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 11/13/26 Clifford Cook 11/13/26

Ross Douthat Could Show You Proof You Should Be Christian, But He Doesn’t Want To

In chapter 8 of his book Believe, Ross Douthat refuses to provide evidence that being a Christian is reasonable, even though providing that evidence is the premise of the entire book.

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 11/4/26 Clifford Cook 11/4/26

Ross Douthat Worships A God Of Cruelty

In the latest chapter of his book, Ross Douthat twists and turns to justify suffering as a good thing, because it comes from his god. He runs away from a confrontation with the brutal cruelty of the Christian deity, making excuses without any moral clarity.

Clifford Cook 11/2/26 Clifford Cook 11/2/26

The Flawed Logic In Ross Douthat’s Arguments For Christianity

Ross Douthat promised to provide readers with a reasonable, logical argument in favor of religious belief, but his writing frequently blunders into profound failures of simple logic.

Clifford Cook 10/22/26 Clifford Cook 10/22/26

A Summary Of Ross Douthat’s Failed Arguments For Religion

At the beginning chapter 4 of Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, an overconfident Ross Douthat boasts that religion is the obvious choice because he has articulated multiple rational arguments in favor of religious belief. This chapter is meant to be Douthat’s victory lap, a preparation for his argument in favor of Christianity. Actually, it’s where his book falls apart into complete disaster.

Clifford Cook 10/18/26 Clifford Cook 10/18/26

Repaired Radios That Play Music Are Not Proof Of God, Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat and Michael Shermer alike are completely unable to provide any reason to believe that dead people can turn on radios to communicate with living people. Douthat once again cannot justify his belief in religion.

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.