Are science and belief in God incompatible? Dr. Francis S. Collins, renowned for having led the Human Genome Project and the former Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), says science and faith are two different ways of understanding God's creation.
 
We dove right in and had so much to explore!
His father's folk music collection that is a true national treasure; 
Connecting music with the mysteries of the universe both as a scientist and a person of faith; 
An encounter with a heart patient that led Dr. Collins to his faith in Christ; 
How he got the job to lead the Human Genome Project (no, it wasn't an answer to an ad on Craigslist); 
Leading the NIH during a worldwide pandemic; 
The ongoing harrassment and even death threats he and his colleagues at NIH have had to endure; 
Struggling to understand the emergence of the anti-vax movement; 
Nurturing relationships with folks who hold very different views such as the late Christopher Hitchens; 
The BioLogos Foundation; 
And the most interesting book club in the world!
 
Dr. Francis Collins is the former director of the National Institutes of Health. And was the longest serving director of NIH — spanning 12 years and three (very different) presidencies. Dr. Collins is a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and his leadership of the international Human Genome Project, which culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book. Dr. Collins' research laboratory has discovered a number of important genes, including those responsible for cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, a familial endocrine cancer syndrome and, most recently, genes for type 2 diabetes among others. Dr. Collins was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2007 and the National Medal of Science in 2009.
 
It would mean so much if you could leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: 
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Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
Please support our wonderful sponsor Meza Wealth Management:
www.mezawealth.com
 
And you can find Corey on all the socials @coreysnathan such as
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan.
 
biologos.org/

Tackling the hard truth that so many of our votes are actually empty calorie votes. "Empty calorie votes!?!? What in the world is that?" you might ask. 
 
It's important to state at the top that it's still important to vote. So, go out and VOTE! But there are several factors that render a vast majority of votes as electoral stuffing for all intents and purposes. It could be due to some voters always going for the Rs or always going for the Ds right down the line and would never even consider the possibility of checking a box for the "other team." There are also districts and states that are so heavily favored for one party or another, that the results are essentially predetermined.
 
But there are some districts and some states and, most importantly, some people that really can swing from one side to another. And that’s what decides our elections! So that's what we dive into on this edition of the program. Plus, we address what we can do about it, i.e. How do you persuade the persuadables?
 
It would mean so much if you could leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: 
https://bit.ly/TPandRPod
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
Please support our wonderful sponsor Meza Wealth Management:
www.mezawealth.com
 
And you can find Corey on all the socials @coreysnathan such as
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan.

On this episode, Corey was part of a roundtable conversation over at Freedom Road with Lisa Sharon Harper. We were also joined by Rev. Dr. Waltrina Middleton and Dr. Claudia Owens Shields. This circle of friends came together to reflect on 2023 and consider what's ahead for us in 2024. It was originally recorded for the Freedom Road Podcast which you can find on all the major podcast apps.
 
Waltrina is the executive director of Community Renewal Society and a senior consultant with Freedom Road, specializing in Spiritual Formation. Claudia is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in multi-ethnic psychology, formerly tenured professor at the Chicago School of Psychology. Claudia also serves as a senior consultant with Freedom Road. Lisa Sharon Harper is the founder of Freedom Road, a consulting group dedicated to shrinking the narrative gap, and the author of several books including FORTUNE: How Race Broke My Family and the World and How to Repair It All and THE VERY GOOD GOSPEL: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right.
 
It would mean so much if you could leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: 
https://bit.ly/TPandRPod
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
Please support our wonderful sponsor Meza Wealth Management:
www.mezawealth.com
 
And you can find Corey on all the socials @coreysnathan such as
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan.
 
www.threads.net/@lisasharper
 
www.threads.net/@freedomroad.us
 
freedomroad.substack.com
 
waltrina.org/
 
freedomroad.us/who-we-are/dr-claudia-owens-shields-ph-d/

If you don't like nuance, you're gonna hate this episode. If you see everything through a binary, either/or partisan lens, this edition ain't for you. If you think those who don't share your political views are the enemy, just don't bother. For the rest of us...
 
This talk is about the economy. Corey recently posted about the S&P hitting a record high as a way to initiate a conversation about the domestic macro economy. And boy howdy! Some folks just didn't want to hear it. So this is a response to a number of the comments that were shared. The challenge in such threads is to practice the objective of who we are. Can we talk about this issue in a better way? Ya know, the whole "without killin' each other" part of this endeavor.
 
For reference, here are links on several key indicators of the economy:
Inflation - https://www.statista.com/statistics/1394307/monthly-inflation-vs-core-inflation-us/
Unemployment - https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-job-growth-beats-expectations-december-wages-rise-solidly-2024-01-05/
GDP growth - https://www.statista.com/statistics/188185/percent-change-from-preceding-period-in-real-gdp-in-the-us/
Stock Market (Dow, S&P, Nasdaq) - https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/historical/marketindexes.html
 
It would mean so much if you could leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: 
https://bit.ly/TPandRPod
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
Please support our wonderful sponsor Meza Wealth Management:
www.mezawealth.com
 
And you can find Corey on all the socials @coreysnathan such as
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan.

In this episode, we're joined by Will Wright and Josh Burtram of the Faithful Politics podcast. They’ve been on the show before and we have a lot of crossover listeners. Will did a great job with the show notes. So here's our "duplicative language..."
 
"...We explore the evolving role of churches in promoting diversity and inclusivity, reflecting on how religious institutions navigate today's political and social landscape. The discussion also tackles the varied perceptions of Donald Trump's faith among Republicans and Democrats, offering a nuanced view of how political allegiances can influence religious perspectives.
 
"The episode further addresses the contentious topic of Christian nationalism in the context of the upcoming 2024 election. Through a balanced and thought-provoking dialogue, the hosts analyze the interplay between faith and politics, considering how religious beliefs shape and are shaped by political ideologies...."
 
It would mean so much if you could leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: 
https://bit.ly/TPandRPod
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
Please support our wonderful sponsor Meza Wealth Management:
www.mezawealth.com
 
And you can find Corey on all the socials @coreysnathan such as
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan.
 
Definitely look up, subscribe to and support the Faithful Politics Podcast if haven't already: 
www.faithfulpoliticspodcast.com

In this conversation, we're joined by Greg Lukianoff, the President of FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. As illiberal tendencies are on the rise among extreme factions of our democracy, it was refreshing to speak with Greg whose organization is on the front lines of protecting the basic freedoms outlined in the First Amendment. We discussed:
Greg's own background and how he came to form his views on free speech;
a benchmark Supreme Court case from the late 70s when the ACLU defended Nazi's right to march in Skokie, IL;
the "bedrock principle" as well as the limitations of free speech;
contemporary issues such as whether Donald Trump was within his rights on January 6th as well as whether protesters on college campuses shouting "from the river to the sea" at Jewish students are protected under the freedom of speech;
and advice for leaders of organizations who are the targets of cancel culture mobs.
 
Greg Lukianoff is President and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, aka FIRE, and one of the country’s most passionate defenders of free expression. He is an accomplished author of several books including Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate, The Coddling of the American Mind with Jonathan Haidt and his most recent book The Canceling of the American Mind with Rikki Schlott. He has also written on free speech issues on his Substack and for such outlets as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, and was executive producer of the documentaries Can We Take a Joke? and Mighty Ira. Greg earned his undergraduate degree from American University and his law degree from Stanford.
 
It would mean so much if you could leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: 
https://bit.ly/TPandRPod
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
Please support our wonderful sponsor Meza Wealth Management:
www.mezawealth.com
 
And you can find Corey on all the socials @coreysnathan such as
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan.
 
www.thefire.org/
 
www.threads.net/@glukianoff
 
greglukianoff.substack.com/

What a highlight it was for us to have two of our favorite guests of TP&R, Pete Wehner and Jonathan Rauch, on together to give tribute to Tim Keller and Michael Gerson.
 
Tim Keller and Michael Gerson were both at the top of the list of guests we wanted to have on TP&R. Sadly we lost both gentlemen within the last year. Mike passed away last November and Tim died in May of this year. But we’re lucky to have Jonathan Rauch and Pete Wehner for this conversation because they were all friends and had a big impact on each other’s lives.
 
Timothy Keller was senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. As Sam Roberts described him in The New York Times, Tim was "...a best-selling author and theorist of Christianity who performed a modern miracle of his own — establishing a theologically orthodox church in Manhattan that attracted thousands of young professional followers..."
 
Michael Gerson was a nationally syndicated columnist writing for The Washington Post from 2007 until his death on Nov. 17, 2022. He was the author of HEROIC CONSERVATISM and co-author of CITY OF MAN: RELIGION AND POLITICS IN A NEW ERA. He appeared regularly on the “PBS NewsHour,” “Face the Nation” and other programs. Gerson served as senior adviser at One, a bipartisan organization dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. Until 2006, Gerson was a top aide to President George W. Bush as assistant to the president for policy and strategic planning. Prior to that appointment, he served in the White House as assistant to the president for speechwriting, policy adviser, deputy assistant to the president and director of presidential speechwriting.
 
Jonathan Rauch is the author of numerous books including THE CONSTITUTION OF KNOWLEDGE: A DEFENSE OF TRUTH. He’s a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing writer at The Atlantic among other publications.
 
Pete Wehner is also a contributing writer at The Atlantic as well as The New York Times, he’s a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum and the author of several books including THE DEATH OF POLITICS: HOW TO HEAL OUR FRAYED REPUBLIC AFTER TRUMP.
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
Please support our wonderful sponsor Meza Wealth Management: 
https://www.mezawealth.com/
 
And you can find Corey on all the socials @coreysnathan such as
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan.
 
www.ttf.org/about-us/senior-fellows/peterwehner/
 
www.jonathanrauch.com/
 
www.democracygroup.org/shows/talkin-politics-religion

"Bringing people together to learn how to do democracy again. And we're gonna go after the crazies in the political environment that do not have the interest of the country at heart." - Adam Kinzinger
 
Congressman Adam Kinzinger served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2023, representing Illinois’ 16th Congressional District. During his tenure, he served on the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, as well as the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Rep. Kinzinger is the founder of Country First, an organization that works to activate the MUTED Majority to reject division and seek proven solutions to the challenges not being addressed by our leaders. He is also the author of RENEGADE: DEFENDING DEMOCRACY AND LIBERTY IN OUR DIVIDED COUNTRY. Prior to being elected to Congress, he served in the Air Force in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air National Guard and a Senior Political Commentator on CNN.
 
Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
 
Please support our wonderful sponsor Meza Wealth Management: 
https://www.mezawealth.com/
 
And you can find Corey on all the socials @coreysnathan such as
www.threads.net/@coreysnathan.
 
adamkinzinger.substack.com
 
www.country1st.com
 
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/723495/renegade-by-adam-kinzinger-with-michael-dantonio/