Zealots at the Gate

Around the world, democracy is in crisis. Should Christians and Muslims work to protect and revive it? Neither the Bible nor the Qur’an mentions the word “democracy.” At no point did the early followers of Jesus or Muhammad advocate for a democratic form of government. And yet Matthew Kaemingk and Shadi Hamid insist that Christians and Muslims should defend the wavering institution that is democracy. Why? Links: Shadi Hamid’s new book The Problem of Democracy Islamist thinker Rachid Ghannouchi’s Public Freedoms in the Islamic State, translated into English for the first time Sayyid Qutb on freedom, excerpts from Milestones  See David Koyzis’s chapter on democracy in Political Visions and Illusions See Luke Bretherton’s chapter on populism and the voice of the people in Christ and the Common Good

Diverse democracies are filled with “heretics”—citizens outside our religious and political tribes who dispute our vision of the good life and challenge all that we hold sacred. As democratic citizens, how should we respond to the heretics who contest the things we hold dear? Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk discuss the ways in which Muslims and Christians have historically made space for, listened to, and even learned from the heretics in their midst. Links: Rousseau quote is from The Social Contract: https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780140442014 Shadi recommends The Study Quran for English speakers: https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780061125867 Shadi's Muslim rock band: https://shadihamid.substack.com/p/when-i-was-in-a-muslim-rock-band

Our most “combative” episode yet. Progressive secularism is on a winning streak. It has scored a number of significant political victories over those who hold traditional Christian and Muslim understandings of the moral life. How should people of faith respond? Our guest worries that we might be playing a little too nice. James R. Wood is one of the most exciting and controversial Christian thinkers writing today. A theologian, professor, and ordained minister, Wood argues that people of faith need to actively contest, dispute, and sometimes even mock the political ideas of their secular opponents. What do you think? Should Christians and Muslims ready themselves for rhetorical combat? Is a “winsome” approach to persuasion naive?   LINKS Referenced essays from James Wood: https://comment.org/the-church-against-the-ideologies/ https://americanreformer.org/2022/05/this-article-is-not-about-tim-keller/ https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-limits-of-winsome-politics/   James Wood’s critique of Christian civility and “winsomeness”: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2022/05/how-i-evolved-on-tim-keller   Shadi explores how an Islamic approach to politics was “swallowed” by the modern state: https://www.firstthings.com/article/2022/10/how-modernity-swallowed-islamism

Democracy is suffering from an overabundance of ideological certainty. Few citizens are willing (or able) to honestly express their doubts about their tribe. We can only project ideological certainty, purity, and strength—no wavering or weakness allowed. How might we begin to doubt ourselves again? How might we take ourselves and our political ideas less seriously? While Islam and Christianity are often labelled “dogmatic” and “fundamentalist,” Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk explore the unique ways in which their faiths actively help them to doubt. Related links: Shadi’s article on the dangers of religious certainty in politics:https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/how-resist-making-politics-theological/578851/ Matt’s discussion of Christian political humility can be found in chapters 4, 6, and 7: https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Hospitality-Muslim-Immigration-Fear/dp/0802874584 Andrew Tate explains his conversion to Islamhttps://twitter.com/Raaaatiba/status/1586293661360193537 Rod Dreher on Islam: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/islam-the-last-badass-religion/ Zizek Devours Hotdogs:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YamAsbzPKA

What's happening to our democracy? It feels like we're being torn apart by deep religious, cultural, and political differences. Welcome to Zealots at the Gate, where two scholars of faith and politics—a Muslim and a Christian—make a rather surprising claim. Together Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk argue that our deep differences are not, in fact, a threat to democracy. The true threat is our response to that difference. In this opening episode, Hamid and Kaemingk explore how their religious difference—their Muslim and Christian strangeness—is a potential resource for democracy's renewal. Join us as we try to do difference, differently.   Related links: Matt’s article on the politics of the headscarf:https://comment.org/the-headscarf-islams-gift-to-western-democracy/ Shadi’s debate with Mehdi Hasan on MSNBC’s Morning Joe:https://twitter.com/shadihamid/status/1585410346818338816 Shadi’s article on the dangers of religious certainty in politics:https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/how-resist-making-politics-theological/578851/ Matt and Shadi’s books on religion and democracy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BCR3JCLR/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Hospitality-Muslim-Immigration-Fear/dp/0802874584