Conversations That Matter

The 2026 midterms are approaching, and there is growing pressure on conservatives to sit out elections, reject Republican candidates, or pursue some kind of political accelerationism because Republicans have not accomplished everything conservatives hoped they would.
In this episode of Conversations That Matter, I make the case for why Christian conservatives should generally vote Republican in the midterms, while also explaining why voting is not a substitute for the much more important work of Christian discipleship and social renewal.
The key distinction is between practical politics and pragmatism. Pragmatism means changing your moral standards to achieve a desired political outcome. Practical judgment means recognizing the political circumstances you actually inhabit and using the tools available to you without changing your moral convictions. As I argue in the episode, morality does not change, but political circumstances and available options do.
I also discuss the temptation to abandon the Republican Party because it is imperfect, the dangers of accelerationism, what the experience of Europe can teach us, my own decision not to vote for Donald Trump in 2016, and why that calculation would be different in a competitive state.
Finally, I look at what the Trump administration and the MAGA movement have actually accomplished on issues including immigration, DEI, abortion, and foreign policy, and argue that conservatives should consider whether to build on those gains rather than simply destroy the political apparatus because it has not delivered everything they wanted.
The question is not whether Republicans are perfect. The question is what political options actually exist, what can be accomplished through them, and how Christians should exercise stewardship in the circumstances God has given us.

00:00 The Midterm Question
01:05 Voting Is Not Social Renewal
03:00 What Political Options Do We Actually Have?
05:45 Practical Politics vs. Pragmatism
09:00 The Problem With Accelerationism
10:25 Why Build on MAGA?
16:00 Stewardship and Imperfect Political Options
25:45 What Has MAGA Actually Accomplished?

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In this episode of Conversations That Matter, I examine the Presbyterian Church in America, Covenant College, and the broader question of whether Christian institutions are actually moving away from the ideas associated with the social justice movement or simply giving them new names.

I begin with several pieces of evangelical news, including the latest Southern Baptist compensation data for pastors and staff, the PCA's decision concerning Burke Parsons, and a complaint involving the Missouri Presbytery and the ordination of a same-sex-attracted man.

The main discussion concerns Covenant College's revised curriculum. Covenant has defended its approach as Christian, while critics such as Joe Rigney have questioned whether courses emphasizing diversity, cultural perspectives, identity, and critical theory represent genuine reform or continued ideological drift.

I look at the curriculum, faculty, and the ideas being presented to students, while also acknowledging that Covenant has good professors and that not every course or professor should be painted with the same brush. The central question is more basic: What direction is the institution going?

I also explain why Christians should be able to learn from other cultures without adopting the assumption that Western civilization requires a special set of alternative perspectives in order to recognize its own moral deficiencies. The Christian has Scripture, the church, and a long Christian intellectual tradition through which to evaluate his own civilization.

00:00 Why Christian Institutions Matter
04:08 The SBC’s Changing Pastor Compensation
10:16 Burke Parsons and the PCA Judicial Process
12:49 Same-Sex Attraction and Missouri Presbytery
14:15 Are Christian Universities Reversing Mission Drift?
17:49 Covenant College Changes Its Core Curriculum
20:16 Did Covenant College Put Woke Away?
24:30 Why Direction Matters More Than Individual Professors
29:44 The Evidence of Social Justice Thinking
42:15 Personnel Is Policy
50:12 How Social Justice Can Threaten the Gospel
54:58 Western Civilization, Diversity, and Critical Theory

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In this news roundup, I look at the controversy surrounding H-1B visas, the viral University of Texas football footage, and the argument over immigration, assimilation, race, culture, and the future of American identity. I also revisit the Lindsay Clancy jury and what the case reveals about the way people increasingly interpret moral questions through racial categories.
Then we get to Tucker Carlson and Abdul El-Sayed. What does it mean when prominent figures on the Right begin backing or defending political positions that would seem completely at odds with the Republican coalition? Is the Right actually beginning to converge with the Left on some of the most important questions facing the country?
I also discuss Christian persecution in China, the question of Islam and Western civilization, surrogacy and the changing meaning of family, and some genuinely encouraging stories about American courage and education.
The goal is not simply to react to the news. It is to step back, understand what is happening, and ask what these stories mean for Christians, conservatives, and the future of America.
00:00 Intro: The Hammer of Reality
03:41 The H-1B Debate Explodes
21:03 The Lindsay Clancy Jury
27:22 Race, Morality, and Civilizational Identity
48:13 Tucker Carlson and Abdul El-Sayed
58:33 El-Sayed, 9/11, and the Michigan Senate Race
1:02:33 A Test for Right-Wing Media
1:06:11 Christian Persecution in China
1:08:04 Islam and the West
1:11:05 Surrogacy, Family, and the Future
1:14:10 American Courage and the Good News

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Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, what has happened to the country that came together in the aftermath of the attacks?

In this episode of Conversations That Matter, Jon Harris reflects on his memories of 9/11 as a twelve-year-old living north of New York City, the fear and patriotism that followed, and the way the attacks transformed American politics and culture.

He discusses the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the growth of the surveillance state, declining trust in government and other institutions, immigration and changing demographics, the rise of political cynicism, and the way Americans came to view their own history and institutions differently.

But the episode is ultimately about more than 9/11. Harris argues that recovering a healthy American identity requires more than nostalgia. It requires personal responsibility, strong families, local and national identity, functioning institutions, and a genuine Christian faith.

The country came together after 9/11, but cultural unity based only on emotion could not last. The deeper question is whether Americans can recover the convictions and institutions necessary to hold a nation together.

Chapters:
0:00 Remembering 9/11
1:03 The morning America was attacked
3:47 Realizing we were under attack
5:27 The patriotism after 9/11
8:52 The post-9/11 political narrative
10:56 Iraq, Afghanistan, and the loss of trust
12:51 The surveillance state and changing America
18:42 The rise of political cynicism
23:25 How do we get out of this?
27:09 Christianity, identity, and America
28:48 Remembering the unity after 9/11
29:57 What we should teach our children

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Are white people really dying out? Is the West facing demographic collapse? And why are birth rates falling throughout the developed world?

In this episode of Conversations That Matter, Jon Harris is joined by statistician William M. Briggs to examine the numbers behind population decline, fertility rates, demographic change, and the future of Western civilization.

William Briggs discusses his experience in academia, supporting Donald Trump in 2016, and eventually being canceled by Cornell. The conversation then turns to one of the most important questions facing the modern world: Why are people having fewer children?

The discussion covers feminism and equality, housing and economic pressures, immigration, aging populations, technology, religion, pornography, online life, Israel's comparatively high fertility rate, Christianity, and the ways bad science can distort public understanding of environmental and medical threats.

Are falling birth rates primarily the result of environmental factors, or are people simply making different decisions about marriage and children? And will humanity eventually return to higher fertility rates?

Join the conversation.

Follow William M. Briggs and read his work at WMBriggs.com.

Support Conversations That Matter and stay connected with Jon Harris at JonHarrisMedia.com.

00:00 Introduction and Meet William M. Briggs
01:10 Supporting Trump and Being Canceled by Cornell
05:30 Can Conservatives Still Survive Academia?
09:00 Are White People and Europeans Dying Out?
11:30 Why Are Birth Rates Falling?
14:00 The ICU Theory: Population, Housing, and Economics
17:30 Understanding Fertility Rates and Demographic Data
24:30 Feminism, Sexual Behavior, and Population Decline
29:00 Will Fertility Rates Eventually Recover?
33:00 Technology, Online Life, and the Future of Human Relationships
36:00 Israel, Religion, and Higher Birth Rates
41:00 Environmental Causes and Bad Science
49:00 Christianity, Reality, and the Future of Civilization
52:00 Government Policy, Safety Culture, and Having Children
55:00 Final Thoughts

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