In this LIVE episode of The Convocation Unscripted, the team talks about the bright line Trump has crossed, as we witness his first overt attempts to turn America into a militarized police state. He’s creating a made-for-TV authoritarian reality show. It’s West Coast/East Coast split screen features Trump’s escalation of conflict by deploying the national guard and the marines in LA and his vain $45 million military parade in DC. It’s classic authoritarian propaganda: chaos and threatening brown people juxtaposed with displays of force and order—all meant to project the great white leader as the king, the only one who can save the country. We also talked about the tragic death of Jennifer Lyell, who survived alleged sexual abuse at the hands of her Southern Baptist seminary professor. After speaking out, she was smeared by church leaders, lost her job, and ultimately lost her life at age 47. Meanwhile, at the SBC annual meeting--amid this loss, the denomination's own refusal to address rampant sexual abuse in its own ranks, and the attacks on our democracy by the man Southern Baptists were instrumental in bringing to power--the leaders at the meeting determined that the most pressing issues God was calling them to address were overturning the legality of marriage equality and banning women from being pastors. Finally, we talk about the importance of resistance in all its forms and about empathy and solidarity as the antidote to authoritarianism.

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