Can Christianity save democracy? Vince Vitale hosts a frank, generous exchange between social critic Os Guinness and author Jonathan Rauch about faith’s civic foundations, liberalism, and power. This is one we’ve been looking forward to! Rauch, a scientific materialist, argues that democracy needs Christianity’s deepest teachings; Guinness locates America’s virtues in the Hebrew–Christian tradition.
Don’t miss the most moving moment: around the hour mark, Guinness turns to Rauch and apologises without caveat for the ways Christians have treated gay people like him. Rauch receives it with grace, and the room changes. It’s a rare, exemplary act of repentance that models the public virtue both men commend.
Is religion necessary for public virtue? What happens when politics replaces moral conviction? And how can Christians engage civically without being captured by partisan extremes? From the founding ideals of democracy to the spiritual crises of modern secularism, this discussion asks whether Christianity’s values of conscience, humility, and truth are exactly what our societies need most.

For Jonathan Rauch
Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jonrauch.bsky.social

Jonathan Rauch's Books
NEW Cross Purposes: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300273540/cross-purposes/
and here: https://amzn.to/47laSQC

For Os Guinness:
https://osguinness.com/

Os Guinness' Books:
Guinness' America Agonistes: https://amzn.to/4hmnzzj
Our Civilizational Moment: https://amzn.to/4qlqHPV


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Released on 23 Oct 2025