The Princeton Philosophers Who Became Catholic. Plus . . .

Welcome back to The Weekend Press! Today, Rob Henderson on why young Americans are falling for communist China. Liel Leibovitz on Greta Gerwig’s decision to cast Meryl Streep as Aslan in the “Narnia” remake. And River Page drinks with Rachel Dolezal, America’s most famous “trans-black” woman, who has just qualified as a sex therapist . . .

But first: Can you study your way into believing in God?

C.S. Lewis, for one, did it. After his childhood faith waned and he entered college a staunch atheist, the Chronicles of Narnia author eventually reasoned his way into believing again. When he was a young professor at Oxford, he read the works of several Christian philosophers and they made a lot of sense to him. He knelt in prayer after feeling the presence of God, conceding his atheism was wrong. He would later describe himself as “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.”

More recently, a couple of Gen Z philosophy PhD students at Princeton have undergone remarkably similar conversions. In our lead essay today, Suzy Weiss speaks to Joe Schmid, 26, who believed that the existence of God could never be proven—and spent years arguing against the case for God on his YouTube channel, Majesty of Reason—until he started to study miracles. “I just sort of was like, okay, I give up, I’ve lost, God has won, and I’ve got to become Catholic,” he said. Also, he became a vegan.

His friend and colleague Noah McCay, 27, has also converted—to both Catholicism and veganism—and there are a couple of other members of their faculty who are thinking about following in their footsteps. So Suzy took the train down from New York City to New Jersey to see what’s in the water at this Ivy League department.

Philosophy is supposed to be a field where reason trumps faith. In the secular halls of academia, anyone who thinks about creation long and hard enough is supposed to come to the conclusion that there is no Creator. But did these boys study their way into believing, or was the intervention more divine than that?

Read Suzy’s report to find out.

This week, a Philadelphia activist was forced to reveal that she is not the part-black, part-Arab woman she’d claimed to be; she is, in fact, white and Jewish. Her name is Hannah Gann, but in the media, she’s being called “Palestinian Rachel Dolezal.” How does the actual Rachel Dolezal feel about this? Earlier this week, River Page had two drinks with America’s best-known “trans-black,” who had spent her life presenting as a black woman—to the extent that she was the president of a Spokane, Washington, NAACP chapter—when she was outed as white in 2015, and all hell broke loose. Dolezal, who now goes by Nkechi Diallo, a name she says was given to her by an Igbo community in Nigeria who saw her “high frequency Nubian spirit,” explained why she started an OnlyFans page and trained as a sex therapist, whether she still identifies as “trans-black,” and how she feels about her name being shorthand for race fakery.

Liel Leibovitz • Culture and Ideas

Filmmaker Greta Gerwig is set to direct a reimagining of C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia”—and she announced this week that Meryl Streep will voice Aslan, a lion and the King above all High Kings in Narnia. Her choice will give many Christians pause, because Aslan is generally accepted to be a stand-in for Jesus Christ—who is most definitely not a woman. Today, Liel Leibovitz pulls back the curtain on Gerwig’s decision, which he argues “is neither a stroke of brilliance nor a microaggression against conservative America,” but rather “something much more profound and dangerous.”

Rob Henderson • Things Worth Remembering

Why are the young socialists of America so enamored with Mao Zedong, the murderous dictator of 20th-century China? In this week’s Things Worth Remembering, Rob Henderson argues that the best way to understand is to read “Chinese Shadows,” a remarkable nonfiction account of the Chinese Cultural Revolution written by Simon Leys over 50 years ago. It is, Rob writes, “the most haunting thing I’ve read about what political terror does to the human soul.” Mao excised the kindness from the hearts of his people. Are American communists following suit?

TikTok’s “Queen of Confidence,” Serena Kerrigan, went on more than 50 virtual dates to figure out what’s wrong with modern courtship—then wrote a book about it, called Let’s F*cking Date. On the latest episode of Second Thought, she explains why men should plan and pay for the date: because women are busy making themselves the “prize.” And she gives Suzy Weiss and Dan Ahdoot one line of advice on finding the one. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch below:

This week, Katie Herzog wrote about the queer bar that got canceled for lifting its extremely strict mask mandate; Coleman Hughes reacted to the viral “New York Times” piece about the progressive mom who put her kid in a failing school for ideological reasons; and Madeleine Kearns wrote a tribute to her friend Dovie, who proved that even a life of unimaginable adversity is one worth living. Catch up here:

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How should you spend the rest of your weekend? We asked our editorial fellow Tanner Nau for his recommendations . . .

🍺Drink . . . beer. Last week, Will Rahn recommended ginger beer to y’all. As much as I would like to completely endorse this recommendation, I need to amend it: I’ve never fancied the spice of the ginger root. I prefer water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. Today, you’ll find me sipping Miller Lite and admiring the glow of college football on my television.

🚗Watch . . . Disney-Pixar’s Cars. The 2006 thriller featuring the improbable Lightning McQueen is back in theaters to mark its 20th anniversary. After a handful of subpar Cars sequels, I’m ready to see the original again. Nothing short of a cultural icon, Lightning McQueen (ka-chow!) should still inspire Americans today. He’s as American as it gets: gritty, unflinchingly competitive, and yearns for the open road. Catch it in theaters before it is too late and “Real Gone” for good.

🍁Enjoy . . . the fall. In Washington, D.C., autumn is at our doorstep. Yesterday, I ordered my first-ever pumpkin spice latte to celebrate this week’s cool weather. Soon, the leaves will begin to fall, and our two-month-long pleasant chill will turn into a bitter winter. I always miss this season during other parts of the year, so I’m trying to squeeze out as much of it as I can. Go for a walk; ditch the device, but bring the beer (or pumpkin spice latte).

That’s all, folks! Have a great weekend.

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