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.
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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'
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