Zealots at the Gate

The coronation of King Charles will take place in a Christian church. Within the context of worship, Charles will be anointed, blessed, crowned, and enthroned as the head of England’s church and its state. As crown and cross intermingle and intersect so also do questions about the proper relationship between religion, politics, and power. Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk welcome Bishop Graham Tomlin to discuss the coronation of King Charles and its religious and political meaning. LINKS Graham Tomlin’s article on "What a monarch’s meeting teaches about politics and permanence” https://www.seenandunseen.com/what-monarchs-meeting-teaches-about-politics-and-permanence https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/60516/why-charless-coronation-could-be-a-spiritual-flop https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2022/09/silence-reigns http://Seenandunseen.com Twitter: @gtomlin

Neither Islam nor Christianity banned slavery. For the near entirety of human history, the greatest prophets, statesmen, and philosophers did not seem to realize a truth that seems only too obvious today—that slavery is an unqualified and indisputable evil. How is it possible that they failed to realize this, despite being the most morally upstanding individuals of their time?   This is the “slavery conundrum.” How should Muslims and Christians—or anyone who holds certain moral truths to be self-evident—make sense of this inconvenient history? Do humans become more moral with time or less so? Our guest and guide in trying to answer these fraught questions is Georgetown University’s Jonathan Brown, one of America’s leading Muslim intellectuals and the author of the illuminating (and controversial) book Slavery and Islam.  LINKS Jonathan Brown’s book Slavery and Islam https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9781786078391 Tucker Carlson on George Washington and Statues for Slaveholders https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-if-we-want-to-erase-the-past-we-must-prepare-for-the-consequences Ephraim Radner on Christian Wrestling with Abraham’s Slaveholding https://covenant.livingchurch.org/2020/07/31/abraham-and-sarah-slaveholders/

Ramadan isn’t going great for Shadi Hamid. Fasting in a secular city is hard. Everyone else is running around being productive and well-fed while Shadi’s feeling sluggish, hungry, and tired.  Shadi’s discouragement with Ramadan kicks off a broader conversation with Matthew Kaemingk on the struggles both Christians and Muslims face in secular cultures. Is faith *really* supposed to be this hard? Can religion ever win out when it is constantly forced to swim against the secular current? Here they discuss a controversial proposal found in both Islam and Christianity—namely, that the state should accommodate and even support our spiritual practices.  LINKS: The philosopher Oliver Traldi’s powerful thread on being overwhelmed by life’s choices: https://twitter.com/olivertraldi/status/1643029259185803266 Matthew Kaemingk’s article on secular spirituality: https://comment.org/issues/cracks-in-the-secular/ James Wellman’s book on conservative churches in the progressive city of Seattle: https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780195300123 Our episodes on the caliphate and Andrew Tate:https://comment.org/podcasts/muscular-muslims-weak-christians-and-a-response-to-andrew-tate/ https://comment.org/podcasts/does-the-world-need-a-caliphate/

Muslims and Christians traditionally deny themselves during the holy seasons of Ramadan and Lent. To the modern mind, this might seem like an odd and unreasonable practice of self-denial. Why do believers fast? Why do they deny themselves? Perhaps the “unreasonableness” of fasting is precisely the point. While many know about the spiritual and emotional benefits of fasting, Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk push the conversation deeper. Here they explore the surprising ways in which fasting could improve our economic and political lives. (It might even help save our democracy!) In an American culture that has grown increasingly fast-paced, selfish, and materialistic, maybe we need religion to “impose” significant constraints on our everyday behaviour. What does freedom within these constraints actually look—and feel—like? Links: • Kyle David Bennett on the politics of fasting https://comment.org/church-practices-and-public-life-the-thickness-of-fasting/ • Kyle David Bennet’s book on spiritual disciplines and public life https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9781587434037 • Tariq Ramadan on the Politics of Ramadan https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-politics-of-fasting-lessons-from-ramadan/10101262 • Shadi’s piece from last Ramadan, “Against the Cult of Productivity” https://wisdomofcrowds.live/against-the-cult-of-productivity/ • Shadi on the benefits of fasting from the news: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/information-news-addiction-liberal-depression/673351/

What is the connection between prayer and politics for Muslims and Christians? Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk challenge each other with a series of tough questions, and the results are illuminating. Should a life of prayer make us politically bold and zealous? Or should prayer make us humbler and politically submissive? Should prayer connect us to our national authorities and identities—or should it remind us that we identify with a higher authority beyond the nation? While there are deep differences between their prayer practices, Matt and Shadi leave the conversation deeply enriched. You might as well. LINKS: Shadi on the benefits of not following the news and caring less about politics: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/information-news-addiction-liberal-depression/673351/ CDC: “U.S. Teen Girls Experiencing Increased Sadness and Violence” https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2023/p0213-yrbs.html SEND US FEEDBACK OR ASK QUESTIONS: #zealotspod or zealots@comment.org

The caliphate is the traditional form of Islamic governance. Ever since the abolition of the last caliphate in 1924, Muslim thinkers have debated the revival of an Islamic state. In this episode we talk with one such thinker. Ovamir Anjum is the Imam Khattab Endowed Chair of Islamic Studies at the University of Toledo, and in 2019 he wrote a controversial essay in which he boldly called for the establishment of a new caliphate. Needless to say, Shadi and Matt had questions. LINKS Dr. Ovamir Anjum’s essay, “Who Wants the Caliphate?”: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/who-wants-the-caliphate Anjum’s book, Politics, Community, and Islam in Islamic Thought: https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9781107687110 Mohammad Fadel’s article on Islamic perspectives of salvation: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1712972 Ummatics Colloquium, the Muslim research collective that Dr. Ovamir Anjum is part of: https://ummatics.org

What do we mean when we call someone “religious”? Is there such a thing as “religious” power or “religious” violence? The answers to these questions appear simple and straightforward. Not so. In his provocative book The Myth of Religious Violence, William Cavanaugh argues that modern distinctions between “religious” and “secular” forms of violence are not only arbitrary and unhelpful, they’re damaging. He submits that the very concept of “the religious” as something distinct from “the secular” is an invention of the modern West. Shadi and Matt discuss and debate the way the term “religion” is wielded and weaponized in the modern West to destructive effect. LINKS • The Myth of Religious Violence by William T Cavanaugh: https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780195385045

Christianity in the West has grown soft and effeminate—or so says a growing groundswell on the right. These agitators argue that values like diversity and tolerance are signs of weakness and moral decay: Christians no longer stand up for the truth. They call for a muscular and “masculine” public voice—a religious and political movement that won’t make nice with secular liberalism but rather crush it. The controversial former kickboxer Andrew Tate argues that Islam fits the bill for this kind of rejuvenation and recently switched faiths to make his point. Others believe that an unapologetically orthodox and strident form of evangelicalism or Catholic integralism can point the way to a new Christian future. Still others think that a “muscular liberalism” is the cure for what ails Western democracies. Can “muscular” faiths such as these be reconciled with a pluralistic ethic? Are they in fact actually invested in Christianity’s revival, or something else disguised as such? Links: • Andrew Tate explains why he became a Muslim: https://youtu.be/vnTiTg0Ouhs • Andrew Tate’s discussion of his conversion to Islam and his critique of Christianity (explicit): https://youtu.be/FT8tiMK3aRE?t=218 • The Guardian on how Andrew Tate’s arrest for alleged sex trafficking could bring down “toxic masculinity”: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/06/andrew-tate-investigation-could-bring-down-king-toxic-masculinity • David Cameron’s on why state multiculturalism has failed: https://youtu.be/z3xsnEzA8Fw • Shadi’s podcast conversation with Sohrab Ahmari: https://wisdomofcrowds.live/sohrab-ahmari-part-one/ • The Economist “Who is the misogynist Andrew Tate”: https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/12/30/who-is-andrew-tate-the-misogynist-hero-to-millions-of-young-men • Shadi's book "Islamic Exceptionalism": https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9781250135131 • Shadi's article for The Atlantic on "Islamic Exceptionalism": https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/06/islam-politics-exceptional/485801/ • Twitter fight between Andrew Tate and Greta Thunberg: https://twitter.com/gretathunberg/status/1608056944501178368?s=46&t=QsYTGmmyVBbxv5vfIZ2aXQ • Rod Dreher’s “Islam: The Last Badass Religion”: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/islam-the-last-badass-religion/ • Latifa Abouchakra on “muscular liberalism”: https://youtu.be/1F6_0xM0xQQ?t=27

If Muslims are committed to shariah and liberals are committed to individual freedom, can these two worldviews really coexist? Our guest, the Islamic legal theorist Mohammad Fadel, argues that Muslim citizens can accept, live in, and even flourish in a liberal society. Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk have questions. LINKS Mohammad Fadel on Islam and the liberal philosophy of John Rawls https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=977206 Matthew Kaemingk’s article on the clash between public Islam and liberalism https://comment.org/the-headscarf-islams-gift-to-western-democracy/ John Rawls, Political Liberalism  John Rawls, “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited”

We have ourselves a disagreement. A debate breaks out as our hosts discuss Shadi’s new book, The Problem of Democracy. Shadi argues that we should see democracy as a mere form of governance, a systemic way to resolve ideological conflicts peacefully. Matthew argues that in order for democracy to endure, it must be more than a mere mechanism—it must be a way of life, something we practice, treasure, and even revere. As ideological conflicts threaten to divide countries across the globe, the stakes could not be higher. LINKS • Shadi Hamid’s new book: The Problem of Democracy • Matthew Kaemingk’s article on learning democratic habits in pubs and coffeehouses. • Matthew Kaemingk’s book on the future of democracy amidst deep difference: Christian Hospitality and Muslim Immigration