Ben Shapiro, Here's My Submission of a Time You Were Wrong
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Ben Shapiro speaking with attendees at the 2018 Young Women's Leadership Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Hyatt Regency DFW Hotel in Dallas, Texas. Photo by Gage Skidmore.
Ben Shapiro is one of my favorite political commentators. We don’t always agree, but it seems as though Ben does his best to offer a balanced perspective, even from his openly biased worldview. I’ve mentioned him several times on my live shows and gave him a quick cameo in my recent “Super Based” parody video. I’ve quoted his famous phrase, “facts don’t care about your feelings,” numerous times. That’s why it frustrated me to witness Ben’s feelings get the better of him last year, in regard to the pandemic.
Shapiro compiled a list on The Daily Wire of times he was wrong. This is my submission.
On April Fool’s Day, 2020, Ben posted several tweets that raised a few eyebrows.
“I love going to synagogue. I go regularly. Don't go to synagogue right now. Don't go to church. The restrictions are temporary. And it is not a violation of law or morality to stop all gatherings above a certain size, including religious gatherings.”
These restrictions didn’t feel temporary, nor were they always implemented in the best interest of Americans. Was it ever scientific to fine church members in Mississippi for listening to sermons in their cars? Churches in New York had to take their grievances all the way to the Supreme Court. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, “It is time — past time — to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques.” Thank God religious liberty was upheld, but it was only a 5-4 ruling. If Republicans hadn’t filled Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Amy Coney Barrett last year, we’d have a terrible precedent against the first amendment.
Shapiro continued on. “And by the way, if you're a religious person of any stripe—Jew, Christian, Muslim, anyone—and you are insisting on communal events in a time when those events are a serious danger to human life, you are involved in what Jews call chillul Hashem, or desecration of God's name.”
This is an appeal to authority, which Ben normally shies away from in debates. From my understanding, Jews are representatives of God, and if they’re acting immorally in the presence of others, that’s when chillul Hashem occurs. If that’s the case, Ben would have to explain to Christians how attending church would dishonor God, especially when they could quote scripture after scripture about healing and faith.
Shapiro didn’t end there though. “This is not just my opinion. It is the opinion of virtually every major rabbi, pastor, priest and imam of whom I am aware.” This is an outrageous amount of “trust me, bro,” energy and another failed appeal to authority. Why would you care if someone outside of your religion or denomination disagrees with you? They would have to make a solid case backed by scripture. And pastors widely disagreed with closing churches. Many churches complied with the orders out of respect or fear, but there was deep division. Pastor Hezekiah Walker received criticism after he condemned Trump for telling churches they were essential. Walker stated he wouldn’t open his church until the White House was open, yet he jumped at the opportunity to sing “Every Praise” at George Floyd’s memorial. Famous “leaders” don’t equate to wisdom or consistency.
Governor Kathy Hochul is not allowing religious exemptions for the vaccine in the state of New York. She says, “there’s not legitimate religious exemptions because the leaders of all the organized religions have said there’s no legitimate reasons.” I can guarantee Hochul never met with all the leaders, asked their opinion, and they came to a consensus that happened to be her opinion. Even still, the pope can’t determine what a sincerely religious-held belief is for a member of a small Pentecostal church. And why would peer pressure equate to a moral good? Jesus was condemned to death by consensus.
I doubt Ben thinks Hochul is doing a good job, but her reasoning isn’t too off from his own. “The authorities we accept on this issue agree with us.”
Ben also tweeted, “People on the Right who are panicking because of onerous and would-be-unconstitutional-in-a-non-pandemic government measures should stop treating these measures as permanent features of the American landscape. And people on the hard Left should stop threatening to make them so.” This tweet equates to the finger-wagging of an ineffective disciplinarian, doomed to be run over by naughty children who love to push boundaries.
“Slippery slope” is a term often uttered by conservatives, and we’re often proved correct. I’m positive Ben knows this. How often does the government give back all the power it used during a crisis? They remember how many citizens rolled over and took it. Take California, for example. Why would Gavin Newsom fear the repercussions of mandating vaccines for schoolchildren? He was already spared from his recall effort. The best hope for a freedom-loving Californian is to flee the state like Shapiro did.
I listen to Ben now, and he complains about the anti-scientific push for mandates from President Biden and other democrats. The Daily Wire is looking into legal action against Biden’s mandates and fines. Ben says if you’re vaccinated like him, you shouldn’t care what everyone else does. Let them live their life. I agree, but why would they do what’s fair when they can exercise raw power?
Liberty is always important—especially during a temporary crisis—because a tyrannical government is a crisis we should always fear. America broke away from an oppressive government. The Declaration of Independence is a list of grievances. The Constitution lays out limitations on the government, and even includes the right to bear arms against it.
“Fifteen days to slow the spread” was not only a massive lie; it opened Pandora’s box. I don’t know if we can put the greed of the government back in.
I believe Shapiro’s heart was in the right place, and he “followed the science” quite extensively, as it was made available. His comments were in good faith, but they were still uttered with poor judgment. For those reasons, I submit these tweets to the list of his wrongs.
