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 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 10/14/26 Clifford Cook 10/14/26

What Ross Douthat Gets Right And Wrong About Consciousness

Even though consciousness is not a physical object, and is not fully understood, all the existing evidence points strongly toward consciousness as an emergent property of the physical bodies of human beings. No soul is involved.

Clifford Cook 10/13/26 Clifford Cook 10/13/26

Quantum Physics Is Not Jesus Magic, Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat cites two physicists, in particular, Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg as he makes a wild claim about quantum physics and religion, but Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr both explicitly and publicly refuted the misinterpretation that Ross Douthat makes.

Clifford Cook 10/9/26 Clifford Cook 10/9/26

The Chaos of God Does Not Support Science, Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat argues that the Christian universe is full of magical monsters and spells but then says that Christianity is about an ordered universe. Douthat can't have it both ways.

Clifford Cook 10/8/26 Clifford Cook 10/8/26

Belief In Fairies Is Not Rational, Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat said he would find a rational path toward believing in religion, but now he's telling us that demons and witchcraft and fairies and genies are real. WTF Ross Douthat?!?

Clifford Cook 10/7/26 Clifford Cook 10/7/26

Animals Are Not Machines, Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat says that it’s common sense to look at animals as if they are machines that are produced in a workshop by a supernatural spirit. No one has ever seen such a thing taking place.

Clifford Cook 10/5/26 Clifford Cook 10/5/26

You Can’t Blame Atheists For A Christian Disaster, Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat claims that loss of Christianity has ruined American society even as the USA remains majority Christian and the American government is exclusively controlled by Christian Nationalists.

Clifford Cook 10/4/26 Clifford Cook 10/4/26

Nonbelief Is Bigger Than Regret and Christianity, Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat demonstrates his inability to grasp the vast conceptual space of atheism in comparison to the narrow scope of religion and Christianity in particular.

Clifford Cook 10/2/26 Clifford Cook 10/2/26

Who Is Ignorant Of Religion, Ross Douthat?

On page 1 of his introduction to his book Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, Ross Douthat pretends that non-religious people are woefully ignorant about religion. The fact, however, is that on average, atheists know more about Christianity than Christians do, and much much more about religion in general than Christians do.

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.

Clifford Cook 9/29/26 Clifford Cook 9/29/26

Can Reason Ever Begin In Fear?

Ross Douthat, in the book Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, claims that he will make a rational argument, but even in the acknowledgements, he tells his readers that they should BEGIN by being afraid of the Christian god, motivated by religion first, not by reason.

Clifford Cook 9/28/26 Clifford Cook 9/28/26

Should You Believe Ross Douthat?

Ross Douthat says that Everyone Should Be Religious, but not everyone believes, Ross Douthat. This podcast examines Douthat’s dubious book line by line.