The Patrick Coffin Show | Interviews with influencers | Commentary about culture | Tools for transformation

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Motion pictures have been called the ultimate form of art because they incorporate all previous forms: dance, music, theater, and mime, all in one. They are powerful drivers of, and reflections of, culture.

Movie lines become iconic and hence memorable:

"We're going to need a bigger boat." Jaws "ET phone home." E.T. the Extraterrestrial "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Gone with the Wind "May the force be with you." Star Wars "You had me at hello." Jerry McGuire

As Christians, we need to watch movies critically, not just for morality reasons, but for artistic ones. Should believers support poorly made movies because they bear a Christian message? Can Christians see rated R films with potty words, sexual content, and violence? Where's the line?

This week's guest has thought deeply about these questions and has some practical guidelines. He is Douglas Beaumont, a convert to the Faith and author of a book that's due for a reboot, titled The Message Behind the Movie: How To Engage With a Film Without Disengaging With Your Faith. If you like movies, you'll love this conversation in light of the gospel and the principles of effective storytelling.

In this interview you will learn:

• How some G rated films have bad messages and some rated R ones have good ones
• The difference between a Christian movie and a movie that is Christian
• Some tips for determining whether a story is told effectively on screen
• Why some heathen writers write the best "Christian scripts"
• Why the golden age movies still hold up
• How to notice when a film is selling an anti-Christian bias

Resources recommended in this episode:

• The Message Behind the Movie: How To Engage With a Film Without Disengaging With Your Faith by Douglas Beaumont
• Story: Substance, Style, and Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee
• The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler
• Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field

Question of the week In what way is Hollywood today's most important missionary territory?

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This is fascinating. What is the nature of the great experiment called "America"? We say that Poland is a Catholic country, India is a Hindu country, and Turkey is a Muslim country, and so on.

We also say America is a Christian country. But in what sense? Because the majority are followers of Jesus? But Jesus isn't mentioned in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, or the Bill of Rights—the Christian religion is nowhere endorsed as the state religion.

My guest this week unpacks the foundational source—the real thinkers and philosophical ingredients that went into the essentially American recipe. His name is Timothy Gordon and his provocative new book is titled Catholic Republic: Why America Will Perish Without Rome. https://amzn.to/2lcTB5M

He finds six crypto-Catholic elements present in the founding of America, and takes pains to show how the founders did not exactly cite the sources (like St. Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, and St. Augustine) for these elements. Gordon says "America is wired Catholic, labeled Protestant, and currently functions as secular."

Lots to chew on after this interview with Tim Gordon, to say the least.

In this interview you will learn:

• How anti-Catholic bias of 18th century America kept our Protestant and Enlightenment forefathers from admitting their dependence upon Catholic ideals
• How the signs of the decline of America (from abortion on demand to the redefinition of marriage to crushing debt to the paganized pop culture) do not signal the inevitable end of the republic
• Why America was never intended to be an empire and how international incursions have not been good for the nation's health
• The way in which America can "become more Catholic" without becoming the dreaded bugaboo "theocracy"
• How relativism has been deliberately inserted into public life primarily through the Supreme Court
• Why truth can never be determined by a poll or nose count, and why it matters

Resources recommended in this episode:

• Catholic Republic: Why America Will Perish Without Rome by Timothy Gordon
• The U.S. Constitution: A Reader by the Hillsdale College staff
• American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll by Bradley Birzer
• Aristotle For Everybody by Mortimer Adler
• Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen
• Dangerous Books website

Question of the week

Do you believe America is specifically biased against Catholics?

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Greetings, my fellow culture builders: As you probably know, the thing I've been hinting at and quietly building for many months is finally here. Since we're only opening the doors twice a year, this is the only Inside Scoop that will mention it until the winter. Last Friday evening, the light turned green and people began signing up for "citizenship" (aka membership) in Coffin Nation and haven't stopped since. If you haven't seen the trailer, it's short, sweet, and here: www.coffinnation.com. What do YOU get? * masterclass interviews with top influencers and thinkers like Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, whom I've interviewed four times; time management guru David Allen, author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity; and public speaker trainer and radio host Ken Davis. These are the first three guests of the monthly TransformU feature for members only. * interactive monthly live webinars called Ask Away Friday * my top book and movie recommendations * commentary on current events through a Catholic lens, called The Coffin Report * connectivity with an ENTHUSIASTIC community that shares your faith and your deep desire to change the things you can in your life, marriage, and family * peace of mind that you're an active part of the solution. It's EASY to sit on the sidelines and complain! * Much more Again, the link is www.coffinnation.com. Thanks for your support, and your patience as we roll out this exciting adventure. I'd be honored to deliver the "wow" factor that characterizes membership in Coffin Nation. If you can, join us. The initial membership price will never increase for you. Join us tomorrow on Facebook for a live Q&A session at 12 noon PST. Just go here. And...be a saint; what else is there? Patrick

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The home of the free because of the brave is filled with many terrific people, who live a life (for the most part—the poor, Jesus said, will always be with us) of comfort and convenience.

America also comes with particular challenges for Christians who are engaged in evangelization. This week, I talked to one of the best in the biz, Peter Herbeck, vice president of Renewal Ministries and its director of mission. He has been speaking about the lordship of Jesus for over 30 years in scores of countries all over the world and he has special insights into the "isms" here at home that make it a challenge for missionaries. I loved this conversation!

In this interview, you will learn:

• How the failed sexual revolution has produced not only chaos but also countless hungry hearts for the truth about human sexuality
• How different the average American is compared to the average Chinese in terms of openness to Christ
• How the prison experience of a Lithuanian bishop provides a powerful lesson for us in the US
• Why relativism represents an obstacle to evangelizing, but not an insurmountable one
• The importance of praying with people on the spot when they ask you to pray for them
• How culture impacts the Christian life and vice versa
• Tips on how to stay calm when sharing the gospel with those who might be hostile

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• When the Spirit Comes In Power: Rediscovering the Charismatic Dimension of the Christian Life by Peter Herbeck
• When the Spirit Speaks: Touched By God's Word by Peter and Debbie Herbeck
• The Three Conversions of the Spiritual Life by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP
• The Fulfillment Of All Desire by Ralph Martin

Did you hear that our premium community os coming up? Learn more HERE, you do wan't to miss out!

Michael J. Knowles the a Yale-bred host of two-thirds of The Daily Wire platform begun by Ben Shapiro. He "wrote" a clever "book" titled Reasons To Vote Democrat: A Comprehensive Guide

Very few commentators anywhere in the mediasphere are out of the closet Catholics who actually accept all the teachings of the Church, which is why Mr. Knowles caught my attention. (Everyone reading this can list a dozen faux Catholics in media.) His show is much more politically geared than mine, but his infectious enthusiasm for slaying liberal arguments and his no-apologies support for President Trump couched in millennial-speak, and his frequent references to his unabashed Catholicism, make him very watchable as a host.

In this interview, you will learn:

• How Knowles got the Daily Wire gig, and what his mission is
• How he uses his Stella Adler Studio acting skills to communicate
• His unsuccessful attempts at baptising Ben Shapiro in the office hallway
• How his faith informs his political conservatism
• The paradoxical similarities between President Trump and Pope Francis
• Why the digital media provides a strong counterweight to the hugely biased MSM
• My thoughts on marriage as he prepares to take the matrimonial plunge

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Reasons To Vote Democrat: A Comprehensive Guide by Michael J. Knowles
• Poetic Diction: A Study In Meaning by Owen Barfield
• Old Errors New Labels by Bishop Fulton Sheen
• The Conservative Mind: From Burke To Eliot by Russell Kirk

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Ireland was once known and loved as the land of saints and scholars. Stout in its Catholicism and justly proud of its traditions of literature, of art and of Guinness—along with a veritable factory of holy missionaries to places like Africa—Ireland has taken a slow tumble into chaos.

The Irish have fled the church pews like rats from the Titanic in the last 30 years; Catholic leadership on the old sod has been badly hobbled by scandal and tepid leadership; and, corporately, the Irish media have been crafting an aggressively secularist narrative about the nature of the country and its venerable past.

Very few people understand the "before and after" better than John Waters, my guest this week. He's an author, playwright, rock journalist, and social critic who has decades of observational experience of his homeland—the recent history of which is less than encouraging, with its historic redefinition of marriage in 2015, and now, with the May 25, 2018 Referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution, which guarantees the rights of all Irish citizens, including "the right to life of the unborn."

If this Article is repealed, the Ireland of old, marked with the glories I mention above, is over. Done for.

I'm airing this interview to make it available to as many Irish listeners before the Referendum. Pray for Ireland.

In this interview, you will learn:

• The recent cultural and historical forces that have gotten Ireland to where she is today
• The deep meaning in Gaelic of the English word "unborn"
• How Ireland developed its current existential nihilism
• Signs of hope that Ireland can come back to her former glory
• Strategies for engaging a post-Christian culture with a new way of speaking the truth
• How therapeutic deism has replaced the Catholic Faith

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Lapsed Agnostic By John Waters
• Beyond Consolation: How We Became Too Clever for God and Our Own Good by John Waters
• Persuasive Pro-life: How to Talk About Our Culture's Toughest Issue by Trent Horn
• John Waters in First Things magazine.

The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE.

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The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE.

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Join the Conversation

Question of the week:

What is one concrete thing I can do to be an ambassador of hope for someone in my life who may be suffering depression or otherwise feeling despair?

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Ours is an age of social disruption, isolation, and atomization. Rates of suicide among young people, rich and poor, along with instances of clinical depression are on the sharp rise since 1999. A dark ennui—call it despair, or melancholia, or depression—has settled into the lives of millions of people.

Sources of community support that used to provide a bullwark against all this "apartness," such as a vibrant parish at the center of family life and vice versa, mens' and womens' social clubs, and a culture that supported the ideals of monogamy, have withered or vanished.

Psychiatrist Dr. Aaron Kheriaty deals with the fall-out of these disruptions every day in his clinical practice and as an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California Irvine where he is also director of the bioethics program.

This is a fascinating exchange of ideas—from social science data, to poetry, to the life witness of the saints to the truths of Scripture—related to helping those suffering maladies that seem to cruelly evacuate hope from the human heart. Very few doctors see the interconnectedness between the order of nature (and nurture) and the order of grace. Aaron Kheriaty is one of them, and he's downright evangelical about getting the word out about the urgently needed, good old-fashioned hope. He's also a fine writer who is attuned to the mystery of suffering in a way that is wise and accessible.

The Hail Holy Queen prayer describes the location of our sojourn as "this vale of tears" for good reasons. If you or someone you know has had serious vicissitudes, trials, or setbacks in his or her life, this is a "don't miss" interview.

In this interview, you will learn:

• Why the worlds of psychiatry and of faith have large areas of overlap and agreement
• A workable definition of despair and its antidote
• How the lives of some of the (mentally ill) saints can be a sign of great hope and consolation
• Why suicide, and examples of triumph over despair, can both be "contagious"
• The ways in which the Incarnation of God in Christ provides the direct proof of divine accompaniment and healing regarding mental illness and the loss of hope
• The difference between human hope and the supernatural virtue of hope

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• The Catholic Guide to Depression by Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, with Monsignor John Cihak
• Man's Search for Meaning by Dr. Viktor Frankl
• People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil by Dr. M. Scott Peck
• The Hound of Heaven and Other Poems by Francis Thompson, Intro by G.K. Chesterton
• Dying of Despair essay in "First Things" by Dr Aaron Kheriaty
• University of California Irvine link to Dr. Kheriaty's bio and contact info

The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered. Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE.

You may have heard of 40 Days For Life, and you may have heard of its founder and former CEO David Bereit. This interview dives into his story, what inspired him to get directly involved in pro-life activism, and into the reasons why he entered the Catholic Church this past Easter. Bereit is a pro at communicating the pro-life message with reason, balance, and passion.

In this interview, you will learn:

• The secret ingredient in your approach that can mean the difference between an abortion and a life saved.
• The specific reasons why the timeless teachings of the Catholic Church won Bereit over.
• The originating incident that led to the founding of 40 Days For Life.
• Why abortion will never be defeated until we tell the truth about what it does to baby and mother.
• Why it's vital that we link arms with people of other faiths, or no faith, to form a non-violent army of people committed to ending abortion and to healing moms and dads whos chose it.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• 40 Days for Life: Discover What God Has Done...Imagine What He Can Do by David Bereit and Shawn Carney.

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The Patrick Coffin Show is 100% listener supported. Help us keep our show independent and unfiltered.

Consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation HERE.

You may have seen Father Mike in one of his popular Ascension Presents video commentaries. His topics—delivered in his energetic and telegenic style—tend toward what's currently trending but he always anchors his subject (living together, chastity, celebrity culture, movie and TV examples, etc.) in the timeless teachings of the Church. From what I can see, there is no topic territory that is off limits, including the teaching on homosexuality—the forbidden topic par excellence in today's climate of political correctness and confusion.

Which brings me to this week's episode, in which Father Mike and I talk about his new book, Made For Love: Same-Sex Attractions and the Catholic Church https://amzn.to/2J8Ikxj. It's all about balance, understanding, and having the courage to put the focus where it belongs: on compassion that is yet unafraid to speak the truth.

The issue of homosexuality has been massively co-opted by the secular media and by so-called pro-gay factions with Christianity. The result is widespread confusion: what exactly is the Catholic teaching? Where is it in the Bible? How to respond to family members and friends who "come out"? Is it possible to be biblically faithful and pastorally attuned to peoples' real needs?

In this interview, you will learn:

• Why the Church makes the careful distinction between inclination and behavior, or between unbidden temptation and chosen sin.
• How best to respond to a loved one who a loved one who "comes out" to you
• How our culture of relativism makes it doubly hard to have a conversation about objective morality, especially when it comes to something this emotion-charged
• The way in which Father Mike's relationship with his same-sex attracted brother provides a model for imitation
• Why identifying as "gay" represents a terrible reduction of the dignity of the human person
• Why the legal reality of "gay marriage" is best understood as a matter of redefinition and has nothing to do with sexual behavior, per se.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Made For Love: Same-Sex Attractions and the Catholic Church by Father Mike Schmitz
• Catechism of the Catholic Church
• Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality: A New Clinical Approach by Dr. Joseph Nicolosi
• Making Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homosexual Behavior Is Changing Everything by Robert Reilly

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