As the Supreme Court releases a slate of new rulings the justices appear to be sending a message: "Congress, do your job!" David French explains to Skye Jethani why congressional leaders are increasingly reluctant to take votes or pass laws, how this is making the presidency dangerously powerful, and why the courts are saying it's unconstitutional and harmful to democracy. Then, David tells why his former denomination canceled him—with some members even calling him a "heretic"—despite his full agreement with all of their doctrine and positions. Why are so many churches being driven by fear and non-essential beliefs?
0:00 - Theme Song
0:17 - Episode Starts
1:17 - Garland V. Cargill
5:34 - Trump Changing Statutes
9:20 - Obama Changing Statutes
13:50 - Congress Refusing to Pass Laws
20:33 - Why Congress Doesn’t Want to Pass Laws
29:51 - How Low-Information Voters Feed Into This Ecosystem
32:06 - The Right Thing to Do vs Appeasing the Mobs
42:05 - When Every Issue is Considered a Fundamental
49:16 - When Every Issue is a Foreground Decision
58:16 - What a Partisan Fears
1:01:20 - Capitulation is Not Peace, the Center Does Not Hold
1:07:23 - End Credits
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Advisory Opinions on Recent Supreme Court Decisions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-anachronism/id1490993194?i=1000659362706
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First, I like "French Friday". It challenges me.
Regarding this episode, I do not feel the obvious follow-up question was not asked.
Mr French claims the congress has been lazy. No argument there.
The parts of the administration that interpret U.S. law are not accountable, therefore, it is appropriate the courts become the ultimate decider.
I thought congress was elected every two years and the president every 4.
That is accountability. If the administration is not doing the job, change the administration.
The courts are totally unaccountable and have a very poor record of inserting their supposed knowledge of science or history into the record.
So the question I feel you've never answered, nor do many answer, especially those complaining about "cancel culture" - is when is it appropriate to cancel someone? For example, there was a book I recently heard about gaining notorarity on the bestseller list, but it became clear that it contained so many falsehoods that the publisher pulled it. Is that OK? Is it OK to tell someone who makes their case using the "Game for Good Christians" translations of bible verses that they aren't welcome to present? I get that David French is pretty innocuous and didn't deserve being cancelled, but there are good reasons to cancel someone, and I feel like half the culture isn't even willing to entertain…
Skye, I appreciate your perspective on most things--even when I don't agree with you, you make well-reasoned arguments that make me think. But I really do wish that you would stop uncritically repeating the false right-wing talking point that children today have to decide what their gender is. It's like the one thing that you talk about that doesn't seem like you have actually though about what you are saying. It's simply not true to say that kids have to pick their gender these days. No one asks kids to decided what gender they are. Ever. If you talk to kids and ask them if anyone has ever asked them to make that decision, they will look at you like…
Skye, I think you may be interested in When Religion Hurts You: Healing from Religious Trauma and the Impact of High-Control Religion by Laura Anderson. I think there are all kinds of aspects of the book that you would take issue with. But the point of overlap that I think may make it worth reading for you is that she talks about one of the reasons that people intentionally choose high-control religious communities (fundamentalism) is that, as a trauma response, those high control communities make it easier for people to operate because they have fewer decisions to make. And that many people who have a background of trauma, their nervous system has lower thresholds for being able to handle decision…