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Praise for Ben Shapiro...


"Ben Shapiro writes columns from the university that tell basic truths with verve."
Daniel Pipes


"Benjamin Shapiro... future president of
the United States."
Larry Elder


"Ben Shapiro's columns are smart, informative and incisive. He is wise beyond his years without losing the refreshing fearlessness of youth."
Ann Coulter


"If you haven't yet partaken of Ben Shapiro's writings you are missing out. His columns are crisp, witty and topical. More than that, they are provocative, controversial and courageous."
David Limbaugh


"After battling in the trenches of liberal college student press, Ben Shapiro has emerged as a forceful and unequivocal writer to bring views that are underrepresented in mass media."
Ward Conerlly


"That invigorating breeze from the west is Benjamin Shapiro, whose crisp commentary proves that wisdom sometimes comes with youth, too."
Jeff Jacoby


"Wise beyond his years . . ."
WorldNetDaily


"A columnist who sees the world as it really is and knows how it could be."
Al Rantel, KABC LA

 
Jim Carrey vs. Europe

Here's my latest column on Townhall, "Jim Carrey vs. Europe." I think the European proclivity for dark, nihilistic movies is a manifestation of the underlying moral lassitude of that continent. I contrast that with the American love of the good guy-bad guy movie, and even the movie with the religious moral (i.e. Bruce Almighty). Check it out!
posted by Ben at 11:37 AM

 
God's road map

Check out my latest column, up on Townhall.com. It discusses where the cardinal blame lies for the failure of peace in the Middle East -- Israel. Why? Because Israel is based on a secular Zionist foundation which inherently means seeking world approval instead of taking measures to protect Israeli citizens. The solution: Israel needs to start become a Jewish State, not just a state full of Jews.
posted by Ben at 7:44 AM

 
Another Palestinian ploy

The media are playing this story up as though it were some sort of big deal, but in reality it's just another tactic of the Palestinian Authority. Saeb Erekat has "resigned" his post as the senior Palestinian negotiator, supposedly due to his anger at being left out of negotations between Ariel Sharon and Palestinian terrorist/prime minister Abu Mazen. Yeah, right. Here's the truth of the matter: Erekat probably quit in order to show the world that there is true democracy and difference of opinion within the new Palestinian cabinet. Erekat will be back before long, and the media will pretend as though some breach has been fixed. Remember, Abu Mazen himself pursued this tactic when Arafat "refused" to grant him power. This makes it seem as though Arafat is not in control, or that there are severe disagreements within Palestinian public opinion as to whether or not to pursue destruction of Israel. There isn't. This is an act.
posted by Ben at 11:11 AM

 
New column out today

My new column is out today on Townhall.com. It deals with Thomas L. Friedman, the foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times. My basis thesis: he's a sucker. He'll kiss up to any nation that hosts him. He believes his theory on foreign affairs -- namely, that economics dictates everything -- is all-encompassing. Bottom line: he's wrong almost all the time.
posted by Ben at 11:23 AM

 
Science vs. religion

Today's UK Independent has a story about a woman whose suicidal husband's brain was used for reseach without her notification. She is justifiably upset that her husband's brain (like 20,000 others) was stolen, especially since she is Jewish. Jewish law requires that bodies be buried without any parts missing (although I am not a Rabbi, so I do not know all of the halachik ramifications of organ donation).

In any case, this story is a perfect example of the clash between science and religion. When science and religion have mutual respect for one another, they can work in perfect harmony; God created them to do so. But when science loses its respect for religion -- "it's ridiculous," "it's old-fashioned" -- you get conflicts like these. The same holds true for religion that has no respect for science -- you get superstitious and primitive cultures.

It seems to me that scientific disrespect for religion is more common than vice versa. Europe is built on the idea that science (or reason, or secularism) trumps religion. The problem with that kind of thinking is that you get a society with no basic morality. Morality must at root come from God, not science. This is not to say that there cannot be moral atheists, but rather that atheism does not require morality, while religion does. If science dictated morality, it would look very much like utilitarianism: the greatest good for the greatest number. So would Nazi research on Holocaust victims be wrong? After all, the Nazis found many important scientific facts from their research, facts that would help many more than the number being hurt.

Bottom line: A healthy society must be founded on an interdependent relationship between science and religion.
posted by Ben at 9:31 AM

 
An "Road Map" Symposium

For those interested, check out a blogger symposium at Right Wing News concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Of course, I was the most right-wing of the bunch, but it's a fascinating conversation, from many different points of view. Definitely worth a look!
posted by Ben at 12:22 PM

 
All has been updated

I've received a lot of e-mail wondering two things: 1) when am I going to blog again and 2) where are my latest columns. Well, I've updated my list of columns. As for the blogging, I'm hoping to get back to it on a regular basis. I know, I've said that a number of times (I'm starting to sound like Bill Clinton promising to go after terrorism), but there's so much to blog about and so little time that I think I need to make a glorious return to the Ultra-Orthoblog. Stay tuned!
posted by Ben at 10:02 AM