#80: America will perish without Rome—Timothy Gordon

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.  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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