, but spare us the hagiography
03/18/03: Blame the Jews?
03/11/03: The Lone Ranger rides again
03/04/03: Dan and Saddam
02/26/03: Which will the world's future be: Muslim, European or American?
02/18/03: When have millions of Europeans ever been wrong?
02/11/03: Don't waste your money on an expensive college
02/04/03: What the world would like the president to say
01/28/03: How memories paralyze: Why Jews and blacks vote Democrat, cont'd
01/21/03: Why Jews and blacks vote Democrat
01/14/03: Why the Arab world hates America --- time to myth-bust
01/07/03: Conservatives have talk radio; liberals have everything else
12/31/02: If you believe that people are basically good . . .
12/17/02: Lott, Clinton, and the problem of the career politician
12/10/02: The healthiest and longest living generation of humans since the 900-year-olds of Genesis are being scared silly
12/04/02: Morally neutral reporting is dishonest reporting
11/26/02: Understand Nigeria and you understand the Islamic threat
11/19/02: James Bond meets his most fanatical foe yet -- anti-smokers
11/12/02: Conservatives need to be more compassionate on divorce
11/05/02: Of course, the great majority of Muslims are peaceful -- so what?
10/29/02: Nice guys finish first: Thoughts on the World Series
10/24/02: A Jew defends evangelical Christians
10/16/02: Bigot laureate well represents New Jersey
10/11/02: Why the Creator must always be higher than the Angels
10/02/02: Loudmouth "stars" are remaining surprisingly quiet about Israel
09/25/02: Bob Greene is a good man
09/11/02: 9-11 made America better
09/04/02: What I learned at the Minneapolis Metrodome about liberals and homosexuality
08/28/02: Teach our college co-eds about Islam --- but teach them the truth
08/22/02: LET THEM EAT PEANUTS!
08/14/02: How the nuclear family became "controversial"
08/07/02: Every generation is tested by great evil
07/31/02: Those who curse the Jews and those who bless them . . .
07/24/02: Children should talk to strangers
07/17/02: Why my son's best friend is black
07/11/02: Why Hesham Hadayet may be scarier than al Qaeda
07/03/02: "Pro-Israel lobby" is not why America supports Israel
06/26/02: Why does the Left support the "Palestinians"?
06/19/02: The commencement address I would give
06/12/02: Why do adult children live with their parents? Because they actually like them
06/05/02: The stripper and the Christian school: Thoughts on what a Christian school should do when a parent is a stripper and on who the biggest sinner here is
05/31/02: Don't worry, New York, you are safe from a terrorist threat
05/15/02: A proud member of the world's two most hated peoples
05/10/02: What Israelis are saying
05/06/02: Thank Heaven for moral violence
04/29/02: Give back the Nobel Peace Prize: A letter to Elie Wiesel
04/22/02: Why so many students cheat
04/12/02: Is it 1938 again for the Jews?
04/05/02: It's the values, stupid
01/31/02: Smoke and lose your son
10/30/01: Why Arab/Muslim anti-Semites are worse than the Nazis

© 2002, Creators Syndicate