Paul Johnson sits down with Pastor Anthony Cox of the Mercy Hill Church. They talk about the Mercy Hill Church, its role within the Phoenix community, and whether America is worth saving.

Moreover, they touch upon the connection between God, individualism, finding meaning, and what can be done to address divisions and change the status quo of American society.

• Pastor Cox discusses the idea that some religious leaders question whether America, as it is today, is worth saving. This creates a robust discussion of America.
• Paul praises the diversity of Pastor Cox’s inner city church, and the two unpack the concept of a diverse community further.
• Pastor Cox and Paul discuss the connection between individualism, which is what America was founded on, and religion.
• Paul discusses how the Reformation was inspired by Martin Luther’s ideas that every person deserves dignity in the eyes of God. Later, philosophers argued that if God granted every individual dignity, the government should do no less. Thus the connection between the Reformation and the bier of individualism. This helps create an understanding of why western society sees individualism as a governing ideal.
• Paul brings up Viktor Frankl’s idea that we find meaning in any of three things: in our ability to love the people and things we love, we find it in the things we create, and we find meaning in our ability to deal with struggle.
• Paul also believes that we find meaning in the service we give to other people.
• Paul and Pastor Cox touch upon Martin Luther King Jr.’s three words to describe love and Plato’s idea of logos.
• The discussions focus on loving people you don’t know and the importance of forgiveness.
• Pastor Cox opens up about how he, as a pastor, tries to address the divisions and cure the harm that’s generated from the divisions inside his church.
• Pastor Cox and Paul talk about the current state of the American society and political system, and what could be done to try to improve the status quo.
• Pastor Cox talks about how any reform should focus on providing incentive to lower partisanship, and lower the discord between the parties.

 

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

optamerican.com

Addictive Ideologies: Finding Meaning and Agency When Politics Fail You by Dr Emily Bashah and Hon Paul Johnson

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Pastor Anthony Cox

Thomas Jefferson

John Locke

The Disappearance of God: A Divine Mystery by Richard Elliott Friedman

Martin Luther

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Martin Luther King Jr.

Plato

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn