Casper ter Kuile on Small Politics, Big Meaning, and the Power of Tea
How small acts of connection make space for something larger to grow.
A Complexified podcast episode and an accompanying blog post by Wesley R. Moncrief, Research Assistant for the Institute for Religion, Politics & Culture. A passionate writer, researcher, and policy analyst interested in the intersections of complex ideals.
Casper ter Kuile on Small Politics, Big Meaning, and the Power of Tea
How small acts of connection make space for something larger to grow.
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What do you do when the systems around you feel like they’re crumbling—and calling your senator doesn’t feel like enough? In this heartening episode of Complexified, author and ritual innovator Casper ter Kuile joins Amanda to talk about spiritual practices, civic exhaustion, and why small politics and sacred relationships might be our best tools for weathering chaos. From vigils in a blizzard to midsummer festivals in Brooklyn, this conversation weaves together policy and poetry, tea and transformation, with humor, honesty, and hope. If you’ve ever felt torn between marching in the streets or staying home under a blanket—this one's for you.
Complexified is a weekly interview podcast hosted by Rev. Dr. Amanda Henderson from the Iliff Institute for Religion, Politics & Culture, and Religion News Service.
Each episode dives into the most pressing news stories at the crossroads of religion and politics, exploring the nuances that are often go overlooked.
Whether religiously curious, politically frustrated, or somewhere in between, Complexified brings you conversations that challenge assumptions and spark fresh insights.
The Blog Post ✍️
This is our final week of Complexified’s miniseries on small politics and small religion. In this week’s conversation, Amanda spoke with guest Casper ter Kuile about how to exist in tumultuous times and remain afloat in a period where paradigms and systems are beginning to undergo significant structural change.
As I listened to their discussion, I couldn’t help but think about the tension that it seems so many of us feel trapped in currently, trying to believe in the America that delivers on promises of justice and liberty for all, whilst living in one that is creeping closer and closer to fascism. In last week’s blog, I wrestled with this necessity for a better future and the reality that we are not moving that direction.
Following that going live, Amanda reached out to me and asked a few questions that I’ve been mulling over all week. The question that has stuck with me most is “What does an alternative look like?” I know that this was in part a personal challenge and a question for greater introspection for me, but I also couldn’t help but consider its validity as a question regarding the future of the US.
This was influenced pretty heavily by the extensive coverage of Zohran Mamdani’s clinching of the Democratic Primary for New York City’s Mayorship oppositional to former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The more I read of Mamdani and his approach to campaigning, the more I felt some hope that things could be different. Even in the face of media blitzes and bad-faith interviews, supporters of his did not waver in their belief in a better world. There seemed to be an understanding that this shift is happening, whether the financial and political elite wanted it or not.
It gives hope to me that perhaps we’re just in the midst of the growing pains, and we’re moving to something better. Public faith in the institutions of politics and media is at an all time low across the board, aided by rampant patterns of unethical behavior from practically all institutions with any grasp of power in the modern era.
This movement of dissatisfaction, while certainly still facing opposition, has gained meaningful traction and a symbol behind which to identify. Though it is not nearly the same position of power that MAGA counterparts have in Donald Trump, it is a crucial step to unification towards common goals and currently feels like the best shot against America’s present trajectory.
Much of this was due to the grassroots nature of Mamdani’s campaign, humanizing not only the politician, but politics itself as an overarching act of community. When Casper spoke of “just having tea”, Mamdani’s campaign seemed to capture that feeling of camaraderie and unifying humanity, while still mobilizing for a goal that is nearly incomprehensible for a single individual.
Additionally, it was helped greatly by New York City’s ranked choice voting system, providing a pathway to a more democratized voting system, allowing the creation of coalitions among smaller candidates, as took place between Mamdani and Brad Lander.
This system guarantees that ideological voters can vote according to their ethics while still having a safety net for a maybe imperfect but acceptable candidate with more public backing. The freedom from the paradigm of voters trapped in a system in this case actually showcased the idealist candidate winning however, which hopefully encourages voters in other states to enact and support similar measures.
Turning back to Amanda’s question, I think that what we can do now is to follow that trend of working together with the unified goal of living and leading as ethically as we can. Our small actions do have impact, and eventually the dam will burst. Believe me, I know it feels impossible, with the forces that be scheming to create hurdle after hurdle. I feel like scheming has been monopolized by structures of power for too long. If we’re going to create meaningful opposition to overreaching power structures, we need to find ways to be strategic and calculating, and maybe even a little ruthless, paired with a commitment to ethical belief and action.
What are your thoughts? 💭 Drop a comment below! 👇