Episode Details

Can Christian Americans Resist Authoritarian Drift?

Pete Wehner—The Atlantic columnist and former Reagan and Bush administration staff member—joins host Curtis Chang to ask the uncomfortable question: in Trump's America, is morality a loser that's been replaced by the "law of the jungle"—especially in U.S. foreign policy? From Venezuela to a looming Greenland/Denmark showdown that could fracture NATO, Wehner argues we're watching "might makes right" go mainstream. The antidote, he says, isn't vibes—it's resistance: stop living within the lie and start living within the truth.

00:04:23 - Explaining the U.S. Foreign Policy Shift

00:06:36 - What Is America's Moral Aspiration in Foreign Policy?

00:07:57 - Trump's "Will to Power" Ethic

00:11:34 - Do We Have Historical Amnesia?

00:16:36 - Contrasting Trump and PEPFAR

00:19:09 - The Disconnect Between Christian Identity and Policy

00:26:34 - Demagogues and Moral Erosion

00:34:19 - President Trump's Unique Amorality

00:37:10 - Primacy of Human Dignity and Christian Ethics

00:41:01 - Venezuela, Greenland, and Moral Implications

00:44:02 - The Value of Beauty and Creation

00:47:14 - What Are the Limits and Possibilities of Action

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Mentioned In This Episode:

• Pete Wehner's article Trump's Folly
• More about PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief)
• Anne Applebaum's Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism