Conservative Drama - It Needs to Stop

 Over the past few weeks, a drama has been unfolding on one of the most visible and largest conservative platforms on social media, the Daily Wire.  The Daily Wire is the home of Ben Shapiro, a capable and quick-witted political commentator who I have watched for several years on a frequent basis.  Ben has good insights on things, and although I don't see eye-to-eye with him on everything, overall he has some good content.  However, in the past couple of years or so there have been some rather silly kerfuffles going on, and for some reason Shapiro seems to be in the middle of them.  Recently, a new one has raised its head and it involved another conservative political figure, Candace Owens.

Candace Owens, a Black lady who is also a highly capable conservative speaker, was one of the main people who was involved with a movement called Blexit - this movement reflects a justifiable and very welcome discontent from many Black Americans who are disillusioned with Democrat politics and want alternatives, and many of them have become staunch conservatives.  Among some of them are Joel Patrick, C.J. Pearson, Dr. Carol Swain, media personalities Diamond and Silk, economist Charles Payne, Baltimore area political figure Kimberly Klacik (more on her momentarily), and so many others.  These are decent people who are seeing through the "plantation pimp" facade the Democrats have held over much of the Black community since LBJ's Presidency, and it's a positive development.  Candace has been a powerhouse for this movement, and she is also a very good asset for conservatives in general. It also represents a common-sense shift in the political landscape as the masks of the Leftist elitist hacks are coming off and many regular people are seeing what those demons really are.  This is a long-overdue movement, and it also demonstrates that true Conservatism is a diverse and very inclusive (in the right context) movement that relates to the Joe Schmo on the street better than do the elitist hacks who run our government. But, if our own human concupiscence has taught us everything, nothing is perfect, and this latest scuffle between two capable conservative figures (Shapiro and Owens) is a reminder.  So, let's get into that. 

As we all know, on October 7 of last year a very heinous and horrible terrorist attack occurred in Israel when a group of demonic-driven terrorists called Hamas attacked and killed over 1200 people (mostly Jewish Israelis but there were others too) and then they took several hostages.  This led to a justifiable retaliation on the part of Israel against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as is usually the case in these situations, it got very murky from there.  Hamas is known, for instance, for the use of civilians as human shields, and will often base its activities in hospitals or other humanitarian locations - they do that for a reason.  Hamas wants to amplify the destruction by hiding behind civilians who are often innocent, and as a result when such a place is targeted by the IDF, Hamas then will use its propaganda mechanism to promote "genocide' accusations against Israel due to innocent civilian casualties. But, Israel is not totally without fault either.  While Israel is a very legitimate nation, and its people do have a birthright to the land there, not all is perfect in that either.  While there have been some noble measures on the part of Israel to minimize collateral damage, unfortunately a lot of times civilians get targeted anyway despite the fact they are innocents, and that never looks good.  Many indigenous Christians of the region are often unfortunately caught up in the crosshairs of the conflict, and their deaths are oftentimes used as justification to brand Israel as some sort of South African or Third Reich reincarnation (which it is not).  Then, when you have some radically ultra-Orthodox Jewish factions there being openly hostile to Armenian and other Christians, it does little for Israel's image.  In all fairness, the radicals on both sides do not represent the totality, but it is hard to see beyond that for many.  As a result, many indigenous Christian communities of the region, who should be natural allies of Israel, are often made very anti-Israel and some will even support terrorists who would kill them in a minute. This whole situation is unfortunate, and it strikes a personal nerve with me that I want to talk about now.

I was raised with a strong love for the nation of Israel and for the Jewish people in general. In part, it is because I myself do have ancestors who were Conversos, so I feel a connection.  On another level, I also used to be a Pentecostal dispensationalist, and like many of them I saw Israel's existence as a prophetic miracle and thus I could have been considered at one time a "Christian Zionist." However, this caused a huge crisis of faith for me later as I became Catholic in that "Christian Zionism" is rejected soundly by the Catholic Church.  Also, my advocacy for many years for Middle Eastern Christian minorities such as the Armenians and Assyrians began to challenge my former "Christian Zionist" ideas, and as I learned more, I began to realize some things.  I will share a story of that later, but sufficive to say,  I have come to an understanding that one can love and support Israel without making Israel perfect and believing any action of Israel as a nation is divinely-guided.  Jews are not Christians, and many of them do not accept the Lordship of Jesus, and some are even openly hostile to Christians.  In time, the Church does believe there will be a mass conversion of the Jewish people to the Gospel, and as a spoiler to my future story on this, I think their assemblage in modern Israel may be a step toward that.  And, there are other complexities I would have to share in a separate story later, but summarily my own support for the state of Israel is much more nuanced than it used to be.  And, that was a painful growth experience too. Now, with that background, let us get back to the original discussion.

Ben Shapiro, as a devout Orthodox Jew, is passionate about Israel and he is also proud of his heritage.  I totally appreciate that, and he should be as he does have a rich legacy of both faith and family that God gave him.  However, in recent broadcasts of his show on Daily Wire, Ben has been almost obsessed with the topic of October 7, so much so that he has even resorted to the tactics of Leftist race-baiters like Al Sharpton in labeling anyone who disagrees with him as an "antisemite."  This led to a very bitter feud with Candace Owens, who merely pointed out that she disagreed with some of the strategy of Israel in this conflict, and her concerns were justifiable - many conservatives, like myself even, have learned to become more nuanced in our support of Israel, and it doesn't mean that these conservatives like Owens are "antisemites" for doing so.  So, last week, Candace resigned from the Daily Wire, and she has launched her own platform.  Ben's attitude is an unfortunate tragedy, and as a result he may be actually aiding actual antisemites who show up in conservative circles (one notable one who has been a huge disappointment in recent years is Mark Dice - I used to like Mark Dice until he did actually launch antisemitic attacks against Ben and others, and to be honest, I have no time for that).  Ben would do well to understand that just because Candace Owens may disagree with him on a minor issue, it does not make her "antisemitic" and to be honest I don't even think it makes her anti-Israel.  We need to be careful of where we place accusations in other words.

This recent incident is by no means the only conservative struggle - Ben has had a feud with Steven Crowder, the conservative comedian/commentator, and Candace has her own beef with Baltimore politician Kimberly Klacik.  I refuse to take sides in any of these silly struggles, as I actually like all the people involved and they need to sort it out and realize we have something much bigger to stand against than each other. It is time conservatives grow up, lest we snatch defeat from the hand of victory and lose America as a nation while a bunch of high-profile figures in our movement make asses of themselves by having petty squabbles.  So to Ben and Candace I say this - both of you need to grow up, shut up, and get back to what is important. Enough is enough, as our nation is facing several things that threaten to destroy our society.  Time to use common sense people. 

That was today's soapbox, and the bottom line is this - I want what is best for America, and despite minor personal differences we have with others who may have the same concerns we do, we need to man it up, work together, and let's restore decency and order to our nation.  Save the crazy interpersonal squabbles for another time, as they could destroy us if you don't, Ben and Candace.  Thank you.