Irenicast - A Progressive Christian Podcast

The topic of immigration has become more polarizing than ever during this year's election cycle. To help gain some clarity and perspective Jeff sits down with immigration lawyer, Amber Heffner. She sheds light on some of the myths and misunderstandings about this issue and reminds us that there are real people, good people, behind the political rhetoric, headlines and facebook updates.

RELEVANT LINKS

18th Street Gang in El Salvador (Wikipedia)

Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

Catholic Charities (Organization)

Doctors Without Borders (Organization)

Red Cross (Organization)

UC Hastings Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (Organization)

THANK YOU

Thank you to Mike Golin for our intro and outro music. Check out his band Soulwise.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Thank you for supporting the podcast! Your ratings, reviews and feedback are not only encouraging to us personally, but they help others find the show. If you appreciate the content we provide please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Join our conversations on faith and culture by interacting with us through the following links:

Read Us on our blog An Irenicon

Email Us at [email protected]

Follow Us on Twitter and Google+

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This post may contain affiliate links. An Irenicon is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

In honor of our fiftieth episode, we have opened the floodgates for listener feedback and questions. By happenstance, all of the questions have theological themes around scripture, the nature of salvation, and faith reconstruction and deconstruction. The hosts dive into a personal discussion of these issues and conclude with a hard conversation on both the death of Justice Scalia and what it means to love your enemies.

Listener Feedback Questions (02:04)

Current Events Segment (01:01:04)

RELEVANT LINKS

02:04 - "I'm not sure if you could fit this one into one topic! But I'd like to hear your guys' take on extra biblical writings like the Gospels of Thomas and Mary, The Lost Books of Enoch, etc. Are they to be taken as scripture? Are they blasphemy? Or did the Council of Nicaea just see them as unworthy, because of their messages?" - Dakota from Facebook

• Council of Nicaea (Wikipedia Article)
• The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Gnosticism (Wikipedia Article)
• Docetism (Wikipedia Article)
• The Gospel of Thomas (Ancient Text)
• It's Time to Give the Gospel of Thomas Its Due (Patheos Blog Post)
• Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels by Craig A. Evans (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

25:51 - "Can there be collective salvation, or is it individual salvation?"

30:50 - "Is Jesus the only way to heaven?"

• Barack Obama on Collective Salvation (YouTube Video)
• Walter Rauschenbusch (Author - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Images of Illness in the Gospel of Luke: Insights of Ancient Medical Texts by Annette Weissenrieder (Book Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Journeys by Heart, Christology of Erotic Power by Rita Nakashima Brock (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

51:24 - "What are some elements of your faith that have stayed the same during your transition away from mainstream evangelicalism? (for all three hosts to answer, please)" -Mia from Facebook

• Leaving Evangelicalism – East of Eden – 001 (Irenicast Episode)

• Reflections on the Academy, Ego, and Being in the World (Blog Post on Proverbs 29:18 from Mona's Blog)

THANK YOU

Thank you to Mike Golin for our intro and outro music. Check out his band Soulwise.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Thank you for supporting the podcast! Your ratings, reviews and feedback are not only encouraging to us personally, but they help others find the show. If you appreciate the content we provide please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Join our conversations on faith and culture by interacting with us through the following links:

Read Us on our blog An Irenicon

Email Us at [email protected]

Follow Us on Twitter and Google+

Like Us on Facebook

Listen & Subscribe to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

Speak to Us on our Feedback Page

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Support Us on Amazon

Love Us

This post may contain affiliate links. An Irenicon is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

In this episode Allen interviews the one and only Joey Aszterbaum. You may have heard Joey playing guitar for the Christian band Skypark in the 90's, or read his work on faith, art, and justice at the Charismanglican, or saw him on television marching against the anti-immigration protesters in Murrieta, CA - Joey has been an outspoken advocate of peace, family, and (more recently) Bernie Sanders and "sloths." His story takes us through the processes of deconstruction and testing, a rebirth of sorts as he encounters helpful people along the way, and on into the merits of the wider Christian faith and the Episcopal tradition.

Interview with Joey Aszterbaum (01:05)

RELEVANT LINKS

SoulTsunami by Leonard Sweet (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

SkyPark (band)

Tyrone Wells (Musician, lead singer from SkyPark)

The Education of Charlie Banks (Movie - Amazon Affiliate Link)

American Ultra (Movie - Amazon Affiliate Link)

The Ekklesia Project (blog)

Joey Aszterbaum's Five Authors

• Brian McLaren (Amazon Author Page - Affiliate Link)
• N.T. Wright (Amazon Author Page - Affiliate Link)
• Stanley Hauerwas (Amazon Author Page - Affiliate Link)
• William T. Cavanaugh (Amazon Author Page - Affiliate Link)
• John Howard Yoder (Amazon Author Page - Affiliate Link)

Kristen Bell's Sloth Meltdown (YouTube Video)

Murrieta is a Mess: Border Crisis and Confusion a guest post by Joey Aszterbaum (Rage Against the Minivan Blog Post)

Voyage of the St. Louis (a boat of largely Jewish refugees rebuffed by the United States during the Holocaust)

THANK YOU

Thank you Joey Aszterbaum joining the conversation this week.

Thank you to Mike Golin for our intro and outro music. Check out his band Soulwise.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Thank you for supporting the podcast! Your ratings, reviews and feedback are not only encouraging to us personally, but they help others find the show. If you appreciate the content we provide please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Join our conversations on faith and culture by interacting with us through the following links:

Read Us on our blog An Irenicon

Email Us at [email protected]

Follow Us on Twitter and Google+

Like Us on Facebook

Listen & Subscribe to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

Speak to Us on our Feedback Page

See Us on Instagram

Support Us on Amazon

Love Us

This post may contain affiliate links. An Irenicon is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

Is it moral to be grateful for privilege? This week the hosts try to answer what seems to be a paradox: gratitude and privilege. Covering topics from thankfulness, entitlement, wealth and leisure, wonder and a theology of being, Jeff, Mona and Allen try to get to the bottom of this unsettling question. The episode ends with a game called Good News, Bad News where they may or may not tease out a hypothetical scenario where Mona goes on a date with Donald Trump.

Announcement on Episode 50 (00:39)

Conversation on Gratitude and Privilege (03:08)

Good News, Bad New Segment (42:31)

RELEVANT LINKS

Listener Feedback – The EPICsode – 010 (Irenicast Episode)

Privilege as a Backpack article - White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh (article)

Allen's 1st Quote from Thomas Merton is from His Book No Man is an Island (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

This Too Shall Pass: A Lesson In Impermanence (Article)

Allen's 2nd Quote from Thomas Merton

Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty by Carl Schmitt (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything by Chris Hadfield (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

Chris Hatfield (YouTube Channel)

THANK YOU

Thank you to Mike Golin for our intro and outro music. Check out his band Soulwise.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Thank you for supporting the podcast! Your ratings, reviews and feedback are not only encouraging to us personally, but they help others find the show. If you appreciate the content we provide please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Join our conversations on faith and culture by interacting with us through the following links:

Read Us on our blog An Irenicon

Email Us at [email protected]

Follow Us on Twitter and Google+

Like Us on Facebook

Listen & Subscribe to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

Speak to Us on our Feedback Page

See Us on Instagram

Support Us on Amazon

Love Us

This post may contain affiliate links. An Irenicon is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

Anyone who has spent significant time in the Christian Church, of any background or denomination, has probably held opinions about their Christian worship experience. "The music was too loud." "Did the preacher just really say…?!" "I should have skipped out with the children!" "That really spoke to me." During this episode, Jeff, Mona and Allen discuss various aspects of the worship service while reflecting on their own histories, then introduce a new segment to the show and name it Sound Charades.

Diversity of the Christian Worship Experience Conversation (00:53)

Sound Charades Segment (45:08)

RELEVANT LINKS

From our Diversity of the Christian Worship Experience Conversation

• Ecstatic Religion: A Study of Shamanism and Spirit Possession by I.M. Lewis (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Wikipedia)
• Heart of Flesh: Feminist Spirituality for Women and Men by Joan Chittister (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

From Our Sound Charades Segment

• Charades Generator

THANK YOU

Thank you to Mike Golin for our intro and outro music. Check out his band Soulwise.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Thank you for supporting the podcast! Your ratings, reviews and feedback are not only encouraging to us personally, but they help others find the show. If you appreciate the content we provide please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Join our conversations on faith and culture by interacting with us through the following links:

Read Us on our blog An Irenicon

Email Us at [email protected]

Follow Us on Twitter and Google+

Like Us on Facebook

Listen & Subscribe to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

Speak to Us on our Feedback Page

See Us on Instagram

Support Us on Amazon

Love Us

This post may contain affiliate links. An Irenicon is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

How do we have a meaningful response to the global environmental crisis? Jeff, Mona and Allen wade through a challenging question this week. From their own skepticisms and personal journeys in relating ethically to the earth, they discuss pandas, waste, animal agriculture, calorie costs, and oceans. They try to wrap their minds around the impact we all have as creatures and consumers within larger global ecosystems. The episode concludes with one of the silliest Knowin' Jemonen segments yet, where the hosts argue about which animal each person would be if they were an animal.

Conversation on Global Environmental Crisis (00:26)

Knowin' Jemonen Segment (48:29)

RELEVANT LINKS

From Our Global Environmental Crisis Conversation

• "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly." - Quote from G.K. Chesterton
• Laudato Si - Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment and human ecology
• Reconciling Scripture with Science – EVILution – 003 (Irenicast Episode)
• Light Pollution by Andrew Fraknoi (aritcle)

• Songbirds, Truffles, and Wolves: An American Naturalist in Italy by Gary Paul Nabhan (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• How Pandas May Be Eating Their Way to Extinction (article)
• Here's Why All the Bees Are Dying by Tim McDonnell (article)
• The Sneezing Baby Panda (YouTube Video)
• Toilet paper and deforestation (article)
• Livestock's Long Shadow (UN report) -- "More greenhouse gases than transportation"
• TO BETTER PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT FROM ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS (EPA Report) -- "runoff accounts for half of all water pollution"
• Facts on Animal Farming and the Environment (One Green Planet article) -- "nearly half of all water in the United States goes to raising animals"
• Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diets (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) -- "11 calories of fossil fuels per calorie of protein"
• Is Meat Eating Sustainable? (World Watch Insititute article) -- "one pound of meat uses water equal to six months of showering"
• THE ETHICAL MEAT EATER: Can Carnivores Adopt A Moral High Ground? (America's Test Kitchen Podcast Episode)
• Fertilizer and nitrogen issues
• Ocean Acidity (article)

Helpful Links Not Mentioned

• Main Street Vegan by Victoria Moran (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

THANK YOU

Thank you to Mike Golin for our intro and outro music. Check out his band Soulwise.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Thank you for supporting the podcast! Your ratings, reviews and feedback are not only encouraging to us personally, but they help others find the show. If you appreciate the content we provide please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Join our conversations on faith and culture by interacting with us through the following links:

Read Us on our blog An Irenicon

Email Us at [email protected]

Follow Us on Twitter and Google+

Like Us on Facebook

Listen to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

Speak to Us on our Feedback Page

See Us on Instagram

Love Us

Perhaps it's time to leave behind our "Left Behind" theology? This week Jeff, Mona and Allen talk all things apocalyptic; the end of the world, rapture, tribulation, Revelation, and more are covered in this eschatological conversation. One thing not left behind, however, is a segment from the past that always makes Allen angry, Sorta Scattergories.

End of the World Conversation (01:38)

Sorta Scattergories Segment (54:21)

RELEVANT LINKS

From Our End of the World Conversation

• Left Behind Series (Wikipedia)
• Y2K (Wikipedia)
• Can I Get A Witness? Reading Revelation through African American Culture by Brian K. Blount (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• The Nature of Biblical Texts – Wholly Scripture, Batman! – 004 (Irenicast Episode)
• Plowshares & Pruning Hooks: Rethinking the Language of Biblical Prophecy and Apocalyptic by Brent Sandy (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Preterism (Theological Term)
• Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE (Wikipedia)
• Some Theological Terms
• • Millenialism (Theological Term)
  • Premillenialism (Theological Term)
  • Postmillenialism (Theological Term)
  • Amillenialism (Theological Term)
  • Rapture (Theological Term)
  • Great Tribulation (Theological Term)
• Joachim of Fiore (Wikipedia)
• Darby Bible (Wikipedia)
• Scofield Reference Bible (Wikipedia)
• Dispensationalism (Theological Term)
• The God of Hope and the End of the World by John Polkinghorne (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Heaven and Hell - Get the Hell Outta Here - 018 (Irenicast Episode)
• Religion, Revolution, and the Future by Jurgen Moltmann (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

Additional Information Not Mentioned in the End of the World Conversation

• The End is Near (An Irenicon Blog Post)
• Why We Love the Rapture (An Irenicon Blog Post)
• Our Beliefs About The End Times Might Be Poisoning Us (An Irenicon Blog Post)
• Eschatology by Hans Schwarz (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Theology for the Community of God by Stanley J. Grenz (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Apocalypse Against Empire: Theologies of Resistance in Early Judaism by Anathea E. Portier-Young (Book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

From our Sorta Scattergories Segment

• On the Nature of Beauty - Beauty within the Beast - 016 (Other Irenicast Episode in Which We Played Sorta Scattergories)
• Tiddlywinks (Game)
• Therapy the Game (Amazon Affiliate Link)

THANK YOU

Thank you to Mike Golin for our intro and outro music. Check out his band Soulwise.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Thank you for supporting the podcast! Your ratings, reviews and feedback are not only encouraging to us personally, but they help others find the show. If you appreciate the content we provide please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Join our conversations on faith and culture by interacting with us through the following links:

Read Us on our blog An Irenicon

Email Us at [email protected]

Follow Us on Twitter and Google+

Like Us on Facebook

Listen to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

Speak to Us on our Feedback Page

See Us on Instagram

Love Us

For the first episode of 2016, Jeff, Mona and Allen attempt to answer the question: Is the world getting better or worse? What is the purpose of history, humans, and the future? Otherwise known as the 'Myth of Progress,' the team touches on philosophy, theology, calculus, and disobedient robots in this week's somewhat contentious conversation. The episode finishes with a segment where the hosts discuss their New Year's Resolutions... and the conversation takes an unexpected turn into debating the merits of cannibalism. Enjoy!

Is the World Getting Better or Worse Discussion (00:32)

New Year's Resolution Segment (56:41)

RELEVANT LINKS

From Our Is the World Getting Better or Worse Conversation:

• The Surprising Decline in Violence, Steven Pinker (TED Talk)
• Is War Over - A Paradox Explained (YouTube Video)
• Teleology (Wikipedia Article)
• Nihilism (Wikipedia Article)
• Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche (Wikipedia Article)
• John Stuart Mill (Wikipedia Article)
• Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche (book)
• Immanuel Kant (Wikipedia Article)
• Progress and Colonialism (article)
• Introduction to Limits in Calculus (Video)
• Philosophy and Myth of Progress (article)
• Have #Brands™ Become Mythological? | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios (youtube video)
• Robots Can Say No (article)
• The Myth of Human Progress and the Collapse of Complex Societies (Chris Hedges article)
• Who is G.K. Chesterton? - The American Chesterton Society (article)
• Does Divestment Work (article)
• Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, Noam Chomsky (book)

From Our New Year's Resolution Segment

• Carrots in a remote this meme has swearing in it...

THANK YOU

Thank you Mike Golin for our intro and outro music. Check out his band Soulwise.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Thank you for supporting the podcast! Your ratings, reviews and feedback are not only encouraging to us personally, but they help others find the show. If you appreciate the content we provide please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Join our conversations on faith and culture by interacting with us through the following links:

Read Us on our blog An Irenicon

Email Us at [email protected]

Follow Us on Twitter and Google+

Like Us on Facebook

Listen to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

Speak to Us on our Feedback Page

See Us on Instagram

Love Us

All under one roof for the first time since the podcast began, Jeff, Mona & Allen talk about family… with their family. The guests at this family reunion consists of Kat (Jeff's wife), Amy (Mona's mother and Allen's aunt) and Vicky (Allen's wife and Jeff's Sister). There are even a couple appearances from Jeff & Kat's twin girls. End your 2015 by joining us in the living room for some thoughts on life, love and family.

What happiness looks like, literally.

The Typical American Lives Only 18 Miles From Mom (article)

Thank you Kat, Amy & Vicky for joining the chaos this week for our family reunion!

Thank you to Mike Golin for our intro and outro music. Check out his band Soulwise.

Thank you for supporting the podcast! Your ratings, reviews and feedback are not only encouraging to us personally, but they help others find the show. If you appreciate the content we provide please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Join our conversations on faith and culture by interacting with us through the following links:

Read Us on our blog An Irenicon

Email Us at [email protected]

Follow Us on Twitter and Google+

Like Us on Facebook

Listen to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

Speak to Us on our Feedback Page

See Us on Instagram

Love Us

The first annual Irenicast Christmas episode is a super-sized massive mishmash holiday extravaganza. This week the three hosts play a Christmas Cheer quiz, talk about magic and the "feeling" of Christmas, discuss favorite gift memories, analyze the "War" on Christmas (apparently, it's over?), chat about favorite Christmas music and movies, and talk about what Biblical mistranslations in the Luke narrative might mean. Finally, Mona serenades us all for the very first time with a little acoustic version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Happy holidays to all and to all a good night!

Christmas Cheer Quiz Segment (01:07)

The Magic of Christmas Conversation (09:10)

Favorite Christmas Gift Segment (28:20)

The "War" on Christmas Conversation (35:41)

Favorite Christmas Songs Segment (47:41)

The Mistranslation of "Inn" Conversation (53:26)

Favorite Christmas Movie Segment (01:05:54)

Mona Sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (01:19:15)

RELEVANT LINKS

From the Magic of Christmas Conversation

• Rethinking Secularism: Modernity, Enchantment, and Fictionalism (Article)
• Max Weber (Sociologist)
• The Other Letter (YouTube Video)
• My Brother's Keeper (Charitable Organization)

The "War" on Christmas Conversation

• A Point of View: Have yourself a very Jewish Christmas (Article)
• Fox Declares War on Christmas Over After CNN Wishes Audience a Merry Christmas (Video)
• Tear Drop 9/11 Monument from Russia

Favorite Christmas Songs Segment

• The Christmas Song
• Rocking Around the Christmas Tree
• Rocking Around the Christmas Tree Home Alone Scene
• Home Alone Soundtrack (YouTube)
• I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
• Charlie Brown Christmas
• Home Alone Theme Song by August Burns Red
• O Come O Come Emmanuel by Third Day

The Mistranslation of "Inn" Conversation

• Matthew's Christmas Verses - Matthew 1:18-2:12
• Luke's Christmas Verses - Luke 2:1-20
• Kataluma - Greek word for "Inn" used in Luke 2:7 and Luke 22:11
• Pandocheion - Greek word for "Inn" used in the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:34

Favorite Christmas Movie Segment

• Home Alone (1990)
• :DRYVRS Ep. 1 "Just Me In The House By Myself" starring Macaulay Culkin (YouTube Video)
• The Holiday (2006)
• Elf (2003)
• While You Were Sleeping (1995)
• Little Women (1994)
• Jingle All The Way (1996)
• WTF Episode 624 - Sinbad
• I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
• Leaving Evangelicalism – East of Eden – 001 (Irenicast Episode)
• The Ref (1994)
• National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
• A Christmas Story (1983)
• Die Hard (1988)

THANK YOU

Thank you to Mike Golin for our intro and outro music. Check out his band Soulwise.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Thank you for supporting the podcast! Your ratings, reviews and feedback are not only encouraging to us personally, but they help others find the show. If you appreciate the content we provide please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Join our conversations on faith and culture by interacting with us through the following links:

Read Us on our blog An Irenicon

Email Us at [email protected]

Follow Us on Twitter and Google+

Like Us on Facebook

Listen to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

Speak to Us on our Feedback Page

Love Us