Think a Second Time

A self-described ``highly passionate moderate,'' radio and TV commentator Prager offers a series of brief essays on current and eternal topics, grounded in his Jewish sense of ethics that is more accessible than preachy. Prager says a politician's adultery matters little; his or her ``public actions and speech'' count the most. Despite such dissents from the moralistic position, Prager is a strong critic of liberalism, decrying its supporters' attitudes toward church-state separation, abortion, capital punishment and race. He has little sympathy with portraying the Los Angeles rioters of 1992 as victims: ``moral people control their rage, and immoral people don't.'' Yet his call to ban affirmative action while encouraging employers to ``recruit and train blacks'' seems somewhat myopic. Prager recognizes that most people are diverted from moral issues; his solution to evil is ``ethical monotheism'' (a term made popular by the Jewish thinker Leo Baeck), warning against attention to false gods like art or compassion. However, he warns against expecting God to prevent our suffering; leading a religious life, he asserts, is a reward in itself. $100,000 ad/promo. (Nov.)