What’s wrong with Ben Shapiro?

I really mean, what’s wrong with the way the US popular rightwing commentator Ben Shapiro handles himself and talks in public discourse? I’m not going to analyze him or his personality.

For full disclaimer, though many left-wingers consider me an extreme right-winger and many right-wingers see me as an extreme lefty, I consider myself a left-winger with a good dose of realism. But at the end of the day, I’ll choose the truth, wherever it will be found.

I can’t really listen to coreligionist Shapiro for too long, but watching his recent flopped interview at the BBC has clarified for me why.

There is Only One Truth

He’s very smart and fast. But he sees very little gray. That means that he quickly comes to a conclusion and that anyone who thinks differently must be wrong — and when not quickly convinced by him must be evil, stubborn or stupid.

An example. Fundamentalist Christian theology holds that any abortion is murder of a full though growing human being.

(Orthodox Judaism doesn’t think so but in the Diaspora in the West, many Orthodox Jews are so assimilated and unknowledgeable about the Jewish Law and Tradition that they sometimes think to be on the Jewish path when they just parrot a controversial Fundamentalist Christian position.)

Feminists teach that it is sexist not to let the pregnant woman decide if she would carry a pregnancy to completion or not.

Shapiro cannot see that both points of view might be right. That is not right-wing; there are also many left-wingers who only can see one truth at the time.

The Dutch great beloved humanist psychiatrist P.C. Kuiper once asked rhetorically: Is it because we’re raised by patriarchal fathers who insisted always to be right that we think that there can only be one truth?

Shapiro gets angry and quarrelsome when others don’t want to adopt his viewpoint and opinion. He literally has no tolerance for what he considers wrong ideas.

If One Doesn’t Know Enough

Shapiro condemns transgenders but what I’ve heard him say gives away that he has not one transgender friend. He (again) shoots from the hip without doing a deep study on the issue.

As a popular opinion maker, he should not just wing it when issues come to the fore but dedicate serious time to research. Or his consumers should realize that this is just an opinion — not a deeply rooted vision.

I betcha that he can’t tell us why facelifts are OK but a sex change for transgenders is not. I can tell you. Because that is what the fraudulent “gays curers” say. And he’s too rash to find them lying. He has no time for intuition or second thought. As long as he can defend it, it doesn’t need to make a whole lot of sense.

The Worst Is When We Don’t Know That We Don’t Know

He’s for reparative therapy for gays. The Bible says it’s wrong and what else is there to say?

He doesn’t seem to have gay friends. Shows in his lack of empathy. He thinks that him reading a Bible verse gives him the Truth. He misses that between G^d’s word and his mouth sits his interpretation — also when he quotes verbatim.

(Never mind that religious Jews don’t judge anything from verses. Again, that is assimilation to Christian Literalism (Biblicism). Orthodox Jews go by the Oral Law.)

Surely, the Torah forbids inter-male anal intercourse but if one studies this, that needs to be an injunction for heterosexual men only. Holding that a million Jews and half a billion Gentiles are supposed to live against their sexual needs is preposterous — but only for people who don’t do everything on snap judgments. Many Orthodox rabbis admit not to understand this — an option Shapiro doesn’t seem to have.

Relax, Man

He’s so tense. Don’t blame the victim! He is a Jew and while there are many calm, cool, laidback Jews, let’s not blame any Jew for being tense.

I don’t know if he ever laughs. If he ever realizes that calmness could sometimes be an option. To lower his voice, slow down his speech.

Look at Mayor Pete. He smiles. He’s not Jewish but you can’t say he always had an easy life.

* * *

The BBC interviewer seems to have set out to ask Shapiro, how he can complain about the present angry political discourse in the US if he’s so irritable himself. Shapiro was angry for most of the interview. QED.

So, let’s learn from this. Our thinking might depart from reason, logic and reality when we are too much in a hurry, see the world only as black-or-white, settle for quick brain flashes, quote people whose integrity we didn’t check out and stay tense and belligerent.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1