Multiculturalism, Religion and the Therapeutic Age | Dr. James Orr

In this conversation, John sits down with Cambridge University Associate Professor James Orr to discuss multiculturalism, religion, and the therapeutic nature of modern society. He contends that religious communities are ‘bunkers’ in the modern world, acting as places of refuge from culture. Moreover, Dr. Orr addresses his controversial tweet, ‘import the Arab world, become the Arab world’, unpacking the complexities of multiculturalism. He also discusses how our increasingly therapeutic culture has had serious ramifications on our understanding of suffering, and on our relationship to the law and to the state. Dr. Orr holds a PhD and MPhil in Philosophy of Religion from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Classics from Oxford. Before entering academia, he worked for several years in corporate law at Freshfields and Sullivan & Cromwell. In addition to writing several articles, he recently appeared on the DailyWire’s Exodus series with Dr. Jordan Peterson. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 00:00 Intro 00:51 Introducing Dr. James Orr 1:24 DailyWire's Exodus Series with Jordan Peterson 3:48 What is the difference between a contract and a covenant? 7:16 Why Dr. Orr became a philosopher 10:49 Can reason and faith co-exist? 16:00 Many Christian claims are philosophical in nature 22:52 Science studies the repeatable 25:15 The societal shift from 'sin to syndrome' 30:15 Freedom vs safety 32:35 The problem with 'mental health' 36:00 A therapeutic society is actually a cruel society 42:00 The problem of psychologising harm 48:00 Christianity: suffering is not intrinsically negative 51:00 'The great paradox' 56:00 Endless laws mark the end of society 58:00 The complexities of freedom of speech 1:08:10 'Import the Arab world, become the Arab world' 1:16:00 'The Grievance-Industrial Complex' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues. John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; "You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate." If you value this discussion and want to see more like it, make sure you subscribe to the channel here:    / @johnandersonmedia   And stay right up to date with all the conversations by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://johnanderson.net.au/contact/ Follow John on Twitter:   / johnandersonac   Follow John on Facebook:   / johnandersonac   Follow John on Instagram:   / johnandersonac   Support the channel: https://johnanderson.net.au/support/ Website: https://johnanderson.net.au/ Podcast: https://johnanderson.net.au/podcasts/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twitter - https://x.com/jtworr?s=20 Cambridge - https://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/direct...