Polarization: America’s Real Religious Divide

Ross Douthat explores our country’s deepening religious divides between believers of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in America in “One Country, Three Faiths: America’s Real Religious Divide,”  with host Dr. Paul Carrese and guest Tracey Fessenden. The panel discusses ways in which religion and the relative strength of religious institutions can impact civic life and magnify polarization.

About the Speaker

Ross Douthat has been a New York Times columnist since 2009, as well as a film critic for the National Review. His published works include “Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class” (2005); “Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream” (2008); “Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics” (2012); and “To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism” (2018). Douthat graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 2002.

About the Series

The polarized and compartmentalized intellectual climate on American campuses both mirrors and contributes to similar maladies in American civic life.

To examine the problem and begin to discuss possible solutions both at the level of the campus and society, Arizona State University’s School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, together with its partners in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, is hosting a lecture series and conference, “Polarization and Civil Disagreement: Confronting America’s Civic Crisis.” You can also watch discussions and join the conversation on Facebook.

WATCH: See the full list of episodes of “Polarization: A Civic Crisis”