Culture, Faith and Politics with Pat Kahnke

John Hagee calls it prophecy. The White House Faith Office treats it as orthodoxy. We call it weaponized eschatology — and it is doing real damage to the gospel, to American evangelicalism, and to real human beings on the ground. In this conversation with Tihomir Kukolja, former Executive Director of the Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation, we examine Christian Zionism from the ground up.

Two things are not up for debate here: antisemitism is wrong, and Israel has a right to exist and defend herself. What IS up for debate is whether any modern nation-state — including the United States and Israel — earns a pass on justice because John Hagee drew it into a dispensational timeline.

In the midst of such an ugly timeline, here are a few rays of hope in American politics: Raphael Warnock's faith-informed brand of politics, James Talarico’s clear contrast with Ken Paxton in Texas, Jon Ossoff’s unmatched communication as he fights for reelection in Georgia, and Pete Buttigieg taking his case straight to Fox News. Pat Kahnke is joined by Adam Swenson to talk about the hopeful messages that are actually resonating with the American people — and why each of these matters right now.

Pat and Ken discuss all of this, and more, on this week's episode of Culture, Faith, and Politics, LIVE!

Senator Jon Ossoff’s speech at Berean Christian Church uses the biblical story of King Ahab, Jezebel, Naboth’s vineyard, and the prophet Micaiah to confront corruption, political power, and the danger of surrounding a ruler with people willing to lie for him.

Can you be a Christian and reject the Rapture? In this second episode of our Rapture series, I explain what I personally believe about Jesus, the resurrection, the return of Christ, and the detailed end-times systems often called Rapture theology. We will also consider how dispensational theology and Christian nationalism have been used to support MAGA politics, why certainty can be politically powerful, and how teachers such as John Hagee have connected prophetic theology to contemporary political movements.

The Pentagon first reported that 18 American service members had been killed in the Iran war. One day later, the official casualty count dropped to 14—after four soldiers killed in Jordan and Iraq were removed from the public list.

This episode examines what happened to Lt. Tyler James Feehan, Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, Sgt. Angel Rampersad, and Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, and asks why the Trump administration and the Department of Defense changed the public accounting of American war dead. It also places the controversy in the larger history of Donald Trump’s comments and conduct involving military service members, including Trump’s “suckers and losers” remarks about fallen soldiers.

Senator Jon Ossoff confronted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with the facts he did not want to answer. During a Senate hearing, Ossoff questioned Hegseth about the cost and results of the Iran conflict—and about Hegseth’s earlier claims that Iran’s military had been “destroyed,” rendered “combat ineffective,” and defeated in a “historic and overwhelming victory.”

But when Ossoff asked Hegseth to answer those claims with a simple yes or no, Hegseth deflected. In this episode, I examine Ossoff’s questioning, Hegseth’s shifting explanations, and the danger of cheerleading an irresponsible war

Doug Pagitt - a longtime pastor in the Twin Cities and the founder of Vote Common Good - joins Pat Kahnke and Adam Swenson to talk about the impact the Trump years are having on young people. We also hope to have a wide ranging discussion on the Emergent church, Doug's vision for Christians to engage in politics for the common good, and maybe even round it out with some guitar talk.

ICE agents have shot and killed two men during immigration enforcement encounters—Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine. This video examines the conflicting accounts, witness statements, and unanswered questions surrounding both ICE shootings.

Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda depends on thousands of ICE agents carrying out increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement operations. But what happens when the people being targeted are not “the worst of the worst”—and when the agents involved are not wearing body cameras?

For Christians, this is also a test of whether our stated beliefs about human dignity, justice, and the image of God can survive contact with political power.

Trump restarts the war, can't use Qatar Force One, and embarrasses himself at the World Cup: Pat and Ken discuss all of this, and more, on Culture, Faith, and Politics LIVE!