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In part three of the Dumb and Christendumber trilogy we look at the Christian Nationalist attack on empathy. We had this crazy idea that the concept of empathy would mesh well with Jesus teaching in the gospels that we should treat people how we want to be treated. Who could have imagined how right we were?

We take a deep dive into some critiques of empathy, explore some notoriously bad takes on the parable of the Good Samaritan, and in the end, establish that empathy is both a baseline Christian practice and a unifying value held across many belief systems (which is probably why Christendumber hates it so much). 

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In Part II of our "Dumb and Christendumber" mini series, we look at the origins of Christian Nationalism, the connection between Christian obedience cults and Christian Nationalism, and what Christian Nationalists ignore from the Bible.  

For our Bible passage we wish literalists would take literally we discuss Genesis 17: 15-22 where, in promising the birth of Isaac, God also promises to bless Ishmael who is considered the father of the Arab nations in many Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions.

There's a lot more in here and as always, plenty of tangents! 

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This is the first in a three part series exploring how the United States got to the current multi-faceted crisis. 

In Part I, we discuss how most of the moral and theological questions leading to the Civil War never really got resolved and have now come roaring back like a virus that's mutated into a stronger strain. 

In Part II, we'll look at the rise of Christian Nationalism and how myths of Christian America mix with Christian Reconstructionism to create the toxic concoction that is dismantling democratic institutions. 

In Part III, we'll try explain the concerted attack on the concept of empathy (led particularly by Christian Nationalists) and why that is...hoo boy...so dumb.

Our Bible Passage We Wish Literalists Would Take Literally for Episode 2 is 
I Timothy 6, vss 9-10.

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We’re back with Season 3 of A Christian and an Atheist Walk into a Bar and our theme is (totally coincidentally) Dystopian Non-fiction. In Episode 1, Neil gives us an update on the impact of the fires in LA and we discuss the efforts to dismantle the Federal Government. We’re also introducing two new regular segments: 1) Bible passages we wish biblical literalists would take literally and 2) things Neil thinks Americans should know about the rest of the world. So obviously, we will talk about Psalm 72 and English Premier League Darts.

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SPOILER ALERT: All the spoilers! If you have not watched the amazing series Reservation Dogs, just hit the mute button now! 

So we've finally reached what we are considering the final episode of Season 2 . The world is on fire literally and figuratively and so yeah, we're going to spend an hour talking about our favorite TV series maybe ever, Reservation Dogs.

If you're feeling numb from the chaos and just need a great, highly entertaining, thought provoking series to binge, go watch Rez Dogs. Then come back and listen to this episode. 

We'll be back soon with the start of Season 3 where we'll explore the theme of dystopian non-fiction. So it will be a lot less fun. 

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In Season 2 (ish) Episode 6, Neil relates an encounter with an unhoused person in LA, Dan (or Danzilla), who offered a very unique take on one of our favorite films, The  Big Lebowski.

We then take a deep dive into what Phil considers to be perhaps the most Big Lebowski story in the Old Testament, Judges 17-18, wherein Micah, a Levite, and the tribe of Dan very confidently get everything completely wrong.

We checked the "explicit material" box for this because there are a couple of F-bombs in honor of The Dude.

What we're drinking:

Phil: Sioux City Sarsaparilla
Neil: a White Russian

(What did you expect?)

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We were determined to do another holiday special and this year we wanted it to be about the Magi/astrologers in Matthew 2, which is technically not Christmas but Epiphany. The season of Epiphany begins on January 6 and runs all the way to Ash Wednesday (which this year is also Valentine's Day, so Ash Valentine's Day!) so we are getting this baby in right under the wire!

In this Epiphany special we discuss the wise astrologers from the East, Herod and other tinpot despots, and weird divination practices that hang around in the Bible even though they're not strictly sanctioned. We'll also discuss the meaning of tarot cards, modern day astrology, and a little quantum mechanics and chaos theory.

What we're drinking in this episode
Neil: Los Angeles tap water (!)
Phil: Lemon Zinger

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We wanted to do an episode on Critical Race Theory because it’s one of those phrases that has come to mean everything except what it is. We draw a careful (and we would argue obvious) distinction between discussing the history of race relations in the U.S. and Critical Race Theory as a  discrete legal movement addressing racism in the American system of justice. Along the way we dive into controversies surrounding important Black Christian writers like Jemar Tisby and Esau McCaulley and critique some of the gratuitous attacks on their work. 

So this one has been a long time coming. How long, you ask? So long ago Neil was attending a Dodgers/Pirates game in LA that very night. How long, you ask? So long ago running against “the woke mind virus” seemed like a winning strategy for Ron DeSantis. And yeah, the episode runs kinda long, but we hope it’s worth the wait for our regular listeners. If not, here are…

Three books that are better ways to spend your time than listening to this podcast:

Critical Race Theory: an Introduction by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic

The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby

Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley

What we’re drinking

Phil: Mighty Fortress Imperial IPA from Acrospire Brewing in Glenshaw, PA

Neil: whatever he got at the Dodgers/Pirates game later that night

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With both the writers and now the actors who play Neil and Phil on strike, it’s taken a while to get this episode (which was recorded on Easter Sunday 2023) out. Fortunately, the episode was completed by AI and we think you’ll notice a big improvement over the organic episodes. 

In Season 2 - Episode 3, “Neil” and “Phil” discuss the increasing brazenness around racism and fascism and explore the role disobedience plays in the story of creation and fall in Genesis. I, your Robot Overlord… uh… Neil and Phil… come to some surprising conclusions.

What we would be drinking if we were not a disembodied sentient computer program:

Phil - Blackhat Schwarz Bier, Akronym Brewing 

Neil - Tenshen red wine

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Humans don’t like being told what to do. Shocking, we know!

In Episode 2 we explore one of the three freedoms David Graeber and David Wengrow postulate in The Dawn of Everything, the freedom to disobey.  We start with how the freedom to disobey is expressed in the Old Testament prophets' relationship to the priesthood and the monarchy, and do a deep dive into I Kings 22 where Ahab and Jehoshaphat plan a battle with Aram. Only one prophet, Micaiah, is willing to say anything contrary to what Ahab wants to hear. (It’s a wild passage and Phil has never heard anyone preach on it in a lifetime of church attendance.)

We then explore how the freedom to disobey applies to contemporary issues like voting rights and in particular, the many problems with taking away the franchise of convicted criminals—even after they have completed their sentences. 

No beers for this episode. Neither of us were in the mood to drink, which is a shame really.