Homebrewed Culture Cast

This episode is all about medicine, medical ethics, and faith.

Amy and Christian take a look at two big news stories involving medicine and ethics: the sexual assault case against US Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, and the Trump administration’s initiative to give more freedom for physicians to refuse treatment because of religious belief. We implicitly trust and give authority to doctors, what about the systemic negligence that contributes to the abuse of that power and trust?

Christian also talks with Dr. Lauren Raimer-Goodman, with the University of Texas medical branch, about how practicing medicine is an expression of her faith, the differences in the understanding and realities of practicing medicine in the US and Africa, the perception and role of physicians in our lives today, the role of doubt in medicine, the ethics training required and what happens when and if there is a breach, and how the people who have suffered an abuse are treated, and how she deals with the patriarchal nature of the medical field.

The Ask the Caster and Pastor segment is back! You can submit a question for Christian and Amy to answer on air by becoming a supporter of the podcast.

Some people give something up for Lent (most of us fail at it). But why not take something on instead? How about (gasp!) actually reading the Bible?

Sure, we all know Bible verses and may have even tried to read the “whole Bible,” maybe even more than once. But it can be confusing, contradictory and – if we’re being honest – really freaking boring in places. But there’s another way to approach scripture that can actually make sense, and might even be enjoyable.

Join Amy, Christian, and Homebrewed Christianity’s Tripp Fuller in figuring out how to “Survive the Bible” together this Lent.

What is an Evangelical today?

In this episode, Christian, Amy, and friends talk about evangelicals and evangelicalism. White Evangelicals were largely responsible for getting Trump elected. This seems very strange (to some of us), considering he is considered neither a Christian nor a moral person. So considering this, we posed 3 questions to some of our friends who either currently or formerly identified as Evangelical:

The Homebrewed Christianity CultureCast app is officially available! You can email us directly through the app, you can save and favorite shows you want to revisit or share, and more. Head over to the app store (available on Android and iTunes) and get it today!

Do you need help suriving the bible for Lent? Then the Surviving the Bible (for Lent) series with Christian, Amy, and Tripp Fuller is for you. We want you (yes, you) to submit your questions about the bible for Tripp, Amy and Christian to answer. They will answer and discuss 40 questions throughout Lent (one for each day) plus 6 weekly live sessions. This will lead into the Surviving the Bible podcast which will be available to our Patreon supporters.

…Speaking of Patreon – we need your support! Go to patreon.com/culturecast and sign up to help support the podcast. If you sign up for $10 a month Christian will send you a copy of Surviving the Bible, and donors at any level will get access to the weekly Surviving the Bible podcast which will be starting after Lent.

White nationalism looks a lot different today than it used to. In this episode Christian and Amy discuss the new face of white nationalism, how Trump is setting that example, and how we can counteract it. Where is the line between presidents as public figures and human beings? Do comments made by the president normalize racism in our culture? What do we do about it?

To that end, Christian speaks with Michael Poffenberger, executive director for the the Center for Action and Contemplation. They talk about how a life of contemplation can transform our inner lives as well as the world around us, how to train activists, why contemplation and activism need to go hand in hand, the role of suffering in activism, and reformation from the inside.

Plus, Amy responds to a conversation happening on Facebook about something she said in the last episode concerning the nature of faith, belief, and service. Get the full interview at patreon.com/culturecast

Articles and books mentioned: Obama’s Stern Warning for Trump, Hate groups make unprecedented push to recruit on college campuses, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life

Michael Collins is back on the CultureCast to talk about net neutrality and cyber ethics. Who will feel the effects of the repeal of net neutrality the most? Is there an ethical argument against net neutrality? Will the end of net neutrality bring with it the censorship of internet content?

Plus, Amy and Christian discuss how the internet is changing family dynamics and creating new and unique challenges for raising children.

They also tackle Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House and ask if we should even consider reading it. Will it heal or elevate the moral consciousness of our country? Or is it just more political gossip and palace intrigue? Related to this is the latest Ask the Pastor and the Caster question, where Christian and Amy talk about what it means to be one in Christ.

Also mentioned: 5 Things That Are Better Now Because of Trump; Sarah Silverman’s master class in compassion.

Welcome to Homebrewed SabbathCast!

Amy and Christian are not talking about anything serious on this week’s episode. Well, they try not to. Christian talk to Dana Trent, author of For Sabbath’s Sake: Embracing Your Need For Rest, Worship, and Community. Is the Sabbath just something we’re supposed to give to God? Where does personal rest come into play? Hear about Dana’s q-tip moment (and what that is), the need for balance, and our tendency to be in denial,

Isn’t Sabbath just another thing to do? How can Sabbath be a form a worship? How do we actually build a community from rest?

Hear Dana talk about how to make your own Sabbath plan and 3 steps to help you begin. Make sure to follow Dana on twitter, Facebook, and at her website jdanatrent.com

Later, Amy and Christian ask, are we raising little fascists? How powerful is the content our children are consuming? Has our culture become obsessed with good guys, bad guys, and rigid consequences?

Plus our very first “ask the pastor and the caster” segment, and obligatory gift-giving, politics of gift-giving, and gift-giving disasters stories.

If you are a regular listener, you should really consider helping support the podcast. We are so close to our goal of getting 10 new patrons and $100 a month in support. Supporters who donate at least $10 a month will get to take part in the ask the pastor and the caster segment, as well as a copy of Christian’s new book and access to the new podcast starting next year called Surviving the Bible.

Make sure to like and follow us on Facebook, and sign up for our newsletter. That way you won’t miss any opportunities to give input into the show, you’ll get access to exclusive drawings and content, and never miss out on opportunities to see the CultureCast live.

Christian and Amy go through the Acts of Mercy (Matt. 25) and give the country a grade for our efforts in food and nutrition, clean water access, affordable housing, homelessness, health care, prison reform, and immigration. How would Jesus say we’re doing? Are we living into the things Jesus calls us to? Plus, a look at the 7 words and phrases the CDC is banned from using, and will 2018 be the year of women?

Christian got to hang out with John Burnett, national immigration correspondent for NPR, and

do an in-person interview about his day-to-day work as an immigration correspondent, how covering this presidency differs from the last, how the perception has changed among immigrants, and the implications of Trump’s immigration policy both within and without of the country. Plus DACA, sanctuary cities, and a look at undocumented immigrants and their relation to jobs and crime in the US. Does moving undocumented immigrants out of US cities make them safer? Does it mean less competition for jobs?

PLUS, you’ll get to hear about a brand new podcast coming in the new year. A weekly podcast called, you guessed it, Surviving the Bible, breaking down the weekly passages for pastors, small groups, or just for people who want a fresh way of looking at the Bible.

It’s not too late to sign up to support the CultureCast! New members will not only get to take part in the new segment, Ask the Caster and the Pastor, where you get to be on the podcast asking Amy and Christian a question about anything (only six spots left), but if you join at the $10 level or above, you’ll get a signed copy of Christian’s new book, Surviving the Bible. Go to patreon.com/culturecast

This week’s theme: when doing good breaks the law. Christian and Amy take a look at civil disobedience and discuss their personal struggles with protest and civil disobedience, Jim Wallis’s recent arrest for civil disobedience in the Senate Office Building, the 6 steps to prepare your community for civil disobedience, the most (and least) effective tactics, and Christian, in what may the hardest interview he’s ever done, talks with CIA whistle-blower John Kiriakou.

As followers Jesus, people who believe we are called to do what’s right in the world, is breaking the law ever OK? What does it really mean to resist?

Plus, Billy Bush one year later, and the challenge of remembering someone’s good works only and not their faults. Would JFK, Ghandi, MLK have be indicted under the #MeToo movement? Should someone’s moral and ethical failings change how we view their legacy?

In the interview with John Kiriakou (columnist with Reader Supported News, former CIA analyst and senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Counter-Terrorism consultant with ABC news, author of Doing Time Like a Spy, and perhaps most significantly a whistle-blower concerning torture techniques) Christian and John talk about getting recruited into the CIA, what a CIA analyst does, his switch from intelligence to counter-terrorism, what compelled him to share about the CIA’s use of waterboarding, and the fallout from that decision. They also touch on fake news and state-owned media organizations, and the difference between news and propaganda, whistle-blowing and leaking. Plus, John suggests that the Justice Department and Judiciary are in cahoots to fix trials involving the Justice Department. You won’t want to miss this one!

You can listen to the full, unedited interview with John Kiriakou by supporting the podcast at patreon.com/culturecast. Not only will you be able to hear the full interview, you’ll be helping us reach our December goal of 10 new patrons!

Help us makes our December goal and get a chance to be on the show! Our goal is to get ten new patrons in December. Anyone who signs up in December (or increases their donation) will get to be a part of a new segment called Ask the Caster and the Pastor. This is where you’ll get to send in a 30 second audio clip asking a question about anything and Christian and Amy will answer it on air. Plus, each new patron will get a copy of Christian’s new book, Surviving the Bible. Visit patreon.com/culturecast to begin your support today.

Links from Jim Wallis and Sojourners:

Other links mentioned:

What does it mean when we send a citizen away to fight for their country? Can we still be proud to be an American? Do we make our leaders into saviors?

In this episode, Christian and Amy talk about national pride, how it has changed, what it looks like, where the trends are headed, and what to do about it. Christian also talks with Martha Raddatz, chief global affairs correspondent for ABC news and author of The Long Road Home. They discuss the impact of war not just on the soldiers, but on the often overlooked families of soldiers, the personal toll that covering war can have, and the difficult journalistic decisions about how to show the realities of war.

Plus, a look at the growing number of celebrities, public figures, and powerful men being accused of sexual misconduct, the article A Slow Burn: Why Matt Lauer Got Fired but Trump is Still President by Erin Wathen, and what we can and should do about all of this.

Help us makes our December goal and get a chance to be on the show! Our goal is to get ten new patrons in December. Anyone who signs up in December (or increases their donation) will get to be a part of a new segment called Ask the Caster and the Pastor. This is where you’ll get to send in a 30 second audio clip asking a question about anything and Christian and Amy will answer it on air. Plus, each new patron will get a copy of Christian’s new book, Surviving the Bible. Visit patreon.com/culturecast to begin your support today.

Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Rick Steves, travel journalist and host of  the PBS show Rick Steves’ Europe, and the public radio show Travel with Rick Steves, sat down with Christian and Amy in Washington DC to talk about the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

Is the Reformation still significant 500 years later? Was it really as revolutionary as everyone makes it out to be? How do you claim grace over works, yet compel good works? What do we say to people who say they don’t need the church? Do we make a case for church? What is the role of corporate worship?

Plus, hear bishop Eaton and Rick talk about why they are Lutheran, what Lutheranism has to offer, about faith, doubt, and coming back to faith, embodiment and incarnation, the material versus the spiritual, and what it means to be in the world but not of it.

This show is free, but it isn’t free to produce. You can help support the podcast for as little as $1 a month, and if you sign up for $10 a month you will get a copy of Christian’s new book, Surviving the Bible. Sign up by January first at that level and also get a signed copy of Leaving A-Holiness Behind. 

Coming at you LIVE from Surly Brewing in Minneapolis, it’s the Homebrewed CultureCast. Get ready to wade into nerdy theological waters.

Right after Christian keynoted at the Voices Conference, he hung out with Dr. Kyle Roberts and Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde of the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Up first, Kyle talks about his work and why he’s dedicated his life to theology, what faith looks like actually in the world, doing public theology, social ethics, Kierkegaard, existentialism and post-modernism, and his new book, A Complicated Pregnancy: Whether Mary was a Virgin and Why it Matters.

Plus, the questions that keep you up at night, dramatic readings of psalm 23, the “biblical” defense of Roy Moore, and what Prince has in common with the virgin birth.

Speaking of Prince, Pamela talks about the Theology of Prince project at United, what it means to be an interfaith Buddhist practitioner, the co-mingling of Buddhism and Christianity, the resistance of some Christians to engage in inter-religious practice, and the intersection of pop culture and faith.

You’ll hear:

The University of Minnesota and United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities invites the public to submit academic papers, personal essays, poetry, spoken word, or visual art on Theology of Prince.

If you become a patron and help support the podcast at $10/mo you’ll get a signed copy of Christian’s new book, Surviving the Bible. Or you can enter the Surviving the Bible Giveaway by going to the CultureCast Facebook page and signing up for the newsletter. Winners will be announced at the end of November.