Destroying Ben Shapiro With Facts and Logic

So in titling this “Destroying Ben Shapiro With Facts and Logic” I have done two things. One is to pick some very low hanging fruit and the other is to disappoint my father. You see my dad says that he ignores any political commentary that says “destroy” or anything like that because he says that it’s only goal is to embarrass people and not actually convince people. While I agree with that, and Ben Shaprio is the king of bad faith arguments just designed to pander to the people who agree with him without making any real attempts to change minds. That being said I really do want this to at least show understanding for the people who follow Ben Shapiro and the Daily Wire, many of whom I assume are good people.

I think that one of the problems I have with Ben Shapiro is the something I must begrudgingly compliment him on: He makes arguments that are (at least on the surface) pretty convincing and he is confident. He can craft a podcast or video that might convince you that he is a well researched guy who is just telling you what the liberals don’t want you to know. However, for someone who prides himself on facts over feelings, he is very often driven by what he feels to be true. At the very least I would encourage people to do some fact checking after listening to Ben, especially when he is saying stuff you agree with and try to find some real research and data for yourself. Hey if you are right then you will have even more evidence to “own the libs” so it’s a win no matter what!

I’m sure this is going to be long winded and confusing, but I am trying to avoid that by focusing on one specific aspect of Ben Shapiro, and that would be the way he starts with his own conclusions and then works the facts, or ignores them, to fit them. I think breaking down Ben’s logic and his relationship to facts really demystifies this collector of “liberal tears”. So here is my thesis: Ben Shapiro manipulates facts in order to further his own beliefs.

I want to be very clear from the start that this isn’t some atheist trying to take down religion or discredit his faith, just his logic. Ben Shapiro has said himself in an interview with David Ruben, that he doesn’t believe God makes ‘stupid rules’ so a lot of his work is finding a justification for those religious traditions and rules. In some ways I can just end it there, boom. However I am going to use an example to prove my point. I don’t actually want to leave it there though. I want to get messy and unpack this.

Ben starts with conclusions like “gay people shouldn’t get married” and then works to find a justification for that rather than coming to that conclusion based on facts and evidence.

One of the arguments that Ben makes against gay marriage is that he believes that government should only be involved with marriage for the purposes of “procreation” and that a heterosexual couple do a better job raising kids than gay couples. That’s how he feels, now let’s look at the facts. Well first I think let’s start with some facts from the CDC: In the US 6% of married women age 15–44 (umm lets save unpacking the married 15 year olds for later) are infertile, they define infertility as being unable to get pregnant after a year of trying. Additionally 12% of women, of all marital statuses, have difficulties getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term, not to mention the men that are infertile. So if marriage is for procreation should these infertile couples, or straight couples who just don’t want kids be denied marriage licenses? Should only people who express interest in having kids be allowed to get married? If you said yes, I disagree but at least that would be intellectually consistent and I’ve never seen Shapiro advocating for making children a legal obligation for married couples. Next I hear the little Ben Shapiro on my shoulder says “well think of the kids! It is better that they are raised by a man and a woman than a gay couple”. Now I will bring the facts that according to the American Psychological Association children adopted into same sex households do just as well as children adopted by straight people. I can’t really cite that there is nothing, but I did do some research and wasn’t able to find a reliable source that showed any negative impact on children if their parents were gay. The fact is that children of same sex couples fare just as well as other kids.

If you still say that it is your firmly held religious belief that prevents you from supporting gay marriage, I disagree but I understand, that isn’t how Ben frames himself though. He doesn’t present himself as a religious man defending his beliefs rather acts like he is a rebel wielding the facts not feelings. Time to circle back to my thesis to make a conclusion: Ben Shapiro, the “facts don’t care about your feelings guy” is ignoring facts in favor of his beliefs/feelings. Ben believed that gay marriage is wrong and created an argument based on his opinion on what marriage should be and what is or isn’t good for children, without regard for the facts that suggest otherwise. I’m not here to call people dumb for liking Ben Shapiro, my goal is to highlight the ways in which his arguments are constructed and chip away at his ‘its not me it’s just the facts’ defense. Smart people can fall for Shapiro because that defense is so appealing. I love facts and I wish he would stop taking their name in vain.