The city of Berkeley was on alert. Barriers were erected to stop violent protesters. Bank of America boarded up windows. Police were authorized to use pepper spray if merited. Traumatized UC Berkeley students were offered counseling if needed. A campus crowd chanted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, white supremacists have got to go.” And a large sign read, “We say no to white supremacist b-s.”

What was causing this disturbance? Why the massive disruption? As Tariq Nasheed tweeted, “Suspected white supremacist Ben Shapiro, who tries to mask his racist rhetoric by claiming to be jewish, is in Berkeley now #BenAtBerkeley.”

Suspected white supremacist Ben Shapiro, who tries to mask his racist rhetoric by claiming to be jewish, is in Berkeley now #BenAtBerkeley

— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) September 14, 2017

Yes, the well-known, physically intimidating, white supremacist Ben Shapiro had invaded the formerly safe confines of Berkeley. He came to deliver a hate-filled, Trump-lauding, neo-Nazi, racist screed. It would doubtless lead to an orgy of on-campus violence. Oh, the thought of it! And those poor, terrified students! What did they do to deserve such a fate?

Unfounded Hysteria 

Unfortunately for the radical left, none of this is true — except that Ben Shapiro gave a talk at Berkeley on Thursday night. He spoke against “campus thuggery” and violence in political discourse. Everything else in this description is complete fantasy — other than the many students traumatized by Ben’s presence. They’d been whipped into hysteria by the lies and propaganda of the radical-left misinformation machine.

OK, I slightly enhanced some of the anti-Shapiro rhetoric just to round out the picture. But the substance of it is what many now believe. And that is a scary thought.

A brilliant, articulate, and fair-minded conservative millennial has been turned into a monster by the hate-spewing, violence-inciting left. Who will be next on their list? Who will be the next target of radical-left hysteria? And does this hysteria have even the slightest interest in truth?

In the realm of radical-left fantasy, Ben is a “suspected white supremacist” who “claims” to be Jewish. 

For the record, Ben Shapiro is an Orthodox Jew. At 33, he’s an accomplished lawyer, journalist, radio host and New York Times bestselling author. He’s the editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire. To my knowledge, he has never uttered a racist, white-supremacist syllable in his life. He has been one of Donald Trump’s consistent critics, and he abhors everything neo-Nazis and the alt-right stand for.

But in the realm of radical-left fantasy, articulated so well in the Tariq Nasheed tweet, Ben is a “suspected white supremacist” who “claims” to be Jewish. How nefarious indeed. Not only is he dangerous, but he is deceitful as well, cloaking his racism in a bogus claim to be Jewish.

And people actually believe this drivel, to the point of sparking protests and mass upheaval.

When Ideas Threaten, Facts Don’t Matter

Does it matter that Ben is a constant target of the alt-right? Does it matter that he exposes the bankruptcy of both Antifa and White Supremacists? Does it matter that even a New York Times op-ed spoke up in his defense? And does it matter that he gave a talk at UC Berkeley in 2016 without major incident? What changed between then and now? Not Ben Shapiro. Not the facts.

What changed was the atmosphere at Berkeley. Today it’s an atmosphere charged with hostility, intolerance, and hatred. The vast majority of it comes from the radical left.

Is it true that, across the country, a dangerous spirit of white nationalism is on the rise? Absolutely. And it’s helped trigger an equally ugly response from the left (along with a dangerous black nationalism). Again, all of these are ugly and to be denounced.

Is it true that Ben ridicules his ideological opponents in strongly derogatory terms? Yes. That is certainly his style, which I do not defend.

But that is not the primary reason he is being attacked. It is his ideas that pose such a threat — his conservative, sometimes biblically inspired ideas. And he is right to expose the “snowflake” mentality of many of our college students today.

It’s a Fault of the “Me” Culture

How did we reach this extremely low point? How did the older generation fail to prepare the younger generation for handling the challenges of life and the diversity of worldviews? How did we create such a self-centered, “You hurt my feelings!” mindset? How did “tolerance” become so intolerant and “inclusivism” become so exclusive? How did “love” become so hateful?

I took a long hard look at these questions when writing Saving a Sick America: A Prescription for Moral and Cultural Transformation. Its chapters include “Reclaiming Our Schools and Learning How to Think Again” and “Putting an End to the Blame Game and Saying Goodbye to the Entitlement Mentality.”

Many of our nation’s problems trace back to the mindset that “it’s all about me.”

I prayerfully analyzed some of our nation’s biggest problems, which cut across generational lines. It became clear that our greatest challenges are not just abortion, pornography, extreme debt, social injustice, family breakdown and compromise in the church. Instead, some of our greatest challenges are internal. Many of them traced back to the mindset that “it’s all about me.”

That’s why the second to last chapter of the book is titled, “The Universe Does Not Revolve Around Me.” And that’s why I also address the culpability of Christian leaders who have fed into this self-exalting mentality by preaching a “What’s in it for me?” gospel message. That message is no gospel at all.

The Symptoms, the Illness and the Cure

What we saw at Berkeley last night is just a symptom of a much bigger cultural ill. The disease infects both the right and the left. As I argue in Saving a Sick America, offering specific details and guidelines, the cure for this ill is found in the Bible. Particularly, it’s found in the words and example of Jesus. That’s the good news.

The bad news — or should I say, the sobering news — is that the cure is quite radical. How many will dare even try it?

I hope that many millions of Americans will make the effort to “taste and see” that God’s ways are best. The radical, Jesus-based cure to our self-centered, narcissistic mentality is life-giving, liberating and even culture-transforming.

Can we afford not to fill the prescription?