Is Religion the Only Way to Get It?

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There often is a genuine desire to be part of something bigger than yourself in whatever it is, whether it's Jordan Peterson or the North Korean regime. And so maybe deep in the Pentecostal religious performances, the people actually really do believe and the whole thing gets carried further along by that kind of more, I guess, commitment to the belief. It may be more generally if you actually believe what you're doing, it's not just a performance, you'll have a better performance.

Shermer and Hardy discuss: Hardy’s religious journey (raised Catholic, now agnostic) • origin of Pentecostalism and its biblical basis Pentecostalism in Korea North and South, and Israel • the structure of the Pentecostal church and how it differs from other churches • Seven Mountain Mandate • how religions grow • pentecostalism and politics • the psychology of the believer • dispensationalism and the Rapture • prophecy • glossolalia • snake handling • eschatology and end-times theology • sin and redemption • prostitution • Jordan Peterson and secular religion.

Elle Hardy is a journalist and foreign correspondent who has reported from the United States, the former USSR and North Korea, among a long list of places. Her work has appeared in GQ, Lonely Planet, Foreign Policy and Business Insider, and on ABC Australia. Her new book is Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World.