While listening to the Goldpilled podcast, host Witfield (“Whit”) Smith recently mentioned an outspoken atheist, Richard Dawkins, who now identifies as a ‘cultural Christian.’ The discussion swiftly moved to C.S. Lewis’s trilemma, the problem of evil, and, noting Dawkin’s love of Christmas hymns and the noel season, Whit referenced the G.K. Chesterton quote: “The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it; and some day suddenly wake up and discover why.”
This laid-back depth, delivered in under fifteen minutes, is a hallmark of the Goldpilled podcast. I cannot express how much I have missed watching this show.
Goldpilled, based in Nashville, is a unique blend of cultural analysis and edgy Catholic social commentary. Its stream-of-consciousness style and informal format have garnered a dedicated cult following of online Catholic influencers and fans, even during a long YouTube hiatus.
The show has always resonated with me, evoking memories of smoking pipes outside and enjoying the company of friends and family by a firepit after a baptism, confirmation, or similar Church function. In other words, Whit is like that cool Catholic cousin we all have, hailing from the south.
During a profound discussion on the story of Abraham and Isaac, Wit delved into the lifelong ponderings of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who grappled with the question: ‘Why would God command an evil… to test?’
Whit’s answer bespeaks more truth than a casual listener may realize:
“I don’t know, man. (laughing) It doesn’t… I’m not bothered by it, dude. Okay? It turned out fine. Okay, it worked; he stopped him. So anyway… that’s probably a major hang-up for Dawkins, in fact.”
Whit then continued to discuss Dawkins; however, the wisdom of his seemingly dismissive answer and how the question was phrased stuck with me. A few months back, a friend and I debated whether the differences in Catholic bible translations matter. We dissected the Our Father prayer and realized how, in versions with a more Hebrew or Aramaic basis that is less dynamic, Matthew 6:13 is translated more literally: “And do not lead us into hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.”
While the general meaning of temptation stems from the Latin word temptare, meaning to taste, and it is arguably the same, we examined whether the difference was more denotative or connotative. For my friend, it was a revelation that scripture is not dead but very much alive, and he extolled the virtue of lectio divina.
“Prayers become efficacious when you get over the test. Power is made perfect in weakness!” he exclaimed. “The hope of never falling is the wrong way to seek the perfection of God. It is impossible that scandals should not come,” he continued, referencing Christ’s words in Luke 17:1.
Another friend of ours said of our findings, “This has definitely been my experience like 90% of the time. I can’t believe how this was right in the open but so easy to miss for so long.”
Granted, we are not theologians or even amateur theologians—far from it! He works in finance, and I work in digital communications and marketing. However, discoveries like this help us engage with the faith daily. Goldpilled has helped me understand what being a husband and family man means. Recalling another episode, Whit discussed how vacations are no longer vacations when you are a father. They are trips. One must go here and go there. It is an endeavor, a whole ordeal, that often tests your patience and sanity.
Whether your vocation is marriage or not, in the Christian life, we are called to ‘die to self’ each in our particular ways. We all have weaknesses, but we must strive not to give in to “hard testing.” It is the cross.
As it says in Romans 12:1-2:
“I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.”
We must pray for those with closed eyes and ours to remain open, lest they be closed by hard testing or lack of charity. Whit is correct in noting that the ‘why’ does not matter. In the same way, it does not matter to the cultural Christians why they like the joy they feel at Christmas. It is okay not to know. We should not be bothered by it. We must not live our lives in accordance with this world and its false promises, be they pornography, the rat race, politics, or the bitterness of the age. What matters is that it “turns out fine” when we seek the protection and will of God. It is the truth that can be felt, though unseen. He is love.
Yours are the eyes with
which He looks Compassion
on this world,
Yours are the feet with
which He walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with
which He blesses all the world.
Christ has no body now on earth
but yours.
To listen to the Goldpilled podcast, visit Ecce Media YouTube channel.
To read more from Josef Luciano or to contact him directly, please visit www.josefluciano.com.
