Blake Chastain created the ExVangelical hashtag and helped start a movement that has grown into what is now known as the "deconstruction" movement. Through this community on both twitter and in real life, I've met so many super cool people, including Blake, who I consider a friend today. Someday we'll hang in person, but this episode actually has me wondering if we might BE the same person in some sort of mishap with the space/time continuum. Until we get that sorted out, this episode has Blake talking his time at Indiana Wesleyan University where he began deconstructing from evangelical christianity. He had some great professors who challenge him and inspired him, and he had the typical professors who seemed as interested in fundamentalist indoctrination as teaching their subjects. But Blake has forged his own path of not just deconstruction, but decolonization, as he speaks often about his recognition of privilege as a White man and pushes back at White supremacy and complimentarianism. 

This episode begins with another meeting of the Asian American Secret Society with Brad Onishi and Nate Nakao and I discussing whether or not to let a new member into the group, Veterans of Culture Wars co-host, Zach Malm. I should have probably written a script for this one, but we had fun just vamping improv-style. 

Chapel Probation is part of the Dauntless Media Collective

Music by Scott Okamoto, Jenyi, and Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford

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In this first episode of Chapel Probation After Hours we have Asha Dahya, a writer, filmmaker and reproductive rights activist talking about her work and her reaction to S2.E14 with Carla Godwin. We spend the time talking about the connection between the patriarchy and misogyny of Carla's experiences at Grace University and the dismantling of reproductive rights today. Asha is currently in the final week of fundraising for her short documentary, "Someone You Know" which showcases 3 stories of women desperately needing abortions and the nightmare of navigating the anti-choice landscape of today. If you're reading this description before November 8, 2022, please consider giving to the project on Asha's Kickstarter campaign at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ashadahya/someone-you-know. Give what you can and know you are helping the cause of women's reproductive and health rights by having these important stories get out into the world. 

You can follow all of Asha's work on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Ashadahya and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ashadahya/. 

Chapel Probation is part of the Dauntless.fm Media Collective

Music by Scott Okamoto, Jenyi https://www.instagram.com/jenyimusic/, and Shin Kawasaki  (https://shinkawasaki.bandcamp.com/album/shin-kawasaki) and Wingo Shackleford (https://www.instagram.com/wingoshack/)

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Zach Malm came from a family prominent in the Vineyard church world and went to Seattle Pacific University where he was sorely disappointed in both the theological depth and the academic rigor. He ended up seeking these things at a new startup church called Mars Hill. Yes, that Mars Hill. The good news Is that Zach would eventually be credited with bringing Mars Hill down when he revealed to the world that a misogynistic asshole posting on the church website was none other than head pastor Mark Driscoll, himself. He deconstructed during the Trump era and now is a co-host of the Veterans of Culture Wars  podcast. 

You can hear more about Zach's epic tale of taking down Mars Hill Church on the Full Mutuality Podcast, and his own VCW podcast.

Bonus this week: We wrote and recorded a song. It's called, "Jesus Is Cool- A-minor Worship). We joked on the VCW podcast that there weren't any worship songs in A-minor, so we decided to write a deconstruction "worship" song. Mr. ExVangelical, himself, Blake Chastain, joined the choir at the end. The song is up on Scott's soundcloud.

Chapel Probation is part of the Dauntless Media Collective

Music by Scott Okamoto, Jenyi, and Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford

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Josie Jimenez arrived at APU the semester after I left. Her 4 years culminated with the 2016 election and swearing into office Donald Trump, which made a lot of sense to her as she witnessed the rise of the alt-right at APU. But those 4 years helped Josie find both her community and her sense of purpose to push back at bigotry and oppression. As she shed her upbringing in Pentecostal and Baptist churches and found herself in opposition to fundamentalist teachings at APU, Josie found purpose and identity. She is a co-creator of the Speaking in Church podcast with her good friend Spencer Rose Taylor, and together they talk about "about everything from current events and how your theology informs your responses to them to other hot topics in the church." 

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Music by Scott Okamoto, Jenyi, and Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford

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John Verner and Chris Loux went to the Moody Bible Institute in Spokane, Washington in the years leading up to the Trump era. Like most guests of Chapel Probation, they came in on fire for their respective brands of fundamentalist faith, with John coming from a Calvinist background. Amazingly, these two became unlikely friends through their shared love of music, even though Chris had a completely different background. They both quickly began deconstructing their faiths as they learned more and asked questions. What really impressed me, though, is how these two white men, coming from vastly different backgrounds, both began decolonizing in the midst of some pretty hard deconstruction of their theologies and their faiths. They saw the overt racism, anti-LGBTQIA hatred, and misogyny in evangelical culture, and they pushed back. 

John is the creator of the Cult of Christianity podcast today, and his second season should be starting around the time of this episode's release. And even though John and Chris now live on opposite coasts, they are still great friends with Chris often joining John on the podcast. These young men give me hope for the future of this movement centered around deconstruction, and I'm so glad I've gotten to know them this year. 

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Music by Scott Okamoto, Jenyi, and Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford

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While many of the guests on Chapel Probation explored and developed their identities as they actively fought against the bigoted culture at their evangelical schools, Bruce Whyte came to APU and never felt like those movements and the spaces that birthed them were for him. But Bruce was not a typical BIPOC student at APU whose mind was colonized by whiteness. Quite the opposite. Bruce just came to APU with an already developed sense of self as a Black man whose perspectives just didn't quite match those of the student groups trying to foment a new revolution at APU. Bruce was a keen observer of what was going on, though, and he used his observations and experiences to shape who he would become as an ordained chaplain. There is so much wisdom and insight into race, the human condition, and so much compassion and empathy in Bruce today, and his negative experiences at APU played in role in Bruce's growth as a person and as a chaplain. 

No Chapel Probation Players this week. Instead I took time to honor a former colleague, Dr. Matthew Hauge, who bore the brunt of the the dysfunction and brokenness of the BIPOC community at APU. 

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Music by Scott Okamoto, Azeem Kahn, and Jenyi, and Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford

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Adrianne and her twin sister Analiese grew up just blocks from APU in the city of Azusa. They had no idea that the city they knew and loved had an enclave of mostly wealthy, predominantly White people who looked down on them and saw them as unsaved because they were Catholics. And unlike other BIPOC students on this podcast who found pockets of safety in the Multi-Ethnic Programs or in Haven, Adrianne struggled, at first, to find a place to just exist without judgment and condemnation. As someone who didn't speak Spanish, she didn't feel welcome in LASA. She had to hear students, faculty, and staff talk about the "dangers" of the city of Azusa outside the walls of the APU campus. She faced overt racism. And she had to  endure constant scorn and criticism of her, then, Catholic faith. 

Incredibly, Adrianne taught herself how to push back at the many layers of bigotry she faced. She engaged her classes and classmates, and she argued with her professors. In the end, the crucible that is APU molded Adrianne into a tough, compassionate person who fought for others as much as she fought for herself. 

It's a emotional ride to the end of this episode, and Adrianne shares a piece of her past self that paints APU as the bigoted, awful place it is for people like us. 

This week's Chapel Probation Players introduces Naomi Ko, an actress, writer, and filmmaker best known for her role in the film version of Dear White People and the Mortified podcast and documentary on Netflix.

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Music by Scott Okamoto,  Jenyi, and Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford

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Matthew came to APU looking like the prototypical APU man. He was a White guy from Orange County who attended a megachurch, but he came to school knowing he was not a straight man. As he navigated his faith and tried to reconcile it with his sexuality, he quickly discovered that he needed to push back at the professors spewing lies and hate at LGBTQIA people. He grew tired of the ridiculously bad academics in his liberal studies and education courses, so he took a second major in psychology to get some sense of an academic experience. It turns out pastors do not necessarily make good college professors. It also turns out the psychology department, at the time, hired and supported bigoted professors who spewed lies and evangelical bullshit. 

In this episode, Matt brings the heat with notes about all of his stories. We didn't even get to all of them, but this episode is an indictment of both the low-level academics and the bigoted views of the faculty at all evangelical schools. 

This week's Chapel Probation Players has Audrey Okamoto, Allen Okamoto (Scott's nephew), and Owen Okamoto playing APU students.

Chapel Probation is part of the Dauntless Media Collective

Music by Scott Okamoto, Azeem Kahn, and Hauskatt (Jen Lee) aka Jenyi, and Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford

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Ashley Dunston went to Vanguard University in Orange County, California, where she realized that evangelical culture coddled and supported her abusive father more than it supported her. Women get asked to forgive abuse from men all the time, and Ashley was asked to do everything she could to reconcile with a man who didn't respect her as a person for the sake of following the "biblical" principle of family values. Along the way, Ashley began deconstructing her faith, with help from some solid professors who looked out for her, and she started to live life without evangelical fear. She eventually met, fell in love with, and married a man who supports her as she is. 

You can hear more of Ashley's story on the Profane Faith podcast here.

This week's Chapel Probation Players episode is a cringe-fest with Audrey Okamoto, Scott's daughter playing the purity culture victim role. No daughters were harmed in the production of this episode. But we did feel gross. 

Chapel Probation is part of the Dauntless Media Collective

Music by Scott Okamoto, Azeem Kahn, Jenyi, and Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford

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