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The Michael Steele Podcast

Is Our Political Identity Now Stronger Than Our Religious Identity? (with Ross Douthat)

The Michael Steele Podcast

The Bulwark

Politics, Government, History, News

4.83.1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Michael Steele speaks with New York Times opinion columnist and author Ross Douthat about his new book, "Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious." The pair discuss  how political identity now overshadows religious identity, the decline of religion in the U.S and how we can begin to reconcile science and faith.

Check out the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Believe-Why-Everyone-Should-Religious/dp/0310367581

If you enjoyed this podcast, be sure to leave a review or share it with a friend!

Follow Ross Douthat @DouthatNYT
Follow Michael Steele @MichaelSteele
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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:24.9

forward slash business to speak to the team. We're in an era where political loyalties and political

0:34.2

attachments are stronger than religious attachments. Even when people are religious,

0:39.1

they often seem to put politics first and make religion the handmaiden of politics. 70 years ago,

0:44.9

50 years ago, people in America would have been much, said they were more concerned if someone,

0:49.8

if their child married outside the faith than if they married some of the other political party.

0:54.9

And now it's reversed. People are more upset if their child marries a Democrat or a Republican,

1:00.7

if they're the other. Politics is a primary form of identity for a lot of people, even when they

1:06.0

have a religious identity as well. And that makes people associate religion with political loyalty and say,

1:13.3

well, you know, I can't be a Protestant Christian because I don't like how evangelicals support

1:20.2

Donald Trump.

1:30.3

Here's a thought.

1:37.0

Quote, religious experiences are always there, available if you seek them earnestly enough.

1:41.4

Divine messages may be imparted to some and not to others.

1:46.8

Certain saints or gurus may deserve a special following. Some religious may get closer to the truth about the universe than others. And the most enduring religions

1:52.7

may coverage on universal truth. But there is no single final revelation, no direct intervention inside history, that answers a set of questions permanently or establishes a people or an institution as particularly favored or important.

2:12.9

Those words are from the new book, Believe, Why Everyone Should Be Religious.

2:17.7

The author is a very insightful guy.

2:22.5

Ross doubt that.

...

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