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Ross Douthat returns to the Ricochet Podcast to discuss his latest book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious. Rob, Steve and James chat with him to get at The Big Everything. Why does a Catholic make the case for broadly-defined belief? Has disillusionment with liberalism provided God an opening to win back lost sheep? Should faith guide us toward practical answers to ordinary problems? Tune in for answers!
Plus, the fellas discuss Voodoo Doll research getting the DOGE treatment; they consider the levels of commitment to America First; and they express their doubts that AfD's expected gains in the German parliament portend a Nazi revival.
Clip from this week's open: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller gives the press a civics lesson.
Hosted by James Lileks, Rob Long, and Steve Hayward, with guest Ross Douthat
Discussion (10)
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So according to Rob Long, Trump should reform entitlements even though if he can't reform entitlements and it would break his Presidency. There is a conservative line that we shouldn't make the perfect the enemy of the good but Rob seems to advocate making the impossible the enemy of the good.
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I am overcome by nostalgia! Rob Long interrupting a James Lileks segue...The "theological literacy" of all three hosts is delightful.
Such a rich podcast. I immediately tuned in when I saw that the guest was Ross Douthat, whose book I shall now order, I fully admit because it has been compared to C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, though, like RD, I am Roman Catholic. Indeed, I might say that I am a Latin Mass Catholic, but I am also always reminded, not always happily, that one cannot be more Catholic than the pope.
I was most pleased to get a fair reading on the situation in Germany. Yes, as Steve Hayward rightly points out, there are some "bad actors" in AfD. But they can be, should be, and, I hope, will be rooted out.
I have often joked (?) that there is a certain sort of upper(-middle)-class German who says: "Look, you other Europeans. If you do not cooperate in remaining true to EU orthodoxy, we shall all cease to be 'diverse', and you'll wind up being under thumb of us Germans. You surely do not want that, do you? So now do what we tell you to do!"
One can be a critic of narcissistic ethnicism, while supporting realistic, down-to-earth nationalism. There's a difference
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Your question in the podcast episode description; “Why does a Catholic make the case for broadly-defined belief?”, is a good one. It is the question I also have for Ross and I don’t think he ever addressed it other than saying if you’re going to the Universal Unitarian church be a good UU. We Catholics have a belief: extra ecclesiam nulla salus - outside the Church there is no salvation. I would think a Catholic with his notoriety would proclaim for this.
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On DOGE, Rob seems to be suffering from paralysis through analysis, we shouldn’t do anything because something may have ramifications, that’s like not going to the doctor for fear he’ll find something serious.
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I kind of got the idea that he also has issues with doing something if the ramifications aren't consequential enough. Don't go after the small potatoes because in the end it makes no difference to the overall debt. He seems to have a rather defeatist attitude which I wonder if it is because of the culture that he is most familiar with. Hollywood with its serious and fairly successful role in removing most conservatives from working in the entertainment industry. At least openly with a very few exceptions.
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