Welcome back!
Today, I’m thrilled to share highlights from my recent podcast with New York Times columnist and friend, David French.
We covered a lot of ground — faith, politics, military scandals, and the alarming erosion of due process.
So pour something strong and buckle up.
Fear the World vs. Love Your Neighbor: A Tale of Two Churches
David opened with a distinction from one of his recent columns that feels less like analysis and more like a Rorschach test for the American church: Are you part of a “Fear the World” church or a “Love Your Neighbor” church?
In case the names didn’t give it away, the former is the spiritual equivalent of shouting at clouds — paranoid, perpetually aggrieved, and nursing a persecution complex the size of Mar-a-Lago.
The latter still clings to the quaint idea that maybe Jesus wasn’t joking about that whole “love” thing.
The “Fear” crowd has embraced Trumpian grievance politics like a new sacrament, framing every disagreement as a holy war and every election loss as divine injustice.
Meanwhile, the “Love” crowd — bless them — is out there trying to feed the poor while dodging rhetorical shivs from their fellow believers.
This dichotomy isn’t just relegated to the religious divide.
I cut my teeth on Rush Limbaugh back when he was more morning zoo than doom prophet. But, as David noted, somewhere along the way, the laughs curdled into laments, and sunny Reaganism gave way to apocalyptic fatalism.
We didn’t just lose the plot — we burned the script and called it persecution.
Pope Francis’ Legacy: A Contrast
We also discussed the passing of Pope Francis, a figure David described as the epitome of pastoral care.
His focus on the vulnerable stood in stark contrast to the combative “political Christianity” gripping parts of American Christendom. Francis’ example — washing the feet of the marginalized — clashes with the transactional, power-hungry ethos of Trumpism.
David pointed to a particularly jarring example: Trump’s spiritual advisor, Paula White, offering “blessings” and a Waterford crystal cross for a $1,000 donation.
This version of the prosperity gospel, promising health, wealth, and smiting enemies — for a price! — feels like a betrayal of the Christianity I knew growing up.
Pete Hegseth’s Scandals: A Military and Moral Failure
Then we got into the Pete Hegseth mess. The man allegedly used Signal to share classified info with a personal fan club of wife, brother, and lawyer. None of them had a need to know, unless marital privilege has been retroactively granted Top Secret status.
Any junior officer would already be sweating through a court-martial. But Pete? He shrugs, deflects, and goes full “media witch hunt.” The military code is clear.
Unfortunately, so is the new rulebook: If you’re loyal to the right people, consequences are optional.
The Abrego Garcia Case: A Dark Moment for Due Process
The case of Abrego Garcia is less a legal scandal and more a moral autopsy. He was deported to a Salvadoran prison despite a court order to keep him here.
Even after admitting their mistake, the administration refused to fix it — effectively telling the judiciary to go pound sand.
And here’s the kicker: Whether Garcia was a saint or a sinner is legally irrelevant.
The system was supposed to treat him as a human being, not a prop in a midterm campaign ad.
Instead, we get Kristi Noem posing with captured migrants like she’s big-game hunting for votes, and people clapping along as if “due process” is some elitist hobby.
David also pointed out that unlawful entry is a misdemeanor, yet some face life in prisons that would violate the Eighth Amendment here.
The invocation of the Alien Enemies Act — last used during existential threats like World War II — for a Venezuelan drug gang is absurd and legally dubious.
Even Guantanamo detainees received more due process.
Political Violence and Fear in the Senate
Finally, we addressed the growing normalization of political violence. Senator Lisa Murkowski’s admission that she and others fear retaliation from Trump and his supporters is chilling.
David recalled post-January 6th accounts of GOP lawmakers voting against election certification out of fear for their families’ safety.
This intimidation extends to school board members, election workers, and judges — who, unlike senators, are standing firm despite threats like late-night pizza deliveries signaling “we know where you live.”
This isn’t constitutional conservatism. It’s the French Revolution with worse branding.
Final Thoughts: Where Do We Go From Here?
Talking with David left me with the uneasy sense that we’re watching the scaffolding of American democracy get slowly dismantled — faith, justice, and truth all being chipped away by a thousand rationalizations.
But David — being maddeningly hopeful — insists that we still have a choice: keep chasing fear, or rediscover the neighbor-loving, mercy-offering, radically inconvenient Jesus of the Gospels.
Let me know what you think. Are we salvageable, or just rearranging pews on the Titanic?
I’m rooting for David to be right.
Either way, drop a comment, check out the full podcast, and if you want to help keep this occasionally hopeful newsletter alive, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Until next time!
— Matt
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