This week on Tapestry, why dialing down self-righteousness is so important - and so hard. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt explains why arguments about politics and religion get so toxic. Later, writer Philip Yancey talks to Mary about finding strength in your community and why he travels to the world's most troubled areas asking the question, "What good is God?"

 

Jonathan Haidt's latest book is called The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. He is at the forefront of research into why the brain craves us-versus-them thinking. He and Mary talk about what has to change for people to start hearing one another instead of screaming over one another.

Philip Yancey is the kind of person you can find at a U.S. college campus one week after a massacre or in Mumbai on a day of carnage. He visits people when their grief is fresh because he is looking for answers. Even though he is a believer, he still has questions, and in his latest book, he tackles a big one: What Good is God?