Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 60 (9209 total)
2 online now:
Newest Member: Skylink
Post Volume: Total: 919,448 Year: 6,705/9,624 Month: 45/238 Week: 45/22 Day: 12/6 Hour: 0/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   Dominant Force in West Today According to Dennis Prager is Fear of Left
Faith 
Suspended Member (Idle past 1696 days)
Posts: 35298
From: Nevada, USA
Joined: 10-06-2001


Message 1 of 308 (866363)
11-10-2019 11:03 AM


Prager's Original Article
Phat suggested the following piece by Dennis Prager might be the basis of a new thread so since nobody else had posted it yet I thought I would. At first the title didn't sound valid, but then I read it and now think it gets at the white-hot center of what is wrong in America today, how the Left, the Liberal Left, is acting just like its models in Marxism, Communism, and Socialism, using intimidation tactics against ordinary people to shut them up and drive them out of the public square, which is causing conservatives to lie low for fear of what they will do to them. I recently posted an example of this in the accusations against Sebastian Gorka and his daughter in Message 3372 on the Right Side of the News thread.
But I think Prager nails it:
By Dennis Prager
The dominant force in America and many other Western countries today is fear of the left.
This is a result of the fact that the most dynamic religion of the past 100 years has been neither Christianity nor Islam. It has been leftism. Whoever does not recognize this does not understand the contemporary world.
Leftism in its incarnations, such as Marxism, communism and socialism; expressed through egalitarianism, environmentalism and feminism; in its denigration of capitalism and Western civilization, especially America and Israel; in its supplanting of Christianity and Judaism; through its influence on Christianity and Judaism; in its celebration of race; and in its replacing of reason with romanticism has almost completely taken over the news and entertainment media and institutions of education.
There is a largely (though not entirely) nonviolent reign of ideological terror in America. In almost every area of life, people fear antagonizing the left.
Last week, before my speech at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a man employed by the university (I will not say in what department) walked over to me, looked around to see whether anyone was watching and whispered in my ear, I’m a conservative.
This happens just about everywhere I speak. People whisper yes, whisper that they are conservative or they support Trump. The last time I experienced people looking around to check whether they were seen speaking to me was with dissidents in the Soviet Union.
People call my radio show from all over the country to say that their fellow musicians, nurses, teachers or employees do not know that they are conservative, let alone that they support the president.
I have called contemporary conservatives in America Marranos, the name given during the 15th-century Spanish Inquisition to Jews who hid their Judaism while appearing to be Catholics, lest they be persecuted. I do not compare the consequences: Losing one’s friends or employment is not the same as losing one’s home or one’s life. But otherwise, the label is apt.
Because of my widely covered conducting of the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra at the Walt Disney Concert Hall last summer, members of some of the most prestigious orchestras in America have opened up to me, telling me they are conservative but would never reveal this fact to their fellow musicians. They fear either losing their position or, more likely, being socially ostracized.
Why are so many Democrats shocked when a Republican is elected president? Because, as they themselves say, they don’t know anyone who voted for the Republican. The primary reason for this is the people in their life who voted for Donald Trump professional colleagues, and even friends and relatives are afraid to tell them.
There are two reasons the left labels most conservatives and all Trump supporters white supremacists, neo-Nazis and racists. One is to defeat conservatives without having to defeat conservative ideas. The other is to instill fear: Speak out and you will suffer the consequences.
Parents call my radio show and ask what they should tell their children at college when they ask whether they should risk receiving a lower grade for divulging their conservative politics in a paper or on an exam.
It is becoming more and more common for leftist mobs to gather in front of a conservative’s home, scream epithets at the conservative’s family members and vandalize the home. Just last week, the Associated Press reported: Protesters are targeting the northern Virginia home of the National Rifle Association’s top lobbyist Chris Cox as well as his wife’s nearby decorating business. Libby Locke, a lawyer for the Cox family, said the vandalism included spraying fake blood and defacing the home with stickers.
Left-wing student mobs routinely take over the offices of university deans, professors and even presidents. The few non-left-wing professors on any campus understand their lives will be made miserable if they speak out. The widely reported case of liberal biology professor Bret Weinstein at Evergreen State College in Washington is directly on point.
In May 2017, professor Weinstein was surrounded by about 50 left-wing students, who screamed curses at him outside of his classroom for refusing to participate in an event during which white people were asked to leave the campus for a day.
On May 24, 2017, Weinstein tweeted: the police told me I am not safe on campus. They can not protect me.
Within a few months, left-wing students and the left-wing Evergreen administration made life so miserable for the lifelong liberal professor he left the university.
Since the left began spreading the lie that a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot a black youth because he, like most police officers, is a racist, police officers in many cities have feared taking proactive measures to prevent violent crime in black neighborhoods. They fear the left-wing mob known as the news media will ruin their reputation and end their career.
In the recent case of a Philadelphia Starbucks manager who asked two black men to purchase something before giving them the code to the restroom, Starbucks immediately appeased the left-wing mob. The company didn’t wait until any facts came out; it simply abandoned the manager and announced it would close every U.S. store one day in May to educate all Starbucks employees about unconscious bias.
These are only a few examples of the left-wing intimidation that dominates much of American life.
It does so in large measure because liberals are either too afraid to confront the left or they don’t understand that the American left, not the American right, is the mortal enemy of liberalism.
This column was originally posted on Townhall.com.
Edited by Faith, : No reason given.
Edited by AdminPhat, : No reason given.
Edited by AdminPhat, : Agreed Retitling Of Thread
Edited by Admin, : Fix asterisks in title.
Edited by Faith, : No reason given.
Edited by Faith, : No reason given.
Edited by Faith, : No reason given.
Edited by Admin, : Fix title again, remove Faith's editing permissions.

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by AdminPhat, posted 11-10-2019 11:34 AM Faith has replied
 Message 7 by RAZD, posted 11-10-2019 2:16 PM Faith has replied
 Message 9 by PaulK, posted 11-10-2019 2:20 PM Faith has not replied
 Message 11 by Theodoric, posted 11-10-2019 3:12 PM Faith has replied
 Message 115 by Taq, posted 11-14-2019 4:04 PM Faith has not replied

  
AdminPhat
Inactive Member


Message 2 of 308 (866364)
11-10-2019 11:34 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by Faith
11-10-2019 11:03 AM


Promoting Cautiously. Topic Will Be Moderated.
For those wishing to move past Faith's asterisks, the topic can be found here. Faith, I suggest editing your opening post and simply responding to Prager's article. let the participants read it without trying to guess all of your asterisks. I mentioned your comment about removing your restrictions to Percy. It is his call.
Participants at EvC do have a History of talking past each other in these types of threads. They will ask you to provide evidence, and if you refuse to engage them at that level demand, they will point out what they perceive as your dishonesty. So before considering this topic for promotion, I will ask our Forum at large: Shall we promote this topic? Why or why not? (This response is a trial run which will determine whether the issue has merit and support.)
I will open the topic to this specific line of questions.
  • Is Prager correct in his assessment? Why or why not.
  • Is Leftism a type of religion or ideology? Provide supporting quotes from others. Don't argue your position without at least quoting support.
    We recently closed Conservative Racism due to improper Forum Etiquette.
  • Please argue the position and don't get personal with each other.
    Some would argue that Right-Wing Populism is as much of a threat to global culture as is Leftism. If anyone wishes to discuss this assertion, please provide quotes from the sources that either support or challenge the claims of your opponent. Keep this one professional and don't attack each other, or it will be shut down. (or one of you will get suspended)
    Edited by AdminPhat, : No reason given.

  • This message is a reply to:
     Message 1 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 11:03 AM Faith has replied

    Replies to this message:
     Message 4 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 12:31 PM AdminPhat has seen this message but not replied

      
    AdminPhat
    Inactive Member


    Message 3 of 308 (866366)
    11-10-2019 11:41 AM


    Thread Copied from Proposed New Topics Forum
    Thread copied here from the Fear of the **** the driving force in the west today the driving force in the west today thread in the Proposed New Topics forum.

      
    Faith 
    Suspended Member (Idle past 1696 days)
    Posts: 35298
    From: Nevada, USA
    Joined: 10-06-2001


    Message 4 of 308 (866373)
    11-10-2019 12:31 PM
    Reply to: Message 2 by AdminPhat
    11-10-2019 11:34 AM


    Re: Promoting Cautiously. Topic Will Be Moderated.
    I have no control over the asterisks, Phat, Percy put them there and he objects when I use misspellings to get around them..

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 2 by AdminPhat, posted 11-10-2019 11:34 AM AdminPhat has seen this message but not replied

    Replies to this message:
     Message 5 by Coragyps, posted 11-10-2019 2:03 PM Faith has not replied
     Message 10 by RAZD, posted 11-10-2019 2:27 PM Faith has replied
     Message 41 by Hyroglyphx, posted 11-11-2019 10:32 AM Faith has replied

      
    Coragyps
    Member (Idle past 986 days)
    Posts: 5553
    From: Snyder, Texas, USA
    Joined: 11-12-2002


    (2)
    Message 5 of 308 (866379)
    11-10-2019 2:03 PM
    Reply to: Message 4 by Faith
    11-10-2019 12:31 PM


    Re: Promoting Cautiously. Topic Will Be Moderated.
    Mr Prager hasn’t been out here in West Texas much. I know lots of people who are afraid to admit that they are Democrats out here - afraid to be ostracized, afraid they’ll get fired from their jobs. They might whisper to me (the local Democratic County Chairman) that they voted for Obama or for Beto, but they don’t want it publicized.

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 4 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 12:31 PM Faith has not replied

    Replies to this message:
     Message 6 by NosyNed, posted 11-10-2019 2:10 PM Coragyps has not replied

      
    NosyNed
    Member
    Posts: 9011
    From: Canada
    Joined: 04-04-2003


    (2)
    Message 6 of 308 (866381)
    11-10-2019 2:10 PM
    Reply to: Message 5 by Coragyps
    11-10-2019 2:03 PM


    An anecdote
    I remember hearing a woman interviewed on CBC radio a few years ago (she has since died).
    She said something like ( about a town in West TX):
    Gays don't want to come out of the closet here because they are afraid folks will think they are democrats.

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 5 by Coragyps, posted 11-10-2019 2:03 PM Coragyps has not replied

    Replies to this message:
     Message 8 by RAZD, posted 11-10-2019 2:19 PM NosyNed has not replied

      
    RAZD
    Member (Idle past 1657 days)
    Posts: 20714
    From: the other end of the sidewalk
    Joined: 03-14-2004


    (1)
    Message 7 of 308 (866382)
    11-10-2019 2:16 PM
    Reply to: Message 1 by Faith
    11-10-2019 11:03 AM


    Nice hate piece hit job on liberalism
    ... At first the title didn't sound valid, but then I read it and now think it gets at the whitehot center of what is wrong in America today, how the Left, the Liberal Left, is acting just like its models in Marxism, Communism and Socialism, using intimidation tactics againt ordinary people to shut them up and drive them out of the public square, which is causing conservatives to lie low for fear of what they will do to them. ...
    Could you actually substantiate any of this codswallop?
    But I think Prager nails it:
    By Dennis Prager
    The dominant force in America and many other Western countries today is fear of the left.
    This is a result of the fact that the most dynamic religion of the past 100 years has been neither Christianity nor Islam. It has been leftism. Whoever does not recognize this does not understand the contemporary world.
    I am always amused when people think the ultimate insult is to call liberal thinking religious.
    Doesn't that imply that all religions are bad and need to be hated? LOL.
    ... using intimidation tactics againt ordinary people to shut them up and drive them out of the public square, which is causing conservatives to lie low for fear of what they will do to them. ...
    Curiously I have seen just the opposite.
    Obviously this broad paint brush pile of hate and innuendo will appeal to people that feel that liberals need to even more intimidated on radio, in print, and on tv.
    Enjoy

    we are limited in our ability to understand
    by our ability to understand
    RebelAmericanZenDeist
    ... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
    to share.


    Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 1 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 11:03 AM Faith has replied

    Replies to this message:
     Message 13 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 4:04 PM RAZD has replied

      
    RAZD
    Member (Idle past 1657 days)
    Posts: 20714
    From: the other end of the sidewalk
    Joined: 03-14-2004


    Message 8 of 308 (866383)
    11-10-2019 2:19 PM
    Reply to: Message 6 by NosyNed
    11-10-2019 2:10 PM


    Re: An anecdote
    Gays don't want to come out of the closet here because they are afraid folks will think they are democrats.
    And when I lived in Mississippi I was asked:
    "So, are you catholic, protestant ... or democrat?"
    Yeah, conservatives really need to hide so they won't be subject to hate ...
    Enjoy

    we are limited in our ability to understand
    by our ability to understand
    RebelAmericanZenDeist
    ... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
    to share.


    Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 6 by NosyNed, posted 11-10-2019 2:10 PM NosyNed has not replied

      
    PaulK
    Member
    Posts: 17912
    Joined: 01-10-2003
    Member Rating: 6.7


    Message 9 of 308 (866384)
    11-10-2019 2:20 PM
    Reply to: Message 1 by Faith
    11-10-2019 11:03 AM


    The Right is obviously promoting fear of the Left and using it as a weapon. Note how everyone from the centre to the far left is lumped together. But if we did that with the Right there would be bowls of outrage. Because the Right is worse. How would Faith like to be lumped with the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter ? (Who she did try to label as a Leftist!)
    Indeed there is a lot of harassment, including death threats from the Right. Need we mention Gamergate or Comicsgate or the insane conspiracy theory of Pizzagate - which lead to a man invading a pizza parlour with an assault rifle, looking for an imaginary cellar. Indeed a lot of the trouble the Right faces on social media is due to the fact that too many of them are just plain awful. (See 8chan for a terrible example)
    We’ve already seen that Hyroglyphix unable to find a label for people who would be mainstream leftists in Western Europe, because Centrists are being called Communists and labelled as extreme.
    And of course much of this is an attempt to cover up the nastier realities of the Right. Whatever Trump believes he has pandered to and appealed to racists. There is no doubt that Laura Ingraham’s complaints about demographic changes are all about race. Honest people would admit this. Instead we get told that the accusations are false in spite of the evidence. Crying wolf is not a tactic that indicates a genuine concern.
    So yes, generalised fear of the left is a problem - a problem created by the Right, by people like Dennis Prager.

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 1 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 11:03 AM Faith has not replied

      
    RAZD
    Member (Idle past 1657 days)
    Posts: 20714
    From: the other end of the sidewalk
    Joined: 03-14-2004


    (3)
    Message 10 of 308 (866385)
    11-10-2019 2:27 PM
    Reply to: Message 4 by Faith
    11-10-2019 12:31 PM


    fear of the left is a bunch of malarkey
    I have no control over the asterisks, ...
    Your control, dear Faith, is through your choice to either use polite civil language rather than to indulge in your usual rant descending into ad hominems and mischaracterization of people, instead of dealing with the issues.
    It is a choice you make every time you post.
    Enjoy
    Edited by RAZD, : .

    we are limited in our ability to understand
    by our ability to understand
    RebelAmericanZenDeist
    ... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
    to share.


    Join the effort to solve medical problems, AIDS/HIV, Cancer and more with Team EvC! (click)

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 4 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 12:31 PM Faith has replied

    Replies to this message:
     Message 12 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 3:37 PM RAZD has seen this message but not replied

      
    Theodoric
    Member
    Posts: 9489
    From: Northwest, WI, USA
    Joined: 08-15-2005
    Member Rating: 6.2


    (2)
    Message 11 of 308 (866391)
    11-10-2019 3:12 PM
    Reply to: Message 1 by Faith
    11-10-2019 11:03 AM


    Prager is a racist, homophobic, islamophobic and a misogynist
    We can let the vile racist, homophobe, islamophobe and misogynist speak for himself. That you support and push these vile beliefs speaks volumes. You cannot claim you are not a racist, homophobes and misogynist if you support his beliefs and donnies.
    Pragerisms
    quote:
    OK, so here’s my question to you, this theoretical black or Hispanic woman who is now employed: What is more important to you? A president whom you think loves Hispanics and blacks, but you’re unemployed? Or a president you think doesn’t like Hispanics and blacks, but you have a job? What would you prefer if you were given that choice? If you are normal, and I’m sorry to use that term, if you’re normal, you would far prefer to have the job and have a president who you think didn’t like you.
    Claimed he was happier the night Trump was elected, than when his children were born.
    Dennis Prager | Right Wing Watch
    quote:
    Many many young men don’t know what it means to be masculine, because feminism and the left have crapped on masculinity. Sorry for the language, but I can’t think of any verb that does it justice. That’s what they have done, Prager declared. In fact, toxic masculinity for the left is redundant. All masculinity is toxic. So I think a certain number of men, young men, have only one way of saying, ‘Hello, I’m not a female,’ and that is to grow a beard.
    Just a moment...
    quote:
    Pundit Dennis Pragernow known for his Prager U propaganda videosargued back then that Ellison should not be allowed to use a Quran rather than a Bible for his ceremonial swearing-in. Prager wrote that anyone who is not willing to take an oath on the Bible should not serve in Congress. (When Prager got pushback, he portrayed himself as the victim of hate-filled attacks, denying that he was endorsing any kind of religious test for public office.)
    DemonizingMuslimsUnites the Right | Right Wing Watch
    quote:
    Women have to overcome the power of their emotions and their chronic malcontentedness in order to mature into good women.
    Are women malcontents?
    quote:
    Prager is notable for having a history of being extremely homophobic despite denying it every ten seconds in his articles and radio show. He has claimed that the legalization of gay marriage is a greater threat to America than economic depression.[8] He claims that this is because legalizing gay marriage will redefine the concept of "gender itself". He is credited with writing the 1993 essay Judaism's Sexual Revolution: Why Judaism rejected Homosexuality in which he writes,[9] well, we'll let the man speak for himself:
    Dennis Prager - RationalWiki
    All this information is sourced with links. If you want to listen to and show respect to this vile piece of shit, that is your choice. This just goes to show that you are as much of a racist, homophobic, Islamophobic misogynist as he is.
    Edited by Theodoric, : clarity
    Edited by Theodoric, : spelling

    Facts don't lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts
    "God did it" is not an argument. It is an excuse for intellectual laziness.
    If your viewpoint has merits and facts to back it up why would you have to lie?

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 1 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 11:03 AM Faith has replied

    Replies to this message:
     Message 18 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 4:13 PM Theodoric has not replied

      
    Faith 
    Suspended Member (Idle past 1696 days)
    Posts: 35298
    From: Nevada, USA
    Joined: 10-06-2001


    Message 12 of 308 (866393)
    11-10-2019 3:37 PM
    Reply to: Message 10 by RAZD
    11-10-2019 2:27 PM


    Re: fear of the left is a bunch of malarkey
    If you have peeked at the asterisked words, then tell me which of them are not polite and civil.

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 10 by RAZD, posted 11-10-2019 2:27 PM RAZD has seen this message but not replied

      
    Faith 
    Suspended Member (Idle past 1696 days)
    Posts: 35298
    From: Nevada, USA
    Joined: 10-06-2001


    Message 13 of 308 (866395)
    11-10-2019 4:04 PM
    Reply to: Message 7 by RAZD
    11-10-2019 2:16 PM


    Re: Nice hate piece hit job on liberalism
    .. At first the title didn't sound valid, but then I read it and now think it gets at the whitehot center of what is wrong in America today, how the Left, the Liberal Left, is acting just like its models in Marxism, Communism and Socialism, using intimidation tactics against ordinary people to shut them up and drive them out of the public square, which is causing conservatives to lie low for fear of what they will do to them.
    Could you actually substantiate any of this codswallop?
    I thought Prager did a pretty good job of showing some of the threats. I'd add the beating up of a guy right after the election because he'd voted for Trump; the hounding of Republicans out of restaurants; the intimidation and accusation of racism of the kid wearing the MAGA hat minding his own business after a pro life event; the physical violence by Antifa on campuses when conservatives are scheduled to speak. I did mention the namecalling of Sebastian Gorka and his daughter, calling him a Nazi yet, someone who had lived under Nazism and finally was able to escape from it.
    If you mean being intimidated into silence, well yes that's everywhere, Prager notes some of it. I'd be afraid to wear a MAGA hat in public, a lot of people are.
    I am always amused when people think the ultimate insult is to call liberal thinking religious.
    Doesn't that imply that all religions are bad and need to be hated? LOL.
    Seems to me just to say it's not a rational position, it's based on belief or feeling. I thought it interesting that Prager called the Left romanticism, wish he'd expanded on that.
    Obviously this broad paint brush pile of hate and innuendo will appeal to people that feel that liberals need to even more intimidated on radio, in print, and on tv.
    Liberals aren't intimidated anywhere, they are in-your-face in the street, on the campus, certainly in print and on TV, what on earth are you talking about.
    Well, Prager was right on but of course nobody here is going to notice.
    Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 7 by RAZD, posted 11-10-2019 2:16 PM RAZD has replied

    Replies to this message:
     Message 14 by PaulK, posted 11-10-2019 4:08 PM Faith has replied
     Message 16 by Theodoric, posted 11-10-2019 4:11 PM Faith has replied
     Message 37 by RAZD, posted 11-11-2019 8:32 AM Faith has not replied

      
    PaulK
    Member
    Posts: 17912
    Joined: 01-10-2003
    Member Rating: 6.7


    (2)
    Message 14 of 308 (866396)
    11-10-2019 4:08 PM
    Reply to: Message 13 by Faith
    11-10-2019 4:04 PM


    Re: Nice hate piece hit job on liberalism
    Please explain how Sebastian Gorka (b 1970) could have lived under Naziism and finally was able to escape from it

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 13 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 4:04 PM Faith has replied

    Replies to this message:
     Message 15 by jar, posted 11-10-2019 4:09 PM PaulK has not replied
     Message 17 by Theodoric, posted 11-10-2019 4:12 PM PaulK has not replied
     Message 19 by Phat, posted 11-10-2019 4:14 PM PaulK has not replied
     Message 20 by Faith, posted 11-10-2019 4:17 PM PaulK has replied

      
    jar
    Member (Idle past 91 days)
    Posts: 34140
    From: Texas!!
    Joined: 04-20-2004


    Message 15 of 308 (866397)
    11-10-2019 4:09 PM
    Reply to: Message 14 by PaulK
    11-10-2019 4:08 PM


    Re: Nice hate piece hit job on liberalism
    Not just Alternative Facts but Alternative Reality as expected.

    My Sister's Website: Rose Hill StudiosMy Website: My Website

    This message is a reply to:
     Message 14 by PaulK, posted 11-10-2019 4:08 PM PaulK has not replied

      
    Newer Topic | Older Topic
    Jump to:


    Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

    ™ Version 4.2
    Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024