In this episode, Dan decodes the admonition to “remember who you are,” as well as the related admonition to “remember whose you are” and the question “what would Jesus do”. What are these admonitions intended to convey? What…
Building from the previous episode, Dan explores what’s going on when people say that Christianity is “a religion, not a relationship,” when salvation is understood as requiring a “personal relationship” with Jesus, and so o…
In his recent article at Religion Dispatches, historian Thomas Lecaque writes: In the wake of every mass shooting in this country, we have a brief moment where we talk about the guns used and the need for gun control. And th…
Brad is joined by guest co-host Dr. Leah Payne. They begin by discussing the first primetime hearing of the J6 Select Committee. Brad observes that they seemed to have two goals - first to show that Trump and Trump's team kn…
What does it mean when someone asks you if you’re “saved”? If you’re active in the life of a Christian church or tradition (of whatever kind), and someone says, “that’s fine, but are you saved,” what’s going on? In this firs…
Brad and Dan begin by discussing the mass shootings that took place this week at a funeral, a hospital, and more. They ask what can be done about gun violence in a country where one party has chosen to worship handheld killi…
What does it mean when a church declares itself to be “open and affirming?” How does this relate to churches that claim that “no matter where you are on your spiritual journey, you’re welcome here”? In this episode, Dan deco…
Brad speaks with Dr. Khyati Joshi, author of White Christian Privilege: The Illusion of Religious Equality in America (NYU 2020). https://nyupress.org/9781479840236/white-christian-privilege/ The United States is recognized …
On an emotional weekly roundup, Brad and Dan discuss the timeline, law enforcement failures, and nihilism of the Uvalde Massacre. From the handcuffing of parents trying to rescue their kids, to the myth of the good guy with …
This past week a 400-page report outlining the culture of coverup and the widespread abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention was released. The SBC is the country’s largest Protestant denomination with roughly 14 million mem…
“No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, you’re welcome here.” This is a slogan we might read on church flyers, websites, or signs. We might here it in the welcome given by the pastor of a church. But what does it…
Brad speaks with sex educator Erica Smith about her experiences working in abortion care and what the overturning of Roe looks like on the ground for ordinary Americans. They discuss how and why abortion is healthcare and th…
Brad and Dan begin by discussing the various dimensions of the Buffalo massacre and the shooter's understanding of Caucasian Replacement Theory (CRT). Dan demonstrates that this ideology is farm from fringe in today's Americ…
What is “cool kid church?” It’s the gleaming church-that-doesn’t-look-like-a-church in suburbia. It’s the church with the pastor who’s just a “cool guy” talking with the congregation. It’s the church of modern consumer capit…
Brad speaks with Teddy Wilson of Radical Reports about the trickle down effect of overturning Roe. They discuss how this will lead to an expanded police state that surveils women who have miscarriages, stillbirths, and abort…
Brad and Dan continue to discuss what the post-Roe landscape looks like. They begin by going through a new article by Katherine Stewart and the New Republic. Stewart shows how Alito uses the argument from history to take wom…
“It’s Part of God’s Plan” “God has a plan for your life.” “It’s all part of God’s plan.” How do we decode common religious sentiments like these? Are they sources of hope? Affirmations of a loving and caring God? Sources of …
In the wake of news that Roe v. Wade will likely be overturned, Brad and Dan begin this episode with a history of how evangelicals have transformed on the issue of abortion. In the 1960s and 1970s many evangelical pastors, t…
The American Christian landscape is littered with “Bible churches.” It is full of churches that use the word “Bible” in their name, or that claim to be “Bible believing,” and affirm that they “preach the Bible,” and so on. W…
