Prager Argues Morality Requires a Divine Foundation
– Author and radio host Dennis Prager asserts that the existence of objective morality is contingent upon the existence of God, arguing that without a divine framework, morality devolves into subjective opinion.
Prager, author of “If There Is No God,” discussed his views on FOX News Channel’s “Life, Liberty and Levin”, stating, “Only if there is a God is there an absolute in the moral universe.” He clarified that What we have is not an argument *for* the existence of God, but rather an observation about the implications of its absence.
“If there is no God, then morality is simply opinion,” Prager explained. “What you think is good is good for you. What I think is good is good for me. I mean, that’s the honest approach.” This perspective, he noted, is widely acknowledged by atheist philosophers.
Prager illustrated his point with a thought experiment he has posed to students for the past 50 years: If faced with a situation where one must choose between saving a beloved dog or a stranger drowning, which would they choose? He found that consistently, roughly one-third of respondents choose the stranger, one-third choose the dog, and one-third find the question too difficult.
“Two thirds of Americans for 50 years would not save a human being whom they didn’t know before the dog they loved, meaning that emotion, not value, determined whom they would save,” Prager stated. He contrasted this emotional response with his own, explaining that he would save the stranger because of the inherent value he believes is placed on human life through its creation in God’s image.
Prager’s argument aligns with his previously expressed belief that without God, morality originates from humans, and therefore becomes entirely subjective, as he wrote on Facebook in 2019. However, he also acknowledges that even with a belief in God, morality could still be considered subjective, with God’s opinion simply being another perspective, albeit from a powerful source.
The discussion on “Life, Liberty and Levin” followed host Mark Levin’s question about the foundation of values in the absence of God. Levin asked how Prager responds to the argument that values are relative without a divine source.
Prager’s views echo a broader debate about the origins of morality, with some arguing for a secular, humanistic basis for ethical principles. A recent booklet from the Atlas Society, “Rescuing Morality from the Grip of Religion,” suggests an alternative approach, advocating for a morality independent of religious belief.
Prager’s position, however, remains firm: the concept of good and evil, as absolute principles, requires a divine foundation. As he stated, “If there is no God, there is no such thing as good and evil. There’s just opinion.”
In a recent article in The Free Press, Prager further elaborated on this idea, arguing that religion provides the only “objective” source of morality.
