Democracy Needs Christianity with Jonathan Rauch
Description
In 2003, Jonathan Rauch—a man who describes himself as an "unrepentantly atheistic Jewish homosexual"—argued that religion's decline in the U.S. was "nothing less than a major civilizational achievement."
Today, he thinks that article was the "dumbest thing I have ever written."
Rauch, still unabashedly atheist, Jewish, and homosexual, believes Christianity is a "load-bearing wall" for American democracy. His book Cross Purposes urges the Church to follow Jesus's teachings so that society can rediscover the civic virtues required for a functioning republic.
Rauch and Mike discuss his book, secularism's failures and why Rauch believes in Jesus as a great moral teacher — but not in God.
Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program for the Brookings Institute and the author of eight books and many articles on public policy, culture, and government. He is a contributing writer of The Atlantic and recipient of the 2005 National Magazine Award, the magazine industry’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. He has written several books including “Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy” (2025), “The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth” (2021) and “The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better after 50” (2018).
Mike Woodruff is the author of The Friday Update, a weekly newsletter that combines cultural insight with Biblical wisdom. Subscribe here.
Beneath The Headlines is a Lakelight Institute production.
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