Homebrewed Christianity

Back by popular request is Dr. Ryan Burge! When he was last here, we discussed some myths about Religion and Politics.  Today he returns to the podcast and brings 5 graphs of religion data and we proceed to explore them and generate hot takes about them.

To see the graphs themselves, you can watch the video below or go check them out on his super graph heavy twitter.

Here’s how wild public opinion is —

Among people who want a total ban on abortion (which is about 20% of the population):

67% of them would support a proposal to make college debt free!

77% favor paid maternity leave! pic.twitter.com/zGJe1iGCgy

— Ryan Burge ? (@ryanburge) August 26, 2022

How much does religion impact fertility? A lot.

About 75% of 40-year-old Mormons have kids.

It’s 40% of atheists or agnostics.

A majority of atheist/agnostics never have children. pic.twitter.com/imliUawHx5

— Ryan Burge ? (@ryanburge) August 24, 2022

Politically liberal Christians engage in less religious activity than politically conservative ones.

This is percent praying weekly. Among just Protestants and Catholics.

~82% of Conservatives pray weekly or more.

It’s ~70% of Liberals. pic.twitter.com/wrkmRLIiUd

— Ryan Burge ? (@ryanburge) August 22, 2022

Here’s how I know.

In 2021, the GSS asked people to self ID as atheist or agnostic.

Guess what? 35% who say that they don’t believe in God don’t ID as atheist.

And for those who express an agnostic belief only 37% identify as agnostic!

Belief ? belonging! pic.twitter.com/hyFsW7gIOa

— Ryan Burge ? (@ryanburge) August 8, 2022

Young women are more likely to be nones than young men in 2021.

That wasn’t the case in 2008.

In 2008, men born in 1980 were just as likely to be nones as those born in 1990.

Now, men born in 2000 are a bit *less* likely to be nones than those born in 1990. https://t.co/3NOMqZH4cx pic.twitter.com/rMMOvqH0ZU

— Ryan Burge ? (@ryanburge) July 22, 2022

Ryan P. Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. Author of numerous journal articles, he is the co-founder of and a frequent contributor to Religion in Public, a forum for scholars of religion and politics to make their work accessible to a general audience. Burge is a pastor in the American Baptist Church.

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Brian McLaren is joining me on four Sunday evenings for some live QnA. This is the first week! You can join the online class, future sessions, submit questions, and access the video guide to the book by heading over here.

Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity†– just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is a faculty member of  The Living School and podcaster with Learning How to See, which are part of the Center for Action and Contemplation. He is also an Auburn Senior Fellow and works closely with the Wild Goose Festival, the Fair Food Program, Vote Common Good, and Progressive Christianity. His recent projects include an illustrated children’s book (for all ages) called Cory and the Seventh Story and The Galapagos Islands: A Spiritual Journey, and Faith After Doubt. His newest book is Do I Stay Christian? and we are going to read it together.

Previous Episodes with Brian

• Do I Stay Christian?
• God – Pray – Driscoll
• Faith Beyond Fear in an Age of Terror
• 20 Years of Religious Decline
• A New Kind of Road Trip
• Parenting for the Common Good
• We need a new story! Avoiding spiritual and planetary collapse
• Brian McLaren & Pando Populus

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Dr. Aaron Simmons is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Furman University. He returns to the podcast for some seriously nerdy fun. We tackled a number of questions from Homebrewed Community members. Our questions include…

Polly — How do I stop feeling angry and sick when I think about the god I believed in for 35 years?

Bryan (min 32)— Do I have a soul? Growing up in southern Baptist church I was convinced that my soul was the truest thing about me, but now I wonder if what God really wants of involves my physical body on this physical world we are situated in.

Tyler (min 101)— What is the use of the church if everything it was founded on is myth? I just can’t see any reason to pick up my Bible or to congregate if there’s no absolute truth to the writings. Nothing matters. Nothing is real. Life feels completely purposeless.

Becky (min 116) — How do people interpret the Bible in so many different ways that are so far apart?

Nathan (min 125) — What is the purpose of concepts like “good, true, beautiful, justice†if they are always changing and never agreed upon? How are they more than a person or culture’s preferences in bold?

• His previous visits to the podcast include…”Off-Road Religion & Pandemic Philosophizing,” â€Smells Like Teenage Phenomenology†& “Whose Christianity, Which Postmodernism?â€

Youtube Channel, “Philosophy for Where We Find Ourselvesâ€:

TedX Speaker: “The Failure of Successâ€

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The Rings of Power is not out and about in the world! After seeing the first two episodes, I have been able to exhale, knowing the show isn’t going to be the nightmare many of us Tolkien Heads feared. It was surprisingly good. In this live-streamed episode, Nick Polk and I were joined by singer, poet, and connoisseur of fantasies, Kevin Max.

Kevin is a four-time Grammy-winning vocalist, whose work began in DC Talk and has since explored a host of different genres from spoken-word, electronica, and rock. On his previous visit to the podcast, we discussed his most recent rock band – the Sad Astronauts. Great album! Don’t forget to check out his current Kickstarter. Each supporter gets a digital download of his collection of fantasy songs, including The Greatest Adventure from the Hobbit.

Want to access the most zest lectures from the Tolkien Heads class? Head over here and join up.

 

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What happens when three of my best friends come on the podcast to answer your questions? This. My friends and friends of the pod, Sarah, Myron, and Dan are here for the nerdy fun. Recently, I have been reading collecting listener questions and then asking myself, ‘what nerdy friend should answer this first?’ In this episode we tackle three questions, each selected so a specific guest could answer the question first. It did not disappoint.

If you want to hang with me, Dan from You Have Permission pod, Sarah and Myron, then come on out the Theology Beer Camp. Drop Dan’s code YHP in for $50 off your ticket.

Dr. Myron Penner is a professor of philosophy at Trinity Western University and director of the Anabaptist-Mennonite Centre for Faith and Learning. On top of being a stellar scholar, he is a dear friend and the coolest Mennonite Canadian philosopher on planet earth ?

Here’s Myron’s previous visit to the podcast – Navigating Philosophy & Religion

Dr. Sarah Lane Ritchie received her B.A. in Philosophy & Religion from Spring Arbor University, an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and an M.Sc. in Science & Religion from the University of Edinburgh. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Edinburgh in Science & Religion with a thesis on divine action and the human mind, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of St. Andrews. She has published a book with Cambridge University Press and numerous articles in academic journals, and continues research in the field of science and religion.

Sarah’s Previous Podcast Visits

• a Minimally Viable God Concept
• Staff Lounge Shenanigans
• Can Scientists study gods, souls, and rituals?
• an Integrated Physicality and the Sacred
• Trilogies, Atonement Power Rankings, & Sex Work at Happy Hour
• Everyone You Ever Loved Will Die, so Merry Christmas!
• Kombucha, Meditation, Tarot, and Stink Bombs

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Tony Jones is back for some friend time and a little theology. In this conversation we discuss…

• Why Theology Beer Camp is gonna be awesome / drop that code REVHUNT for $50 off

Mainline Protestant Bible Drills & Participation Trophies

Tony and I discuss our potential new Old Man opinion

How to develop a hunting liturgy – the episode with Murphy Robinson Tony mentions

Books we have been rereading — Dune, God in Creation, and Children of Darkness, Children of Light

We are also reading How Gods Become Real and short stories from Ted Chiang

the struggle of Dad Friending

Tony wants to play farkle at Camp and then all sorts of youth game discussion takes place

Tripp discusses helping Trey Pearson do his first keg stand at Progressive Youth Ministry

This episode is sponsored by PROGRESSIVE YOUTH MINISTRY. You can join me and a bunch of progressive youth ministers in Atlanta this coming February.

Tony Jones is the author of Did God Kill Jesus? and contributing writer to several outdoors periodicals. He’s written a dozen books, including The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier and The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life, developed the iPhone app, hosts the Reverend Hunter Podcast, and teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Tony is a sought after speaker and consultant in the areas of emerging church, postmodernism, and Christian spirituality, writing, and the outdoors. He served as a consultant on the television show, The Path, and he owns an event planning company, Crucible Creative.

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Joerg Rieger is back on the podcast for some fun theology QnA. In our conversation, we cover…

• an invitation to Solidarity Circles from the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
• the most cancelable theological idea
• what concept/word should we recover?
• the nature of solidarity
• what did you learn from the pandemic?
• is there a theology of institutions?
• should we burn it all down?
• the problem with Resident Aliens
• ecclesiology
• liberals’ sin problem
• why Anslem is (possibly) awesome
• book recommendations
• why you should come to Theology Beer Camp!

Joerg Rieger is Distinguished Professor of Theology and the Cal Turner Chancellor’s Chair of Wesleyan Studies. He is also the founding director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice. For more than two decades, he has worked to bring together theology and the struggles for justice and liberation that mark our age. His work addresses the relation of theology and public life, reflecting on the misuse of power in religion, politics, and economics. His main interest is in developments and movements that bring about change and in the positive contributions of religion and theology. His constructive work in theology draws on a wide range of historical and contemporary traditions, with a concern for manifestations of the divine in the pressures of everyday life.

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Previous Podcasts with Joerg & Tripp

• the End of Religion & Business as Usual
• Joerg Rieger: Jesus vs Caesar 
• Different Gods, Different Religions?
• Wild Goose Theology Happy Hour with Joerg Rieger and Emilie Townes
• The Economy, Election, Ayn Rand-Ryan-Romney, Occupy, & More
• Occupy the Church! Rita Nakashima Brock, Joerg Rieger, & Christophe Ringer
• Economics, Theology, and Discipleship

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Diana Bass is back on the podcast for a session of our ongoing series “Ruining Dinner.” We talk about religion and politics with a bunch of zest. Normally these conversations are for our community members, but we decided to share this one far and wide to invite you to come hang with us at Theology Beer Camp. Join us and a bunch of other “God Pods” at Theology Beer Camp this October 13-15. You can get $50 bucks off by using our code RUININGDINNER. More than coming to Camp, I wanted to lure you to join Diana’s Cottage community. If you join up she will give you a super secret discount for a $100 off camp! Head over here to become a supporting member of the cottage, and she will hook you up. Follow the podcast, drop a review, or become a member of the HBC Community.

Previous Episodes with Diana & Tripp Shall the Fundies (Keep) Winning?, Abortion, and Black Holes Theology and Spirituality in a Time of Rupture White Evangelical Theopolitics, John Shelby Spong, & Jesus 20 Years of Religious Decline Jesus After Religion and Beyond Fear Ruining Dinner with Diana Butler Bass and Robyn Henderson-Espinoza Evangelical Decline, the Supreme Court, and the Horizon of Possibility Debating, Praying, and Living with Tyrants Religion, Politics, & the Elephant in the Room

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John Garth is the most epic living scholar of JRR Tolkien. He dropped an amazing lecture for the Tolkien Heads class we are currently running, and yesterday he joined our live stream for some nerdy fun. It was too much fun not to share. Plus some of you may not have joined the class to get those ohh so zesty lectures.

Writer, editor and researcher John Garth is well known for his ongoing work on J.R.R. Tolkien’s life and creativity and was awarded the Tolkien Society’s Outstanding Contribution Award in 2017.

His first book, Tolkien and the Great War (2003), won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award, for which his second, Tolkien at Exeter College, was a nominee. His latest publication is  The Worlds of JRR Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-earth (Princeton University Press; Frances Lincoln). A further book, examining Tolkien’s creative life as a response to the crises of his times, was begun while a Fellow of the Black Mountain Institute, Nevada, and is still in progress.

Other publications include chapters in the  Blackwell Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien; in Catherine McIlwaine’s Bodleian Library exhibition book Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth; and in a forthcoming volume in memory of Christopher Tolkien.

Garth has spoken on Tolkien to specialist and general audiences in the US and across Europe, as well as on television and other news media. He has taught courses on Tolkien, and sometimes C.S. Lewis too, for Oxford University, the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, and Signum University.

After reading English at St Anne’s College, Oxford, Garth worked for the London Evening Standard for many years. Besides his work on Tolkien, he writes and edits more generally, both in print and online.

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Philip Clayton returns to the podcast! This conversation was inspired by an online academic conference I put together as part of the God & the Book of Nature project at the University of Edinburgh titled the Mindfulness of Nature. You can find videos of all the papers from the gathering here.

As a scholar, Philip Clayton (Ingraham Professor, Claremont School of Theology) works at the intersection points of science, philosophy, and theology. As an activist (president of EcoCiv.org, President of IPDC), he works to convene, facilitate, and catalyze multi-sectoral initiatives toward ecological civilization.

In the conversation, we discuss…

• how the conversation around mind and consciousness is changing
• the dramatically changing character of science engaged theology
• can confessional theologians fully engage the sciences?
• how panpsychism became a live option in philosophy and science
• Tripp gets uncomfortable when Phil makes him pick between his position and John Cobb’s
• is there mental causal power?
• Tripp ends up venting about philosophical theologians who complain without understanding Whitehead
• the correct answer is pneumaterialism

are there guardrails for theological thinking?

how does a process theologian end their emails? “keep it zesty”

Previous Podcast Convos w/ Phil

• The Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg w/ Philip Clayton
• Finding God in Everyone and Everywhere w/ Philip Clayton and Andrew Davis
• Can a process theologian be an Evangelical & other questions with Philip Clayton
• The #GodDebacle w/ Philip Clayton and LeRon Shults
• Philip Clayton on the Shape of Postmodern Theology
• Party Time with Philip Clayton for “The Predicament of Belief”
• Bootlegged Christianity with Philip Clayton, Jack Caputo, Bill Mallonee, Peter Rollins, & Jay Bakker
• Philip Clayton on The Resurrection, Trinity, Eschatology & the Predicament of Belief
• Coming to Jesus with Daniel Kirk & Philip Clayton

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