Crucible of Thought

I'm pleased to bring you a conversation with another author who wrote a book that I really found helpful in understanding aspects of American religious culture - and in this case, not just Christian, but also other faiths. Dr. Taylor wrote "The Violent Take It by Force", just released this fall, and we talk about interfaith issues as well as the dangers and challenges of Christian Nationalism.

The Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies: https://ICJS.org

"The Violent Take It by Force" https://amzn.to/4iCFi5Z

"Scripture People" https://amzn.to/4gdEra5

Jesus very clearly said His Kingdom was not of this world. We need to stop trying to change His mind about that.

You can also read this episode in blog form at

https://crucibleofthought.com/fits-and-starts/

Too often, Romans 13:1-2 is used as a bludgeon to coerce people into meekly giving in to the current political regime and gaslighting their appropriate Spirit-led responses to the politics du jour. I've grown up enough to recognize it as outright spiritual abuse. And I've never heard it preached anytime other than during trying political seasons. That needs to stop.

The blog post text version of this video:

https://crucibleofthought.com/stop-using-romans-13-as-a-bludgeon/

A couple good additional links:

https://knowingscripture.com/articles/romans-13-civil-disobedience-to-unconstitutional-unjust-laws

https://bible.org/article/paul-and-civil-obedience-romans-131-7

For the first time in my life, after almost 40 years voting 100% Republican, I voted as a Christian for a Democrat this year. Is that even possible? After four intensive years of rethinking my doctrines and politics, I have concluded that my former right-wing positions on abortion, LGBTQ, racism, 2A, welfare, climate, immigration, and Christian Nationalism were WRONG. I take some time to explain exactly why I reached these conclusions.

Read it here:

https://crucibleofthought.com/a-christian-voting-democrat/

Watch it here:

https://youtu.be/pqEa7rY9qAI

We're all being played by The Algorithm, every day, in almost every place we get our news. Here are some tips to take back some control.

Are we humans about to be bailed out of this mess of a world, or is our responsibility to fix it? I used to think we'd be raptured and Jesus would fix it instantly. But lately, I've concluded God gave us the authority and the power to redeem the earth ourselves, and we're in it for the long haul.

https://crucibleofthought.com/saying-goodbye-to-a-thanos-theology/

https://youtu.be/wTH68RF-1po

It's a common trope that conservatives lack empathy. Lately they've claimed it's even sinful. But I've found that the truth is more complex. We all have empathy; what matters is how it's applied, and to whom.

You can read this post in blog form (including all the links to data shared here) at https://crucibleofthought.com/a-new-look-at-empathy/

You can watch this in video form at https://youtu.be/rbQ4wgTkrqY

Here's a conversation with my friend Diego Mera. We talk a bit about our relationship and how we became friends, but one the reason I thought this would be an interesting conversation is that I consider myself a follower of Jesus and therefore a Christian, while Diego considers himself an atheist. And despite that significant difference, we've found a great value in our mutual relationship. I'd never actually spent much time talking with Deigo about his religious history, and this seemed like a perfect topic. By the time we're done, I think you'll see that we agree on a lot more than we disagree on, and even our points of disagreement are not points of dispute, but instead points of mutual growth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLCaFiPi2nQ

"Thou Shalt Not Listen to Taylor Swift" isn't going to produce the results that some parents think it will. Relationship is greater than rules.

I enjoyed a chat with Pastor Trey about his new book, "Theologizin' Bigger: Homilies on Living Freely and Loving Wholly", and his new online ministry "The Intention Church."

Video of this episode is also available on our YouTube channel.