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What if I told you religious freedom is not a biblical concept? Would that change your view of the current struggles in America? What about the 1st Amendment? How does that square with the Bible? Join us today as Faithful Host Josh Burtram interviews Professor of Old Testament Tremper Longman III to talk through the concept of religious freedom yesterday, and today! 

Guest Bio:
Dr. Tremper Longman III graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, earned a Master of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary, and completed a doctorate in ancient Near Eastern studies at Yale University. He served as the Robert H. Gundry professor of biblical studies at Westmont from 1998 until he retired in 2017. He continues to serve the college as a distinguished scholar of biblical studies. He has written or co-authored numerous scholarly articles and more than 20 books, including interdisciplinary works, books with psychologist Dan Allender, works on history and historiography, and textbooks for both seminary students a lay people. He is one of the main translators of the New Living Translation and has served as a consultant on other popular translations of the Bible including the Message, the New Century Version, and the Holman Standard Bible.

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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In the early hours of July 10, 2016, gunshots rang out and a young man lay fatally wounded on a quiet Washington, DC, street. But who killed Seth Rich? When he was buried in his hometown, his rabbi declared: “There are no answers for a young man gunned down in the prime of his life.” The rabbi was wrong. There were in fact many answers, way too many.

In the absence of an arrest, a howling mob filled the void. Wild speculation and fantastical theories surfaced on social media and gained traction thanks to a high-level cast of provocateurs. But it wasn’t until Fox News took the rumors from the fringes to the mainstream that Seth Rich’s life and death grew into something altogether unexpected—one of the foundational conspiracy theories of modern times.

A Death on W Street unravels this gripping saga of murder, madness, and political chicanery, one that would ensnare Hillary Clinton and Steve Bannon, a popular pizzeria in northwest DC and the most powerful voices in American media. It's the story of an idealistic twenty-seven-year-old political staffer who became a tragic victim of the culture wars, until his family decided that they had no choice but to defend his name and put an end to the cruel deceptions that surrounded his death. 

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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**With the consistent drumbeat of hate directed at those in the LGBTQ+ Community we thought we'd reintroduce one of the four episodes we did for a series during Pride Month. Megan is a tremendously loving and spiritual person that despite the fact that they would have every reason to hold a grudge against a society that has effectively cast them out, they still show grace and love. It's a message I hope resonates as much with you as it did the hosts.**


Note: This episode was recorded before Bishop Megan resigned from the ELCA

Continuing on in our Pride Month series, "Be Curious, Not Judgemental" we talk with Bishop Megan Rohrer. Rohrer (who uses gender-neutral singular theypronouns) was the first openly transgender minister ordained in the Lutheran tradition. In this conversation we hear Bishop Megan talk about their early life, and how "coming out" isn't just a singular event, but rather an evolution that occurs over time. Pastor Josh then asks Bishop Megan about their hermeneutics (Bible interpretation) and if that poses any challenges to the lifestyle they live.  The show ends with a powerful testimony from Bishop Megan about their concerns for their own safety and the safety of their kids. This conversation was deeply inspiring and we hope that people of faith who have traditionally wrote off people of faith in the LGBTQIA community listen. We were blessed to have spoken with Bishop Megan and feel that the work they do is vitally important!

Guest Bio:
The Rev. Dr. Megan Rohrer served as the Bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod (ELCA).  The first openly transgender Bishop in a major Christian denomination, Megan is an award winning filmmaker, musician and historian, Megan  was a finalist for the Lambda Literary award, received an honorable mention as an Unsung Hero of Compassion by Wisdom in Action, with His Holiness the Dali Lama and has been featured on Queer Eye, Cosmo (see the video to the right), People and in Wittenberg, Germany for the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation.

https://www.revrohrer.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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It’s no secret that Kris Kringle, aka Saint Nicholas, aka, Santa Clause is the head of a global crime syndicate, but what you may not know is the depths and extent of his crimes. This week we have one of our favorite law professors, Corinna Lain, to help walk us through some potential crimes that may have been committed by this red suited, grandma trampling fugitive. We cover a range of crimes from unlawful entry to possible violations under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act. They also discuss the difficulties of jury selection and possible criminal culpability of the elves and even Mrs. Clause!

Guest Bio:
Professor Corinna Barrett Lain is a constitutional law scholar who writes about the influence of extralegal norms on Supreme Court decisionmaking, with a particular focus on the field of capital punishment. Her scholarship, which often uses the lens of legal history, has appeared in the Stanford Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Duke Law Journal, UCLA Law Review, and Georgetown Law Journal, among other venues. Professor Lain is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and received the University of Richmond’s Distinguished Educator Award in 2006. She is a former prosecutor and an Army veteran.

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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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Faithful Politics wanted to ensure that everyone had the chance to hear the case that is being presented to the American public by the January 6th Committee . We will be posting the episodes unedited, with the exception of the breaks.

Read the Executive Summary: https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/jan-6-committee-report-executive-summary/4d449a67cd79e131/full.pdf

The House Jan. 6 committee kicked off its final meeting by saying they were focused on "accountability" for those involved in the "multi-part" attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying it was the only way to prevent it from happening again.

The committee voted to make criminal referrals to the Justice Department for former President Donald Trump, lawyer John Eastman and unspecified "others": obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the government and inciting or assisting an insurrection.

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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Let's say you were a person of faith and one that believes in divine words from God. If you had a word directly from the divine would you share it? What method would you use to make sure you had it right? Is there anyway to know? 

This week faithful host Josh Burtram and  guest host James Cane interview Dr. Craig Keener, a world class New Testament Scholar. Listen in on their discussion as they go from epistemology, to the right method to interpret the world around us, to how to judge prophecy, and back again. Come on and join! You won’t regret it. 

Guest Bio:
Dr. Keener did his Ph.D. work in New Testament and Christian Origins at Duke University and is known for his work as a New Testament scholar on Bible background (commentaries on the New Testament in its early Jewish and Greco-Roman settings). Well over a million of his thirty-plus books are in circulation and have won thirteen national and international awards. 

His award-winning, popular-level IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (now in its second edition [2014], and available in a number of languages) has sold over half a million copies.

The goal of this site is to reach a wide audience with selections from Dr. Keener’s nontechnical writings and teaching videos to help anyone who studies the Bible to see the Scriptures in their historical context.

Craig is married to Médine Moussounga Keener, who holds a Ph.D. from University of Paris 7. She was a refugee for 18 months in her nation of Congo, and together Craig and Médine work for ethnic reconciliation in the U.S. and Africa. Craig is ordained by the National Baptist Convention, an African-American denomination, and for roughly a decade was one of the associate ministers at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia. Craig and Médine’s story together is Impossible Love: The True Story of an African Civil War, Miracles, and Hope Against All Odds (Chosen Books, 2016).

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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As the January 6th Committee wraps up their investigation and we await a final report, the DOJ has been busily prosecuting hundreds of cases related to the attack on the Capitol. One of the most consequential cases the DOJ is pursuing is that of the Oath Keepers and their leader Elmer Stewart Rhodes. This week, we talk with Daily Kos, Senior Staff Writer, Brandi Buchman who has been in the courtroom covering this story.  Our conversation starts very high level where she unpacks who the Oath Keepers are and why they were in D.C. on January 6th. Then we talk about the significance of the jury's ruling and what that might mean for future cases. If you have not been following the Oath Keepers trial and want to get up to speed quickly, make sure you listen to this episode!

Here are a few of the articles Brandi has written about the trial:

• Sedition and dishonor: Thoughts on evidence in the Oath Keepers trial: https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/26/2135282/-Sedition-and-dishonor-Thoughts-on-evidence-in-the-Oath-Keepers-trial
• Oath Keepers Elmer Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs found guilty of seditious conspiracy: https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/29/2137832/-Oath-Keepers-Elmer-Stewart-Rhodes-Kelly-Meggs-found-guilty-of-seditious-conspiracy
• The Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial is now in the jury's hands: https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/21/2137719/-The-Oath-Keepers-seditious-conspiracy-trial-is-now-in-the-jury-s-hands

Brandi Buchman is the Senior staff writer @dailykos covering Jan. 6 probe. Before: Chief White House & Congressional Correspondent @ CourthouseNews. Reporter/feature writer @27east.

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 Will and Josh discuss a new new endeavor and mission to help heal a divided nation and encourage listeners to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

Project Indivisible is an opportunity for our audience to participate in a shared effort to defy the status quo and prove that we are not as divided as we may think. Just because someone thinks differently than you, doesn’t automatically make them your enemy. Nevertheless, many people have already become apprehensive about starting conversations around faith and politics that we are no longer speaking to each other about two areas that are central in many people’s lives. Thinking differently should be viewed as an opportunity to better understand a different point of view but, more often than not, we tend to focus on the fallacy of their argument. You can help us change that narrative by telling people that you are a supporter of Project Indivisible, or you can show them by purchasing some of our ‘Project Indivisible’ merchandise from our just opened online store. To learn more about how Project Indivisible will help heal our divided country, visit our website.

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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Democracy can’t be on the decline…can it? With the breakdown in civil dialogue and the current division in our society, how sure can we be that Democracy will be here in 100 years? Even 50 years?

Join faithful host Josh Burtram as he interviews Dr. Ethan Hollander, Associate Professor of Political Science at Wabash university, to talk about the decline of democracies around the world and the rise of autocratic strongmen. Tune in to this fascinating conversation about the current state of democracy, the trend in which it’s moving, and what, if anything, we can do to keep it alive!




Guest Bio:
Ethan J. Hollander is a professor of political science at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He is also the author of Hegemony and the Holocaust: State Power and Jewish Survival in Occupied Europe. Hollander’s published scholarship also includes research on democratization in Eastern Europe and on the Arab Spring. At Wabash, Dr. Hollander teaches courses on the Politics of the Middle East, Ethnic Conflict and Genocide, European Politics, and Research Methods and Statistics. He is a native of Miami Beach, and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 2006.

https://www.wabash.edu/academics/profiles/home.cfm?site_folder=political_science&facname=hollande

https://www.wondrium.com/democracy-and-its-alternatives?tn=632_tray_Course_1_1_21596&lec=9

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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Liberty College, located in Lynchburg, Virginia, is the world's largest Christian college. A beautiful college located only 2 hours away from the Faithful Politics Studio, it's also the former employer of Jerry Falwell, Jr. Falwell, Jr has a namesake that carries a lot of weight in Virginia, as well as parts of D.C. But the name was unfamiliar to a Miami pool boy who found himself trapped in a seven-year affair with a charming older woman and her husband, the Evangelical Trump stalwart Jerry Falwell Jr. 

This week Pastor Josh and Will interview Billy Corben, the director of the newly released documentary about this love affair called, God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty. Hear the story from Giancarlo Granda "The Pool Boy", from his own perspective, and he even brings the receipts! It's available on HULU, and worth every minute of your time!

Guest Bio:
William Cohen (born 1978), better known by the stage name Billy Corben, is an American documentary film director. As a co-founder of the Miami-based studio Rakontur, along with producing partner Alfred Spellman, he has created films such as Cocaine Cowboys, Dawg Fight, and ESPN's 30 for 30 The U and The U Part 2.

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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