Republicans and Evangelicals | A Brief History of Libertarianism (featuring Andrew Koppelman)

Republicans and Evangelicals | A Brief History of Libertarianism (featuring Andrew Koppelman)

Author: Chris Staron January 7, 2025 Duration: 1:02:11
Give to help Chris continue Truce Modern evangelicalism sometimes incorporates pieces of different ideas. Things that are in the air. Social messages. Political stances. But has evangelicalism been enchanted by libertarianism? In this episode, we cover a brief history of libertarianism. What is it and who are some of the main thinkers? We discuss Murry Rothbard, Ayn Rand, Friedrich Hayek, and Robert Nozick. What is a libertarian? Matt Zwolinski and John Tomasi define libertarianism by six characteristics. Libertarians are defined by a love of private property, they are skeptical of authority, and they like free markets, spontaneous order, individualism, and negative liberty. We will define each of these throughout the episode. Our special guest for this episode is Andrew Koppelman, law professor at Northwestern University. He's the author of the book Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed. Sources Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed. by Andrew Koppelman The Individualists by Matt Zwolinski and John Tomasi The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek Matthew 25 The Road to Serfdom cartoon version The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro (for the Dust Bowl section in book 2) 99% Invisible episode The Infernal Machine for information on anarchists Teddy Roosevelt's first address to Congress Dark Money by Jane Mayer EPA.gov article about The Clean Air Act NPR story about law enforcement throwing protestors in unmarked vans Listen America! by Jerry Falwell Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (I could only stomach maybe 1/4 of it. I promised myself if she wrote "Rearden Steel" one more time that I would stop reading. She did. So I did.) Discussion Questions What is libertarianism? How have you seen libertarianism crossing over into evangelicalism? Does libertarianism counter the story from Matthew 25? What is the impact of Ayn Rand? Have you read her books? Why did Atlas Shrugged suddenly become the "it" book among Republicans in 2020? Is there any place for selfishness in the Christian walk? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Chris Staron, Truce-History of the Christian Church is a deep, journalistic look into the forces that have shaped American evangelicalism. This isn't a simple timeline of events; it's an investigation into the surprising intersections of faith, culture, and power. Staron digs into movements from fundamentalism's roots to modern political campaigns, and even examines connections to phenomena like pyramid schemes, revealing a complex history many listeners may never have encountered. Each episode is built on thorough research and thoughtful interviews, aiming to understand not just how the church arrived at its current moment, but how that story might inform a better path forward. The current season focuses specifically on the rise of the Religious Right, meticulously tracing the evolving alliance between evangelicals and the Republican Party. To tell this story, the podcast features conversations with notable guests like historians Rick Perlstein and Frances Fitzgerald, or journalist Jesse Eisinger, who bring their expertise to this nuanced narrative. Listening to this podcast feels like joining a rigorous yet accessible conversation, one that respects the subject's gravity while pursuing clarity and truth. For anyone curious about the real stories behind today's headlines concerning faith and society, this series offers essential context.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Truce - History of the Christian Church
Podcast Episodes
Season 6 Update [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:10
Season 5 of the Truce Podcast was a blast! I'm hard at work on season 6, which will discuss how American evangelicals got tied to the Republican Party. It is already coming together so well! I can't wait to share it with…
Takeaway #5 - The Only Thing We Have to Fear [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:45
Give to support the Truce Podcast On March 4, 1933, FDR delivered his inaugural address. In it, he used the phrase "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". I did a little searching and this phrase is used a LOT i…
Takeaway #4 - We Are A People of the Means [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:14
Love Truce? Give a little to help support the show! "The ends justify the means" is a phrase we hear occasionally. Often it is used to justify bad behavior, so long as it creates a profitable outcome. But we Christians k…
Takeaway #3 - The Great Divorce [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:43
Give a little to help Chris continue to make Truce! In 1945, C.S. Lewis published his excellent book "The Great Divorce". It happens to be one of my favorite books. It has many themes, the biggest of which is that there…
Takeaway #2 - Extremes Lead to Extremes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:39
In the fall of 1814, the powers of Europe gathered together to discuss what to do with the continent after the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon had changed a lot in his time in power! He cowed the Roman Catholic Church, ended s…
Takeaway #1 - How Should We Deal With Heretics? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:58
Donate to help Chris make Truce! The first-century Christian Church had a lot going on. Their Savior died and was resurrected, sending the Holy Spirit and leaving them with the command to take this new message to all tri…
Inherit the Wind | Christian Fundamentalism Series [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:01
US Senator Joseph McCarthy unleashed an era of suspicion on the American people as he went looking for communists. His trials, both public and behind closed doors, focused on the government as well as Hollywood and the A…
The Scopes "Monkey" Trial Part Two | Christian Fundamentalism Series [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:24
Love Truce?? Donate to keep the show going! The trial was basically over. The prosecution won. John Scopes was moments away from being convicted of teaching evolution in Dayton, Tennessee. The ACLU and the prosecution ha…
The Scopes "Monkey" Trial Part One | Christian Fundamentalism Series [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:38
Give to help Chris do Truce full time! Tennessee was the first state in the United States to crack down hard on the teaching of evolution in public schools. Others had dabbled, but Tennessee went all the way. The ACLU wa…
Are All Christians Anti-Evolution? | Christian Fundamentalism Series [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:12
Give to help Truce! Donate here. In the 1600s, an Irish Archbishop named James Ussher did a bunch of math. The Bible is full of numbers and genealogies. He sat down and calculated that, in his opinion, the Bible dated cr…