After reading noted
conservative pundit Matt Walsh’s first book, The Unholy Trinity, I think I am
done with books on politics for a while, if not forever. And that is not
because I identify as a liberal and Walsh is a Christian conservative. Walsh,
for all we disagree on, comes off as a principled person with strong beliefs that
are above all else consistent, as noted by his podcast episode on the death
penalty, which is what made me interested in him in the first place. I think my
general malaise comes from my inexperience in the realm of politics, which I only
got into a few years ago, which is now akin to becoming a passenger on a
sinking ship. The book is not terrible: Walsh is a very smart well-read person
who doesn’t slip into evangelical preaching as much as some might think. But that
doesn’t mean the experience wasn’t a draining one. The book is split up evenly,
with Walsh discussing a wide variety of topics based around the ideas of life,
marriage and gender, as the books subheading suggests. It seems unavoidable,
but I will try not to give my full opinion on the topics in questions: this is
not hat kind of review blog and I am simply not that kind of person (I’d rather
espouse on them in person then to write about them online). Where Walsh shines
brightest are in his chapters on abortion and the gay cake controversy, the
former topic being where Walsh is at his absolute best and where he offers up on
of the two best secular pro-life arguments I have seen put forth, the other
belonging to Ben Shapiro. I did come away disagreeing with Walsh more than I thought,
especially on more broad topics like self esteem and suicide, with him coming
off as someone who hasn’t experienced the kind of feelings he is being critical
of, and so his arguments ring a bit hollow. This was a good book, written by an
intelligent, well-intentioned person whose views I might disagree with but who
still makes me think. That doesn’t mean I want to make reading books like this
a habit.
Rating: 4/5
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