Episodes

In this episode, Dan takes his lead from listeners who’ve written in about hearing that “God hates divorce,” that “the family that prays together, stays together,” and so forth. What does this language mean? How have theologically conservative and "traditional" Christians understood divorce? How has Christian rhetoric and messaging about divorce changed over time? Are those changes positive, or do they harbor negative dimensions as well once we decode them? Listen to the episode to find out! Si...

The Sincerity Test and Religious Liberty

Brad and Dan begin by discussing last night's J6 hearing, focusing on the 187 minutes between when violence erupted at the Capitol and when Trump finally released a video telling his followers to go home. They focus on the callousness of the Commander in Chief watching Fox News for three hours while the Capitol was attacked, police were killed, and the peaceful transfer of power was disrupted. Dan takes us through a leaked memo from AG Merrick Garland that states there won't be indictments befo...

“Church Family” What does it mean when a church or spiritual community refers to itself as a “family”? If this is intended as a statement of support and affirmation, why does it make some people feel uncomfortable? And how does it relate to common workplace ideas like being part of the “team” or “community”? Dan tackles all these questions in this episode. Sign up for the SWAJ seminar: straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/seminars Pre-Order Brad's new book, Preparing for War: The Extremist History ...

Brad and Dan discuss immigration, refugees, and White evangelicals with Dr. Janelle Wong, Core Faculty in Asian American Studies and Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland. Professor Wong discusses her new book on evangelicals and immigration in an era of policy change. Sign up for the SWAJ seminar: straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/seminars Pre-Order Brad's new book, Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next: https://www.ama...

This week’s episode focuses on the intersections of cultural and political debates about race, history, sexual violence, and abortion. Dan and guest co-host Professor Sara Moslener discuss a Fox new claim that "wokism" has taken over Thomas Jefferson's legacy because tour guides at Monticello now highlight his sexual relationships with the people he enslaved. Sara recounts her recent visit to Thomas Jefferson’s home in Monticello, VA and the lessons for understanding current debates a race, hist...

What does it mean when cultural and religious conservatives proclaim that they affirm a “culture of life?” We know it means that they oppose abortion and abortion access. But what else does it mean? In this episode, Dan dives in to decode this message to look at the racial, gender, and social positions that are encoded in this seemingly familiar slogan. Sign up for the SWAJ seminar: straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/seminars Pre-Order Brad's new book, Preparing for War: The Extremist History of ...

Brad speaks with Stanford scholar of religion Dr. Kathryn Gin Lum about her new book Heathen. They discuss how White American Christians have used the label "heathen" in order to name those they deem not only different, but in need of saving. In this context, "saving" often meant the occupation of native lands, the overtaking of entire cultures, and the exclusion of those "unassimilable" to the American way of life. Race continues to operate as a heathen inheritance in the United States, animati...

Brad is joined by guest co-host Dr. Leah Payne. They begin by discussing how many White Americans - especially White Christian nationalists - view the national body as straight, White, patriarchal, and American-born. This framework helps guide a discussion on the drastically different reactions law enforcement took in the cases of Jayland Walker, who was shot by police 60 times in Akron, Ohio, and the Highland Park shooter who was apprehended without violence after he allegedly killed 7 people a...

What does it mean when Christians say that we “live in a fallen world”? Where does that language come from? Most importantly, what to different kinds of Christians do with that language? Dan tackles these topics in this episode, discussing what different kinds of Christians imagine when they describe the world as “fallen,” how they think we should respond to that, and exploring how that plays out in our contemporary culture. Pre-Order Brad's new book, Preparing for War: The Extremist History o...

Brad speaks with Dr. Kelsy Burke, a sociologist from the University of Nebraska, who discusses her new book The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America's Obscene Obsession. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/pornography-wars-9781635577365/ Burke spent the last five years researching and interviewing internet pornography's opponents and its sympathizers. She does a deep dive into the long history of pornography in America and then turns her gaze on our present society to examine th...

Brad and Dan are back together. They begin by discussing the validity and significance of Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony at the J6 hearing this week. Brad implores us not to get distracted by claims that her account of certain episodes is being disputed by off-the-record sources who won't testify under oath in front of the nation. They then turn to SCOTUS. Dan breaks down the religious freedom case in which the Court ruled that praying after football games is part of the free exercise of religi...

In this episode, Dan decodes a phrase that A LOT of listeners have contacted him about: the claim that Christians are called to “love the sinner, but hate the sin.” What does this mean? What kind of Christian claim is this? Why does it strike such a nerve among those who hear it? Dan tackles these questions in the episode. Pre-Order Brad's new book, Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christ...

Brad is joined by writer R.L. Stollar who discusses his recent article on Voddie Baucham and the Stay at Home Daughter Movement. Baucham may not be a household name-but he was nearly elected the president of the largest Protestant denomination in the country just over a week ago. According to Stollar, Bacuham is a pillar in the SAHD movement, which "argues that girls should remain at home—even after they become adult women—and submissively serve their fathers until they’re married." Here is how...

+ SCOTUS Makin You Pay

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 do they presuppose about authority, control, and Christian identity? Decoding these admonitions helps us to answer these questions. SWAJ Apparel is here! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/listing/not-today-uncle-ron For access to the full Orange Wave ...

The Secular Paradox

+ AR-15 Christology

2 Minutes From a Massacre

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 on. Like so many other uses of popular religious language, this language tells us a great deal about the identity of those who talk this way, who the “real” Christian are, and who they aren’t. SWAJ Apparel is here! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/list...

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 then rapidly, the gun lobby, conservative politicians, Second Amendment absolutists, and the rest find every conceivable other possible thing to focus on, starting with “thoughts and prayers” and moving on to hardening school buildings. The mass shooting at Robb Elementary Scho...

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 knew that there was no legal basis for contesting the election, whether via voting machines, vote counts, or anythign else. Two, that there was a months-long conspiracy to stop the certification of the election by the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. They then focus on Tucker ...

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 first of paired episodes, Dan explores this question, decoding the different ideas of “salvation” and Christian identity that define and structure so much of the terrain of contemporary American religion. For access to the full Orange Wave series, click here: https://irreverent....

From Azusa Street to Bethel Redding to Guatemala, Toronto, and Back Again