664: An Atheist Says America Needs Jesus with Jonathan Rauch
The Holy Post
Phil Vischer
4.6 • 4.1K Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2025
⏱️ 87 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Donald Trump launched a global trade war because he thinks America’s trade deficit makes us “losers,” but does he even understand what a trade deficit is? Phil introduces a new segment full of statistics that make Kaitlyn and Skye groan. And they discuss David Brooks’ new article in The Atlantic, which compares this moment in U.S. history to the era of Andrew Jackson, and offers hope for what may come after MAGA. Skye interviews Jonathan Rauch about his new book, “Cross Purposes.” Rauch, an atheist, says his antagonism toward Christianity changed when he came to see how vital it is to American democracy and why evangelicals’ failure to follow Jesus is putting the whole country at risk.
Holy Post Plus:
Bonus Interview with Jonathan Rauch
https://www.patreon.com/posts/125941930/
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https://www.patreon.com/posts/126225451/
0:00 - Show Starts
3:05 - Theme Song
3:30 - Sponsor - BetterHelp - This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/HOLYPOST and get 10% off your first month
4:35 - Sponsor - Blueland - Get up to 25% off your first order by going to https://www.Blueland.com/HOLYPOST
7:12 - Stock Market Crash!
15:49 - How Idols Steal from Us
20:36 - DEI Removal
27:50 - Nihilism
41:20 - How Do Things Get Better?
48:18 - Sponsor - Hiya Health - Go to https://www.hiyahealth.com/HOLYPOST to receive 50% off your first order
49:22 - Sponsor - Rocket Money - Find and cancel your old subscriptions with Rocket Money at https://www.rocketmoney.com/HOLYPOST
50:30 - Interview
55:04 - Secularization’s Consequences
1:06:22 - Christianity as an Exilic Religion
1:15:20 - Evangelism as Market-Driven Religion
1:26:52 - End Credits
Links from News Segment:
David Brooks Article:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/05/trumpism-maga-populism-power-pursuit/682116/
Other Resources:
Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy by Jonathan Rauch:
Holy Post website: https://www.holypost.com/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to The Holy Post. Donald Trump has launched a global trade war because he thinks |
| 0:04.7 | America's trade deficit makes us losers. But does he even understand what a trade deficit is? |
| 0:10.7 | Then Phil introduces a new segment full of statistics that make me and Caitlin grown, |
| 0:15.4 | and we discussed David Brooks' new article in the Atlantic, which compares this moment in history |
| 0:20.0 | to the era of Andrew |
| 0:21.3 | Jackson, and he offers hope for what might be coming after MAGA. And I interviewed Jonathan |
| 0:26.7 | Rauch about his new book, Cross Purposes. Rouch, who's an atheist, says his antagonism toward |
| 0:32.4 | Christianity changed when he came to see how vital it is to American democracy, and why evangelical's failure |
| 0:38.8 | to follow Jesus is now putting the whole country at risk. Before we get started today, big news, |
| 0:45.0 | tickets for our next Holy Post event are now available. I'm going to be in Detroit, Michigan, |
| 0:49.5 | on Saturday, March 3rd, and my guest will be award-winning journalist and author Tim Alberta. |
| 0:55.4 | He's one of my favorite reporters today, and his book, The Kingdom, the Power and the |
| 0:59.6 | Glory, American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, was one of my absolute favorite reads from |
| 1:05.3 | last year. You do not want to miss this event where you can interact with me and Tim about |
| 1:09.9 | what's going on in both |
| 1:11.0 | Washington and the church today. Head over to holypost.com slash events to get your tickets today. |
| 1:18.0 | That's holypost.com slash events. Here is episode 664. |
| 1:24.4 | Hey there, welcome back to the Holy Post podcast. This is Phil Fisher. I'm here with Caitlin Chess. Hi, Caitlin Chess. |
| 1:32.2 | Hi, Phil Fisher. Hi. And Sky Jatani. Hi, Phil. Hi, Sky. Sky has a hat. Tell us about your |
| 1:39.7 | hat, Sky. I have a hat. It says, that's bonkers on it. Oh, that's bonkers hat. It's a beanie. |
| 1:45.2 | From the show, that's bonkers. Yeah, okay. This comes from Krista Kim, whose whole family listens |
| 1:50.3 | from Southern California. Okay. She said, I enjoy the content you make and your perspective on |
... |
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