En Route: A Journey of Faith, and Modern Life

Dennis is looking for religious leaders to interview to share their experiences during the pandemic.  If you are interested, send an email to [email protected]

Another mass shooting is another opportunity to get into another culture war.  Dennis talks about a time when people could come together and create good gun policy and why that is impossible these days.  He ends by talking about the treatment Dr. Deborah Birx has received for her time on President Trump's Coronavirus Taskforce.

Why did Donald Trump win in 2016?  Was it racism? The stress of the American working class? Could it be both?  In this episode, Dennis shares his own working-class roots, how the demise of manufacturing has altered towns across America and how the two major parties ignored the problems of the working class.  Dennis believes Donald Trump was a warning to the governing classes to pay attention to the needs of the American worker or get ready for another strongman in the White House.

The First White President by Ta-Nehisi Coates

On episode six Dennis moves from a "soft opening" of the podcast to move to the "grand opening," with a new name and focus!  He talks about the reasoning behind the name change, Christian Democracy and his fascination with the Dutch theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper.  Also, find out about upcoming episodes.

Questions? Send an email to [email protected] or go to the website: spheresofinfluence.org

Why should we care about the Republican Party when it's nothing more than a collection of racists and conspiracy mongers?  A fair number of Never Trumpers see the party as something that is detested and many think it is now time to look to the Democrats. People associated with the Bulwark are starting to believe that maybe it’s time for former Republicans to become the conservative wing of the Democrats or at the very least work more closely with President Biden. What if leaving the party and movement might make one feel well but the decision is bad for democracy? What if democracies thrive only when there are strong conservative parties dedicated to the experiment in freedom?

In this episode, Dennis talks about the importance of conservative parties in democracies and why it there needs to be a push to either reform the party or create a new center-right party for the sake of American democracy.

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Articles of note:

Who Mourns for the GOP by Dennis Sanders

Why liberal democracy only dies when conservatives help by Matt O'Brien

“The central weakness of our political system right now is the Republican Party” by Sean Illing

Trump Is Gone, but Democracy Is in Trouble by Yascha Mounk

How to Transcend Trump’s Hold Over the GOP by Jerry Taylor and Samuel Hammond

Questions? Send an email to [email protected] or go to the website: politecompanypod.org

On this special episode, Dennis reflects on the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 becoming a pandemic and how Everything Changed on March 11, 2020. 

Questions? Send an email: [email protected]  Now, you can also check out our website, politecompanypod.org!

President Joe Biden Speech on Anniversary of COVID-19 Shutdown Transcript March 11

March 11, 2020: The Day Everything Changed-National Public Radio

Like all good GenXers, Dennis wants to take you back to the 1990s!  In this episode, Dennis recounts an experience he witnessed in a church basement nearly 30 years ago that is a reminder of how people with differing views still shared common ground. They shared a common faith that was able to hold them together even when they disagreed.  What has happened in our culture that you can't find that kind of unity anymore?  Dennis explores how religion has become swallowed up by politics and how we have made politics an idol, not unlike what happened at a certain political conference in Florida where the likeness of a certain former president covered in gold was worshipped.., like an idol.

Questions? Send an email: [email protected]  Now, you can also check out our website, politecompanypod.org!

Trust, Politics, and Meaning by Martin Gurri

Pastoring A Purple Church by Tom Gjelten

The Christian Right Is Helping Drive Liberals Away From Religion (Five Thirty-Eight) by Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and Daniel Cox

Reimagining Church in a Post-Pandemic Politically Divided World- By Mark Slaughter

Do Politics Belong In Church? Christian Century

Let Us Be Church by Frederick Schmidt

Christianity Will Have Power (New York Times) by Elizabeth Dias

America is becoming a far more diverse country.  This is good news.  What's bad news is how both political parties have reacted to the changing face of America.  Dennis shares how the Democrats have stopped reaching out to the working class and how Republicans have employed tactics like voter suppression.  How can we accept the "browning" of America in a way that brings people together instead of drive people apart?

Questions? Send an email: [email protected]

Articles to read:

Demographics, Destiny and Doom by Dennis Sanders

The Majority-Minority Myth, by Andrew Sullivan

White Extinction Anxiety by Charles Blow

The Myth of a Majority-Minority Nation by Morris Fiorina

Why the Announcement of a Looming White Minority Makes Demographers Nervous, New York Times, November 22, 2018

The Myth of a White Minority by Richard Alba

Welcome to the Inaugural episode of Polite Company! Donald Trump may no longer be President, but Trumpism is still a vital force in the Republican Party.  Several state and local parties have censured the seventeen representatives and Senators who vote to either impeach the former President or convict him.  More and more rank and file Republicans are leaving the party in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol as the party becomes more and more a home for conspiracy mongers and authoritarians.

Is it time for a new center-right party to replace the Republicans?  Over 100 conservatives met in early February to discuss the possibility and there was strong support.  But can a new party arise when third parties are so hard to sustain in America? Would it have an impact? Dennis discusses the drawbacks, and why this might be a chance that must be taken for the sake of the nation.

Questions? EMail at [email protected]

Articles for background:

To Hell with Duverger’s Law by Dennis Sanders

What Happened to America’s Political Center of Gravity?, New York Times, June 26, 2019

Dozens of former Republican officials in talks to form anti-Trump third party, Reuters, February 10, 2021

The NeverTrump third party delusion, by Matthew Walther, The Week February 12, 2021

3 reasons why a 'center-right' party will never work, by Chris Cillizza, CNN February 11, 2021

‘There’s Nothing Left’: Why Thousands of Republicans Are Leaving the Party, New York Times, February 10, 2021

Principle over power: Let’s form a new Republican party, by Chris Vance, Seattle Times, January 13, 2021

“The central weakness of our political system right now is the Republican Party”, Vox, January 13, 2021