By Nikos Theologou,
On January 10th, 2013, the world was introduced to one of the biggest political figures of the US scene, Ben Shapiro. Who, you may ask?
Ben is, ironically enough, not a politician but rather a political commentator, who operates as a talking head for the conservative party and is notoriously famous for his conservative views on key issues, like LGBTQ+ rights, abortion, freedom of speech and religion, as well as his brutal critique of the Obama administration, the liberal party and the “politically correct” culture that is “festering” in Hollywood (his words, not mine). Shapiro owns the public persona of an intellectual, debating expert/enthusiast who enjoys “destroying the liberals” in public discourse, while living his life according to his mantra “Facts don’t care about your feelings”. Badass right? Well…let’s see.
When it comes down to the abortion debate, Ben has always been a huge pro-life supporter, believing abortion should be illegal, even in extreme cases of incest and rape. Just one search on his YouTube channel and you will find a plethora of videos of Ben “debunking” abortions and explaining why they are evil and should be illegal. Now, whether you are pro-choice or pro-life, the data has shown this: countries where abortion is illegal either have the same amount of abortions or even more and the only way to reduce the number of abortions is free access to contraceptives and better sex education. Essentially pointing out that cutting supply does not translate into reduction of demand. If anything, criminalizing abortions has proved to be more dangerous for the people getting them. That is not my opinion, that is scientific data gathered through numerous researches. Despite that, Ben has actively chosen to ignore the data and has openly advocated against the legalization of abortion and free contraception. But let’s move on, abortion might be Ben’s kryptonite when it comes to factual evidence.
Well, this might come as a surprise to you so hang tight! Ben is also not big on same sex marriage and child adopting. While he has withdrawn his original statement made in 2010, in which he states that homosexuality should be considered a mental illness, his religion (i.e. Orthodox Judaism) does not allow him to accept the premise that if two people can not biologically have a child, they are fit for marriage and parenting. However, according to the Guardian, the Washington Post and multiple other sources, that conducted researches throughout decades, children of same-sex parents have been proven to not grow up any different than children of straight parents. Just to clarify, Shapiro’s beliefs dictate that the union of marriage should be strictly conducted between a man and a woman, because they are more fit as a couple to parent a child than a same-sex couple. Whether Ben is not seeing the irony in this or he simply chose to ignore it, he has actively put his feelings over facts yet again.
The list of topics that Ben has chosen to dismiss all pre-existing data of, is long and varies from the determination of gender identity of children to the claim that the majority of Islam has been radicalized. He has been openly and unapologetically racist on Twitter to people that support Palestine and has parallelized child detention centers to “summer camps” where children are treated very humanely.
Let me be very clear about this. I did not choose to write this article to bash on Shapiro for having opposing political views to mine, but rather because there is an overwhelming misconception around him, that he is the ultimate practitioner of logic and reasoning when debating with the emotional, liberal “snowflakes” that put feelings over facts. The harsh truth is that Ben Shapiro, alongside many others, belongs in a group of modern narcissistic political jocks that operate as spokespersons for the conservative party. Ben has mastered the art of making people believe he is right and credible by talking really fast, changing topics abruptly, inventing his own facts and selling them as cold heart truth. But dear Ben, facts do not care about your feelings (or beliefs).
References
Youtube, Perhaps Ben Shapiro Shouldn’t Be Taken Seriously By Anyone About Anything-Some More News. Available here.
Vanity Fair, “Let me make you famous”: How Hollywood invented Ben Shapiro. Available here.
National Library of Medicine, Study of abortion in countries where abortions are legally restricted. Available here.
The Washington Post, Children raised by same-sex couples do better in school, new study finds. Available here.
