Paul VanderKlay's Podcast Steven Pinker and Ross Douthat Square Off around a Poorly Framed Question
Mar 12, 2026
Ross Douthat, conservative columnist known for writing on religion and culture, argues religion gives society moral horizons and civic cohesion. The conversation covers whether communal rituals and sacred orders shape social behavior. It also examines secularization’s unintended effects like polarization and whether nonreligious institutions can replicate religion’s social functions.
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Churches Built Civic Trust And Organization
- Churches historically function as sites for organizing trust, mutual aid, and accountability.
- Paul Vanderklay highlights Sarah Isger's framing that churches taught Americans to trust strangers, care for neighbors, and hold themselves to higher standards.
Buddhist To Confucius Church Shows Congregational Drift
- Paul recounts seeing a building change from 'Buddhist church' to 'Confucius church' to show immigrants adopt church-like congregational forms.
- He uses this example to argue Americans replicate church structures across faiths for community needs.
Rituals Make Churches Effective At Teaching Sacrifice
- Paul argues the church's rituals (singing, marching, communal acts) uniquely reinforce voluntary self-sacrifice.
- He claims no secular institution matches the church's archetypal capacity to inculcate sacrificial values at scale.
