Weekly Roundup: State of the Onion

Brad and Dan begin by discussing the State of the Union address given by Pres. Biden this past week. Brad touches on Biden's main theme: how he is working to provide support, relief, funding for Americans in the form of infrastructure, healthcare, and price protections. On the other hand, Dan notes, the GOP reacted to the speech with consistent jeering and boos with Marjorie Taylor Green leading the way. This represents for both of them the ways that democratic processes have been eroded in the face of the perpetual culture wars waged by the GOP and the result of seeing your political opponent as enemies.

In the second segment they breakdown a long article by Timothy Keller at the Atlantic in which the pastor argues that Christianity can be saved in America if evangelicals are willing to clean up its image and prioritize justice. For the hosts, this is a classic evangelical rebranding exercise done in a faux intellectual vein.

This links to the topic of the third segment - the $100 million campaign "He Get Us," which is a marketing enterprise meant to introduce Americans to the ways of Jesus. While it seems to be POC centric and a message about welcoming the vulnerable - refugees and immigrants - the hosts dig into the funders and tell a deeper story . . .

Piece by Chrissy Stroop on He Gets Us: https://religiondispatches.org/behind-the-inclusive-sounding-ads-of-the-100-million-pr-blitz-for-jesus-its-the-same-old-white-conservative-fantasy/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC

Order Brad's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1506482163