Ross Douthat | Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics
Recorded 5/1/2012
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The youngest op-ed columnist in New York Times history, Ross Douthat represents a new generation of conservative commentators, credited with helping the movement find new relevance and new constituencies in the 21^st century. A Harvard graduate, Douthat is the author of the critically acclaimed books, Privilege—a "withering indictment of Harvard’s institutional culture" (Booklist)—and Grand New Party. In Bad Religion, Douthat argues that Christianity’s place in American life has been supplanted by greed and self-absorption, crippling the country's ability to confront pressing challenges. He charts traditional Christianity's decline from a vigorous and bipartisan faith—which acted as a moral force during the Civil Rights Movement—through the culture wars of the 1960s and 1970s, to the polarizing debates of the present day.