#1779 Community After God: Why the Left Needs What Church Provided
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 24 March 2026
⏱️ 242 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date: 3/24/2026
Today we explore what happens when people reject religious dogma but still hunger for ritual, meaning, and the concrete benefits of community. We'll hear from secular assemblies building "church without creed," atheist Quakers finding silence sacred, and a Caribbean thinker designing a naturalistic pagan practice built around science and seasonal ritual — all asking what religion can be when you strip away the supernatural.
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TOP TAKES
KP 1: GOD IS NO-THING - Pete Holmes - Air Date 3-3-26
KP 2: Non-religious Americans Seek Community - All Things Considered - Air Date 1-28-24
KP 3: Why Atheists CAN Be Quakers. - Quake It Up - Air Date 8-30-25
KP 4: Why Are Black People Still Christian? - Garrison Hayes - Air Date 4-7-24
KP 6: Its Time To Rethink Religion Part 1 - Andrewism - Air Date 3-11-26
(00:49:04) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the Left's Community Crisis and What We Can Learn from Megachurches
DEEPER DIVES
(01:00:06) SECTION A: LIBERATION THEOLOGY
A1: Cornel West: Can Socialists Reclaim Christianity? - Jacobin - Air Date 3-4-26
A2: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation - The Magnificast - Air Date 10-30-23
A3: Brief: US V. Liberation Theology (Part 1) - Conspirituality - Air Date 11-1-25
A4: Visions of Freedom — Liberation Theology and Advent - Soul Search - Air Date 11-27-24
(01:44:22) SECTION B: WHY IS AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY SO CONSERVATIVE_
B1: How Conservatives Co-Opted Christianity - Second Thought - Air Date 9-24-21
B2: America's Christian Death Cult - Michael Burns - Air Date 12-15-25
B3: American Jihad - Conspirituality - Air Date 3-12-26
B5: Holy Sh*t We're Doing a Holy War - Side Burns - Air Date 3-5-26
(02:24:24) SECTION C: RELIGIOUS FORMS
C5: Its Time To Rethink Religion Part 2 - Andrewism - Air Date 3-11-26
(03:11:01) SECTION D: BELIEF, WITH AND WITHOUT RELIGION
D3: The World Is Always Ending - The Magnificast - Air Date 1-13-26
D5: Red Star Ministry: Marxism, Theology, & The Human Condition - Rev Left Radio - Air Date 8-12-25
D6: Liberation Theology The Cold War - The Cold War - Air Date 9-6-25
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: Image of a robot walking across the street holding two leather briefcases. A thought bubble shows it is thinking about, or launching as it walks, missiles.
Credit: Internal composite design. Images/License: Pixabay
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of Left podcast. Today we explore what happens when people reject religious dogma but still hunger for ritual, meaning, and the concrete benefits of community. We'll hear from secular assemblies building church without creed, atheist Quakers finding silence sacred, |
| 0:23.0 | and a Caribbean thinker designing a naturalistic pagan practice built around science and |
| 0:29.1 | seasonal ritual, all asking what religion can be when you strip away the supernatural. |
| 0:35.3 | For those looking for a quick overview, the sources providing our top takes in about 45 minutes |
| 0:40.0 | today include Pete Holmes, All Things Considered, Quake It Up, Garrison Hayes, the Michael |
| 0:46.4 | Brooks Show, and Andrewism. |
| 0:48.8 | Then, in the additional deeper dives at the show, there will be more in four sections. |
| 0:53.1 | Section A, liberation theology, |
| 0:55.5 | section B, why is American Christianity so conservative, section C, religious forms, and |
| 1:02.0 | section D, belief with and without religion. But first, a reminder to check out our new show |
| 1:08.1 | solved on the best of love YouTube channel. We're really proud of the show we're making and think you'll get real value out of it. Plus, you checking it out |
| 1:14.7 | will help us find new viewers on YouTube. So thanks in advance for all of your views, likes, |
| 1:19.3 | subscribes, and comments. That's all on the best of left YouTube channel, linked in the show notes. |
| 1:24.6 | And now, on to the show. |
| 1:34.9 | I believe in God, but I hate when other people believe in God. |
| 1:37.3 | Can you relate to that? |
| 1:40.4 | Like, I love my God, but sometimes people know I'm a spiritual person. |
| 1:42.0 | They'll come out of the shadows after the show. |
| 1:43.6 | Like, I believe in God. |
| 1:46.2 | I'm like, what, get the fuck. What is this? A murder suicide? |
| 1:48.0 | Get back in your lift. I don't want to talk. |
| 1:52.0 | But every comedian is an atheist. Almost every single comedian |
... |
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