The Gap in God’s Country: A Longer View on Our Culture Wars

The Gap in God’s Country: A Longer View on Our Culture Wars, Sessions Starting in November (Nov. 18, Dec. 2 & 9, Jan. 6 & 20). To attend, join the Maurin Academy Patreon at the $5 or $ levels, or register on Eventbrite for $20 for all five sessions, or a donation of your choice. Catholic Workers are invited to attend without cost: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87876608911?pwd=sdaboEPbKTs7c8DvOfftFxa6iKx47g.1

In the upcoming Gap in God’s Country live online sessions, I want to let people know why my book is different from many others that claim to explain our difficult and often ugly moment in time. For one thing, I offer practical solutions—and that is something everyone always asks for in vain. I hope these sessions will shake you up, because we are all a bit set in our ways, whether we know it or not. Each 1.5 hour session will focus on one or two divergent themes in this book, and each will have a Q & A discussion at the end. We will record them all, and registrants will not only be able to attend live, but will receive all five recordings. 

Session 1: Your own personal story is important to your politics—here’s mine. I’ll discuss how my background affected my political positions. Political positions aren’t nearly as solid and principled as people think. It’s crucial to step outside intellectual and spiritual echo chambers if we want to solve problems, so we need to really know why people believe so strongly in their ideologies, and why they shift. 

Session 2: Right-wing movements around the world, including MAGA, are partly reactions to economic globalization, just as left-wing movements have been, so let’s discuss how these trends have conditioned us. Capitalist market imperatives, and consequent automation and economic globalization, are essential threats to our wellbeing, but they are like the air we breathe—taken for granted and largely thought of as natural and unalterable. 

Session 3:  If we don’t understand how changes in our food supply have greatly altered our political landscape, we cannot possibly solve our political impasses. Yes, that’s right, food is more important than you even knew. I come at this topic through popular culture and real-world examples. Changing our food system has meant deep dislocations and mass migrations that are ongoing and sometimes create extremism. Be prepared for long-standing assumptions to be challenged.

Session 4: Megachurches and those they inspire can be like cults—and if that sounds too harsh, let me explain. In this session I’ll discuss what psychological theories of narcissistic abuse and cult behavior help us understand our current foray into a hyper-balkanized political environment, and  hyper-politicized religion. The same dynamics you’ve experienced in your personal relationships can run entire churches—and countries, which just as much psychic power. Here’s why we should care about those caught in politicized religion. 

Session 5: Yes, I’m offering practical suggestions for change at the individual, church or other group, and policy/political levels, not vague and aspirational concluding remarks. Before that I’ll look at what people have tried in the past and what they’re trying now, so I’ll discuss the history and state of the Catholic Worker movement, the Distributists, and others who are trying to provide an alternative model navigating between polarizing choices like “Capitalism” and “Communism.”  But in the end, I do have some very specific suggestions.