Blessed Are the Binary Breakers

Despite growing up in a heavily conservative Christian town, Azura Rose (they/she) was raised by parents who encouraged them to ask questions and explore religion on their own. They are now a Satanist in Toronto, as well as a cosplayer & sex worker. In this episode, Azura discusses the beliefs & activism of The Satanic Temple, as well as what it's like to be a queer, goth, disabled sex worker.

Listen (or read along with the episode transcript) to find out what Satan & Jesus have in common; what was up with all the backlash around Lil Nas X's single Montero; how some of Azura's clients have supported them on their gender journey; and much more.

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussions of child sexual abuse; bullying & religious trauma + threats of hell; mention of grandparent deaths

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Talking Points:

(0:00 - 2:30) Housekeeping

Learn more about The Satanic Temple at thesatanictemple.com/pages/about-us

Resources for supporting sex workers:

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This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. This episode also makes use of "Camilla" by Jeremy SH Griffith.

Neville and Avery talk about the weird Renaissance tendency to depict babies as small men; how stereotypes about cuckolded husbands influenced artists' depictions of Joseph; why the Church was so scandalized by Caravaggio's sex worker Madonnas AND the presence of dirty feet on Saints and pilgrims; and more. As you listen, Avery invites you to ponder: what is considered decent and moral in your own time and place, and why?

For a larger conversation with Neville in which they discuss being an Australian queer Catholic who both studies and creates art, look back to episode 38: "Finding the Power in Our Queerness and Rebellion in Our Love."

Click here for the episode transcript.

Avery invites you to learn how to be an ally to sex workers through resources like this one.

And here is the link to their conversation with a friend on Cain, Abel, and disability that they promote at the start of this ep!

Talking points:

(0:00 - 5:56) Introducing the episode + promotion of "Abel-ism" ep

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Blessed Are the Binary Breakers is part of the Rock Candy Podcast Network. Find more shows, such as Bubble & Squeak, at  www.rockcandyrecordings.com.

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn.

This episode is a sharing of an episode that first aired on the Bible Bash Podcast on November 30, 2020. Check out more from Bible Bash at https://biblebashpodcast.com/.

By taking on Hosea 11:9, Avery Smith cracks open a rich discussion with Bible Bash co-hosts Liam Hooper and Peterson Toscano.

Avery writes: “I interpret God’s declaration 'For I am God and not a man' in Hosea 11:9 as, among other things, evidence of Their rejection of being assigned a human gender and the roles implied therein.”

Could God be making a declaration of gender? What is Hosea the prophet trying to do and say to the people? And what about God’s radical swings from tenderness to threats of violence?

In addition to covering these topics and more, Avery highlights best practices for ministers and places of worship when addressing non-binary people by name and pronoun.

The entire conversation is fresh, insightful, and a lot of fun.

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Blessed Are the Binary Breakers is part of the Rock Candy Podcast Network. Find more shows, such as the Bible Bash Podcast, at   www.rockcandyrecordings.com.

Avery was delighted to be on their friend Laura's Autistic Liberation Theology podcast; this episode features a clip from a longer conversation on "Toxic Mask-ulinity" that you can listen to at anchor.fm/laura-sommer.

In this clip, Laura introduces the concept of autistic masking — concealing parts or all of yourself in order to survive in an allistic (non-autistic) world — and relates it to similar trans experiences; then Laura and Avery connect these concepts to the 1 Kings 19 story of God coming to Elijah not in fire or earthquake, but in a "still small voice." What message do we find in God meeting Elijah's feelings of frailty with vulnerability of Their own? How does God make use of "masks" to accommodate us humans?

Click here for the episode transcript.

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Talking Points:

(0:00 - 4:30) Intro — an update from Adam Richards, the guest from episodes 3 & 5 back in 2019, on their journey in Methodist ministry!

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Blessed Are the Binary Breakers is part of the Rock Candy Podcast  Network. Find more shows, such as Magnified Pod, at  www.rockcandyrecordings.com.

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. This episode also includes "Sept 15 Jam" by Jeremy SH Griffith.

When we delve into any holy text together, we all come away the richer for it — just as Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch enriched one another during their odd desert encounter, each sharing what they found in the prophet Isaiah. 

In this episode, Avery shares a sermon they wrote on Acts 8:26-40 that draws not only from many transgender theologians but also from a conversation with a handful of people who all brought their unique insights to the story. Philip can be read as autistic, the eunuch as trans — and so much more! What unique experiences do we need YOU to share to expand our understanding of this story even further?

Click here for the episode transcript.

Talking Points:

(0:00 - 4:53) Introducing Acts 8 and sermon background

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Blessed Are the Binary Breakers is part of the Rock Candy Podcast Network. Find more shows, such as Bible Bash, at www.rockcandyrecordings.com.

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. This episode also includes "Mod 4" and "Sept 15 Jam" by Jeremy SH Griffith. 

April Willow Castillo knows what it is to believe yourself to be the only queer person in all of Peru; to question your sexuality while in Catholic youth group in the US; and to finally grow into yourself at a university supportive of LGBT faculty and students. 

In this episode, April discusses how the love of God has pulled her from depressive states and religious trauma into deep joy and pride in being herself and bonding with other Hispanic queer folk. She also talks about LGBT community in Peru and the US; the history of Indigenous and Catholic religion in Peru; and how God is often twisted into a political weapon in the US.

Click here for an episode transcript.

Content warnings: swearing; depression; grandparent's death; homophobia & transphobia from friends, family, & faith leaders; internalized queerphobia; brief mentions of conversion therapy

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Talking Points:

(0:00 - 5:35) Introducing April - Latina trans Catholic university student, Peruvian immigrant, aspiring gamer girl

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Blessed Are the Binary Breakers is part of the Rock Candy Podcast  Network. Find more shows, such as Hot Tea Hot Takes, at  www.rockcandyrecordings.com.

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. This episode also includes "Damage" by EleventySeven.

Avery shares their sermon from a recent worship service centered around the goodness of all bodies - particularly those the world labels broken or lesser. When so many of us are made to feel imprisoned by our own flesh, how do we embrace embodiment as something holy? Let's look to ancient interpretations of the first human (ha-adam) as intersex; connect this human's story to gender affirming surgery; and explore Jesus's choice to rise in a physical body with disabling wounds to discover how what the world calls broken, God calls Good.

Click here for an episode transcript.

Talking Points:

(0:00 - 7:27) Intro: unlearning Greco-Roman dualism that pits spirit over flesh; learning how autistic stimming connects our minds & bodies

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Blessed Are the Binary Breakers is part of the Rock Candy Podcast Network. Find more shows, such as Bible Bash, at www.rockcandyrecordings.com.

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. This episode also makes use of Jeremy SH Griffith's pieces "Mod 5," "Sept 15 Jam," "Camilla," and "Mod 2."

The scriptures and liturgy that Christian communities read during Holy Week, the week we commemorate Jesus's arrest and crucifixion, have borne violent antisemitic fruit across the centuries. Particularly poisonous is the "Solemn Reproaches of the Cross," or Improperia, which pins the blame for Jesus' death squarely on the Jewish community. In this episode, Avery shares the alternative liturgy they wrote, with the hope that it might be a jumping off point for conversations on this topic. Rather than pretending the "Solemn Reproaches" never existed, Christians must grapple with it, guide our communities in understanding why it is so evil, and thus move towards acknowledging and dealing with our antisemitism, past and present.

Click here for an episode transcript.

Find the referenced article by Amy-Jill Levine with its strategies for dealing with problematic New Testament texts here. 

Avery also published their alternative text at binarybreakingliturgy.com. 

Blessed Are the Binary Breakers is part of the Rock Candy Podcast Network. Find  more shows at www.rockcandyrecordings.com.

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. "August" & "Knowing" by Jeremy SH Griffith, as well as "Gold Beamer" by Mother Hood, are also used in this episode.

Amy Neville (he, she, or they pronouns) is a 21-year-old Australian art historian & artist whose work celebrates being both Catholic & queer. In this episode, Avery and Neville discuss Neville's life and how they've learned to stand up for themself and other queer persons; the way women & queer artists have used textile arts over the years; and Europe’s Renaissance Period, focusing on queer artists who navigated adhering to & rebelling against the Catholic Church's rules for art in that period.

Click here for an episode transcript.

Find Neville on instagram @krem.caramel; check out their work at amyneville.art.

Talking Points:

(0:00 - 4:51) A reminder to Christians to confront antisemitism in Holy Week - see here for Amy-Jill Levine's article

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Blessed Are the Binary Breakers is part of the Rock Candy Podcast Network. Find more shows, such as Magnified Pod, at www.rockcandyrecordings.com.

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. "August" and "Mod 5" by Jeremy SH Griffith are also used in this episode.

In this first episode focusing on the interconnections between trans & disability communities & theologies, Avery draws from Mel Baggs' theory of embedded forms of oppression to describe how ableism is at the heart of many manifestations of transphobia, including pathologization and coerced treatments. 

When transness is perceived as a disability, and disability is perceived as brokenness, the logical result is to try to "fix" or "cure" the trans individual - as evinced in the non-affirming "disability framework" through which some Christians view transness as a symptom of a Fallen world. How can trans persons and disabled persons join together to fight their similar battles, within faith communities and beyond?

Click here for an episode transcript.

Talking Points:

(0:00 - 5:13) Introducing the topic: why we must be anti-ableist in order to be anti-transphobic

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Blessed Are the Binary Breakers is part of the Rock Candy Podcast  Network. Find more shows, such as Bible Bash, at  www.rockcandyrecordings.com.

This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. "Gold Beamer" and "Can't Find" by MotherHood are also used in this episode.