Ten Theoretical Tough Guys

Dennis Prager likes to pose a philosophical question.  It is presented as a yes or no type of question.

His thesis is this:

If you were in an unfamiliar town and your car broke down…and ten big tough looking guys came walking up…would you be relieved to find out that they had left a bible study (or class…Prager incorrectly thinks this is a difference that…um makes a difference)?

Prager explains:

 Every response I have seen to this question is an attempt to evade the only honest response. We would all be relieved because when push comes to shove — when we have to make real-life decisions and not theoretical ones — we know that at least in America, the dominant Judeo-Christian values and the religions that adhere to them have generally made better people. This does not mean that all religious Jews and Christians in America have been, or are today, good people, and it certainly does not mean that all irreligious people are bad. It means simply that if our lives were hanging in the balance, we would be inexpressively happy to know that 10 men we did not know, walking toward us in a bad neighborhood, had just come out of a Bible class.

And I will answer Prager’s question very honestly.  Yeah.  I probably would. But I would also be relieved to find out they just walked out of a Mosque. Or worked all day in a soup kitchen. Or worked in a Daycare Center. Or just left a D&D game session.  There are a lot of discoveries that I would be “relieved” by.  But, really, the term “relieved” is kind of weird.  Why the assumption there is need for relief? Unless the big burly guys are behaving in a threatening matter, I am not generally going to be all that worried. And if they are behaving in a threatening manner? Knowing they left a Bible Study is not much comfort.

Of course, it is a bit hilarious that he talks about making the non-religious deal with “real-life decisions and not theoretical ones” with an entirely theoretical question.