Not Everyone Believes, Ross Douthat

This podcast examines, page by page, the ideas proposed by Christian writer Ross Douthat in his book Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious.

In his book, Ross Douthat claims that religious belief in general, and Christian belief specifically, is the rational choice. Do his arguments hold up to scrutiny?

Why make this podcast? Well, not everyone believes. We want to know why Ross Douthat thinks that’s so terrible, and why he’s using his power as a member of the media elite to try to get everybody in America to believe the same thing.

Clifford Cook 11/12/26 Clifford Cook 11/12/26

Ross Douthat Admits He Loves Catholicism For Its Abusive Power

Ross Douthat urges his readers to conform to authority, and not think too hard about religion. Then he explains that the abuses of his Christian church are don't matter because the church is so beautifully powerful.

Clifford Cook 11/11/26 Clifford Cook 11/11/26

Why Should We Let Ross Douthat’s Church Control Our Sex Lives?

Ross Douthat ends chapter 6 of his book Believe by presuming that allowing celibate priests to control the details of people’s sex lives is a normal thing that people should have no trouble agreeing to. How does Douthat not see how weird that is? Ross Douthat ends chapter 6 of his book Believe by presuming that allowing celibate priests to control the details of people’s sex lives is a normal thing that people should have no trouble agreeing to. How does Douthat not see how weird that is? Does he think we don't remember how the Catholic Church helped its priests to sexually abuse little children?

Clifford Cook 11/10/26 Clifford Cook 11/10/26

Fascism And Christianity Are Intertwined, Ross Douthat

In Chapter 6 of Believe, Ross Douthat argues that Christianity is morally great, because Communism and Fascist Nationalism were awful. That's an illogical argument, but it also ignores the fact that Fascist Nationalism was and is to this day a Christian political ideology.

Clifford Cook 10/28/26 Clifford Cook 10/28/26

Why Not Believe God Is Bad And Demons Are Good, Ross Douthat?

Ross Douthat is drowning in irrationality. He expects readers to accept on faith that God is good, even though the Bible shows God being evil over and over again. God is wicked, so why should we believe that demons are all that bad?

Clifford Cook 10/26/26 Clifford Cook 10/26/26

Why Join A Christian Church If You’re Not Hot For It, Ross Douthat?

Ross Douthat says that God will torture us for being only lukewarm about religion, but then he says that we shouldn't worry about the Catholic Church, because a lot of Catholics don't even believe what the church says, and that's cool. Which is it?

Clifford Cook 10/23/26 Clifford Cook 10/23/26

Violent Demands To Close Our Minds Are Not Rational, Ross Douthat

In chapter 4, Douthat is now making unsubstantiated claims that people should be tortured if they don’t close their minds and fully commit to believing the right religion. Douthat also cites a chapter in the violent Book of Revelation that was used by Nazis to justify the genocide against Jews under the Third Reich.

Clifford Cook 10/21/26 Clifford Cook 10/21/26

Ross Douthat Won't Face Facts Of Faith Healing And Near Death Experiences

In chapter 3 of his book Believe, Ross Douthat completely ignores the deadly consequences of faith healing, and doesn't bring up studies that find that only a tiny minority of people bring up even the most banal reports of lights or sounds in near death experiences in non-biased research.

Clifford Cook 10/16/26 Clifford Cook 10/16/26

The Foreskin Of Jesus Isn’t Magic, Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat's church has preached about miracles performed by the head of St. John the Baptist, and the foreskin of Jesus, which is miraculously supposed to be held as a holy relic by 31 different Christian churches.

Clifford Cook 10/6/26 Clifford Cook 10/6/26

Catholic Fascism Is Not An Obligation, Ross Douthat

In his book Believe, Ross Douthat insists that his trad Catholic religion is an obligation for everybody on Earth. That's not a moderate position.

Clifford Cook 9/30/26 Clifford Cook 9/30/26

A Poet Who Destroyed Art And Split His Family, Ross Douthat?

Why does Ross Douthat begin a book that’s supposed to be about the rationality of religion with a bizarre Catholic poem about how the Christian god is a smudge of pure crude oil? Ross Douthat is so deep in his religious faith he doesn’t see how weird that is.