Who Was the REAL St. Patrick? PLUS Is Leftism Bad for Your Mental Health?
I Don't Have Enough FAITH to Be an ATHEIST
Dr. Frank Turek
4.9 • 5.5K Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2026
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Is St. Patrick's Day all about drinking green beer in a pub? And why are people on the political left typically more anxious and depressed than people on the political right? What do the studies say? Today, Frank dives into the not-so-famous history of St. Patrick's Day and unpacks a WORLD article written by Thaddeus Williams, 'Why Leftism is Bad for Mental Health: An Ideology That Politicizes Real Trauma Leads to Minds Immersed in Fear'. Tune in as he answers questions like:
- Why do studies reveal that the political left are not doing well in terms of mental health?
- What is the "Uh-Oh Center" in our brains?
- Why is it dangerous and illogical to overgeneralize our life experiences?
- How do good psychologists help people who are crippled with fear and anxiety?
- Why do we celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17th?
- How did God use St. Patrick to share the Gospel in Ireland against all odds and amidst great opposition?
- How did St. Patrick influence laws in the United States?
- Why is St. Patrick considered one of the world's first abolitionists?
Later in the episode, Frank addresses listener questions related to:
- Can we trust the reliability of the New Testament documents?
- Are differences in details always a contradiction?
- What is spotlighting?
- Should Christians support an apostate Israel?
- What does it mean to bless Israel?
- Why is it important to read the Hamas Charter?
Be sure to check out the helpful resources listed below and join us on Friday's podcast to learn more about how Christians should approach Zionism and antisemitism with Pastor Robert Furrow!
If you enjoyed this podcast episode PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY BY SUPPORTING OUR MINISTRY USING THE LINK BELOW. 100% of your donation goes to ministry, 0% to buildings!
Resources mentioned during the episode:
Donate to CrossExamined - https://donor.crossexamined.org/
Why Leftism is Bad for Mental Health by Thaddeus Williams - https://bit.ly/4uPdtNU
The Big Book of Bible Difficulties - https://a.co/d/0g0bldy7
The War on Reality by Frank Turek and Phoenix Hayes - https://a.co/d/0dK6nl7d
St. Patrick and the Times He Lived - Bill Federer American Minute - https://bit.ly/3PqIUxA
Read the Hamas Charter - https://avalon.law.yale.edu/21st_century/hamas.asp
Southern Evangelical Seminary - https://ses.edu/frank/
CIA Online - https://bit.ly/3PjwlnH
CIA In-Person - https://cia.crossexamined.org/
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Ladies and gentlemen, we have a lot to cover today, several subjects. |
| 0:07.6 | First of all, who was St. Patrick? |
| 0:09.5 | As you can see, I'm wearing my festive green Oregon ducks, a quarter zip that they gave me when I was there in 2024. |
| 0:20.2 | I figured why not. It's a perfect day for it. We're going to get |
| 0:22.6 | to St. Patrick. We also have a question about Bible errors, alleged errors in the Bible, |
| 0:28.3 | and even a question about Israel. But before I get to all that, I want to dive into an article |
| 0:34.6 | that I saw on World Magazine that has some very interesting points in it. |
| 0:41.8 | And it relates back to a podcast we did a few weeks ago. The title of this article by Thaddeus Williams, |
| 0:50.4 | who teaches, I believe, I want to say at Biola, the title is why leftism is bad for mental health. |
| 1:00.8 | And the subtitle is an ideology that politicizes real trauma leads to minds immersed in fear. |
| 1:09.0 | Now, we're going to put a link to this article with its corresponding |
| 1:13.4 | links within the article that go to some studies that Thaddeus cites. We'll put it in the show |
| 1:21.3 | notes, but let's take a look at what he says here. He says this, that study after study shows |
| 1:27.1 | that our friends and family on the |
| 1:29.0 | political left, and by the way, I would argue the theological left, too, quite frequently |
| 1:33.2 | they're the same. Friends and family on the political left are not doing well in terms of mental |
| 1:38.6 | health. The general social survey cumulative cross-sectional data set tracked this phenomenon since |
| 1:47.5 | 1972 and found that, quote, extreme liberals, unquote, had a 150% increase in mental illness |
| 1:57.4 | compared to moderates. A study from a team of Columbia University epidemiologists found that depression rates |
| 2:04.9 | among liberal female teenagers have far outpaced all other demographics. |
| 2:12.4 | A litany of studies demonstrates that far higher levels of happiness, well-being, and meaning in life |
| 2:20.1 | for people on the right. Now, let me pause right here. I don't think Thaddeus is arguing, |
... |
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