David Gushee: 'Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies'

The excellent David Gushee returns to the podcast!If you are a newer listener  you may not have heard our previous episode with David around a year ago (we strongly recommend listening to that fantastic conversation exploring what comes after evangelicalism).This time round we’re speaking about David’s new book, ‘Defending democracy from its Christian enemies.’ The book explores anti-democratic movements and sentiments around the globe, and the way that certain expressions of Christianity can unfortunately be strong allies in that cause. We cover a lot of ground in this chat, from some of the history of democracy, to the rise of authoritarian reactionary Christian politics, to the way some of these ideas are playing out within denominations that have been historically more democratic tightening their centre of control. And we also reflect a little at the end of the conversation about the upcoming Voice referendum here in Australia — and how some of these ideas relate to that process.David not only diagnoses some very clear problems, but he also presents a democratic vision that can counteract some of what we’re seeing — and the conversation finishes with some optimism and good cause to  defend the achievement that democracy represents — one that we shouldn’t take for granted.  Connect with David’s work at:https://www.davidpgushee.com/Want to reach out and let us know your thoughts or suggestions for the show? Send us a message here; we’d love to hear from you.The Spiritual Misfits Survival Guide (FREE): https://www.spiritualmisfits.com.au/survivalguideSign up to our mailing list:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/View all episodes at: https://spiritualmisfits.buzzsprout.com