I continue to be very sympathetic to the main argument that we need some kind of religious revival to overcome the politics that has metastasized in the Trump era. However, this conversation assumes that the only two options are a) established religions (esp. Christianity) or b) secularized pseudo-religions. There's another option: build religious institutions from scratch, on percepts that reflect modernity.
I won't contend that this would be easy, but nothing about our problems is easy. It seems to me the best approach if we want something durable that reflects what it means to live in a fully industrialized civilization rather than an agrarian civilization. Without a response to this possibility, Rauch's critique is incomplete.
Excellent discussion of a crucial topic - Rausch is always reliably superb and made even more so by Belvedere's insights and questions. As I read the transcript, I was reminded of Tobias Cremer and his book, THE GODLESS CRUSADE - a title which describes the subjugation of God and Chris to Trump and power. I recommend readers check him out; here's a search providing YouTube videos featuring Cremer: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tobias+cremer In this one, Cremer discusses his book's thesis in detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTwiBus_7aA
I enjoyed the episode and I'm interested in the relationship between the decline/secularization of Christianity and the polarization of our politics. One question: Jonathan Rauch portrayed the alliance of white evangelical Christianity and right-wing politics as a recent thing, starting with the Moral Majority in the 1980s and continuing with the embrace of Donald Trump. But is it really so recent? White evangelicals, at least in the South, defended slavery in the 1860s and segregation in the 1960s using Biblical arguments. Aren't today's Trump-supporting evangelicals the heirs of that tradition? Likewise, the "woke" or social justice-focused brand of Christianity also has a long heritage, including the abolitionist and civil rights movements. In that case, though, Rauch is on firmer ground suggesting that these churches have changed by watering down some of their beliefs. Anyway, I would have liked to see more acknowledgement of the history here, not just the last few decades.
Great elaboration of Berny's review.
I continue to be very sympathetic to the main argument that we need some kind of religious revival to overcome the politics that has metastasized in the Trump era. However, this conversation assumes that the only two options are a) established religions (esp. Christianity) or b) secularized pseudo-religions. There's another option: build religious institutions from scratch, on percepts that reflect modernity.
I won't contend that this would be easy, but nothing about our problems is easy. It seems to me the best approach if we want something durable that reflects what it means to live in a fully industrialized civilization rather than an agrarian civilization. Without a response to this possibility, Rauch's critique is incomplete.
Excellent discussion of a crucial topic - Rausch is always reliably superb and made even more so by Belvedere's insights and questions. As I read the transcript, I was reminded of Tobias Cremer and his book, THE GODLESS CRUSADE - a title which describes the subjugation of God and Chris to Trump and power. I recommend readers check him out; here's a search providing YouTube videos featuring Cremer: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tobias+cremer In this one, Cremer discusses his book's thesis in detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTwiBus_7aA
I adored this.
Amen, brother! 🙏
You mean like the Puritans did to the Pequot natives ? Just kill all the infidels ?
Eventually Christians just start warring amongst themselves!!
I enjoyed the episode and I'm interested in the relationship between the decline/secularization of Christianity and the polarization of our politics. One question: Jonathan Rauch portrayed the alliance of white evangelical Christianity and right-wing politics as a recent thing, starting with the Moral Majority in the 1980s and continuing with the embrace of Donald Trump. But is it really so recent? White evangelicals, at least in the South, defended slavery in the 1860s and segregation in the 1960s using Biblical arguments. Aren't today's Trump-supporting evangelicals the heirs of that tradition? Likewise, the "woke" or social justice-focused brand of Christianity also has a long heritage, including the abolitionist and civil rights movements. In that case, though, Rauch is on firmer ground suggesting that these churches have changed by watering down some of their beliefs. Anyway, I would have liked to see more acknowledgement of the history here, not just the last few decades.