Diarist Anne Frank once said people were “really good at heart.” It was an incredible thing to say given the situation she was in. If she could be optimistic about humanity during the Holocaust, maybe we can be a bit less cynical ourselves.

Leave it to right-wing commentator Dennis Prager, founder of a fake online “university” that perpetuates conservative mythology, to dismiss Frank’s comment not because there are bad people in the world, but because she was a child and therefore too dumb to understand anything.

Dennis Prager responds to Anne Frank quote about people being good in their hearts with "I don't get my wisdom from teenagers" pic.twitter.com/ayRVgsEQIy — Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) December 31, 2019

… It doesn’t matter that she wrote it. I don’t get my wisdom from teenagers.… I don’t expect 16-year-olds, unless they grew up in a religious — Jewish or Christian — home… she was a secular Jew… Most kids believe that. But it’s not true.

The pessimism isn’t the concern here. It’s that Prager thinks teenagers are incapable of possessing wisdom. Meanwhile, he gleefully promotes adults who spew nonsense. It’s like Ken Ham mocking a high school science fair winner. Just because you choose ignorance doesn’t mean children work the same way. Prager’s response shouldn’t surprise us given how conservatives have treated people like the Parkland students or Greta Thunberg.

Newsweek points out that Prager wrote earlier this year that Jews hadn’t learned anything from the Holocaust because they still believe in the goodness of humanity.

Prager doesn’t mention that Christians believe the same thing. After all, their theology says anyone can be saved — including murderers, rapists, and other sinners — as long as you accept Jesus as your savior. So apparently Prager thinks Christianity is silly, too.

Here’s a new year’s resolution for you: Get wisdom from wherever you can. It’s all around us if you know where to look… which is to say, don’t waste your time looking for it on any Prager University videos.

(Thanks to Brian for the link)

