Episodes

Within a certain part of the American Christian subculture, it’s common to speak of people who are “baby Christians.” But what does that mean? Is it just silly? Is it just an effect of biblical understandings of the Christian faith? Or does it have more significant religious, social, and political consequences? In this episode, Dan argues that it does have these consequences, and explains why. To Donate: venmo - @straightwhitejc Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/BradleyOnishi Patreon: ...

Capitalizing on current, widespread anti-China sentiment in the United States, lawmakers in nearly 30 states have proposed or have passed legislation banning foreign nationals, governments and companies from purchasing land, particularly farmland or property near military bases. Although they ostensibly aim to protect America’s national security, they have other dangerous consequences – stoking xenophobic biases and targeting of Asian Americans for further racial profiling and exclusion. https...

Brad and Dan discuss the details, reactions, and takeaways to the Trump indictment by Jack Smith. To Donate: venmo - @straightwhitejc Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/BradleyOnishi Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/straightwhiteamericanjesus Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC Order Brad's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1506482163 For access to the full Orange Wave series, click here: https://irreverent.supportingcast.fm/produc...

“Lots of people miss salvation by 18 inches—the distance between the head and the heart.” This (and statements like it) is a phrase that has long circulated within a particular kind of Christian subculture. But what does it mean? What does it mean to “believe” in God with your heart, instead of your head? And how does this language work as a mechanism of social control, beyond or beneath its surface meaning? Dan tackles these topics in this week’s episode. To Donate: venmo - @straightwhitejc ...

Brad is joined by Julian Walker and Matthew Remski, two of the hosts of the Conspirituality podcast and co-authors of the new book, Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Public Health Threat. Emma Hulbert provided research assistance for this episode. https://www.powells.com/book/conspirituality-9781541702981/1-2 Each of the three authors has witnessed firsthand the use of fear-based political agendas to manipulate the human desire for spiritual fulfillment. They throw a sp...

Brad and Dan begin by discussing the new Florida school curriculum that forces teachers to tell students that enslaved people received some benefit from their enslaved condition. Dan reports on Gov. Ron DeSantis' claim that enslaved people would have been able to develop trade skills and other "personal benefits." In the second segment Brad outlines the controversy surrounding Jason Aldean's song "Try That in A Small Town," explaining why it's code and what the history of lynching and other vio...

Why do so many on the Christian, cultural, and political right receive such obvious pleasure in enacting policies and legislation that harm others? Don’t they care about the harm they’re doing? And if not, why not? Dan tackles this issue in this week’s episode, taking a look empathy, and its lack, as key concept for answering these questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://swaj.supportingcast.fm

Brad is scheduled to speak on August 26th at an interfaith event held by the Metropolex Atheists. However, the city of Fort Worth refuses to allow the group to advertise. Brad speaks with Nick Fish, president of the American Atheists, on how the City is creating a false pretext to prevent a group of non-religious Americans from advertising their event in public. "Since at least 1998, Fort Worth has permitted nonprofit organizations to rent out space on downtown lamp posts to advertise events. T...

Brad and Dan begin by discussing a bombshell report at the New York Times outlining Trump's plans to completely transform the executive branch if he becomes president again. Brad analyzes how the playbook he and his team are using comes right from Orban's takeover of Hungary's government from within. In the second segment Dan analyzes the reports that Ron DeSantis is trying to create his own personal militia in Florida that would answer only to him and be deployed in matters of border security,...

Why do those on the religious and cultural right often describe transgender or gender-nonconforming identity as a mental illness? What is the relationship of “gender dysphoria” and trans or gender-nonconforming identity? Why would some who target trans and gender-nonconforming people claim that they are doing it because they care for them? And finally, how can we support trans and gender-nonconforming people and address the concrete effects of gender dysphoria? Dan takes on these issues in this ...

Brad speaks with veteran journalist Sarah Stankorb about her new book Disobedient Women. Disobedient Women is not just a look at the women who have used the internet to bring down the religious power structures that were meant to keep them quiet, but also a picture of the large-scale changes that are happening within evangelical culture regarding women’s roles, ultimately underscoring the ways technology has created a place for women to challenge traditional institutions from within. To Donate...

303 Creative Fallout, Tuberville, the Long Term Effects of Protest

The language of “religious freedom” is often used as a code for the preservation of traditional White Christian privilege in the US. But it is also used as a code for efforts to use religious ideology to influence the secular government, so that the beliefs of a minority of White conservative Christians in the US is forced onto the population as a whole. Dan explores this dimension of the contemporary code of “religious freedom” in this week’s episode. To Donate: venmo - @straightwhitejc Payp...

Last weekend Moms for Liberty held their national conference in Philadelphia. Annika Brockschmidt attended the conference. She talks to Brad about the protests outside the conference, conversations with rank and file members, and speeches from Trump, DeSantis, Haley, and many others. To Donate: venmo - @straightwhitejc Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/BradleyOnishi Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/straightwhiteamericanjesus Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC Order Brad's new ...

Brad begins with a long discussion of the Moms for Liberty conference in Philadephia. He centers his comments on the long history of "housewife populism" that goes back to the 1950s. Drawing on work from Gill Frank and Melissa Deckman, Brad argues that Moms for Liberty stands in a long lineage of grassroots movements led by women using the mantle of motherhood to advance an anti-LGBTQ and often White supremacist agenda. Piece by Gillian Frank: https://wearethemeteor.com/moms-for-liberty-history...

Myths, Data, Predictions

The Latest from SCOTUS

What does the SCOTUS decision on affirmative action have to do with the Don't Say Gay bills, book bans, and attacks on school curricula all over the country? How is is part and parcel of a certain White supremacist libertarianism? What are the ramifications for how we think of education and the ways our professional and legal domains are organized? Brad and Dan answer these questions and more in the Weekly Roundup. To Donate: venmo - @straightwhitejc Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/Br...

The language of “religious freedom,” “religious freedom restoration” laws, and so forth makes many of us uncomfortable. What does this language mean? Who deploys it? For what reasons? Where did it come from? In this first of a two-part episode, Dan explores these issues, looking at the emergence of the idea of religious freedom and how those who deploy it on today’s political and religious right have departed from its historical meaning. To donate: venmo - @straightwhitejc Paypal: https://www...

Jon Ward on "Testimony"

Brad and Dan dedicate this episode to discussing the state of reproductive rights, activism, and law one year since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Brad begins by going through the numbers on support for abortion in the country, policy and campaign surprises since Roe's fall, and the ways Democrats and Republicans have responded. In the second segment Dan outlines the American religious groups who are suing to have abortion bans overturned in their states on the basis of religious freedom. The ...

In this week’s episode, Dan explores and explains the practice of infant “dedications,” in contrast with the more familiar practice of infant baptism. Why do some churches reject infant baptism, but practice infant “dedication” instead? And what does this tell us about cultural “duplication” and its role within American evangelical subculture? Check out this week’s episode to find out. To donate: venmo - @straightwhitejc Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/BradleyOnishi Patreon: https://...

Brad shares the recording of a roundtable he hosted at Americans United's Summit for Religious Freedom. He asked Andrew Seidel, Katherine Stewart, and Rob Boston what they are worried about in the year ahead - and what gives them surprising amounts of hope as we careen toward 2024. They expound on SCOTUS, public schools, LGBTQ+ rights, and more. To donate: venmo - @straightwhitejc Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/BradleyOnishi Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/straightwhiteamericanjesus...

Brad and Dan begin by discussing the reactions to Trump's arraignment in Miami - from congresspeople calling for war, to Kari Lake talking about 75 million Americans with guns, to megachurch pastors exhorting their congregations to emulate religious terrorists. Brad points out that the anger over Trump's arraignment coincides with the rise of anti-trans rhetoric - from Trump himself to the KKK. In the second segment, Dan provides a long list of ways to learn about trans issues and how to become...