Dennis Prager, a radio talk show host, lays out the arguments he has been making for 30 years on radio in one cohesive book, Still the Best Hope. He believes the world has three worldviews from which to choose: Leftism, Islamism, and Americanism. Writing in three sections in order to focus on each worldview separately, he dissects and dismantles both Leftism and Islamism. His critique of the Left is particularly insightful. But his promotion of American Values is where his originality is so needed.
He defines Leftism as a secular religion with its own creeds and dogma. All humans need something to believe in and when you reject God, Leftism has to make do. Being a very materialistically focused worldview, material equality is its highest goal. They believe the government can lead us to their view of nirvana in which all experience equality of outcome. They reject facts they don’t like for wishful thinking and desire to will into being their own form of reality. Too often, truth can make people feel bad, and the left is wholly feelings-based. The left succeeds because it appeals to feelings and promises the impossible. Many people would rather believe in a beautiful lie than confront hard and unfair truth. Unfortunately, basing one’s worldview on falsities has led to the most barbaric outcomes as reality has the unfortunate ability to keep making itself known. Only totalitarianism can keep hard facts at bay and only for a limited time.
The other worldview competing for the hearts and minds of the planet today is Islamism. Prager states, “There are a number of serious moral problems within the Muslim world: the lack of liberty, the treatment of women the imposition of Sharia on Muslims and non-Muslims, the use of violent punishments for non-violent offenses, and an abandonment or reason, among others.” For these reasons, Islamism is obviously not the path of more liberty and freedom.
Finally, he defends Americanism. He elaborates on all three elements of what he calls, The American Trinity: E Pluribus Unum, Liberty, and In God We Trust. All are found on every American coin, which makes it a helpful reminder. It is these values we are in danger of losing and in the process we will lose what makes America great and ... exceptional!
Having listened to Dennis Prager for years, I didn’t find much new in the book, but I did enjoy getting all his thoughts in one place. This is a great resource for anyone wanting to concisely explain Americanism vs. Leftism or Islamism. He documents each claim with one or more examples. For anyone not immersed already in Dennis Prager’s thoughts, this book would be a real eye-opener.
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