Contacts
Info
Please join us at The Open Door! We discuss everything from art to politics, from foreign policy to technology - all in light of the Church's doctrine and intellectual tradition....
show more
Please join us at The Open Door!
We discuss everything from art to politics, from foreign policy to technology - all in light of the Church's doctrine and intellectual tradition. The Open Door aims to be an intellectual and spiritual feast for Catholics and others who are looking for thoughtful discussion about our world and all of reality.
show less
We discuss everything from art to politics, from foreign policy to technology - all in light of the Church's doctrine and intellectual tradition. The Open Door aims to be an intellectual and spiritual feast for Catholics and others who are looking for thoughtful discussion about our world and all of reality.
Episodes & Posts
Episodes
Posts
Transcribed
4 JUN 2025 · In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Thomas Storck, Christopher Zehnder, and Andrew Sorokowski interview Carlo Lancellotti, author of Touchstone article entitled "America vs. Europe: Two Roads to Totalitarianism" (June 4, 2025)
Questions asked:
1. In your article you argue that although Europe was ahead of the US in terms of "overt" secularization, American "cultural de-Christianization" actually preceded Europe's. Could you explain for our listeners and viewers what you mean by these two types of secularization?
2. If this understanding is correct, does it argue a rather superficial view on the part of American Christians as to what it means to have a Christianized society or nation? That Americans have long regarded themselves as religious merely on the basis of certain limited areas of external behavior while our intellectual and cultural life has been dominated by "a scientistic, utilitarian, individualistic, and materialistic worldview"?
3. It is a commonplace that American society has been individualistic. Would you say that this is both a cause and a result of the fact that Americans have a very weak concept of culture and the effect of culture on individual persons, and that hence we have viewed religion as simply a private affair? And if that related to the variety of religious groups in the U.S. and its generally Protestant cultural tone?
4. You refer to a discussion in the 1990s between Fr. Richard John Neuhaus and David L. Schindler, in which the former called for a revival of a "Puritan-Lockean synthesis" in the US, while the latter argued that the American "dualism" of faith versus reason had led to a separation of religion from knowledge, and thus to secularization. Would you say that Schindler's view has been vindicated by events since the 1990s?
5. You cite the Italian philosopher Augusto Del Noce regarding scientism and "politicism," and the relation between secularism and totalitarianism. Could you comment on Del Noce's views on these topics and generally on his importance for understanding modernity?
6. When thinking about "politicism," do we need to distinguish between modern and classical understandings of what we mean by the political? For example, you wrote "I believe we must call totalitarian any worldview that affirms the supremacy of politics above all aspects of social life and absorbs into politics all other forms of culture, like education, science, religion, art, and so on." Now in his Ethics (Bk. I, 2) Aristotle wrote, "If, then, there is some end of the things we do, which we desire for its own sake...clearly this must be the good and the chief good.... It would seem to belong to the most authoritative art and that which is most truly the master art. And politics appears to be of this nature; for it is this that ordains which of the sciences should be studied in a state, and which each class of citizens should learn and up to what point they should learn them; and we see even the most highly esteemed of capacities to fall under this, e.g. strategy, economics, rhetoric..." So are moderns and Aristotle speaking about the same thing? Or is there a hidden totalitarianism in Aristotle?
7. You end on a somewhat positive note, arguing that secular modernity is destroying the very institutions upon which is depends, and yet is unable to preserve, and that Christians can feel this void by "showing them in concrete ways (in education, at work, in the family, even in politics) that faith not only connects us with God, but also makes us able to address more intelligently the human needs we have in common with everybody." As far as you can see, have we begun to do anything effective along these lines? Do you have any specific ideas of how we might implement such a proposal?
Transcribed
14 MAY 2025 · In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Thomas Storck, Andrew Sorokowski, and Christopher Zehnder discuss religion in the United States. (May 14, 2025)
Transcribed
4 APR 2025 · In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Thomas Storck, Andrew Sorokowski, and Christopher Zehnder interview Christopher Reilly on his book AI and Sin: How Today’s Technology Motivates Evil. (April 2, 2025)
Artificial intelligence technology (AI) motivates persons’ engagement in sin. With this startling argument drawn from Catholic theology and technological insight, Christopher M. Reilly, Th.D. takes on both critics and proponents of AI who see it as essentially a neutral tool that can be used with good or bad intentions. More specifically, Reilly demonstrates that AI strongly encourages the vice of instrumental rationality, which in turn leads the developers, producers, and users of AI and its machines toward acedia, one of the “seven deadly sins.” The third section of the book offers a comprehensive survey and analysis of the many moral problems caused by AI. It concludes with recommendations for overcoming the 21st century scourge of AI-induced acedia.
https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/aiandsin/
Transcribed
13 MAR 2025 · In this episode of The Open Door, Thomas Storck, Christopher Zehnder, and Andrew Sorokowski Discuss Politics (March 12, 2025)
Transcribed
20 FEB 2025 · In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Thomas Storck, Andrew Sorokowski, and Christopher Zehnder interview Hyrum Lewis on the Left/Right Binary.
- Can you explain the thesis of your book? Why do you speak of the Left and Right as being a myth?
- How did you come to see through the Left/Right binary?
- Given some of the obvious counter-examples to the prevailing narrative, why is it so established and powerful? Intellectual laziness? Vested interests? cf. p. 64ff.
- Is part of the problem the fact that political scientists, by and large, do not see themselves as concerned with ideas as such, but with political behavior and data as raw material for scientific analysis, much like chemists studying the reactions of chemical elements?
- Are you familiar with the Nolan chart? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Chart Do you see that as much of an improvement?
- If we are to make use of any kind of political typologies, how do we deal with the fact that people can hold similar or identical views on the same issue but for very different reasons? Cf. pp. 63, 88ff.
- Does it make sense, in your opinion, to speak more in terms of broad philosophic-political movements and perhaps with those movements we could speak of left or right? E.g., socialism, fascism, classical liberalism, etc.
As American politics descends into a battle of anger and hostility between two groups called "left" and "right," people increasingly ask: What is the essential difference between these two ideological groups? In The Myth of Left and Right, Hyrum Lewis and Verlan Lewis provide the surprising answer: nothing. As the authors argue, there is no enduring philosophy, disposition, or essence uniting the various positions associated with the liberal and conservative ideologies of today. Far from being an eternal dividing line of American politics, the political spectrum came to the United States in the 1920s and, since then, left and right have evolved in so many unpredictable and even contradictory ways that there is currently nothing other than tribal loyalty holding together the many disparate positions that fly under the banners of "liberal" and "conservative." Powerfully argued and cutting against the grain of most scholarship on polarization in America, this book shows why the idea that the political spectrum measures deeply held worldviews is the central political myth of our time and a major cause of the confusion and vitriol that characterize public discourse.
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Left-Right-Verlan-Lewis/dp/0197680623
Transcribed
5 FEB 2025 · In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Thomas Storck, Andrew Sorokowski, and Christopher Zehnder speak with Gideon Lazar, the Coordinator of the St. Basil Institute.
They ask the following questions:
- You are the coordinator of the St Basil Institute which your website describes as "A think tank dedicated to the renewal of theological discourse on the doctrine of creation within the Catholic Church." Could you comment on both what you mean by the theology of creation and why it is important? https://stbasilinstitute.org
- You speak of your effort "to revive the Catholic Church’s perennial teachings on creation." How and why have these teachings been obscured?
- The entire thrust of modern Western culture seems to be concentrated on what man can manufacture and not on what God has provided through his work of creation. Lately this seems to be reaching its logical end with transhumanism, the rapid development of AI, and the erosion of the two natural human sexes via technology. What are the trends in Western culture that have fostered this kind of thinking? What hope do we have of resisting these things?
- The trajectory over at least the last century has seen the abandonment of rural life and small farms. In many places the countryside has become simply an abode for factory farms with as few workers as possible. Obviously that has implications for rural parishes, schools, businesses, etc. Has the neglect of the Church's teaching on creation contributed to this situation?
- What are the practical implications of creation theology for topics such as organic farming, food quality, natural medicine, and care of the environment in general?
- When speaking of the theology of creation, at least in the U.S. one immediately thinks of debates about creationism and evolution. Does your theological work have any reference to those debates?
- What projects or activities are you planning and how can interested viewers take part in these?
Transcribed
9 JAN 2025 · In this episode of The Open Door, Thomas Storck and Christopher Zehnder interview Vicente Hargous, attorney, Professor of Constitutional Law in the Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago, Chile, and editor of the online review, Suroeste. https://revistasuroeste.cl/
1. On your website you write regarding Hispanic America that, "It is not difficult to find our land on maps, where we are, but to understand what we are and what we are called to be in the history of the world is not so easy."
In a 2002 article, two Chilean professors, a philosopher and an anthropologist, set forth four possible cultural self-identities which have been advanced by Latin Americans: the indigenist, the hispanic, an identification with the Western world in general and the thesis of "mestizage cultural" or a fusion of indigenist with Spanish or Western identities. Could you comment on any of these points?
2. You also speak on your website of the various ideas and trends which are affecting the entire world, but especially the West. You mention among others environmentalism, feminism, indigenism, esoteric currents.
Given that both Europe and North America are affected by these ideas, do they affect Latin America in any particular ways?
3. In North America we read much about the inroads of Protestantism in South and Central America and Mexico. Is this another example of North American cultural imperialism or does it speak to any weaknesses of the Catholic Church, either historical or contemporary? Does the Catholic Church play a role today in setting the cultural agenda in Hispanic America?
4. How has Hispanic American culture changed in the last 50 years? Culturally speaking, can it defend itself against trends originating in North America or Europe?
5. Your review, Suroeste, is connected with the organization Comunidad y Justicia, which works to promote human rights in Chile. What is the connection between the review and the organization? How does your Catholic commitment inspire both? https://comunidadyjusticia.cl/
6. As a continent originally nearly entirely Catholic, is there any realistic hope of restoring the Church's cultural and religious role?
7. How does the overwhelming influence, political and economic, of the United States affect the cultural situation of Latin America?
Transcribed
11 DEC 2024 · In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Thomas Storck, Andrew Sorokowski, and Christopher Zehnder interview Christopher Villiers on his book Versing the Mystery: Poems (December 11, 2024)
This collection of poems verses the mystery of God and Creation. Exploring the stories and characters of Scripture, Classical history and myth, the reader confronts the glory of God and is plunged into the depths of the human condition. This work deals with the sacred and the profane, the sublime and the ridiculous. Twenty-first century readers are confronted by their own needs and greeds reflected in the foundations of western civilisation. There are also more directly personal poems, of love, hate, success and failure, rooted in the life of a rhyming sinner inhabiting an English village near the sea. And if none of that appeals to you, then at least there are also owls campaigning for political office.
https://aroucapress.com/versing-the-mystery
Transcribed
20 NOV 2024 · In this episode of The Open Door, panelists Thomas Storck and Andrew Sorokowski interview JonMarc Grodi of the Coming Home Network.
Some of the questions asked include the following:
- What is the Coming Home Network and how did it begin?
- How successful has it been? Do you have statistics on home many non-Catholics you've helped bring into the Church?
- What are the chief obstacles in your experience that prevent Protestants, and perhaps especially Protestant ministers, from considering the claims of the Church?
- Have these obstacles changed in any important way during the existence of the CHN?
- Most Protestant clergy have some theological or biblical formation that can be helpful in pointing them toward the Catholic Church? But what about Protestant laymen? How can they be reached best if they've never even thought about these matters, e.g., about where we get the Bible or why it is authoritative?
- What is the best way for Catholics to engage their friends and neighbors who belong to other Christian bodies with the claims of the Catholic Church?
- Given that many in the Catholic Church no longer promote evangelization and conversion of non-Catholic Christians, has the CHN run into criticism from Catholics regarding your apostolate?
Transcribed
31 OCT 2024 · In this episode, the panelists of The Open Door talk with Matthew Tsakanikas on Christian Zionism and its Theological Distortions (October 30, 2024)
1. What is Zionism, and what specifically, is religious or Christian Zionism?
2. Why is it a theological error? How does it misread the Bible, particularly passages such as Romans 11:29?
3. What are its origins?
4. Does it have much presence outside the U.S.? If not, why do you think so?5. What effects has it had on American politics, especially American foreign policy?
6. Can one make a sharp distinction between political and religious Zionism, at least with regard to their geographical claims? For example, with regard to an assertion of the right of Jews to move to Palestine and, at least to some extent, the displacement of the Arab inhabitants in the early part of the 20th century, did not the two forms of Zionism pretty much operate in the same way?
7. What is the correct way for Catholics to think about the Church and the Jewish people and is there any role they may still play in salvation history?
Please join us at The Open Door! We discuss everything from art to politics, from foreign policy to technology - all in light of the Church's doctrine and intellectual tradition....
show more
Please join us at The Open Door!
We discuss everything from art to politics, from foreign policy to technology - all in light of the Church's doctrine and intellectual tradition. The Open Door aims to be an intellectual and spiritual feast for Catholics and others who are looking for thoughtful discussion about our world and all of reality.
show less
We discuss everything from art to politics, from foreign policy to technology - all in light of the Church's doctrine and intellectual tradition. The Open Door aims to be an intellectual and spiritual feast for Catholics and others who are looking for thoughtful discussion about our world and all of reality.
Information
| Author | WCAT Radio |
| Organization | WCAT Radio |
| Categories | Religion & Spirituality |
| Website | - |
| - |
Copyright 2025 - Spreaker Inc. an iHeartMedia Company
