Lefties and Evangelicals: Possible Common Ground in Critiquing Materialist Consumerism, Or Dream On?
Season 3, Episode 316, Dec 17, 2020, 10:07 AM
Divergent voices with different starting points, and different assumptions about the world, share a critique of modern America: we are too focused on the material.
What makes for a meaningful life? What constitutes human flourishing? We may not find unanimity in a positive answer, but there is increasing agreement, in certain quarters, in rejecting purely economic or material measures of meaning and value.
Can a segment of the nonreligious political left, and a segment of the religious evangelical and politically conservative right, find common ground in critiquing materialist understandings of what makes for success?
Our show pushes back against the unexamined, often unconscious ways that we frame public questions using political or economic modes of thinking. We aim to be part of a growing movement of people who are critical of the narrowness of political and economic categories, and who want to revive a vision of human flourishing that is grounded in the wisdoms of theological and moral philosophical tradition. We see these habits and ways of thinking as being pre-political, and foundational to a healthy and civil shared life in families, communities, economies, and polities.
In short, we want to foster conversations, develop habits, and create communities that are grounded in curiosity, going deep, and shining light.
Let us know your thoughts and reflections on our Facebook Page: @whatingods.