This was one of the best conversations yet. Thank you for inviting Elizabeth on!
One of my recurring thoughts when listening to the pod is that this 'free market' of ideas that gets tossed around sure doesn't seem like a free market. Instead of drawing consensus out of our differences through compromise, we like to just change ours (or others') priors in order to get to a majority (this doesn't actually work, you just get a mob enforcing its beliefs on others). In short, contemporary politics seems to demand we compromise ourselves in order to reach consensus, that's one reason the "long arc of history" argument falls flat for me.
It was a breath of fresh air to hear a Christian talk about a Truth that is NOT the same as other religions and worldviews. Far more compelling a place to start dialoguing about difference than our insistence that everyone is the same, and so are their claims.
Elizabeth - you were a great example of treating others with grace and compassion, while not avoiding the good news. Peace to you this Advent season!
This was very interesting :) I think an interesting example is the recent debate on assisted dying in the UK. We have seen a fair few participants use religious language to oppose assisted dying in numbers we would not have seen 10-15 years ago. It was a far cry from Alastair Campbell's 'we don't do god' claims when he was director of communications. Albeit, Charlie Falconer a grandfather of the Labour Party was complaining of the use of religious language from those disagreeing with the principle of assisted dying.
I think with regards to the assisted dying debate we've certainly seen a lack of secular principle being able to substantiate its claims. Rooted in the notion of choice a lot of proponents have not been able to distinguish it from an act of suicide, an act which modern society is attempting to stamp out. Resorting to claims of burden and pain make such arguments slippery by their nature and unrooted.
The podcast also did an excellent job on the increasing notion of cultural Christianity. This isn't just Ali but Douglas Murray has leaned in hard on this. I think Elizabeth was spot on when she identified how this struggles to access the very notion of Christian faith in the first place. I'm an atheist but I deeply appreciated this conversation :)
This was one of the best conversations yet. Thank you for inviting Elizabeth on!
One of my recurring thoughts when listening to the pod is that this 'free market' of ideas that gets tossed around sure doesn't seem like a free market. Instead of drawing consensus out of our differences through compromise, we like to just change ours (or others') priors in order to get to a majority (this doesn't actually work, you just get a mob enforcing its beliefs on others). In short, contemporary politics seems to demand we compromise ourselves in order to reach consensus, that's one reason the "long arc of history" argument falls flat for me.
It was a breath of fresh air to hear a Christian talk about a Truth that is NOT the same as other religions and worldviews. Far more compelling a place to start dialoguing about difference than our insistence that everyone is the same, and so are their claims.
Elizabeth - you were a great example of treating others with grace and compassion, while not avoiding the good news. Peace to you this Advent season!
This was very interesting :) I think an interesting example is the recent debate on assisted dying in the UK. We have seen a fair few participants use religious language to oppose assisted dying in numbers we would not have seen 10-15 years ago. It was a far cry from Alastair Campbell's 'we don't do god' claims when he was director of communications. Albeit, Charlie Falconer a grandfather of the Labour Party was complaining of the use of religious language from those disagreeing with the principle of assisted dying.
I think with regards to the assisted dying debate we've certainly seen a lack of secular principle being able to substantiate its claims. Rooted in the notion of choice a lot of proponents have not been able to distinguish it from an act of suicide, an act which modern society is attempting to stamp out. Resorting to claims of burden and pain make such arguments slippery by their nature and unrooted.
The podcast also did an excellent job on the increasing notion of cultural Christianity. This isn't just Ali but Douglas Murray has leaned in hard on this. I think Elizabeth was spot on when she identified how this struggles to access the very notion of Christian faith in the first place. I'm an atheist but I deeply appreciated this conversation :)