Zealots at the Gate: Recent Episodes
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How do you disagree with substance, respect, and a spot of laughter? Is it possible for deep difference to be the uncanny glue of a free society, and not the spark for its conflagration? What does good-faith persuasion look like anymore?
Zealots at the Gate from Comment explores these questions through the friendship of two men: Muslim political thinker Shadi Hamid and Christian theologian Matthew Kaemingk. Through frank, unapologetic dialogue interrogating the future of democracy and the role of religion in North American cultural life, this is a conversation bent on charting out a new paradigm for navigating philosophical and even tribal difference with openness, good humour, and convicted humility.
Join us as we talk with David Brooks, author and staff writer for The Atlantic. Brooks explores the tensions between political resentment and spiritual longing, diversity and cohesion, and achievement and equality, inviting us to think about balance within politics. Both the Democratic and Republican parties have faced internal insurgencies. Can radicalism be justified, or is moderation necessarily better?
- David Brooks' article on his personal faith journey: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/opinion/faith-god-christianity.html?eafs_enabled=false
- Brooks' article on the battle for the Democratic Party https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/democrats-fight-left-dsa/687839/
- Brooks' latest book How to Know a Person: https://www.amazon.com/dp/059323006X
Matt and Shadi wrote a book! The book is now available for pre-order at: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/9781587436895_can-religion-save-democracy and is currently 40% off!
Evangelicals, historically, have largely supported the state of Israel. But is support waning? Why have evangelicals taken this stance, and what has changed? Join us as we talk with Robert Nicholson, founder of the Philos Project and editor-at-large of Providence: A Journal of Christianity and American Foreign Policy. Nicholson provides commentary on the history of evangelical support of Israel, current trends, and a theology of the relationship between Christianity and the state of Israel.
LINKS
- Announcing Matt and Shadi's new book: Can Religion Save Democracy? Pre-order your copy from Baker Book House and receive 40% off through its release on October 13, 2026: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/9781587436895_can-religion-save-democracy
- Robert Nicholson bio: https://providencemag.com/authors/robert-nicholson/
- Phil Klay on U.S. Support for Israel's War: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2024/03/gaza-war-indefensible-united-states/677896/
Birthrates are falling drastically in many parts of the world. Why is this? And how does this trend relate to our political and religious lives in the twenty-first century? Join us as we talk with Lyman Stone, senior fellow and director of the Pronatalism Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies, as well as director of research at Demographic Intelligence. Stone will provide us insights into the current trends, explain why birthrates matter to us all, and offer a way forward.
Links:
Lyman Stone, Senior Fellow and Director: https://ifstudies.org/about-us/lyman-stone
Within our American context, "spiritual but not religious" is an increasingly popular title. It connotes rising above organized religion and opting instead for an individualistic, buffet-like spirituality that reflects our modern consumerist culture. In this episode, Matt and Shadi unpack this type of spirituality that is disconnected from religious institutions, practices, and experiences. They talk about why organized religion is actually vital to the health of democratic life and how it looks different from "spiritual but not religious."
LINKS
Announcing Matt and Shadi's new book: Can Religion Save Democracy? Pre-order your copy from Baker Book House and receive 40% off through its release on October 13, 2026: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/9781587436895_can-religion-save-democracy
What does it look like for American Muslim communities to engage in the political landscape of the twenty-first century? In light of Republican and Democratic culpability in Gaza, how can Muslims maintain their integrity as well as their political participation? Join us as we talk with Omar Suleiman, imam, author, and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research. Suleiman will offer us insight into the ways he guides his own community to think through their political engagement and understand how questions of assimilation shape the Muslim community in America at large.
LINKS
Dr. Suleiman, director of the Yaqeen Institute: https://yaqeeninstitute.org/team/omar-suleiman
The book Mere Christianity, written by C.S. Lewis, is a staple for Christians and presents what many would argue are the core tenets of the Christian faith. How does Islam interact with what is described as "mere" Christianity? What doctrines stand out as confusing, untenable, and even controversial to a Muslim? From the nature of God's forgiveness to the identity of Jesus to the existence of doubt and faith, Matt and Shadi find moments of divergence and commonality. Join them as they unpack some of the core Christian doctrines found in Lewis's classic text.
LINKS: https://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-Lewis-Signature-Classic/dp/0007461216
What do American Jewish-Muslim relations look like post–October 7? Does Jewish theology compel multifaith dialogue and a commitment to pluralism? American Muslim-Jewish relations were, for a while, a model to the world as to how we can step into dialogue with one another. But October 7 changed everything. Join us as we talk with Ari Gordon, author of Sacred Orientation in Late Antiquity and Early Islam, and director of Muslim-Jewish Relations at the American Jewish Committee. Gordon will offer us a thoughtful reflection on Muslim-Jewish relations post–October 7, American Jews and their relationship to the state of Israel, and what this all means for a pluralistic society.
LINKS
- Gordon's book, Sacred Orientation in Late Antiquity and Early Islam: https://www.amazon.com/Orientation-Antiquity-Routledge-Studies-Philosophy/dp/1032135085
- Gordon, Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations: https://www.ajc.org/bio/ari-m-gordon#:~:text=Ari%20Gordon%20is%20Director%20of,engagement%20on%20issues%20of%20difference
In an extremely polarized political landscape, how do we learn to change our minds? What happens when someone dedicates their entire career to the Christian Right and then has a moment of repentance? Join us as we talk with Rob Schenck, author of Costly Grace, who offers his perspective on the religious Right and the religious Left and what we often get wrong about the other side.
Links:
Schenck's account of his time in Minneapolis during the ICE protests: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/rob-schenck-i-went-to-minneapolis-to-bear-witness-and-to-make-amends/
Schenck's book, Costly Grace: https://www.amazon.com/Costly-Grace-Evangelical-Ministers-Rediscovery/dp/006268793X
Underneath a bombastic and bumbling Donald Trump sits a world of radical right-wing intellectuals, shaping the ways we experience the MAGA movement today. How did the American far right emerge? How have we misread the far right—and what does that mean for our democracy? Join us as we talk with Laura Field, scholar in residence at American University and author of the new book Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right, as she talks about the intellectuals and thinkers behind Trumpism today. What do they actually believe?
Links:
Laura Field's Book, Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right: https://www.amazon.com/Furious-Minds-Making-MAGA-Right/dp/0691255261/
Laura's review of Alexandre Lefebvre's Liberalism as a Way of Life: https://www.illiberalism.org/good-liberals-bad-cave-a-review-of-liberalism-as-a-way-of-life/
Laura's website: https://www.lkfield.com/
The Democratic Party is the home of the religious "nones." And yet it is also a bastion of wokeness and language policing. With its desire to maintain its own purity, its own creeds, and its own take on "original sin," is wokeism on the left becoming its own kind of religion? Join Matt and Shadi as they unpack the status of the Left today. Shadi examines the intersection of his own political and religious identities, noting the ways the Left requires religious people to reduce themselves to fit its mold. Matt talks about the ways he noticed the Left become disoriented after Trump's second win. And together they ask: Is wokeness a religion?
Conservatism in American politics has historically been tied to religious communities, bound by common concerns of morality and common values. As the MAGA movement emerged, it did not exhibit these traits. Is the MAGA movement post-Christian? And what does this mean for traditional conservatives? Join Matt and Shadi as they explore MAGA's spiritual future, probe Matt's conservativism and voting habits, and examine Shadi's impressions of the future of the religious Right.
Are there universal moral laws that bind all humanity? Are some things just right and wrong? In a polarized world, can we hope to agree on moral issues? Christians and Muslims have long histories of discussing the existence of a “natural law.” But where do they differ? Join us for a fascinating discussion of these and many other issues as we meet with two experts on natural law, Micah Watson of Calvin University and Anver Emon of the University of Toronto.
Links:
- Micah Watson’s faculty page: https://calvin.edu/people/micah-j-watson
- Hopeful Realism: Evangelical Natural Law and Democratic Politics: https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9781514007709
- Anver Emon’s faculty page: https://www.law.utoronto.ca/faculty-staff/full-time-faculty/anver-emon
- Islamic Natural Law Theories: https://a.co/d/i6nKaBq
The Mormon faith is deeply American in just about every way, and yet Mormons have never quite been accepted in America. Why? What is it like to be a Mormon in America? How do Mormons navigate American politics? Many of them voted for Trump, but do they like him? Join us as we talk with Matthew Bowman, the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University, as he walks us through the history of Mormonism, his own beliefs, and the way he thinks about our current political landscape as a Mormon.
Links:
Matthew Bowman’s book The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith:
https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780812983364
Bowman’s latest book, Joseph Fielding Smith: A Mormon Theologian:
https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780252088056
Christian: The Politics of a Word in America
https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780674244917
Matthew Bowman’s bio:
https://www.cgu.edu/people/matthew-bowman/
Are you afraid of hell? Do you know who’s going there? We know that our beliefs about the afterlife can often influence the ways in which we treat so-called insiders and outsiders. What we think about hell can even influence our political action in society. Join us as we talk with Mohammad Hassan Khalil, author of Islam and the Fate of Others, who offers a deep historical dive on how Muslims have thought about salvation in the past and present, not only for those from other religions but for themselves too.
Links:
Khalil’s book, Islam and the Fate of Others: https://www.amazon.com/Islam-Fate-Others-Salvation-Question/dp/0199796661
Khalil’s latest book, Jihad, Radicalism, and the New Atheism: https://www.amazon.com/Radicalism-Atheism-Mohammad-Hassan-Khalil/dp/1108432751/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
The seven deadly sins aren’t just a relic of the past—they continue to shape the way we live, lead, and engage with one another. In this episode, Elizabeth Oldfield, a Comment contributing editor and breakout author from the UK, explores how these enduring vices influence our divided age. Her new book, Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times, offers a thoughtful look at how faith and character can help us navigate the tensions of today.
LINKS
Elizabeth Oldfield’s new book https://www.amazon.com/Fully-Alive-Tending-Turbulent-Times/dp/1587436507
Discussing Elizabeth’s Commune: https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/parenting/article/middle-class-commune-joint-bank-accounts-noisy-sex-peckham-0jnhvhgmh
That’s it! I’m moving to Canada. After a long election season, many American voters will find it difficult to accept defeat. And while it is hard, democratic life demands the regular practice of political concession—admitting that, however just your cause, the people did not agree with you. Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk discuss how Christianity and Islam can help with electoral patience and learning to lose gracefully. To bow one’s head in prayer is to accept that the world (and the election) is beyond your control. And while this might be “the most important election of our lifetime,” there are much more important things in our lives than elections.
Links:
We discuss the Muslim Struggle over which political party to support https://comment.org/podcasts/do-muslims-fit-in-a-political-party/
Is Democracy God’s Will? https://comment.org/podcasts/is-democracy-gods-will/
Shadi Hamid in The Washington Post: A wake-up call for Kamala Harris from Muslim and Arab Americans https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/22/harris-muslim-arab-american-vote/
Muslims and Jews share more than either side might want to admit. Their monotheistic theology, their emphasis on law, and their long history of living alongside each other all play a role in developing what some might call the “Judeo-Islamic tradition.” In fact, Judaism might not have become what it is today if it wasn’t for Islam. Has this tradition been lost, or can it be regained? In this episode Mustafa Akyol, the author of the new book The Islamic Moses, joins the show to argue for a bold, new interpretation of the relationship between Islam and Judaism.
Mustafa Akyol’s new book The Islamic Moses: How the Prophet Inspired Jews and Muslims to Flourish Together and Change the World https://www.amazon.com/Islamic-Moses-Inspired-Flourish-Together/dp/1250256097/
Mustafa Akyol’s The Islamic Jesus https://www.amazon.com/Islamic-Jesus-Became-Prophet-Muslims/dp/1250199352/
Mustafa Akyol’s Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance https://www.amazon.com/Reopening-Muslim-Minds-Freedom-Tolerance/dp/1250832519/
Zealots at the Gate: "Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdW4-dI7W94&t=0s
Zealots at the Gate: "Does the World Need a Caliphate?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVbrrzolXPM&t=0s
Muslim voting habits in America have changed in the past, and they are changing again. What issues might draw them to the political right or left? Dalia Mogahed has been studying Muslim Americans for decades. She is a senior scholar at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding and a former member of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Tune in for an excellent discussion about the diverse ways in which American Muslims connect their faith and their politics.
LINKS
Dalia Mogahed comparing evangelicals and Muslims on religion and public life
https://www.ispu.org/muslims-more-private-religious-devotion-less-public-religious-assertiveness/
Dalia Mogahed’s key findings on American Muslims in 2022.
https://www.ispu.org/american-muslim-poll-2022-key-findings/
Dalia Mogahed’s podcast on the Qur’an
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/quran-conversations/id1751858926
2024 election analysis by Dalia Mogahed on Muslim voter preferences and opinions in three key swing states.
https://www.ispu.org/winning-muslim-votes-2/
In the wake of an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, he and his followers have been discussing the role of God in sparing his life. Reflecting on his good fortune, Trump has even speculated about potential changes in his nomination speech and broader campaign. In this episode, Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk delve into the religious and political issues at play. Did God actually save Donald Trump? Might God truly change Trump’s heart? Should citizens be optimistic or pessimistic about the potential redemption of their political opponents?
LINKS
“Is Trump’s near-death experience part of God’s plan?” by Shadi Hamid https://wapo.st/4cFNteo
“Donald Trump, Man of Destiny” by Ross Douthat https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/15/opinion/donald-trump-assassination-destiny.html
On the Death Penalty “A Catholic Socialist in a Secular World” with Elizabeth Bruenig https://comment.org/podcasts/a-catholic-socialist-in-a-secular-world/
Chesterton on Optimism and Pessimism https://passionatelylovingtheworld.wordpress.com/2019/10/26/chesterton-pessimism-optimism-and-the-case-for-mirth/
Our many differences in religion and politics are not problems to be solved. In this episode we interview John Inazu, the author of a new book titled Learning to Disagree. A professor of religion and law at Washington University in St. Louis, Inazu shares the critical lessons he’s learned about deep disagreement.
LINKS
John Inazu’s books on disagreement and pluralism: Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780310368014
Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving through Deep Difference https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780226592435
What is the political future of American evangelicalism? And what explains the rise of “secular” evangelical politics? Russell Moore is the editor-in-chief of Christianity Today and the author of Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America. Together we discuss the surprising and tragic ways in which evangelicalism has become politicized and secularized through its engagement in American political life.
LINKS
Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America, By Russell Moorehttps://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780593541784
Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk can't postpone the difficult question any longer. Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God? Their answers (and disagreements) might surprise you.
LINKS Relevant articles on the “Same God” debate from:
Gabriel Said Reynolds https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/is-the-quranic-god-the-same-god-as-the-biblical-god/
Joshua Ralston https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-same-god-or-the-one-god-on-the-limitations-and-implications-/10097414
Miroslav Volf https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/17/wheaton-professors-suspension-is-about-anti-muslim-bigotry-not-theology/
Francis Beckwith https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2015/12/17/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/
Peter Ochs https://www.abc.net.au/religion/do-jews-christians-and-muslims-worship-the-same-god/10096120
Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk visited Wheaton College (the so-called evangelical Harvard) to discuss faith, politics, and deep difference. Interviewed by Alexander Massad, they were asked about their friendship, their deep disagreements, and why they did (or did not) want to convert one another.
Links:
Matthew Kaemingk, The Troubling Grace of a Muslim Friend https://www.neighborlyfaith.org/the-troubling-grace-of-a-muslim-friend
Shadi Hamid, Christian Strangeness: A Muslim’s Faith and Friendships Across Deep Difference https://www.neighborlyfaith.org/christian-strangeness-a-muslims-faith-and-friendships-across-deep-difference
“Hell is actually pretty underrated. I mean it, when it comes to democratic life, a belief in hell is quite helpful.” Shadi kicked off a recent public lecture with this rather unexpected and provocative statement. In a time when democratic debate is becoming increasingly judgmental, where citizens wish to condemn and literally sentence one another to damnation, Shadi wonders (out loud) if a belief in a delayed judgment, one that belongs to God alone, could potentially lessen our need to exact total judgment in the here and now.
How are American evangelicals and Muslims responding to the war in Gaza? More than half a year into the war, Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk discuss the (im)possibility of remaining neutral and the ways in which their own tribal loyalties push and pull on their positions. Matthew presses Shadi on how his Muslim identity influences his positions on Gaza. Shadi tries (his best) to understand how evangelical perspectives on Israel are influenced by biblical prophecy about the return of Jesus.
LINKS
How Israel and the United States suppress democracy in the Middle East https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/05/13/middle-east-israel-us-democracy/
We’re failing. The Israel-Hamas war is barely two weeks old and we are witnessing a collective religious failure. Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike are failing to live up to their own principles. The moral and ethical “rules of engagement” have been thrown out the window—be it on the battlefield or in public discourse. How should religious people of good faith interpret and respond to this political and religious cataclysm? Join Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk for a special episode of Zealots at the Gate. Together they discuss the war and the many ways in which the faithful are (mis)interpreting the underlying dynamics at play.
LINKS
Shadi Hamid’s article on humility amid the war: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/16/intellectual-humility-israel-palestine-debate/
Reinhold Niebuhr’s book Moral Man and Immoral Society:https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9781773237565
Political demons? Really? While everyone can agree that there’s something terribly wrong with America’s political culture, should we really describe it as “demonic” or even “demon-possessed”? Muslims and Christians have long recognized the presence and power of evil, but what does a belief in the “demonic” actually look like in modern political life? Join Shadi and Matt as they speak to Laura Fabrycky, a political theologian who is researching the ways in which citizens might begin to resist the temptations of both demonic politics and the politics of demonization.
LINKS:
Laura Fabrycky’s articles for Comment magazine:
https://comment.org/contributors/laura-fabrycky/
Can Muslims be feminists? Should they be? This week, we speak with Hadia Mubarak, a self-described Muslim feminist, about the role and place of women in Islam. Professor Mubarak is the author of a groundbreaking new book entitled Rebellious Wives and Neglectful Husbands. She fields a variety of tough questions from Shadi and Matthew: As a Muslim feminist, how do you interpret difficult texts about women in the Koran and the Hadith? How do you respond to sexism in the mosque? What is it like to wear the headscarf in a secular society? And how might your Islamic feminism differ from secular feminism? Mubarak also shares some of her own fascinating story of how she was shaped by the local Muslim community in an unlikely place—Panama City, Florida.
Links:
Hadia Mubarak’s new book Rebellious Wives, Neglectful Husbands:
https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780197553305
Matthew Kaemingk’s article on how headscarves are Islam’s gift to Western democracy:
https://comment.org/the-headscarf-islams-gift-to-western-democracy/
Jessica Crispin’s book Why I Am Not a Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto:
https://a.co/d/31PmvSj
Can the American Left make space for deep religious commitment? Elizabeth Bruenig, a 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist, is one of the most prominent—and controversial—Catholic socialists in America today. In this episode, she joins Matt and Shadi to discuss how people of faith can contribute to secular politics while maintaining their rather “strange” religious identity. Matt asks both her and Shadi to reflect on what it was like to be committed Bernie Sanders supporters while also remaining committed to their Catholic and Islamic faiths. Together they each discuss a future where the Democratic Party could (re)learn how to embrace people of faith, including those who bring their religion to bear on abortion, sexuality, and the death penalty.
Links:
Elizabeth Bruenig’s reflection on Lent in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/catholic-lent-sacrifice-reflection/673353/
Bruenig’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated features on capital punishment in Alabama: https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/elizabeth-bruenig-atlantic
Tim Alberta on why Hispanics are leaving the Democratic Party: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2022/11/hispanic-voters-fleeing-democratic-party/671851/
Americans are politically exhausted. Shadi happens to be one of them. But he’s taking action. In this special episode, our venerable co-host opens up about burnout, finitude, and his own struggles with meaning. In society more broadly, politically induced fatigue and even depression are spreading. Is there a way to find that meaning without religion—or is religion the only way?
Links:
The episode where Matt discusses thoughts and prayers: https://comment.org/podcasts/prayer-is-political/
Shadi on tying one's camel: https://wisdomofcrowds.live/p/is-it-enough-to-tie-your-camel-and
Shadi’s essay in The Atlantic on breaking up with the news: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/information-news-addiction-liberal-depression/673351/
2022 study on political depression: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8759681/
Welcome to a frank and thought-provoking discussion of the modern sexual marketplace and its discontents. Our guest and guide is Washington Post columnist Christine Emba. Author of the widely acclaimed book Rethinking Sex: A Provocation, Emba argues that while the sexual revolution and the MeToo movement brought much good to the world, there is a growing suspicion that there is something profoundly unsatisfying about the modern sexual ethic. Do we need more religion to get sex right, after everything?
LINKS
Christine Emba’s book Rethinking Sex: A Provocation
https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9780593087565
Christine Emba’s article “Consent is not Enough”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/17/sex-ethics-rethinking-consent-culture/
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
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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
What do you mean when you 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 • 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
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
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 Islam
https://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