The Matt Walsh Show - Ep. 249 - Rebranding The Burqa

00:00:00.000 Today on The Matt Walsh Show, does it make sense for feminists to celebrate burqas? 1.00

00:00:05.520 Or does that kind of contradict their entire narrative?

00:00:07.960 We'll talk about that.

00:00:08.680 Also, an evangelical leader has taken a bold stand,

00:00:11.920 proclaiming that there is no biblical argument for white supremacy, she says.

00:00:16.900 Well, that's true, of course, but nobody is making a biblical argument for white supremacy, 0.67

00:00:20.560 so what's the point of declaring something like that?

00:00:23.960 And finally, should we look at historical figures in the context of their times?

00:00:30.200 Or should we judge them by the moral standards of modern times?

00:00:34.700 We'll discuss that as well today on The Matt Walsh Show.

00:00:41.580 You know, I want to say one thing here at the top,

00:00:44.300 and I was thinking about this yesterday as I was out checking my hive.

00:00:49.920 I think one of the great marketing decisions of all time,

00:00:54.120 maybe the greatest, really, was to call it honey rather than bee vomit,

00:01:00.600 which is basically what it really is.

00:01:03.540 When you put honey, like on your toast or whatever,

00:01:06.480 you are smearing bee puke all over a piece of bread, let's be honest about it.

00:01:11.680 Well, not technically puke.

00:01:13.080 I mean, the bee does store the nectar in a stomach that's separate from the one used for digestion.

00:01:18.320 But at the end of the day, you're eating something that thousands of bees regurgitated.

00:01:22.320 I mean, that's just what's happening.

00:01:23.760 And in fact, actually, they regurgitate it into the combs, right?

00:01:28.320 And the combs are made from wax, which is secreted out of the bee's pores,

00:01:32.440 like a sort of gelatinous sweat.

00:01:35.520 And then what happens is the bee vomit is scooped out of the bee goop 0.65

00:01:40.720 and put into bottles, and then you put it in your tea.

00:01:45.500 You freak.

00:01:46.280 What is wrong with you?

00:01:50.040 Anyway, just a thought.

00:01:54.180 Speaking, though, of—actually, I could do a transition here.

00:01:57.100 Speaking of rebranding attempts, the left is celebrating today what CNN describes as

00:02:04.160 boundary-breaking Muslim supermodel Halima Aydin,

00:02:07.960 who has made history once again, they say,

00:02:10.980 by becoming the first model to wear a hijab and burkini in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

00:02:18.400 Now, here's a picture of her.

00:02:21.440 There it is.

00:02:23.080 And that's a so-called burkini, which is a combination of a burka and a bikini. 0.93

00:02:30.080 Really, it's just a wetsuit.

00:02:31.480 It's like something that somebody would wear, you know, scuba diving or something.

00:02:34.400 But this is supposed to be some kind of great moment of cultural diversity.

00:02:39.960 And as I said, the left and feminists are very excited about it.

00:02:44.500 So I have a few things to say here.

00:02:46.720 First of all, combining a burka and a bikini makes about as much sense as putting an iced coffee in the microwave. 0.72

00:02:55.840 These are opposites.

00:02:57.320 They are doing two opposite things.

00:03:00.140 You can't really combine them.

00:03:01.740 The whole point of a burka is extreme sexual modesty. 1.00

00:03:06.920 That's the entire point of it.

00:03:08.700 And the point of a bikini is sort of the opposite of that.

00:03:13.720 So to wear a garment that is meant for sexual modesty while striking a pose and rolling around in the sand

00:03:22.120 so that your picture can be taken and put in a magazine alongside a bunch of barely clothed supermodels, 1.00

00:03:28.120 well, that really makes no sense at all.

00:03:30.200 More to the point, though, I certainly believe that Muslim women should be allowed to wear what they want.

00:03:37.180 I'm a diehard supporter of religious liberty for all people.

00:03:40.880 But it requires an extraordinary amount of cognitive dissonance for feminists in America to celebrate burkas and hijabs. 1.00

00:03:50.140 Hijabs. 1.00

00:03:50.760 I don't know if I'm probably pronouncing that wrong.

00:03:52.760 Hijabs. 1.00

00:03:53.540 Hijabs. 1.00

00:03:54.700 Is that the one?

00:03:55.420 Anyway, you know, it's one thing to say, yes, women have the right to wear those things. 1.00

00:04:02.560 Well, of course they do.

00:04:03.520 And nobody disputes that.

00:04:04.940 At least nobody in America disputes that. 0.73

00:04:06.720 But to celebrate it, as feminists tend to do in America, is absurd. 0.83

00:04:16.300 Women in Muslim countries are required to wear these things according to societal standards of extreme sexual modesties. 0.96

00:04:24.280 In some countries, they can be imprisoned or killed for not wearing them.

00:04:28.780 So, the idea behind it is that only a woman's husband is allowed to see her entire head, basically. 0.56

00:04:37.040 So, this is about enforced modesty, and it's about the authority that a husband has over his wife, and that, more generally speaking, that men have over women.

00:04:47.800 There's a reason why women are supposed to wear the burkas and stuff, not men. 1.00

00:04:57.300 Because men can show their hair, and they can have their whole heads visible, but women can't. 1.00

00:05:03.040 Because the woman is the property of the man. 1.00

00:05:05.480 But, just to put this into context, the website Islam Question and Answer, it's a website you can go check out, which provides answers about Islam.

00:05:22.960 And this website provides, proudly, some quotations from the Hadith and the Koran about the hijab and about why women are supposed to wear it.

00:05:32.600 So, here's one quotation that's provided.

00:05:38.060 It says,

00:05:39.280 And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and protect their private parts, and not to show off their adornment, except only that which is apparent, like both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer palms of hands, or one eye, or dress like veil, gloves, head cover, apron. 0.99

00:05:56.680 And to draw their veils all over their bodies, and not to reveal their adornment, except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husbands' fathers, or their sons, or their husbands' sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their Muslim women, or the female slaves whom their right hands possess, or old male servants who lack vigor, or small children who have no sense of feminine sex. 0.82

00:06:23.740 And let them not stamp their feet, so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment.

00:06:29.240 And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.

00:06:34.460 Okay.

00:06:34.660 Um, so this is, I mean, this is the handmaid's tale, but in real life.

00:06:41.480 This is, women are, they can show it to the men in their life, they can show their hair and their full head, at the very least, but not beyond that.

00:06:51.620 Um, so that it is not tempting to, to, you know, men out in public.

00:06:57.700 You know, feminists are running around claiming that the handmaid's tale is about to be a reality in America because Mike Pence is vice president. 1.00

00:07:06.400 Meanwhile, the handmaid's tale actually is a reality in places like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

00:07:13.180 Um, and they, they say nothing about it.

00:07:15.800 In fact, let me show you this, um, look at this graphic here, people were pulled by Pew say that five times fast in a variety of Muslim countries.

00:07:24.780 As you see, there, uh, is Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, uh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia.

00:07:30.360 And they were asked how a woman should dress.

00:07:34.860 And as you can see from the responses, sizable majorities in these countries thought that at most a woman should show her nose, eye, eyes, and mouth.

00:07:44.640 That's, that's the most you should be able to show.

00:07:46.620 Uh, nothing else, no hair, even, uh, not even like the chin.

00:07:51.600 And in places like Saudi Arabia, most thought that women shouldn't show anything but their eyes. 0.99

00:07:56.600 Um, these respondents were also asked if women should be allowed, should be allowed to wear something else if they want.

00:08:03.600 Like, should they be allowed to choose or, or should they be forced to wear, um, these, uh, these, these things.

00:08:10.320 And 40 to 50% in these countries said, no, uh, they should not be allowed to choose.

00:08:16.080 They should not be allowed to choose their own outfits.

00:08:18.280 They should be forced legally to wear, uh, the hijab or the burqa. 1.00

00:08:23.440 And feminists say nothing about this. 1.00

00:08:25.180 Um, worse than nothing, they celebrate this clothing item, which is a symbol of exactly the sort of oppression and suppression and persecution that they pretend to be fighting against in this country.

00:08:39.960 Now, as I said, I have no problem with religious modesty.

00:08:44.420 Uh, I'm, I don't have a problem with that.

00:08:47.560 I think obviously when you, when you, when you, when you get to the point where women are essentially walking around in body bags or burlap sacks, basically, that is extreme.

00:08:59.820 Uh, that is, that is, uh, that is oppression.

00:09:02.620 Uh, there, there is a distinction between modesty and oppression and that's oppression.

00:09:06.640 But, um, the, the greater problem here is, is first of all, the prevailing attitude in many Muslim countries is that this modesty should be obligatory with rather harsh penalties up to and including death.

00:09:22.180 Now, even for the most extreme forms, like where only the eye is shown, if a woman in this country wanted to walk around like that, then, you know, I respect that choice because it's not forced.

00:09:34.580 But the problem is in many Muslim countries, it is either forced by law or by societal custom.

00:09:41.720 Now, you'll see that there are apologists who will say, oh no, you'll, they'll pull up a Wikipedia article or something.

00:09:46.340 They'll say, no, I mean, in Muslim countries, women can wear what they want. 1.00

00:09:49.380 Most of these countries, you know, it's, it's, it's only the most extreme and conservative, like Saudi Arabia, where they're required, uh, by law to wear this stuff.

00:09:57.600 But, you know, legally they can, yeah, that might be the case legally.

00:10:01.580 Uh, in fact, I think even in like Afghanistan, technically, legally, a woman can basically wear what she wants, but she can't really, because the societal pressure, uh, means that she, she has to wear the, the burqa. 0.93

00:10:19.980 And if she doesn't, she could, she puts her life in jeopardy.

00:10:25.320 Um, so that's, that's the problem.

00:10:27.860 Um, also the point is that the left certainly does have a problem with religious modesty.

00:10:35.820 Most of the time, except where it pertains to Muslims, you know, you don't see them celebrating conservative Christian women who wear, you know, the long skirts that go down to the ankles.

00:10:47.360 Um, you don't see them celebrating nuns and what nuns wear.

00:10:50.860 You don't see them celebrating the modesty of Orthodox Jewish women.

00:10:55.400 In fact, in all of those cases, uh, feminists will mock and sneer and, and, and point to that as an example of why, you know, Christianity, um, is, uh, is sexually repressive and repressed and, and all of that. 0.99

00:11:12.080 But with Muslims, suddenly it's a cause for celebration. 1.00

00:11:16.840 The hypocrisy is extraordinary. 0.99

00:11:20.380 Truly.

00:11:21.640 It really is. 1.00

00:11:23.920 Um, and this is why American feminists are some of the most fraudulent cowards you will ever encounter. 1.00

00:11:35.020 If feminism in America, I've said it a million times. 0.99

00:11:38.080 I'll say it a million more times. 0.99

00:11:39.080 Feminism in America is totally worthless. 1.00

00:11:42.080 It is a worthless, hypocritical, cowardly pageant, basically. 0.99

00:11:48.340 Um, and nothing more than that, because if these, if feminists, if feminism meant anything, if these feminists really cared about women's rights, 1.00

00:11:58.000 they would be focusing almost all of their energy on what's happening to women in Muslim countries.

00:12:03.860 Because in America, women can wear what they want. 1.00

00:12:07.180 They can do what they want.

00:12:08.280 They can say what they want.

00:12:09.640 Uh, they have all the same rights as men.

00:12:11.240 In fact, they have, they have rights that men don't have. 1.00

00:12:13.440 They have more rights than men, arguably. 0.79

00:12:16.480 Um, not even arguably.

00:12:18.500 The right to kill your child is, is a right possessed only by women, not by men. 0.93

00:12:23.320 Um, so if they actually cared about women's rights, they would say, oh, look, well, we succeeded in America. 0.98

00:12:30.580 Um, uh, mission accomplished.

00:12:33.500 Good for us.

00:12:34.580 Let's go focus on Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and Afghanistan.

00:12:39.760 But they don't.

00:12:40.840 Um, not only do they ignore that, but they celebrate the persecution of women over there. 1.00

00:12:48.100 Hypocritical cowards. 1.00

00:12:49.660 All of them. 1.00

00:12:50.420 Um, all right.

00:12:54.120 I wanted to mention this.

00:12:56.620 Beth Moore is a prominent evangelical.

00:12:59.620 Uh, I suppose a Christian leader is what she's considered anyway.

00:13:05.300 And she sent out a tweet yesterday that's worth discussing for a moment.

00:13:09.000 Here's the tweet.

00:13:09.940 Um, it says, there are simply no gospel grounds for defending white supremacy.

00:13:15.420 None.

00:13:16.240 This isn't theological rocket science.

00:13:18.340 The savior of the world gave himself on the cross for our sins to live, to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and father, wearing a brown body. 0.99

00:13:28.600 Now, um, uh, actually putting aside the phrase there, wearing a body, um, that, you know, that has a little bit of a, uh, vaguely heretical sound to it.

00:13:46.020 Um, but putting that aside, obviously I agree.

00:13:51.720 Okay.

00:13:52.440 You agree.

00:13:53.600 We all agree.

00:13:55.400 And that's the point that we all agree.

00:13:57.360 This is another example of paper tiger Christianity. 0.99

00:14:01.420 This is a Christian taking a stand that's supposed to seem bold and brave and necessary, but actually is safe and obvious and certain to provoke no disagreement whatsoever from anyone.

00:14:13.780 Now, notice how she phrases this.

00:14:15.480 She says, there are simply no gospel grounds for defending white supremacy.

00:14:18.840 None.

00:14:19.720 Period.

00:14:20.100 As if she's arguing with someone, but who is she arguing with, who, who is making a gospel argument for white supremacy?

00:14:31.180 Who has anyone done that? 0.92

00:14:33.840 Um, now there are some white supremacists out there that we know, and those people are evil freaks, all of them, but they are a very small minority and they are condemned by almost everyone else. 0.76

00:14:45.700 And I've never heard even anyone in their camp make a gospel based argument. 0.97

00:14:52.260 These evil sociopaths who shoot up synagogues, um, maybe in their manifestos, they might say something about Jesus.

00:14:58.980 I don't know. 0.95

00:14:59.440 Maybe that I don't read the manifesto.

00:15:00.840 So I don't really know what they say because I don't, I don't, I don't care what they have to say or what their opinions are, but I'm pretty sure I could be wrong.

00:15:07.720 I'm pretty sure that these freaks are not offering theological arguments for mass shootings.

00:15:13.800 These, these manifestos are not, um, theological dissertations, right?

00:15:19.860 So even in the community of people who actually believe in white supremacy, the argument is not a theological one.

00:15:27.800 So what Beth Moore is doing here is twofold. 0.51

00:15:30.720 Number one, she's pretending to be bold and brave and courageous by take, by staking out a position that 99% of everyone agrees with. 0.99

00:15:37.720 Um, number two, more insidiously, she's implying, she is strongly implying that there is a sizable percentage of Christians who, who do think that the Bible supports white supremacy.

00:15:50.620 Um, she, an evangelical Christian, a, a, a, you know, supposed Christian leader is making a straw man of Christianity and painting Christians as white supremacists.

00:16:01.720 And she's doing it all to make herself look better by comparison.

00:16:07.700 That's the game here.

00:16:09.420 Um, this is not just about someone virtue signaling by taking on an easy subject and pretending that it's difficult.

00:16:17.140 It is that too.

00:16:18.140 And there's way too much of that going on in Christianity in America these days. 1.00

00:16:20.980 Um, but it's also, as I said, a straw man, it's, it's the kind of thing you expect an atheist to say, uh, ranting against Christians who use the Bible to justify racism, even though almost no Christian is really doing that.

00:16:36.420 So if you're going to get up there and say, well, there is no biblical argument for X, Y, Z, then you should be able to provide examples of people, um, especially prominent people who are trying to make a biblical argument for X, Y, Z.

00:16:54.160 And if you can't provide any examples at all, then the question is, why are you even saying that?

00:16:59.580 What's the point of making that?

00:17:01.000 It's like, if I got up there and said, um, I don't know, there is no gospel argument for, uh, robbing liquor stores.

00:17:08.860 There is no gospel argument for armed robbery.

00:17:11.380 None.

00:17:12.760 Jesus condemns it.

00:17:15.180 Now that's true, of course.

00:17:17.000 But if I'm going to say that, then I think it's, it is logical for you to respond and say, who's making that argument?

00:17:25.660 Is anybody?

00:17:26.780 And if nobody is making it, then why am I even saying this?

00:17:29.900 We all agree.

00:17:30.780 What's the point of it?

00:17:32.700 Um, well, there is a point.

00:17:35.480 And, uh, as I just explained, and I think the point is, um, actually shameful.

00:17:43.900 All right.

00:17:45.960 This is, this is important.

00:17:47.820 Um, watch Beto O'Rourke.

00:17:50.680 He was on MSNBC last night.

00:17:52.640 And, uh, here's here.

00:17:54.460 This is very important.

00:17:55.380 You need to see this.

00:17:56.080 Watch.

00:17:56.760 Let me, let me just sharpen this a little bit though.

00:17:58.520 Cause I think this sort of gets to kind of the nut of the issue, right?

00:18:00.820 I mean, we haven't done this yet.

00:18:02.480 We have been standing idly by while we've been emitting more and more carbon into the atmosphere.

00:18:06.940 We've made it harder.

00:18:07.920 We now have to undertake some kind of crash program.

00:18:09.900 And I guess my question to you is, do you see the oil and gas industry as an opponent

00:18:16.660 in that?

00:18:17.240 Won't, won't you have to fight them?

00:18:19.020 Won't you have to declare yourself in opposition to their interests?

00:18:24.020 Well, uh, I think the short answer is yes.

00:18:26.780 In, in some significant way.

00:18:28.960 Um, we know that certain oil and gas corporations have been fighting public policy on this issue,

00:18:35.520 uh, have been hiding their own science and, and research, um, at the expense of, uh, our

00:18:42.840 climate and, and human life.

00:18:44.300 Um, so, so wherever those two things come in contrast or in opposition, I'm always going

00:18:49.620 to choose the people, uh, of this country.

00:18:52.000 Uh, having said that, I want to make sure that those who work in the oil and gas industry,

00:18:57.920 uh, those who work in the fossil fuel industry are brought along as partners to make sure that

00:19:02.560 we make this transition in the 10 years that we have left to us as the science and scientists

00:19:07.920 tell us, uh, to make the kind of bold change that we need.

00:19:11.380 We cannot afford to alienate a significant part of this country.

00:19:15.580 And we cannot do this by half measure or by only half of us.

00:19:18.880 It can't be Democrats versus Republicans, big cities versus small towns.

00:19:23.180 We all have a shared interest in a cleaner future for this country.

00:19:26.900 So I'm going to work with, listen to everyone, anytime, anywhere to make sure that we advance

00:19:32.760 this agenda and get to zero, uh, net, net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

00:19:38.620 Did you catch that?

00:19:39.860 10 years.

00:19:41.220 It's 10 years now.

00:19:42.880 Beto says that we have 10 years left to live.

00:19:45.040 It was 12.

00:19:45.720 I mean, we had 12 years, six.

00:19:47.880 Okay.

00:19:48.100 So, uh, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said like six months ago that we had 12 years.

00:19:55.420 And now we have 10 years left to live.

00:19:59.180 So we lost two years in six months.

00:20:02.800 So by that rate, really we have what?

00:20:05.780 I mean, we're, we're, I mean, by that rate, we're all going to be, we're going to be dead

00:20:08.460 probably by, you know, in three or four years.

00:20:12.920 Um, yeah, you know, but still, I mean, 10 years is, is, is, as long as we have a few years

00:20:20.080 left, I guess is, is the point.

00:20:21.600 Now we have time to eat, drink and be merry.

00:20:24.000 And, uh, I mean, what, if we're all going to die anyway, so that's what I don't get.

00:20:28.360 If you're saying we're all going to die anyway, then what's the point of, it sounds like we

00:20:34.240 can't salvage it.

00:20:35.580 The earth is doomed.

00:20:37.460 Um, any effort we make now to, to prevent it will be futile.

00:20:41.140 And so let's just not worry about it.

00:20:45.260 Um, in fact, I mean, why even have an election in 2020?

00:20:49.700 Let's just have no more elections, no more government or, you know, uh, or, or presidents

00:20:55.000 or anything.

00:20:55.540 And, you know, we'll have 10 years of anarchy while we just kind of party and live it up.

00:21:00.180 And, uh, and then we all die.

00:21:01.360 All right, finally, before emails, I wanted to get, uh, back into a subject that we discussed

00:21:06.380 yesterday, kind of a follow-up, clearing up two items, uh, related to the subject we talked

00:21:12.980 about.

00:21:13.120 We talked yesterday about Trump's comments pertaining to Robert E. Lee.

00:21:17.840 Um, Trump called Robert E. Lee a great general.

00:21:20.860 And then the left freaked out.

00:21:22.240 And I said yesterday that Trump was absolutely right.

00:21:25.980 Lee was in fact a great general and there's nothing wrong with pointing that out.

00:21:30.540 I also said that we have to understand Lee and the other Confederate generals and Confederate

00:21:37.380 soldiers in the context of their time.

00:21:39.780 We have to understand them within their own context.

00:21:42.880 We can't judge them by modern standards, which isn't to say that we have to see slavery as

00:21:48.980 being okay.

00:21:49.920 Obviously it isn't, it wasn't, it never was, never will be, but we can't expect people in

00:21:54.840 history to have the exact same perspective that we have today.

00:21:58.980 Now there were two general responses to my arguments, um, that I want to address quickly.

00:22:05.480 One is that slavery aside, the Confederates were traitors and we shouldn't honor traitors

00:22:11.660 or respect them.

00:22:12.980 And then the other is that it's morally relativistic to say that we have to judge people by the standards

00:22:19.920 of their time.

00:22:20.960 That's moral relativism.

00:22:22.520 That's the argument.

00:22:23.060 So, um, I'll, I'll answer both of those arguments as for the first that the Confederates 0.62

00:22:28.240 were traitors.

00:22:29.340 I would say this, you can disagree with the reason why they seceded.

00:22:34.440 I do, you know, uh, there's no question that slavery was a large factor in the secession.

00:22:40.860 Um, uh, now slavery was largely the reason for secession. 0.81

00:22:45.400 It was not the reason for the war.

00:22:47.380 And that's the distinction that people seem to miss.

00:22:50.300 That's, that's, that's the nuance here.

00:22:52.440 The war on the, from the North's perspective, the war was a war to preserve the union.

00:22:57.440 It was not a war to abolish slavery.

00:22:59.480 That was a political, um, you know, uh, kind of recasting of the war that happened midway

00:23:08.240 through with the Emancipation Proclamation.

00:23:10.540 Uh, Lincoln did that and it was a brilliant political move. 0.73

00:23:13.160 And he did that for several reasons.

00:23:15.180 One of them was to, was to ensure that Europe did not intervene on the side of the South.

00:23:20.180 Um, because once he could recast this as, oh, we're trying to liberate the slaves, then

00:23:24.600 you're, then the Europeans would already abolish slavery.

00:23:27.240 We're not going to want to get involved to defend slavery.

00:23:30.100 But in it, to begin with, um, that's not what the war was about.

00:23:33.600 It was not about abolishing slavery.

00:23:35.260 It was about preserving the union.

00:23:37.020 And for the South, it was not about protecting slavery, at least for the people that were doing 0.82

00:23:40.880 the fighting, it was about defending their home and, uh, achieving independence.

00:23:45.620 But so the causes of the war or the reasons for the war and the causes of secession are

00:23:52.340 not exactly the same.

00:23:53.800 These are really two different things, but as for secession, yes, it is certainly valid 0.76

00:23:59.980 to say that they seceded for bad reasons, fine.

00:24:03.680 But putting aside the reason for a moment, it seems that people are arguing that regardless

00:24:09.040 of the reason to secede is to be a traitor.

00:24:13.600 And, and that I think is not true, or if it is true, then the word traitor is, is, is

00:24:21.040 not necessarily always a bad word.

00:24:24.600 Um, because the Confederates, they were not trying to overthrow the government.

00:24:29.260 They were not trying to take over the country.

00:24:31.780 Uh, they were trying to break away from the country.

00:24:34.920 They were, they were, they wanted to take their own land in their own states and do their

00:24:38.340 own thing.

00:24:39.700 Um, which is not the same thing as trying to overthrow a government, which is usually what

00:24:44.780 civil wars are about.

00:24:45.920 And that's why many people argue that the civil war was not really a civil war at all, that

00:24:50.840 we should call it the war between the states, because a civil war is usually a war where two

00:24:55.940 sides are fighting for control of a central government.

00:24:58.920 That's not what the civil war was.

00:25:00.580 You had one side trying to get away from the central government and, and, you know, start

00:25:06.920 their own, um, their own government.

00:25:10.880 The point is that secession, when you, when you think of it that way, and again, you, you

00:25:16.140 put aside the reasons, but you just talk about what secession itself.

00:25:21.720 Secession is exactly what the colonists did. 0.97

00:25:25.340 They said they wanted to take their land and their colonies, and they wanted to do their 1.00

00:25:29.660 own thing.

00:25:30.120 They, they weren't trying to overthrow, um, the King.

00:25:34.720 They, you know, they, they weren't doing that.

00:25:36.740 They wanted to just do their own thing and have their own country.

00:25:40.280 Um, and if they had failed, uh, then George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and those guys,

00:25:45.200 they would have been hung as traitors.

00:25:46.520 And that's how we would remember them today, probably.

00:25:49.720 Um, but it's, it's a similar thing.

00:25:54.220 And that similarity was not lost on people at the time.

00:25:57.280 This is one of the arguments that, that Southerners, Southerners made.

00:26:00.500 They said, well, we're just doing what, what the founders did originally.

00:26:03.520 We're, we're doing what people did.

00:26:05.140 That's how this country was.

00:26:06.280 This country is based on secession.

00:26:08.180 And it is, um, this country is literally founded on secession.

00:26:12.820 That's what the colonists did.

00:26:15.860 And that, that comparison was also not lost on the British at the time.

00:26:20.600 You know, they, they saw it and they saw it as basically the same kind of thing.

00:26:24.880 Um, and you could say, well, uh, again, the colonists had good reasons and Southerners

00:26:33.160 had bad reasons, you know, uh, okay, fine.

00:26:36.580 But we're talking about what secession is.

00:26:38.820 And in fact, you know, it's, I think the colonists did have good reasons for secession, um, or

00:26:47.240 rebellion, but that's not quite as obvious or straightforward as we tend to think it is.

00:26:55.420 There isn't, you could make an argument that the American revolution was not necessarily

00:27:01.260 justified.

00:27:01.960 Now I'm not making that argument.

00:27:03.160 I think it was, but it's when you actually sit down and study the, the history and the

00:27:08.780 surrounding circumstances, it's not quite, it's a little bit more complex than we tend

00:27:13.240 to think.

00:27:14.580 Um, and you know, just like the American civil war, there were many reasons that led up to

00:27:20.540 it, but with the American revolution, one of the primary reasons was taxation.

00:27:26.600 And, but one of the reasons why the King was trying to extract taxes from the colonies was

00:27:32.500 to pay for the defense of the colonies, which is not unreasonable, right?

00:27:37.120 Um, anyway, the point is that's a little bit more of a complex moral subject than I think

00:27:43.600 we, we sometimes, um, make it out to be, but either way, uh, if, if we are saying that, well,

00:27:49.540 you're not allowed to secede and to secede is to be a traitor.

00:27:52.660 Well, then what does that say about George Washington?

00:27:55.840 Um, so I think your, the argument is not about, well, they're, they're traitors because they

00:28:02.440 seceded.

00:28:03.140 The argument is about the reasons for it.

00:28:05.540 Right now, as for the charge that I'm a moral relativist, because I advocate judging people

00:28:10.360 by the standards of their time.

00:28:11.620 Well, here's the distinction there.

00:28:13.160 We judge right and wrong objectively, but we assess moral culpability in the light of historical

00:28:20.440 context.

00:28:21.080 So for instance, a person who held slaves in let's say the year 1400, um, when slavery

00:28:28.120 was an accepted institution everywhere in the world, that person is probably less morally

00:28:34.260 culpable than you would be today for the same action.

00:28:37.540 Now the action itself is just as wrong.

00:28:41.500 Slavery was just as wrong in the year 1400 as it is today in 2019, but the moral culpability,

00:28:47.540 the personal culpability of a person who engaged in that practice, um, 500 years ago is going

00:28:55.660 to be much more mitigated than it would be for us today.

00:29:00.720 Another way of putting this is that there are certain moral insights that seem obvious

00:29:07.060 to us today, but we're not obvious to our ancestors.

00:29:10.560 And we have no right to feel superior to them because we didn't earn these insights.

00:29:15.800 We just were born into them.

00:29:17.640 It's part of our culture, but it was not always a part of the culture.

00:29:22.740 Um, I mentioned yesterday that, that Lincoln was an avowed racist.

00:29:29.020 Um, he said that, uh, in 1858 in his, in his, uh, debate with Stephen Douglas, he said that

00:29:35.540 he doesn't believe that black people and white people are equal.

00:29:37.740 He doesn't support their equality.

00:29:39.420 Uh, he thinks that the superior position of the white race should always be maintained 0.99

00:29:44.780 legally.

00:29:45.380 That's what he said.

00:29:46.540 Now, clearly if a politician said that today, he would be run out of office and rightly so. 0.55

00:29:52.800 And he would be a disgrace.

00:29:53.860 He would be shunned. 1.00

00:29:55.040 He would be, he would go down in history as a, as a racist scumbag and nothing more. 0.98

00:30:00.160 Um, but Lincoln said that in 1858 and we tend to, you know, kind of overlook it and, and, 0.97

00:30:09.460 and look at the, you know, the, the overall context.

00:30:13.060 And we try to, at least with him, we look at it in perspective as well.

00:30:16.920 We should, because the idea that all people across the world are equal in worth and dignity

00:30:22.620 and that even people who look completely different from you are still entirely human, just like

00:30:28.580 you are.

00:30:29.620 Um, that idea was not apparent to the vast majority of people everywhere in the world for the,

00:30:37.600 for, for most of human civilization.

00:30:39.360 It's apparent to us, which is good, but it was not apparent to our ancestors.

00:30:44.800 Um, and not just our white ancestors, but our ancestors everywhere in the world.

00:30:51.120 I mean, in, in, in, certainly in the, in the, you know, let's say the going back to the 1400s,

00:30:57.760 anywhere in the world you went to, you would, you would encounter racism, uh, and tribalism

00:31:02.540 everywhere in the world among all races.

00:31:05.520 It's just how people operated back then.

00:31:08.100 It was still wrong, but the point is that it was a,

00:31:13.780 it was just a taken for granted.

00:31:19.660 Um, and the idea that all people are equal, that is an insight that developed slowly over

00:31:28.020 time and, uh, only very, very, very recently has it become kind of mainstream.

00:31:34.780 And even then only in certain countries, there are still plenty of countries where it's not.

00:31:39.260 So, um, we can either choose to condemn almost all of our ancestors of all races as barbaric 0.97

00:31:47.780 scumbags, or we can try to see them in the context of their times and afford them that 0.97

00:31:55.820 grace and that, um, you know, that, uh, uh, perspective. 0.97

00:32:01.840 And I think we have, if we're going to study history, then that we, we have to, we have to

00:32:08.560 have that perspective and we have to afford them that grace.

00:32:11.740 Um, I know that there are actually plenty of people in America today who would have no

00:32:17.200 problem saying, yeah, you know what? 1.00

00:32:18.520 They all, our ancestors all of, are a bunch of barbaric scumbags, all of them. 1.00

00:32:22.220 They're a bunch of worthless, you know, animals. 1.00

00:32:24.320 There are people that have that, that, that would say that, and those are almost all people 0.82

00:32:31.220 who don't study history, have not studied it because when you have nothing but contempt

00:32:37.100 for people of history, then you're probably not going to be, uh, inclined to study history.

00:32:44.640 And if you do study it, your, your, your vantage point is going to be so skewed and so biased

00:32:53.600 that you're not going to be able to learn anything.

00:32:56.800 So you have to be able to take off the modern lenses for a minute and try to see the world

00:33:04.600 through their lenses.

00:33:05.840 That's the only way to study history.

00:33:07.740 It's the only way to see history and understand it.

00:33:10.660 And if we're going to do that, if we're going to see things in perspective, in a historical

00:33:16.540 context, then I think we have to afford that same generosity to the Confederates, which isn't

00:33:24.240 to say that we have to see slavery as okay.

00:33:27.400 Again, it wasn't, it's objectively wrong.

00:33:30.720 Um, and even, you know, in, in 1860, you know, in the year 1400, everyone thought slavery

00:33:37.880 was okay.

00:33:38.340 In 1860, there were a lot of people who knew that was wrong.

00:33:42.080 So, um, it's that historical context doesn't let them off the hook the same way that it

00:33:47.860 would in the year 1400, because we can say of a person in 1860, yeah, you should have

00:33:53.540 known better and they should have.

00:33:56.060 Um, but overall it was not as racially enlightened at a time as it is today.

00:34:02.500 And so that is a context that we have to apply to everybody.

00:34:06.800 All right.

00:34:07.460 Um, let's check emails, mattwalshow at gmail.com, mattwalshow at gmail.com.

00:34:13.140 Um, um, let's see, this is from anonymous says, dear Supreme dictator and overlord Walsh, uh,

00:34:24.660 relevant backstory raised in a loving Catholic home until I graduated high school early to

00:34:29.420 mid twenties, fell away from the church, premarital sex, drugs, alcohol abuse, all through college

00:34:33.920 currently still in mid twenties.

00:34:35.800 I've sobered, sobered up, uh, routinely participate in confession.

00:34:38.980 I attend weekly mass.

00:34:40.420 Uh, I am desperately working towards renewing my faith, prayer life, and stopping my cavalier

00:34:44.900 cafeteria Catholic lifestyle in a steady, exclusive, increasingly serious relationship with a great

00:34:50.360 girl.

00:34:50.660 But in my regrettable period of debauchery before my girlfriend and I were ever together,

00:34:55.720 I unknowingly had a one night stand with her sister during a bullet bourbon blackout.

00:35:01.120 The sister and I decided to never tell my girlfriend about our indiscretion to avoid the

00:35:04.920 myriad of consequences.

00:35:06.420 Although recently a part of me wants to come clean.

00:35:08.740 So I asked, is the truth at all times, despite the consequences, always the correct path?

00:35:14.080 Um, do I continue to live with my guilt while pretending nothing happened at, at every one of her

00:35:18.740 family get togethers, every date night, every sign of peace at mass to prevent her feelings of sadness

00:35:23.560 and betrayal?

00:35:24.400 Do I break up with her to save her the heartbreak, even though I don't want to break up with her?

00:35:28.840 Um, this all could have been avoided by better choices.

00:35:31.360 I get it, but any words of advice moving forward would be helpful.

00:35:35.160 Well, thanks for the email.

00:35:36.620 Listen, I think you're, you're right to realize, um, that we need to exercise prudence in deciding

00:35:42.100 what to share with people, even with those whom we're in a relationship.

00:35:46.800 Um, it's not necessarily the right move to just vomit out all of your deepest, darkest

00:35:53.660 secrets and air all of your dirty laundry.

00:35:56.600 Um, so you're right about that.

00:36:00.000 But in this case, I think you need to tell your girlfriend about this.

00:36:03.300 Um, she needs to know, and I'll tell you why.

00:36:06.180 At this point, it's, it's not really about what you did before you were with her.

00:36:10.920 Um, now it's about the secret that you're keeping with her sister, who's another woman

00:36:18.200 and which you have apparently communicated with her sister about, uh, you said you, you

00:36:23.460 both made a decision not to tell her.

00:36:25.160 So clearly you've talked about this, the two of you.

00:36:27.940 Um, and that's the problem.

00:36:30.140 Uh, I think the problem, it's not that you have a past.

00:36:33.840 It isn't that you made bad decisions when you were younger.

00:36:36.340 We all have a past.

00:36:37.280 A lot of us made bad decisions.

00:36:38.900 Um, and, and that's, that's okay.

00:36:41.760 You're, you're moving past it.

00:36:42.960 You're changing, you're confronting it.

00:36:44.660 You're dealing with it.

00:36:45.480 And that, that's all great, but this isn't about the past.

00:36:48.620 It's about right now.

00:36:49.500 And right now you're keeping a secret with another woman.

00:36:52.360 Um, and that woman happens to be your girlfriend's sister. 1.00

00:36:55.760 Um, even if it wasn't, I mean, even if she was just some other random girl, the fact that

00:37:00.160 you're keeping a secret with a woman is a problem because a secret is intimacy. 0.53

00:37:05.560 Um, there is intimacy in keeping a secret with someone.

00:37:08.840 And that's why when you're in a serious relationship, you simply cannot have secrets, um, with other

00:37:17.460 women. 0.81

00:37:18.000 I mean, you, you, you can't confide in, in, in members of the opposite sex when you're 1.00

00:37:22.540 in a relationship, keep secrets with them and that sort of thing.

00:37:26.400 Um, the fact that she's the sister just makes it even more of the case.

00:37:32.180 So I would tell her, I think you should just tell her and, um, explain it as you explained

00:37:36.000 it to me just now.

00:37:37.340 I can pretty much guarantee that her main bone of contention with you will be the secret

00:37:42.180 that you guys kept.

00:37:42.900 It's not going to be what you did.

00:37:44.560 The first thing she's going to be upset about is the secret.

00:37:46.920 I don't know how long you've kept it, but, um, that's going to be the thing she's upset 0.87

00:37:50.600 about first and foremost.

00:37:52.500 Uh, but the longer you keep the secret, the more hurtful it will be.

00:37:56.200 So I would just tell her, and if your relationship is meant to be, if it's strong, if it's, if

00:38:01.700 it's made of the stuff that lasts, then it will survive this.

00:38:05.240 It's going to be difficult.

00:38:06.080 I mean, there's, you know, you guys are going to have a tough time, I think probably, uh,

00:38:09.840 for a bit, um, but, and if it, if, and I know it's, it's difficult to think in these

00:38:16.340 terms, but if it destroys the relationship and if it all falls apart, then that probably

00:38:20.920 means that it just wasn't meant to be.

00:38:23.480 Um, but better to find that out now, you know, um, better for you and for your girlfriend.

00:38:29.980 All right.

00:38:31.180 This is from, um, from Barth says, hi, Mr. Walsh.

00:38:36.260 I'm a freshman at a Catholic school.

00:38:37.800 I'm a huge fan of your show.

00:38:39.280 I agree with you so much of the time that I have not felt the need to email, but when

00:38:43.780 you came after the office, you came, you came after me, you said that the office peaked

00:38:48.340 around season four.

00:38:49.700 This is completely untrue.

00:38:51.060 The best string of episodes from the office is at the very end of the series with the Florida

00:38:54.300 episodes until the episode where Andy returns from his trip to the Caribbean.

00:38:57.420 I will now join the resistance to your theocratic dictatorship instead of a submissive serf. 0.83

00:39:03.760 Well, Barth, the life expectancy of a submissive serf under my regime is quite a bit longer

00:39:09.420 than the life expectancy of a member of the resistance.

00:39:12.580 But, uh, you know, you, you do what you think is best as for the office.

00:39:16.220 Yeah.

00:39:16.340 I was talking about this on Twitter yesterday.

00:39:18.500 Um, uh, I, you know, the office stopped being funny in season five.

00:39:24.220 I mean, season four is when the drop-off happened.

00:39:27.660 Um, seasons one through three are the classics.

00:39:32.000 And as I explained, you know, here's what happened with the office.

00:39:35.160 And this is what happens with, with every comedy that sticks around too long.

00:39:39.960 Um, it happened with South Park.

00:39:42.380 I mean, it happens with that, with every comedy with all great comedies, you know, and that's

00:39:46.220 why I think every comedy should end.

00:39:47.680 And like, you really, four or five seasons is probably enough to tell the story and to

00:39:52.300 wring everything you can out of the main joke.

00:39:54.920 Um, and then at that point you got to end it.

00:39:56.540 And what happened with the office is that it started and what made it great and relatable

00:40:01.340 and funny and, and, you know, all those things and charming was that it was a, these were a

00:40:07.000 collection of basically normal people who had this weird, awkward boss and, uh, this other,

00:40:14.400 you know, his, his, his, his dorky sidekick and they were just kind of existing and getting

00:40:20.580 through the day, you know, dealing with the dynamics of the office.

00:40:23.580 And that's what made it funny is that it was just, it was normal.

00:40:26.120 It was real.

00:40:26.820 You could kind of imagine meeting all these people in real life.

00:40:29.720 They kind of reminded you of people that you knew.

00:40:32.400 Um, but as time went on and the writers ran out of material and they couldn't figure out

00:40:37.460 how to generate comedy anymore out of these mundane situations, they just turned everybody

00:40:41.840 in the office into a cartoon and pretty, you know, pretty soon around season five is when 0.99

00:40:47.260 the switch happened where everybody in the office was absurd and stupid and ridiculous 0.99

00:40:52.240 and, um, and, and, and not human at all. 0.99

00:40:56.140 Um, and when that happens, it's just, uh, not funny anymore.

00:41:01.640 All right, we'll do one more.

00:41:02.880 Um, let's see.

00:41:08.820 It says, uh, this is from Dave says in school, my religion.

00:41:11.840 Teacher preaches Dorothy Saleh's, I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right, interpretation 0.71

00:41:16.220 of God as a supernatural, but not omnipotent entity, which, uh, because if God in her opinion

00:41:22.480 was omnipotent, he would be a cruel God since he let the Holocaust happen. 0.99

00:41:26.380 This is sort of simplified because Saleh of course goes way deeper into the issue.

00:41:30.100 Can you explain how to argue for an omnipotent God to that sort of Christian? 1.00

00:41:34.680 Um, well, if we're dealing with someone who already believes in God, then I think it's

00:41:39.700 pretty easy to argue for omnipotence, uh, because all we have to do is establish what

00:41:45.340 his bare minimum abilities would need to be in order for him to be a God in the first

00:41:50.340 place.

00:41:50.900 Right.

00:41:51.420 As far as that goes, if he didn't create the world, um, if he is not the creative force

00:41:57.640 behind the world, then he is just a created being himself, which means he's not God.

00:42:03.700 Um, he, at that point, he's just a more powerful version of a human being.

00:42:07.960 He's like, he's maybe like a very advanced alien or something like that.

00:42:11.580 So God to be God would need to be first.

00:42:15.660 He would need to be the first being, not a created being.

00:42:19.440 And therefore, if he's the first being, then he is the creative force, which created everything

00:42:23.700 else.

00:42:24.680 And that brings up the question, is it possible for a non-omnipotent being to exist from all

00:42:31.640 eternity and then at some point decide to create out of nothing, 100 billion galaxies?

00:42:38.020 Um, can a non-omnipotent being create even a blade of grass, let alone a hundred billion

00:42:44.760 galaxies?

00:42:45.220 That's the question.

00:42:46.240 And I would say no, because creating something out of nothing is the ultimate power.

00:42:53.180 All other powers that you can think of involve manipulating things that already exist in our

00:42:58.920 environment, but to create from nothing, you know, to just have nothingness and in that

00:43:06.640 nothingness to, to make something appear, it doesn't even matter what that thing is.

00:43:12.480 Um, well, that is the hallmark of unlimited power of omnipotence.

00:43:17.740 And so that's why God is omnipotent.

00:43:23.580 Um, I guess maybe another way of framing it is, is if God is powerful enough to create the

00:43:32.920 universe from nothing, what do you think he can't do?

00:43:37.740 So if she's saying that God isn't omnipotent, then, then he, she must have some things in

00:43:43.560 mind that she thinks he can't do.

00:43:45.380 Well, what would those things be?

00:43:47.280 What would those, you know, can, can you list some things that would be out of the reach

00:43:52.740 of a, of a God who can, who can create a universe from nothing?

00:43:57.500 I can't.

00:43:59.360 Um, so that just, uh, that doesn't work.

00:44:02.700 That, that seems to me to be a kind of a cheap and, and silly way of getting around the

00:44:09.080 problem of evil and all of that.

00:44:10.560 And that is a complex problem.

00:44:11.940 It's a difficult problem.

00:44:13.620 Uh, why, why doesn't, why didn't God stop the Holocaust? 0.99

00:44:16.440 Why doesn't God, why does God allow bad things to happen?

00:44:19.180 So on and so forth.

00:44:20.280 And that is a whole separate question.

00:44:21.780 We've talked about it before.

00:44:22.640 We could talk about it for five hours.

00:44:23.940 Right.

00:44:24.200 But, um, I, I certainly know that trying to dethrone God essentially to take away his power

00:44:31.300 is not the way to deal with that question.

00:44:34.420 Um, because at that point, you're only a step away from atheism.

00:44:39.300 Uh, if you're going to say, well, the Holocaust happened because God couldn't stop it, then 0.95

00:44:44.920 I mean, why not just say the Holocaust happened because there is no God? 0.90

00:44:49.360 It seems like that you're, you're kind of marching in that direction.

00:44:54.200 All right.

00:44:54.840 Uh, we'll leave it there.

00:44:55.860 Thanks for watching everybody.

00:44:56.760 Thanks for listening.

00:44:57.620 Godspeed.

00:44:57.980 Hi everyone.

00:45:11.720 I'm Andrew Klavan, host of the Andrew Klavan show.

00:45:13.720 Well, Joe Biden is right about one thing.

00:45:15.480 We are in a battle for the soul of America.

00:45:18.400 It's a battle between one vision where the deep state runs everything and another where

00:45:23.780 we run it.

00:45:24.820 Let's talk about it on the Andrew Klavan show.

00:45:26.600 I'm Andrew Klavan.

The Matt Walsh Show - April 30, 2019

Ep. 249 - Rebranding The Burqa

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