Culture, Faith and Politics with Pat Kahnke

Kristi Noem was fired by Donald Trump — via Truth Social — while she was on stage praising him. Tonight I'm asking the question the Bible actually raises: is it wrong to celebrate when the wicked fall? And more importantly — is this justice, or just the beginning of it?

She grew up singing Christian nationalist anthems on a bus at 17. She watched her own church members storm the Capitol on January 6th. Now, April Ajoy is using comedy and theology to tear the whole thing down — and thousands of people are watching. In this interview, April Ajoy — author of Star Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding a True Faith — shares her journey from preacher's kid raised in MAGA Christianity to one of the most fearless voices exposing Christian nationalism on social media. We dig into toxic empathy, the dog whistles your pastor might be using, and why humor might be the most powerful weapon against the MAGA church.

The President of the United States has led the country into a war with Iran. There are many questions to ask, but will the answers ever be made clear? Pat and Ken Napzok talk about that and more on an all-new episode of Culture, Faith, and Politics live!

Six Americans are dead. Congress wasn't consulted. NATO says they're not coming. And the nuclear program Trump said he "obliterated" in June is the reason we're at war in March. There's a button on the Resolute Desk — when Trump pushes it, someone brings him a Diet Coke. That's real. And I think that button explains his entire approach to governing: Iran, Venezuela, tariffs, TikTok. Complex problems. Push-button solutions. None of them solved. In this episode, I trace the pattern — from the first Iran strikes that didn't work, to the Maduro extraction that changed nothing, to the tariffs that made the trade deficit worse — and explain why applying that same instinct to a war with Iran, without Congress, without allies, is the most dangerous thing an American president has done in a generation.

In this conversation with Tihomir Kukolja — a pastor who grew up under actual communist persecution in the former Yugoslavia — we expose the dangerous gap between real persecution and the loss of cultural privilege that MAGA Christianity has rebranded as suffering. From Constantine to the Reformation to the American founding, history tells us exactly what happens when the church seizes political power: the persecuted become the persecutors. Every. Single. Time. We trace the theological roots of Christian nationalism's persecution complex, examine how "loss of privilege" gets weaponized as martyrdom, and ask the question no one in the MAGA church wants to answer: if your faith requires state power to survive, is it really faith at all?

In his State of the Union address, Donald Trump declared that America is experiencing a “tremendous renewal in religion, faith, Christianity, and belief in God” — especially among young people. He even suggested that when God wants to perform miracles, He chooses a nation like ours. But is there any evidence of a religious revival? Or is this just another example of political manipulation wrapped in Christian language?

In this episode, Tim Whitaker (The New Evangelicals) joins me to expose the direct theological line connecting Moscow, Idaho pastor Doug Wilson to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

In this episode, former Bethel insider Amy Hawk joins me to expose how the "prophetic" machine around Sean Bolz allegedly used social media data mining, emotional manipulation, and a culture of silence to manufacture miracles and protect the brand. We walk through how Bethel leaders were warned, why they platformed a false prophet anyway, how "touch not God's anointed" theology suppresses discernment, and why this same authoritarian mindset shows up in Christian support for Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. If you've ever wondered how good people get swept into abusive ministries, or why so many churches rally to defend "anointed" leaders instead of vulnerable people, this conversation is for you.

The State of the Union is here, but what is the actual state of this union? Pat tells his tale of meeting the fine folks at the Bulwark, and he and Ken Napzok talk about Alysa Liu at the Olympics, U2’s song about Renee Good, and more on an all-new episode of Culture, Faith, and Politics live!