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Religious difference is integral to life in the United States. Each religious tradition and community exists within a mosaic of cultural, historical, social, ethnic, and racial contexts. Trying to find the balance and create an urgency for interreligious pluralism is not a mission that many would choose to take on willingly, but this week we speak with a person who works for such an organization that has made it their goal to do just that.  Heather Miller Rubens is the Executive Director and Roman Catholic Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (ICJS). She is responsible for advancing the organization’s vision to build an interreligious society in which dialogue replaces division, friendship overcomes fear, and education eradicates ignorance.

The Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (ICJS) believe engaging religious difference is necessary and transformative. The ICJS works to dismantle religious bias and bigotry to foster an interreligious society in which dialogue replaces division, friendship overcomes fear, and education eradicates ignorance. Through courses, fellowships, online events, and scholarship initiatives, ICJS builds learning communities where religious difference becomes a powerful force for good. ICJS is an independent 501c3 nonprofit organization. More information is at icjs.org.

The Urgency of Interreligious Pluralism: https://icjs.org/resource/the-urgency-of-interreligious-pluralism/

Guest Bio:
Heather Miller Rubens is the Executive Director and Roman Catholic Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (ICJS). She is responsible for advancing the organization’s vision to build an interreligious society in which dialogue replaces division, friendship overcomes fear, and education eradicates ignorance. Rubens is an experienced teacher, public speaker, facilitator, and practitioner of interreligious learning and dialogue. She develops educational initiatives that foster interreligious learning and conversation for the public in the Baltimore-Washington corridor and online. Rubens is a member of the Committee on Ethics, Religion and the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a board member of the Washington Theological Consortium, and an invited member of the Christian Scholars Group. She has served in leadership positions with the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations and the Catholic Theological Society of America. She is a member of the 2019 Class of The Baltimore Leadership. Rubens holds degrees from Georgetown University (B.A.), the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (G.Dip.), and the University of Chicago (A.M. and Ph.D.). In her research and writing Rubens creatively focuses on the theoretical, theological, ethical, and political implications of affirming religious diversity and building an interreligious society.

Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091

Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/

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Our guest this week is Mark Charles, Native American Activist, Author and Pastor. He has a lot to say about the state of our union and the Doctrine of Discovery. So what is the Doctrine of Discovery? I think Mark explains this clearly in an article he wrote in 2019 for the Faith and Leadership online magazine:

"The Doctrine of Discovery is a series of papal bulls, or edicts, of the Catholic Church. The first one, from 1452, is titled Dum Diversas, written by Pope Nicholas V. It authorized the Portuguese to “invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans, … reduce their persons to perpetual slavery, and … convert them to … their use and profit” [as detailed in the follow-up Romanus Pontifex of 1455].

It’s the church in Europe saying to the nations of Europe, “Wherever you go, whatever land you find not ruled by white European Christian rulers, those people are subhuman, and their land is yours to take.”

So this was adopted by European nations both [in efforts] in Africa to colonize and enslave people and by Columbus to land in this “New World,” which is already inhabited by millions, and claim to discover it. You cannot discover lands already inhabited. That’s called stealing. The fact that we refer to what Columbus did as “discovery” reveals the implicit racial bias, which is that native people, people of color, aren’t fully human."

This episode does a deep dive into this dangerous doctrine and using his heavily researched book ("Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery") Mark gives us on a wild history lesson on its impact. We also discuss how the false deification of some of America's most prominent icons (ie: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Abraham Lincoln, etc) may not necessarily deserve the praise they've received. There's enough in this episode to offend everyone!

If you'd like to purchase his book, which we highly recommend, you can purchase it here: https://wirelesshogan.com/2022/10/27/unsettling-truths/


Guest Bio:
Mark Charles is a speaker, writer, and consultant. The son of an American woman (of Dutch heritage) and a Navajo man, Mark teaches the complexities of American history regarding race, culture, and Christendom in order to help forge a path of healing and conciliation for the nation. In 2012, Mark hosted a public reading at the US Capitol of the buried apology to Native peoples in the 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill given by the 111th Congress. He is the co-author of the book, Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery, and he authors the blog Reflections from the Hogan. He is a co-founder of the Would Jesus Eat Frybread? college-conference series and has served on the boards of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and the Christian Community Development Association. In 2020 Mark ran as an independent candidate for the presidency of the United States, advocating for a Truth and Conciliation Commission – a formal and national dialogue on issues of race, gender, and class.

Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091

Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/

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Clay Clark is a successful Oklahoma-based entrepreneur, podcaster and founder, organizer, emcee and host of the ReAwaken America Tour. Clay has devoted his life over the last few years trying to wake people up to what he believes is dangerous COVID-19 government overreach and globalism through the plans in the Great Reset, an economic recovery plan drawn up by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in response to the pandemic. Clark came to prominence when he sued the city of Tulsa in August of 2020 to end the city’s mask mandate and to fight against business and church closures. His unique ability to promote ideas and events  has easily helped him bring the ReAwaken Tour to the mainstream. By teaming up with former National Security Advisor, General Michael Flynn, he has turned the ReAwaken Tour into a powerful movement that combines elements of faith, politics, anti-government sentiment and with the addition of Jim Breuer, comedy.

In this interview your political host (Will Wright) and faithful host (Pastor Josh) speak with Clay about the origins of the ReAwaken Tour and how he ended up partnering with General Flynn. Clay opens up about his early family life and talks about the miracle of his son's blindness being healed, and why he has serious trust issues when it comes to politicians and pastors. Will asks him about the more conspiratorial side of his beliefs from the QAnon connections with the ReAwaken Tour to his thoughts about the vaccine, and Pastor Josh asks about his process of choosing who he trusts for information.  Finally we end with a quick discussion about the most recent lawsuit from former Dominion Voting Systems employee Eric Coomer.

If you happen to catch the YouTube version you may also see Clay present masks of WEF founder Klaus Schwab and his disciple, historian Yuval Noah Harari, and audio recordings he had pre-loaded and played for us.  Needless to say this was a wild interview and one that you'll likely never forget.

NOTE: During the interview Clay Clark presented some audio of individuals that Faithful Politics was unable to verify. Additionally there were comments made about the Vaccine and testing for COVID-19 that Faithful Politics does not agree with or support. We are choosing to air the interview in full, because we feel an important part of having civil dialogue is allowing the voices of those who we may not agree with to have  an equal say in the issues that affect all of us.

Guest Bio:
Clay is the author of 13 books, the co-founder of 5 humans kids and the founder of the online business education platform which trains thousands of business people in 41 countries (in which he is a partner of NBA Hall of Fame Basketball Hall of Fame Member, David Robinson). 

He is an award-winning speaker, contributing writer for Entrepreneur Magazine, the former United States Small Business Administration Entrepreneur and the speaker that Yahoo! Finance has described as the “Jim Carey of entrepreneurs. His energy is infectious, his smile all goofball and his honesty is disarming.” 

Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091

Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/

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This week Pastor Josh Burtram (Faithful Host) interviews his cohost, Will Wright (Political Host) who just returned back to his podcast seat after a harrowing medical endeavor with his 9 year old son, Jericho. On February 13th, Jericho was admitted to the hospital to undergo treatment and observation for a rare disease called Gastroparesis.  This disease has left Jericho feeling nauseous, unable to gain weight, and as the doctor claimed, he was failing to thrive. The doctors at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) hospital knew this was a unique medical condition so they wanted to make this a case study. To begin they started with a brain MRI to rule out any psychological conditions that might have made it difficult for this young boy to tolerate and digest food adequately. What they found instead was a surprise to everyone. A rare posterior fossa brain tumor.

On this episode Pastor Josh talks with Will about this journey, how he processed this information about his first born child, and the toll its taken on him and his family. Will then takes some time to thank all of his friends, family, audience, previous guests and others for the love and support he and his family have received during this time.

This episode clearly doesn't focus on faith or politics, but the hosts thought it was important to memorialize this experience because of how rare it is. They hope that other families who go through this can feel comforted and know they aren't alone, and Will personally wants to make himself available to those who have young ones who may have either Gastroparesis or a brain tumor, as you'll hear in the episode how important community was throughout this experience.

If you'd like to support Will and his family, please consider giving a donation to the GoFundme account that was set up for Jericho: https://gofund.me/468a307b

Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091

Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/

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Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, suggest a future guest, or connect with us directly?

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faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore

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Subscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:
faithfulpolitics.substack.com

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Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected]

Your Political Host, Will Wright, spent most of the last two weeks in a hospital with his son who had a brain tumor removed. As a result we were unable to record a session for this week. Instead we are replaying some of our favorite episodes that really helped our understanding of some of today's biggest issues. If you're interested in learning more about Will's son, please visit: https://gofund.me/468a307b



In the last and final installment of our Pride Month special called, "Be Curious, Not Judgemental", we speak with a doctor who provides gender affirming care for children. 

During the Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) asked  “Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?” as she questioned Jackson about a transgender athlete. Depending on where you sit politically will likely determine your level of response to her answer, “Can I provide a definition? No. I can’t,” responded Jackson.

In this episode, we discuss several issues regarding gender that have made their way into mainstream media. To start us off Dr. Pham discusses the important role of providing gender affirming care to children, and dispels some often cited myths about what that care actually includes. We then have a much broader conversation about gender, and how we should view it. Lastly they discuss how transgender issues aren't just a new phenomenon but rather something that has always existed, but is just now getting the attention it deserves. 

Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091

Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/

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faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore

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patreon.com/cw/FaithfulPolitics

Subscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:
faithfulpolitics.substack.com

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Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected]

It seems as if every week the FBI search is searching the home of a person who has used, or still using, the title President or Vice President. These stories seem to be so ubiquitous that they are no longer newsworthy, well that definitely didn't stop our hosts from learning something about the world of document classification from a person who knows a thing or two about it. Professor Bob Deitz previously served as senior councillor to the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, was the general counsel at the National Security Agency,  held positions as acting general counsel at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and as acting deputy general counsel, intelligence, at the Department of Defense. In our levity filled discussion Professor Deitz unpacks everything there is to know about classifications and why the President and Vice President should be viewed differently. 

We then talk a little inside baseball about what the different intelligence communities think of each other, and how the formation of the Department of National Intelligence  didn't really scratch the itch after 9/11. Professor Deitz also got off about the FISA warrant...ahem...I mean order... and why it gets such a bad wrap. Finally we discuss the myth of over classification in this country and the importance of journalistic standards for publication of classified information.

Guest Bio:
Robert L. Deitz is a professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. Previously, he served as senior councillor to the director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2006 until February 2009. From September 1998 to September 2006, Deitz was the general counsel at the National Security Agency where he represented the NSA in all legal matters. He has also held positions as acting general counsel at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and as acting deputy general counsel, intelligence, at the Department of Defense.

Deitz began his career as a law clerk to the Honorable Justices Douglas, Stewart, and White of the United States Supreme Court. He has also been in private practice and was special assistant to Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher and to Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph Califano during the Carter Administration.

Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091

Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/

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Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, suggest a future guest, or connect with us directly?

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faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore

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faithfulpolitics.substack.com

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The Heritage Foundation is one of the oldest and most respected conservative think tanks in America. Under new leadership, Dr. Kevin Roberts has big plans for this organization, the most important being education, education, and education. This week Will and Josh talk with Dr. Roberts about what this means and how his background as an academic can help with this initiative. They also discuss how his academic expertise  in African American history, slavery and the slave trade helps him view topics like Critical Race Theory in America.  Lastly, Will finally gets a chance to hear a reasonable explanation of what school choice is and how a voucher program can help elevate all Americans educational standing in the world. Dr. Roberts also addresses some of the concerns that are often presented when school choice or vouchers are brought up.  

Guest bio:
Kevin Roberts, Ph.D., was named president of The Heritage Foundation in October 2021. He succeeded former Heritage President Kay C. James as the seventh president in the organization’s 49-year history.

Roberts previously served as the chief executive officer of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), an Austin-based nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute and the largest state think tank in the nation. Under Roberts’ leadership, TPPF more than doubled in size. He also expanded the Texas think tank’s influence nationwide, opening an office in Washington, D.C., so that TPPF research might better inform federal policy debates. 

A lifelong educator, Roberts earned his Ph.D. in American history from the University of Texas. After several years of teaching history at the collegiate level, Roberts in 2006 left the university to found John Paul the Great Academy, a co-ed, K-12 Catholic liberal arts school in Lafayette, Louisiana. Roberts served as the academy’s president and headmaster for seven years. 

In 2013, he resigned from the academy to become president of Wyoming Catholic College. Under his leadership, the college adopted a policy of refusing to accept federal student loans and grants, lest it be forced to violate Catholic tenets. This independent stance led The New York Times to describe the school as being full of “cowboy Catholics.” 

In addition to his doctorate, Roberts holds a master’s degree in history from Virginia Tech and a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Roberts and his wife have four children. 

Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091

Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/

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Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, suggest a future guest, or connect with us directly?

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faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore

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Subscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:
faithfulpolitics.substack.com

Contact the hosts:
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Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected]

Let's face it, most people in the LGBTQ+ world know exactly how members of the faith community feel about their lifestyle. So when a prominent Priest in the Catholic faith chooses to extend love, not hate, to this marginalized group you would expect that would be met with praise from other believers. Well unfortunately that's not the story you'll hear on this episode, where Pastor Josh and Will speak with Jesuit Priest, Father James Martin.

We start off the episode laying down the foundation of what is Catholicism, structural hierarchy and definition of terms. Will (Political Host) ask Father Martin about the letter he received from Pope Francis regarding the criminality of being gay. This letter came after the most recent AP article stating that the "Pope says homosexuality not a crime. . Then the topic shifts to the long running ministry of Father Martin, that involves his journey to make the Catholic Church more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community, despite loud opposition from both inside and outside the Church. We then talk about child abuse within the Catholic Church and finally end talking about the Super Bowl?

Guest Bio:
Fr. James Martin, SJ is a Jesuit priest, editor-at-large of America magazine and bestselling author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and Between Heaven and Mirth. Father Martin has written for many publications, including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and he is a regular commentator in the national and international media

Before entering the Jesuits in 1988, Father Martin graduated from the Wharton School of Business and worked for General Electric for six years. In 2017, Pope Francis appointed him to be a Consultor for the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication.

He has appeared on all the major radio and television networks, as well as in venues ranging from NPR’sFresh Air, FOX’s The O’Reilly Factor, and PBS’s NewsHour to Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report

Learn more:

•  http://jamesmartin.hc.com/
• https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/james-martin-sj
• https://www.buildingabridgefilm.com/

Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091

Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/

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faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore

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Subscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:
faithfulpolitics.substack.com

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I don't think it takes a political scientist to tell us that politics is really all about psychology, but this week we thought we'd ask anyways. Dr. Allyson Shortle is a professor of political science at Oklahoma University whose research field included political psychology! We discuss a wide range of issues from what causes polarization in our politics, our tendency to deify our "in-groups", and why the recent killing of Tyre Nichols just feels different. Dr. Shortle also discusses why it's important to talk about political issues even with family who may not agree. 

Whether you're curious about the effect of political identity on the choices we make, or why entertainment plays a large role in how we consume news, this episode will answer all those questions and much more!

Guest Bio:
Dr. Shortle is an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, where she studies group identity in the context of American political behavior. She also serves as a faculty member for Latinx Studies and Women and Gender Studies. She runs OU’s Community Engagement + Experiments Laboratory (CEEL), Oklahoma City’s Community Poll (Exit Poll), and OU’s Democracy Survey of OU freshmen. For fun, she lends research support to organizations seeking to increase civic engagement and improve physical and mental health of their communities.

For the 2022 midterms, Dr. Shortle’s exit poll class will be helping SoonerPoll, News9 (OKC), and News on 6 (Tulsa), to poll early voters around the state. Her students will also be polling voters in OKC’s urban core on Election Day. Stay tuned!

Dr. Shortle’s new co-authored Cambridge University Press book, The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics (2022 – w. Eric L. McDaniel and Irfan Nooruddin), examines the relationship between American religious exceptionalism and prejudicial and antidemocratic attitudes. She is currently extending this line of research to examine the many faces of ethnocultural nationalism (EN) – defining American identity according to ascriptive traits such as race, religion, and gender (w. Ana Bracic and Mackenzie Israel-Trummel). Based on their recent publication on EN’s relationship to family separation policy attitudes, they will analyze EN’s relationship to a wide array of policy attitudes and behavioral outcomes across several countries. She also has an emerging research agenda focused on the intersection of religious identity and behavioral political administration.

At the doctoral level, she teaches courses on group identity, public opinion/political psychology, and behavioral research methods.

Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091

Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/

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faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore

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Subscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:
faithfulpolitics.substack.com

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Have a comment? Send us a text! (We read all of them but can't reply). Email us: [email protected]

**This episode originally aired on October 4, 2022. It's being replayed here due to the overwhelming fear about the deficit and Janet Yellen's recent announcement of the US hitting its debt ceiling limit. Maya has a wealth of knowledge that is sought after by members of Congress and I'm sure you'll learn a thing or two after listening. You can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel as well."

Maya MacGuineas is the president of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. With government spending at an all time high, Maya helps Will and special guest host, Corey Nathan (Talkin' Politics & Religion Podcast) better understand the numbers and offers solutions for fixing it.  They discuss the recent student loan forgiveness program enacted by President Biden, and talk about the future of social security. It was a sobering, but necessary, conversation with one of the country's most trusted organizations committed to educating the public, and politicians, about government spending.

In the episode Maya refers to some interactive resources that might be useful to engage with. Here's the link: https://www.crfb.org/interactives

Guest bio:
Maya MacGuineas is the president of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Her areas of expertise include budget, tax, and economic policy. As a leading budget expert and a political independent, she has worked closely with members of both parties and serves as a trusted resource on Capitol Hill. MacGuineas testifies regularly before Congress and has published broadly, including regularly in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Atlantic, and numerous other outlets. She also appears regularly as a commentator on television.

Support Sarah Stankorb’s work and preorder Damned If She Does: Why Women Quit Church and What It Means for the Future of Religion, Releases September 15, 2026.  Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/112456/9798889837091

Website: https://www.sarahstankorb.com/

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Want to learn more about Faithful Politics, suggest a future guest, or connect with us directly?

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Browse our bookstore, featuring books from many of our guests:
faithfulpoliticspodcast.com/bookstore

Support the show and help us keep these conversations going:
patreon.com/cw/FaithfulPolitics

Subscribe for behind-the-scenes content, reflections, and updates:
faithfulpolitics.substack.com

Contact the hosts:
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