Charles Murray – A Controversial Political Scientist's Spiritual Awakening

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Video Links

0:00 Charles’s new book, Taking Religious Seriously

8:31 Why Charles finds the idea of divine creation plausible

13:54 Charles’s “road to Damascus” moment

19:25 The appeal of Christianity

24:51 The evidence for life after death

31:38 Charles: “The relative positions of science and religion have flipped”

36:42 The trouble with scientism

40:17 Glenn’s steps toward and away from religion

51:04 Was The Bell Curve putting making a deterministic argument?

Recorded November 4, 2025

Links and Readings

Charles’s new book, Taking Religious Seriously

Charles’s book, Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-1980

Richard Herrnstein and Charles’s book, The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life

Charles’s book, Human Diversity: The Biology of Gender, Race, and Class

Charles’s book, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010

Martin Rees’s book, Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe

James Q. Wilson’s book, The Moral Sense

C.S. Lewis’s book, Mere Christianity

Raymond Moody’s book, Life after Life: A Groundbreaking Exploration of Near-Death Experiences and the Transformative Insights into the Afterlife, Backed by Scientific Study and Personal Testimonies

Steven Pinker’s book, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

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