‘Divided We Fall,’ with David French

David French joins the show to discuss our current national polarization (at least, in America).

Can you think of a single issue—political, cultural, religious, or anything—that is uniting Americans more than it is dividing them? David French joins Matt, Derek, and Alastair to discuss the nature, causes, and responses to our current extreme polarization. David French’s new book on this very topic is Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation.

Seeking to retrieve the riches of Classical Protestantism and to renew and rebuild the contemporary church, the Davenant Institute provides two graduate-level degree programs in Classical Protestantism through Davenant Hall. Mere Fidelity’s own Alastair Roberts will be teaching a course on Exodus and the Shape of Biblical Narrative with Davenant Hall.

Use the code MF20 to receive a 20% discount when you register for Davenant Hall courses before December 28th, 2020.

The Book of the Month is Christ Our Salvation: Expositions & Proclamations, by John Webster, edited by Daniel Bush. Christ Our Salvation is an edifying and spiritually enriching collection of sermons by the renowned John Webster. For the month of December 2020, Mere Fidelity listeners will get a 25% discount on their purchase of this volume with the code MEREFIDELITYDEC at checkout.

Timestamps

0:00
December Promos
1:12
The Many Takes of David French
2:45
Divided We Fall
3:59
“Sometimes realism is bleak.” | What is negative polarization?
9:14
How does social media unite or divide us? | Nut-picking Described
15:36
Violence and Media Reporting
21:04
The systems are sound; the people are not.
24:18
Giving social media its proper blame
30:06
Does winning looks like domination or accomodation?
43:04
Defending the Possibility of Martyrdom
50:16
Trump’s Antibodies to Weaponized Civility
57:22
Festivus Traditions

Follow DerekAndrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Timothy Crouch for keeping us organized. Special thanks to Tim Motte for sound editing. And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.

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