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The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great

Author:
Ben Shapiro
Read by:
Ben Shapiro
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Unabridged Audiobook

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Ratings
Book
143
Narrator
24
Release Date
March 19, 2019
Duration
6 hours 6 minutes
Summary
America has a God-shaped hole in its heart, argues New York Times bestselling author Ben Shapiro, and we shouldn't fill it with politics and hate.

In 2016, Ben Shapiro spoke at UC Berkeley. Hundreds of police officers were required from 10 UC campuses across the state to protect his speech, which was -- ironically -- about the necessity for free speech and rational debate.

He came to argue that Western Civilization is in the midst of a crisis of purpose and ideas. Our freedoms are built upon the twin notions that every human being is made in God’s image and that human beings were created with reason capable of exploring God’s world.

We can thank these values for the birth of science, the dream of progress, human rights, prosperity, peace, and artistic beauty. Jerusalem and Athens built America, ended slavery, defeated the Nazis and the Communists, lifted billions from poverty and gave billions spiritual purpose. Jerusalem and Athens were the foundations of the Magna Carta and the Treaty of Westphalia; they were the foundations of Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail.

Civilizations that rejected Jerusalem and Athens have collapsed into dust. The USSR rejected Judeo-Christian values and Greek natural law, substituting a new utopian vision of “social justice” – and they starved and slaughtered tens of millions of human beings. The Nazis rejected Judeo-Christian values and Greek natural law, and they shoved children into gas chambers. Venezuela rejects Judeo-Christian values and Greek natural law, and citizens of their oil-rich nation have been reduced to eating dogs.

We are in the process of abandoning Judeo-Christian values and Greek natural law, favoring instead moral subjectivism and the rule of passion. And we are watching our civilization collapse into age-old tribalism, individualistic hedonism, and moral subjectivism. We believe we can reject Judeo-Christian values and Greek natural law and satisfy ourselves with intersectionality, or scientific materialism, or progressive politics, or authoritarian governance, or nationalistic solidarity.

We can’t.

The West is special, and in The Right Side of History, Ben Shapiro bravely explains that it’s because too many of us have lost sight of the moral purpose that drives us each to be better, or the sacred duty to work together for the greater good, or both. A stark warning, and a call to spiritual arms, this book may be the first step in getting our civilization back on track.
Reviews
Profile Avatar Sam B. Apr 2019

Amazing book, be ready to use the internet to help you understand the words.

Profile Avatar Reint-Jan R. Jul 2020

Great book, written by a brilliant author and speaker. Comprehensive in history, and elucidates the causes of post-modern culture. Marvellous.

Profile Avatar Anonymous Jun 2020

Ben Shapiro has a large vocabulary and uses it here.

Profile Avatar Michael R. May 2019

Love Ben and love the book. Excited to see throughout his career the different insights he puts in his books. Easy read/listen for anyone wanting to advance their knowledge.

Profile Avatar Snnizzle Jun 2025

Very well researched and helps connect a lot of disparate views nicely.

Profile Avatar Anonymous Jul 2022

Proof that one can say so much and yet say so little. The fact that Shapiro has an extensive vocabulary either means he is very adept at Googling “synonyms for…” or prefers to obfuscate his weak arguments in multisyllabic vernacular. See, me can speak big words too.

Profile Avatar Anonymous May 2021

It's an interesting albeit largely opinionated read. Mr Shapiro is very persuasive in his speech and cadence and though I agree that spiritual values have played an important role in moral character development, im not sure if it is as cut and dry as it appears in this text.

Profile Avatar Zachary R. Oct 2020

Amazing and super informative book and even more awesome it’s read by the author! Would Rex recommend to anyone with an open mind!

Profile Avatar John G. May 2019

I liked the book although I didn’t like Ben’s choice of words to make a point.

The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great

The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great

Author: Ben Shapiro
Read by: Ben Shapiro
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