Dennis Prager: Difference between revisions
m Protected "Dennis Prager": Persistent disruptive editing: via RfPP ([Edit=Require autoconfirmed or confirmed access] (expires 18:53, 22 November 2017 (UTC)) [Move=Require autoconfirmed or confirmed access] (expires 18:53,... |
Mathewignash (talk | contribs) →LGBT rights: This is a more accurate description of Prager's actual quote. He did not say A will lead to be B, simply that if you cannot prohibit A under the law then you cannot logically prohibit B. |
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Prager opposes same-sex marriage.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/arts/music/santa-monica-symphony-dennis-prager-conservative-guest-conductor.html|title=Santa Monica Symphony Roiled by Conservative Guest Conductor|last=Deb|first=Sopan|date=2017-08-07|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-08-27|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He |
Prager opposes same-sex marriage.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/arts/music/santa-monica-symphony-dennis-prager-conservative-guest-conductor.html|title=Santa Monica Symphony Roiled by Conservative Guest Conductor|last=Deb|first=Sopan|date=2017-08-07|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-08-27|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He suggested that if same-sex marriage were legalized, there were no arguments against legalizing polygamy and adult incest.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" /> |
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In 2014, he claimed that the “heterosexual AIDS” crisis was something “entirely manufactured by the Left.”<ref name=":3" /> |
In 2014, he claimed that the “heterosexual AIDS” crisis was something “entirely manufactured by the Left.”<ref name=":3" /> |
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Revision as of 22:46, 13 September 2017
Dennis Prager | |
|---|---|
 Prager speaking at CPAC in March 2016. | |
| Born | August 2, 1948 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Brooklyn College Columbia University University of Leeds |
| Occupation(s) | Radio host, political commentator, creator of Prager University (the PragerU YouTube channel), author, and television personality |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Janice Adelstein (1981–1986; divorced; 1 child) Francine Stone (1988–2005; divorced; 1 child) Susan Reed (2008–present) |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | dennisprager.com |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in the United States |
|---|
 |
Dennis Mark Prager (/ˈpreɪɡər/; born August 2, 1948) is an American conservative and nationally syndicated radio talk show host, columnist, author, and public speaker.
Early life and education
Dennis Prager was born in New York City on August 2, 1948, to Hilda Prager (née Friedfeld; 1919–2009) and her husband, Max Prager (1918–2014). Prager and his siblings were raised as Modern Orthodox Jews. He attended the Yeshiva of Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York. There, in the 10th grade, he met Joseph Telushkin. The two became close friends and would later co-author two books. He went on to attend Brooklyn College and graduated with a double major in history and Middle Eastern Studies. Between 1970 and 1972, he attended the Middle East and Russian Institutes (now Harriman Institute) at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. Prager also studied international history, comparative religion, and Arabic at the University of Leeds.[1]
Career
Prager left Columbia University without finishing his master's degree and decided to write an introduction to Judaism with his friend, Telushkin: The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism. Published in 1976, it became a bestseller that was popular in all major American Jewish movements.[citation needed] The book was intended for nonobservant Jews. Unlike Telushkin, who became an Orthodox rabbi, Prager abandoned his Orthodoxy as an adult but continues to maintain many traditional Jewish practices.[1]
In April 1976, Shlomo Bardin, the founder and director of the Brandeis-Bardin Institute, invited Prager to succeed him as the director, and Prager hired Telushkin as education director. Prager remained at the institute until September 1983. During his tenure, he succeeded in influencing many young Jews and built up a cadre of "Prager followers". He married Janice Adelstein in 1981, and in 1983, they had their son, David.[1]
Media
In 1982, KABC (AM) in Los Angeles hired Prager to host a talk show on religion every Sunday night. Prager hosted the show for more than ten years. He and Telushkin published another book in 1983, Why the Jews? The Reason for Antisemitism.[2] Later that year, Prager became the Monday-Thursday talk show host for KABC, but he refused to work on Friday night, the beginning of Shabbat. He also wrote a syndicated column for newspapers across the country. In 1985, Prager launched his own quarterly journal, Ultimate Issues, which was renamed to Prager Perspectives in 1996.[1]
Since 1999, he has hosted a nationally syndicated talk show from KRLA in Los Angeles and Salem Radio Network. His show has some recurring segments. The "Happiness Hour" is based on his book Happiness Is a Serious Problem and occurs on the second hour of his show on Fridays. Other regular segments are the "Male/Female Hour", occurring on the second hour of his Wednesday show, and "Ultimate Issues Hour", which takes place on the third hour of his Tuesday show.
In 2017, Prager and comedian Adam Carolla began filming No Safe Spaces, a documentary about political correctness at universities.[3]
Prager University
In 2009, Prager started a website, Prager University, which offers five-minute videos on various subjects, such as the Ten Commandments, the minimum wage, the Middle East, Global warming, and happiness, from a conservative perspective.[4][5] According to Prager, he created the site to challenge the "unhealthy effect intellectually and morally" of the American higher education system.[6]
Ansichten
According to NPR, Prager "often targets multiculturalism, Muslims and LGBTQ people."[7] Prager's "inflammatory views and past statements about gays, liberals and others" have stirred controversy.[8]
Islam
Prager in 2006 criticized Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, for announcing that he would use the Quran for the reenactment of his swearing in ceremony. Prager falsely asserted that an oath on any book other than the Bible would be unprecedented. In response, a former New York City Mayor, Ed Koch, called for Prager to end his service on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council.[9]
LGBT rights
Prager opposes same-sex marriage.[10] He suggested that if same-sex marriage were legalized, there were no arguments against legalizing polygamy and adult incest.[10][7]
In 2014, he claimed that the “heterosexual AIDS” crisis was something “entirely manufactured by the Left.”[10]
Donald Trump
Prager endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.[11] Conor Friedersdorf of the Atlantic criticized Prager for this, saying "Trump is the quintessential embodiment of so much that Prager claims to abhor (so much that he alighted on Trump as an example of who shouldn’t be president in the past); and Trump is the antithesis of much Prager claims to value."[11] Friedersdorf noted that Prager had in 2011 said that Trump's profanity "render[ed] him unfit to be a presidential candidate, let alone president"; that he could not "trust the integrity or conscience of a man or woman who publicly humiliates his or her spouse" through adultery; that those who lie to besmirch the names of others cannot be trusted; and that "any human being with a functioning conscience or a decent heart loathes torture".[11] Prager said that endorsing Trump was in line with his principles because "We hold that defeating Hillary Clinton, the Democrats, and the Left is also a principle. And that it is the greater principle."[11][12]
Barack Obama
In 2015, Prager headlined the title of one of his columns about the Iran nuclear agreement, "1938 and 2015: Only the Names Are Different", implying that Obama was the equivalent of Neville Chamberlain whose Munich Agreement with Hitler is widely regarded as a failed act of appeasement toward Nazi Germany.[13]
News media
In July 2017, Prager said that "the news media in the West pose a far greater danger to Western civilization than Russia does."[10]
Published works
Prager's columns are handled by Creators Syndicate. He has been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times and Commentary. His weekly syndicated column appears on such online websites as Townhall.com,[14] National Review Online, Jewish World Review and elsewhere. He also writes a bi-weekly column for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
He is also the author of seven books:
- The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism (with Joseph Telushkin) (1986) ISBN 0-671-62261-7.
- Think a Second Time (44 Essays on 44 Subjects) (1996) ISBN 0-06-098709-X.
- Happiness Is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual (1999) ISBN 0-06-098735-9.
- Why the Jews? The Reason for Antisemitism (with Joseph Telushkin) (2003) ISBN 0-7432-4620-9.
- Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph (2012) ISBN 0-06198512-0.
- The Ten Commandments: Still the Best Moral Code (2015)
- The Ten Commandments: Still the Best Path to Follow (2015) (for children)
His books have been translated into Spanish, German,[15] Russian, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.
Filmography
- For Goodness Sake, 1993.
- For Goodness Sake II, 1996.[16]
- Israel in a Time of Terror, 2002.
- Baseball, Dennis, & the French, 2011.
- Patterns of Evidence – Exodus, 2014.
References
- ^ a b c d "Dennis Prager". Sara E. Karesh; Mitchell M. Hurvitz (2005). Encyclopedia of Judaism. Infobase Publishing. pp. 402–. ISBN 978-0-8160-6982-8.
- ^ "Why the Jews? The Reason for Anti-Semitism, by Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin". Commentary Magazine, Mona Charen / Oct. 1, 1983
- ^ "Adam Carolla Launches Crowdfunding Campaign for 'No Safe Spaces' Movie". Retrieved August 1, 2017.
- ^ "YouTube restricts access to Alan Dershowitz video". Boston Globe, Hiawatha Bray October 14, 2016
- ^ "YouTube restricts access to Dershowitz video - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ^ Hallowell, Billy. "Radio Host Dennis Prager Has a New Online 'College' to Combat Liberal Bias and Teach Judeo-Christian Values". The Blaze.
- ^ a b "Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra Confronts Controversy Over Right-Wing Guest Conductor". NPR.org. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ^ "Dennis Prager draws classical newbies, and a musicians' boycott, at Disney Hall concert". Los Angeles Times. August 17, 2017. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ^ "Koch Calls for Pundit's Ouster from Shoah Council". The Jewish Daily Forward. December 8, 2006.
- ^ a b c d Deb, Sopan (August 7, 2017). "Santa Monica Symphony Roiled by Conservative Guest Conductor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Friedersdorf, Conor. "Dennis Prager Puts Defeating Clinton Ahead of All His Other Principles". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ^ "Trump, Conservatives, and the 'Principles' Question". National Review. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ^ "Republican leaders who support Trump are modern-day Neville Chamberlains". Washington Post. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ^ "Dennis Prager Warns Conservatives About Defeating Themselves". NewsMax, Brian Freeman | 18 Oct 2016
- ^ "DNB, Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek". Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek.
- ^ "For goodness sake II". World cat.
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Menschen | |
| Other | |
- 1948 births
- Living people
- American columnists
- American Orthodox Jews
- American people of Polish-Jewish descent
- American political pundits
- American talk radio hosts
- American Zionists
- California Republicans
- Conservative talk radio
- Critics of atheism
- Jewish American writers
- Radio personalities from Los Angeles
- Scholars of antisemitism
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni
- Writers from Brooklyn
- Writers on antisemitism