This week, Brad Onishi argues that a series of seemingly separate headlines point to a single political project: the construction of a white Christian homeland. He examines the unprecedented sentencing of the Prairie Land protesters under domestic terrorism charges, the Trump administration's growing use of "Antifa" as a catch-all label for political dissent, Supreme Court decisions affecting Temporary Protected Status, and the continued targeting of Haitian immigrants. Together, Brad argues, th

Why does God forgive only as much as we forgive? In this episode, Dan Miller explores a listener’s challenging question about the nature of divine forgiveness, justice, and fairness in Christian theology. He examines how high-control religion responds to tough questions and why these core issues matter. How different interpretive frameworks alter understanding of divine forgiveness The relationship between human imperfection and divine perfection The threats and control tactics embedded in relig

In this episode of Axis Live , Brad Onishi and Matt Taylor are joined by PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman to unpack Vice President JD Vance’s new book Communion and the theological vision animating it. The conversation focuses on Vance’s turn toward a form of Christianity oriented less around the person and teachings of Christ than toward a broader project of Christendom and civilizational restoration. Rather than centering the lived realities of individuals or communities, Vance’s framework is read as

What does American religious history actually tell us about the present moment? In this episode, Brad sits down with historian and author Brook Wilensky-Lanford to discuss her sweeping new book, A God-Shaped Nation: 500 Years of Religion in America . Rather than focusing on famous founders and powerful institutions, Wilensky-Lanford tells the story of America through ordinary people—religious dissenters, immigrants, Native Americans, enslaved Africans, and others whose struggles shaped the natio

In this week's Weekly Roundup, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller unpack the fallout from the Trump administration's Iran deal, the growing fractures within the MAGA coalition, and why Vice President JD Vance appears to be carrying the political burden for a foreign policy debacle. They examine the deal's similarities to the Obama-era agreement Republicans once condemned, the tensions between America First isolationists and pro-Israel conservatives, and what Vance's comments reveal about the future of t

What are the questions you aren’t supposed to ask in church—the ones that earn you a sit-down with the pastor, worry your parents, and might even make you leave your faith entirely? In this episode, Dan kicks off a brand-new series, "Questions I Wasn't Supposed to Ask in Church," by revisiting a question that got him into trouble during his own time as a pastor: does it really look like human beings were "intelligently designed" by a maximally perfect, omnipotent Creator? While a hypothesis of s