Chat for God

We discuss Nietzsche's diagnosis of Christianity in the Genealogy of Morals.

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Subscribe and leave a review at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chat-for-god/id1519069307

If you're enjoying the show, leave a review on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chat-for-god/id1519069307 We talk about power, history, and the Christian work ethic.

Subscribe and leave a review at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chat-for-god/id1519069307

We discuss Joel Osteen's evangelical megachurch, sex before marriage, and whether it's cool to have a Pope. 👑 Video here: https://youtu.be/TN0c5nNIm68 👑 Please leave a review on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chat-for-god/id1519069307

Maran Nelson is a founder and investor who had a conservative Christian upbringing and now wants to figure out where she stands. When I said I was looking for a new co-host, she said she wanted to try, and I thought she might be great for the role—so here we go! Let us know what you think.

➡️ Subscribe to my main podcast: Other Life (otherlife.co) ➡️ Listen to the Other Life episode on Kierkegaard: Do Not Despair

Marriage is an utterly insane mechanism. You’re right to think, “I’m not sure, what if it doesn’t work out, I lose so many options, etc.” It’s a crazy, impossible-to-guarantee decision with huge downsides. But if you do it right, the upside arguably approaches infinity. People postpone marriage for the same reason they're becoming less religious: we've lost the capacity for faith. ➡️ Read the whole thread at twitter.com/jmrphy ➡️ Submit a question for the podcast at otherlife.co/contact

I’m increasingly convinced that Christianity remains simply misunderstood by almost everybody, including so many Christians. The crux of the matter is best summarized as follows. God does not exist. That is why one prays. So for today’s talk I would like to explain this idea and walk through some of the most compelling thinkers who have said things to this effect. "When God has become as full of significance as the treasure is for the miser, we have to tell ourselves insistently that he does not exist. We must experience the fact that we love him, even if he does not exist." — Simone Weil "It is he who, through the operation of the dark night, withdraws himself in order not to be loved like the treasure is by the miser." — Simone Weil "A method of purification: to pray to God, not only in secret as far as men are concerned, but with the thought that God does not exist." — Simone Weil "If we love God while thinking that he does not exist, he will manifest his existence." — Simone Weil "Ein Gott, denn is gibt, gibt es nicht" (A God that exists, does not exist) — Meister Eckhart "Ipsum esse subsistens" (God is the act of 'to be', subsistence rather than existence) — Thomas Aquinas

T.S. Eliot called her “a kind of genius akin to that of the saints." Simone Weil developed a unique theory of Christianity based on law-like regularities in human experience. This podcast introduces her book Gravity and Grace. "Creation is composed of the descending movement of gravity, the ascending movement of grace and the descending movement of the second degree of grace." ➡️ Gravity and Grace by Simone Weil

William James (1842-1910) was a Christian intellectual who smashed the Darwinian galaxy brains with facts and logic. He showed that Science ultimately rests on Faith and genuine Christian faith is more rational than atheist Science worship. ➡️ The Will to Believe by William James ➡️ Contact me or submit questions you want me to answer on the podcast at otherlife.co/contact.

My wife and I started trying to have a baby. I don’t really feel ready financially but you can’t wait forever. I just feel like producing more life is almost always a good thing to do, but that’s quite vague to say that, so I wanted to talk about this idea. We tried to get pregnant once before, which succeeded, until it didn’t. The problem is that, today, having children is not really rational. You can want the joy of family, but if you’re optimizing for your own happiness kids will probably not be the winning decision. Of course it’s never been a rational thing, it’s an evolved reality, we’re only here because we have drives that lead to reproduction. It’s historically worked through mysteries we didn’t understand, and our ignorance helped it happen. For me, there’s intrinsic value to extending the game of human life as far and wide as possible. I have faith that life is intrinsically good. For the same reason I think it’s wrong to commit suicide, no matter how bad things are, it is also good to stay alive and it is good to produce more life. By the way, listen to Kanye West talk about abortion. I just believe that new life is always a blessing. My grandmother told me this once, at time when someone in my family was having a child (not very expectedly, let’s just say). I’m not sure if her words affected me and stuck with me, or if we both believe this due to shared genetics, or if we both believe this because of shared Catholic conditioning, but regardless—many years later, as an adult, I really do believe and feel this idea, now in my own words.

Today, I want to talk about the insane ubiquity of adultery in Hollywood and Netflix and all mainstream culture. Even where it’s not featured, it’s almost always included somewhere in passing. Why? One reason is that nobody believes in genuine wholesome love anymore. Another reason is that marriage and relationships are hard. And self-discipline and ethical cultivation are hard. Many people are constantly struggling with sinful and lustful thoughts, so movies capitalize on this. People find it exhilarating to live this stuff vicariously, and it’s easier to sell sin than to sell compelling stories about defeating sin, or painful stories about the destructive consequences of sin. Another possible reason is that film executives are often adulterers and divorcees. So normalizing this stuff is a way of alleviating their own guilt and making more people mess up their own lives in a similar fashion. So the media producers feel less ashamed. What do you think? Write me, tweet at me, or otherwise let me know! I need people and ideas to respond to now that it’s just me. ;-)