Zealots at the Gate

Political demons? Really? While everyone can agree that there's something terribly wrong with America's political culture, should we really describe it as "demonic" or even "demon-possessed"? Muslims and Christians have long recognized the presence and power of evil, but what does a belief in the "demonic" actually look like in modern political life? Join Shadi and Matt as they speak to Laura Fabr...

Can Muslims be feminists? Should they be? This week, we speak with Hadia Mubarak, a self-described Muslim feminist, about the role and place of women in Islam. Professor Mubarak is the author of a  groundbreaking new book titled Rebellious Wives and Neglectful Husbands . She fields a variety of tough questions from Shadi and Matthew: As a Muslim feminist, how do you interpret difficult texts about...

Can the American Left make space for deep religious commitment? Elizabeth Bruenig, a 2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist, is one of the most prominent—and controversial—Catholic socialists in America today. In this episode, she joins Matt and Shadi to discuss how people of faith can contribute to secular politics while maintaining their rather "strange" religious identity. Matt asks both her and Shadi to...

Americans are politically exhausted. Shadi happens to be one of them. But he's taking action. In this special episode, our venerable co-host opens up about burnout, finitude, and his own struggles with meaning. In society more broadly, politically induced fatigue and even depression are spreading. Is there a way to find that meaning without religion—or is religion the only way? Links: The episode...

Welcome to a frank and thought-provoking discussion of the modern sexual marketplace and its discontents. Our guest and guide is Washington Post columnist Christine Emba. Author of the widely acclaimed book Rethinking Sex: A Provocation , Emba argues that while the sexual revolution and the MeToo movement brought much good to the world, there is a growing suspicion that there is something profound...

The coronation of King Charles will take place in a Christian church. Within the context of worship, Charles will be anointed, blessed, crowned, and enthroned as the head of England's church and its state. As crown and cross intermingle and intersect so also do questions about the proper relationship between religion, politics, and power. Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk welcome Bishop Graham Toml...

Neither Islam nor Christianity banned slavery. For the near entirety of human history, the greatest prophets, statesmen, and philosophers did not seem to realize a truth that seems only too obvious today—that slavery is an unqualified and indisputable evil. How is it possible that they failed to realize this, despite being the most morally upstanding individuals of their time?   This is the "slave...

Ramadan isn't going great for Shadi Hamid. Fasting in a secular city is hard. Everyone else is running around being productive and well-fed while Shadi's feeling sluggish, hungry, and tired.  Shadi's discouragement with Ramadan kicks off a broader conversation with Matthew Kaemingk on the struggles both Christians and Muslims face in secular cultures. Is faith *really* supposed to be this hard? Ca...

Muslims and Christians traditionally deny themselves during the holy seasons of Ramadan and Lent. To the modern mind, this might seem like an odd and unreasonable practice of self-denial. Why do believers fast? Why do they deny themselves? Perhaps the "unreasonableness" of fasting is precisely the point. While many know about the spiritual and emotional benefits of fasting, Shadi Hamid and Matthew...

What is the connection between prayer and politics for Muslims and Christians? Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk challenge each other with a series of tough questions, and the results are illuminating. Should a life of prayer make us politically bold and zealous? Or should prayer make us humbler and politically submissive? Should prayer connect us to our national authorities and identities—or shoul...

The caliphate is the traditional form of Islamic governance. Ever since the abolition of the last caliphate in 1924, Muslim thinkers have debated the revival of an Islamic state. In this episode we talk with one such thinker. Ovamir Anjum is the Imam Khattab Endowed Chair of Islamic Studies at the University of Toledo, and in 2019 he wrote a controversial essay in which he boldly called for the es...

What do we mean when we call someone "religious"? Is there such a thing as "religious" power or "religious" violence? The answers to these questions appear simple and straightforward. Not so. In his provocative book The Myth of Religious Violence , William Cavanaugh argues that modern distinctions between "religious" and "secular" forms of violence are not only arbitrary and unhelpful, they're dam...

Christianity in the West has grown soft and effeminate—or so says a growing groundswell on the right. These agitators argue that values like diversity and tolerance are signs of weakness and moral decay: Christians no longer stand up for the truth. They call for a muscular and "masculine" public voice—a religious and political movement that won't make nice with secular liberalism but rather crush...

If Muslims are committed to shariah and liberals are committed to individual freedom, can these two worldviews really coexist? Our guest, the Islamic legal theorist Mohammad Fadel, argues that Muslim citizens can accept, live in, and even flourish in a liberal society. Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk have questions. LINKS Mohammad Fadel on Islam and the liberal philosophy of John Rawls https://pa...

We have ourselves a disagreement. A debate breaks out as our hosts discuss Shadi's new book, The Problem of Democracy . Shadi argues that we should see democracy as a mere form of governance, a systemic way to resolve ideological conflicts peacefully. Matthew argues that in order for democracy to endure, it must be more than a mere mechanism—it must be a way of life, something we practice, treasur...

Around the world, democracy is in crisis. Should Christians and Muslims work to protect and revive it? Neither the Bible nor the Qur'an mentions the word "democracy." At no point did the early followers of Jesus or Muhammad advocate for a democratic form of government. And yet Matthew Kaemingk and Shadi Hamid insist that Christians and Muslims should defend the wavering institution that is democra...

Diverse democracies are filled with "heretics"—citizens outside our religious and political tribes who dispute our vision of the good life and challenge all that we hold sacred. As democratic citizens, how should we respond to the heretics who contest the things we hold dear? Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk discuss the ways in which Muslims and Christians have historically made space for, listene...

Our most "combative" episode yet. Progressive secularism is on a winning streak. It has scored a number of significant political victories over those who hold traditional Christian and Muslim understandings of the moral life. How should people of faith respond? Our guest worries that we might be playing a little too nice. James R. Wood is one of the most exciting and controversial Christian thinke...

Democracy is suffering from an overabundance of ideological certainty. Few citizens are willing (or able) to honestly express their doubts about their tribe. We can only project ideological certainty, purity, and strength—no wavering or weakness allowed. How might we begin to doubt ourselves again? How might we take ourselves and our political ideas  less  seriously? While Islam and Christianity a...

What's happening to our democracy? It feels like we're being torn apart by deep religious, cultural, and political differences. Welcome to  Zealots at the Gate , where two scholars of faith and politics—a Muslim and a Christian—make a rather surprising claim. Together Shadi Hamid and Matthew Kaemingk argue that our deep differences are not, in fact, a threat to democracy. The true threat is our re...