Ep 930 | Why 2014 Was America’s Last Good Year | Guest: Aaron Renn

Released January 9, 2024 by Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey

 

Today we're joined by Aaron Renn, co-founder and senior fellow at American Reformer, to discuss his book, “Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges in an Anti-Christian Culture,” and how Christians can respond to the ever-increasing negative view of Christians in society. We discuss how Christianity was viewed in America's history and how the 1960s saw Christian moral norms begin to be called into question. Aaron breaks these moral norms down into three phases: the Positive World, Neutral World, and Negative World. We explain what the tipping point was between the positive and neutral views of Christianity, from 1950s Christian norms being held in honor to the 1980s "health and wealth" movement. Then, what changed in 2014, and what brought about the overall negative view of Christianity in American society? We explain how Republican candidates' changing views on gay marriage and race issues show us what social shifts have occurred. We also talk about the modern evangelical response to Donald Trump and what cultural/nominal Christianity has done to Christian culture and the act of making disciples.

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Timecodes:

(01:02) Introduction to Aaron
(03:01) Anti-Christian culture
(09:03) Positive to Neutral
(15:00) 1950s Christian culture
(20:37) Boomers & health & wealth movement
(26:59) What changed in 2014?
(38:42) Evangelical response to Trump
(51:40) Nominal Christianity
(57:10) Public schools

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Links:

First Things: "THE THREE WORLDS OF EVANGELICALISM" https://www.firstthings.com/article/2022/02/the-three-worlds-of-evangelicalism

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Relevant Episodes:

Ep 920 | Russell Moore, David French & the Fake Threat of Christian Nationalism | Guest: John Cooper https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-920-russell-moore-david-french-the-fake-threat/id1359249098?i=1000638231068

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Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book

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