Review by Richard Bayer, PhD
Ben Shapiro is driven to write for the sake of America, and for the future of his children (to whom the book is dedicated) in a country on the brink of the loss of the freedoms promised to us by our founding fathers and mothers. (226) The passion of the author is quite evident in the book, making it a captivating read. The book is exhaustively researched.
According to S. the danger in our time is not from an authoritarian right. Those who broke into the capital January 6 imagining they were helping President Trump, wearing bull horns, are little danger. The concern today is the authoritarian left which has captured and weaponized most of our major institutions: elementary education (Critical Race Theory or CRT), academia, politics, the legal system, the media, and so forth. Penalties from the authoritarian left include social ostracizing, career suicide, to name just two.
Popular submission to this “new normal” has come relatively swift. S. points out insightfully that “It took just a few weeks from the splitting of the Red Sea for the Jews to embrace the Golden Calf.” (4). S. also points out that human nature has an authoritarian instinct. The Jews dissatisfaction with Judges and preference for the authority of a King is case in point.
I would have liked to see S. discuss more of the positive methods of resistance to the new normal. Public schools have students with parents who can influence the process. Local schools also have “Boards of Education” for which anyone in the district can run. The media is truly a plural term these days. Alternative views can be aired and acted upon. News outlets such as CNN, Fox, Msnbc, ABC, etc. bring quite different perspectives and worthy interpretations. So, it seems to me that the system has checks and balances which can be put into action.
“The authoritarian moment relies on the acquiescence of a silent majority. We must no longer be silent.” (227) Then a new birth of freedom can begin. S. ends on a hopeful note.
The book is a must read for anyone in the field of social ethics. It may well be his fourth New York Times bestseller.
RICHARD C. BAYER, PhD.
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA (degree granting institution)
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Ben, Characteristically, Has his Finger on the Pulse of our Culture
From the first lines of the introduction, I knew I was holding a book that would be difficult to put down.Ben's poignant analysis and engaging manner makes this both a challenging and yet enjoyable reading experience.He pulls no punches and makes no unsupported claims. He brings the problems into crisp focus, and shines a bright light on the only workable answer.This is a book to read and to give as gifts to your family and friends.
