Scrolled across the wallpaper in Hillsdale’s library are the words: “Because ideas have consequences.”
The definition of these ideas is paramount to the conservative mind. Just as Lincoln sought to define the essence of the Union, so the conservative argues from definition. In a Civil War fought over the meaning of American freedom, Lincoln believed that articulating the morality of freedom for all would ensure the nation’s future as “the last best hope of earth.”
Today, few people can tell you what America stands for — what it means to be an American. Dennis Prager wants to change that. In his latest book, “Still The Best Hope: Why The World Needs American Values To Triumph,” Prager systematically defines the ideological players engaged in a triangular struggle for world dominance: Americanism, Leftism, and Islamism. Prager contributes to the conservative cannon by providing a succinct explanation of American ideals and illustrating the threat posed by radical Islamism and Leftism, then highlighting the points of conflicts.
Pull a coin from your pocket (and perhaps your reading glasses too) and you will see what Prager calls the American Trinity: Liberty, In God We Trust, and “E Pluribus Unum,” or “From Many, One.” Though the nation’s past has plenty of dark moments, America’s reliance on the principles of self-government and freedom for all has remained steadfast. These values have triumphed against injustice and have led to a moral record of good. This American Trinity emanates freedom and prosperity and it promises hope to those who embrace the doctrine.
Prager identifies Leftism as a direct assailant on this American way. The secular religion has adopted materialism as part of its creed.Whereas liberty animates the American Trinity, the belief that only matter is real makes material equality the demigod of the Left. This causes them see the world in terms of rich and poor, not right and wrong. This obsession over equal material possessions causes them to choose Castro’s Cuba over Reagan’s America. The Left sacrifices morality on the altar of egalitarianism because, Prager explains, matter is real and morals are not.
To the Leftist, utopia is attainable because man is perfectible. Contentment with anything less than radical material equality of all people is unacceptable. Prager points to how a religion that teaches its pupils to “be content with such things as you have” quickly becomes an archenemy of Leftism.
Interestingly, Prager argues that Islam is compatible with American values. A Jew himself, he contends that though Islamists bare a bleak moral record, if Muslims abandon their pursuit of state-imposed Sharia law and instead promote its practice by individuals, Muslim countries can adopt Americanism and begin to reap its moral, economic, and cultural benefits. Prager, however, does not explain the catalyst for this transformation.
What should cause Islamists to abandon their centuries-old religious precedent of state-imposed Islam in favor of self -regulated Sharia Law? Prager spends three chapters explaining the moral failings of Islam shown in honor killings, the rejection of reason, and jihad — holy war — but never makes the case for why Americanism could suddenly lure Islamists away from that heritage when, according to his own argument, there has been little success in this endeavor previously. He does attempt to offer the morally elevated portions of the Koran as explanation though, self-admittedly, they are scarce.
At the birth of constitutional government, Franklin told us that we had a Republic if we could keep it. The nation’s defense lies in the solid articulation of traits that make America exceptional. Prager writes, “you cannot advocate what you cannot articulate,” and we live in a time when few people know what it means to be an American. But thankfully, Prager’s book defines and heralds American values, providing a handbook to the American way.
mwilloughby@hillsdale.edu
