In this episode, Matthew Kaemingk joins me to talk about Can Religion Save Democracy?, the book he co-wrote with Shadi Hamid. As religious participation in America has declined, our politics has become more apocalyptic, and Matthew argues that's no coincidence: when we stop looking to faith for meaning, we start looking to politics. We talk about political idolatry, congregations as training grounds for democracy, prayer as civic formation, and why our culture knows how to cancel people but has no language for atonement. Disagreement isn't going anywhere. The question is what kind of people it makes us.

Matthew Kaemingk (PhD, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) is professor of public theology at Theological University Utrecht, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. He is the author of Christian Hospitality and Muslim Immigration in an Age of Fear.

Matthew's Book:

Can Religion Save Democracy?

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