In today’s episode, our speakers explore the possibilities and limits of politics. How can politics be used as a force for good in society? And when our political systems fail us, where should we look for hope?
You’ll hear from Michael Wear, the founder and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, and Hahrie Han, a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins. In this conversation, they explore why agency and community matter in politics, why misplaced political hope can be dangerous, and where they find hope beyond politics as a Christian and a seeker.
This forum was held at Johns Hopkins University in March 2025. Thank you to the student planning team for making this event possible.
I would encourage students to think much less about what we're achieving and much more about who we're becoming.
T.S. Eliot said the folly of the human endeavor is to seek to find "systems so perfect that no one will need to be good." This is the conceit at the heart of our politics, that we could implement the right system to enforce goodness on us.
The story of progress is not about a human march forward but about God's condescension to us.
It's very dangerous to place your hope in politics. But when your hope is placed in the right place, you can hope for a great deal.
Even in the worst of times, humans have this capacity to create great beauty.
The state of our policy is, in large part, a reflection of the state of our soul.
