In his first month in office, Donald Trump has broken international agreements with allies, ended all foreign aid, voted with America's enemies in the UN, posted a plan to turn Gaza into a Trump casino and resort, purged the Pentagon of military commanders, appointed podcasters and conspiracy theorists to his cabinet, and threatened to invade or annex Canada, Greenland, and Panama. David French and Skye Jethani discuss various theories to explain Trump's approach to governing, and find one model that makes a lot of sense in an article by Jonathan Rouch. Then they contrast it with what the Founders said was necessary for the republic to survive—virtue. Finally, they discuss how the decline of virtue in American leadership may be the fruit of the church's failure to make disciples.
0:00 - French Friday's Moving to The SkyePod!
1:27 - The Theme Song
2:23 - Ukraine and Trump
8:11 - Trump 1.0 vs Trump 2.0
16:43 - Triumphalism's Shelf Life
25:53 - Bureaucracy vs Mob Boss
32:38 - Megachurches and Patrimonialism
39:38 - American Democracy and Christianity
55:52 - Prophecy's Role in MAGA
1:05:00 - End Credits
One Word Describes Trump (Article by Jonathan Rauch): https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/corruption-trump-administration/681794/
Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy by Jonathan Rauch: https://a.co/d/26wdqNC
Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America by Jeffrey Rosen: https://a.co/d/6Crl6Hk
The prophecy problem is huge outside the Pentecostal denomination. I can't have a conversation with my mother, who has been Southern Baptist all her life (she's 93), and this topic not come up. This is what Bible studies are all about. It's insane.
I was hesitant about listening to this one, but it turned out to be a very powerful and important conversation. I hope people take it to heart. I hope the church in your country does take a decisive stand against the injustices and untruths.
"it's not a policy debate, it's a prophecy debate" and "christian superstition"
oh boy... this one has grieved me. I encountered this in a Facebook post of a long-time (one time) close friend sharing some numerological insight about something about the Felon in his first term in office. I spoke up (this person had considered me "smart" once) that this was nonsense. After a couple of times, this person basically "turned to me" in the facebook message stream and said "who asked for your opinion?" and "get lost" and they've mostly blocked, muted and dissed me -- no great loss day-to-day as we had drifted apart but still, a wound.
This is a thing. This is a BIG thing. We…
This "French Friday" was especially revealing about white Christians. My question is what took you so long to realize how actually evil white Christians are, at least 80% of them. Christianity has always been a monarchy and a patrimony. What did you think kingdom of god and our father meant? White Christians supported slavery, Jim Crow and Civil Rights. It just amazes me that it took Trump to make you see all of this. This is especially true when you realize what David experienced when he adopted a black child. And don't get me started about Mega churches. The are all about money. To quote Lenny Bruce, "Jesus saves, Oral Roberts saves and Billy Graham saves ever goddamn penny…