Dennis Prager Show - Why do People Walk Away From Their Faith? Aired: 2020-03-11 Duration: 06:31 === Why God Doesn't Always Protect (03:02) === [00:00:00] People leave faith and religion. [00:00:03] It's not the same thing, by the way. [00:00:04] Some people leave religion and stay believers in God. [00:00:09] But these reasons apply to both. [00:00:13] So, number one, lack of reasons. [00:00:15] Number two, the bad and unhappy models of religious people that they have had. [00:00:22] And number three, their own beliefs. [00:00:25] The number of people who drop belief in God because they thought God would protect them is quite large. [00:00:34] I have never believed that God would protect me, and so it's very hard for God to disappoint me. [00:00:42] Do you walk around believing God will protect you? [00:00:46] I didn't know the answer to that. [00:00:47] It was a very open question. [00:00:49] So you and I have very similar beliefs. [00:00:55] A serious man. [00:00:58] Lovingly known as the Living Martyr, aka Alan Estrin. [00:01:04] I never had that at all. [00:01:07] It never occurred to me. [00:01:10] Because it didn't make sense. [00:01:11] Why would he protect me and not the other guy? [00:01:14] I never thought I was more protection worthy than anybody else. [00:01:19] So I never understand why people think that. [00:01:23] I talked about this recently at an Ultimate Issues Hour. [00:01:27] The man, a wonderful, wonderful human being who dropped his faith in God forever because his brother died prematurely. [00:01:35] He was very close to him. [00:01:37] So I said, I don't understand. [00:01:39] What about when all these other brothers and sisters died of other people? [00:01:46] He said, I didn't think about that. [00:01:47] I thought, you know, I got out of special... [00:01:51] I said, I guess I thought God had a special interest in me or something like that. [00:01:56] I don't have that. [00:01:59] My religion is extremely rational and that's one of the reasons is very durable. [00:02:06] So those are three reasons that I think people leave. [00:02:09] So let me take your calls. [00:02:12] Too bad. [00:02:13] Now we had a guy left Judaism. [00:02:15] He's still on. [00:02:16] We had a guy left Catholicism. [00:02:17] He gave up. [00:02:20] Maybe he changed his mind in the course of calling. [00:02:24] Maybe he's back to Catholicism. [00:02:27] All right, here we go. [00:02:32] David in Calabasas, California. [00:02:34] Pumpkins, California. [00:02:36] Hi there. [00:02:39] Hello, David of Pumpkins. [00:02:41] Are you there? [00:02:43] How do you like that? === Jewish Community Politics (03:39) === [00:02:48] Calabasas. [00:02:48] I know. [00:02:49] What do you think Calabasas means? [00:02:52] Pumpkin. [00:02:53] That's right. [00:02:54] Okay. [00:02:56] I'm happy to talk to you. [00:02:58] Thank you very much for taking my calls on a panel. [00:03:01] Long time. [00:03:01] Thank you. [00:03:03] One of the reasons why, probably the biggest reason, is the community surrounding the synagogue. [00:03:12] And it has to do mostly with politics. [00:03:15] My politics are like yours. [00:03:17] I'm very conservative, and most of them are very liberal. [00:03:20] And they've looked down at me with that smug, pseudo-elitist tone about them, if you know what I mean. [00:03:30] The other problem I have is Judaism is very, very repetitive. [00:03:35] And even in the services and such... [00:03:39] There's many prayers that say the same thing over and over again. [00:03:43] I felt like it was a brow-beating session. [00:03:47] I'm very Jewish. [00:03:49] I intensify with being Jewish. [00:03:51] But I just cannot sit in synagogue and listen to that over and over again. [00:03:56] Alright, so you left synagogue life, but you didn't abandon faith. [00:04:03] I'm not putting words in your mouth. [00:04:07] I'm not trying to do that at all. [00:04:08] Just tell me, did I hear you correctly? [00:04:12] Absolutely. [00:04:13] I have not abandoned faith. [00:04:15] I absolutely believe in a higher power as God. [00:04:19] I identify as being Jewish. [00:04:21] I enjoy my Jewish heritage. [00:04:24] I enjoy being Jewish. [00:04:26] But I'm not accepted by my own. [00:04:29] Right. [00:04:30] That's true. [00:04:32] Look, that is true. [00:04:33] I have no arguments against it. [00:04:38] I am personally a practicing and religious Jew, but I have no arguments against him. [00:04:45] Non-Orthodox, and I'm not Orthodox. [00:04:48] The non-Orthodox, I mean, I'm not observant as Orthodox Jews are. [00:04:54] I'm Orthodox with a small O, but I'm with a capital O. I'm not denominationally such. [00:05:01] But I'm only saying that so you'll understand that my point is not to vindicate a movement. [00:05:07] It's to tell the truth. [00:05:09] Non-Orthodox Judaism, like mainstream Protestantism and much of Catholicism, is run by leftists. [00:05:17] And that's their religion. [00:05:18] Not Catholicism, not Christianity, and not Judaism. [00:05:24] Today is the Jewish holiday of Purim, and the... [00:05:28] Indianapolis Jewish Federation put out a flyer to celebrate Purim at a drag... [00:05:35] Bring your kids to a drag queen reading hour for Purim. [00:05:42] Purim is the book of Esther holiday. [00:05:45] So, I mean, it's just an example of how leftism has come to dominate Christianity and Judaism. [00:05:57] Okay. [00:05:58] Except for the most traditional elements in both religions. [00:06:02] I feel bad for this guy. [00:06:04] That's why I started my own synagogue. [00:06:09] And why I conduct... [00:06:10] You would love... === Meaningful Return (00:19) === [00:06:12] What was his name? [00:06:13] David. [00:06:14] David would love my... [00:06:16] High Holiday Services. [00:06:20] Because I agree with him about the repetition and so much else. [00:06:24] They're very meaningful. [00:06:25] Really meaningful. [00:06:28] All right, we will return in a moment.