Irenicast - A Progressive Christian Podcast

On October 1, 2015 a shooter used six guns to murder nine people on the Oregon Community College campus. In light of the tragic event, our hosts pause to lament, reflect, process, and discuss the day itself, as well as the issues it has come to represent.

In Memoriam

Lucero Alcaraz, 19

Treven Taylor Anspach, 20

Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18

Quinn Glen Cooper, 18

Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59

Lucas Eibel, 18

Jason Dale Johnson, 34

Lawrence Levine, 67

Sarena Dawn Moore, 44

RELEVANT LINKS

Oregon Shooting at Umpqua College Kills 10, Sheriff Says (article)

Nearly the same amount of mass shootings as days in 2015 (article)

If You Look at This Chart of Top Ten Nations in the World for Mass Shootings - One Thing Jumps Out (article)

The United States has 4.4% of humans on the planet, but owns almost half of privately-held guns. (article)

Is Buying Call of Duty a Moral Choice? (youtube video about firearms in video games)

In 2013, 85% of the U.S. populace believed background checks should be required for privately purchasing guns (article)

Regulate Guns Like Cars (article)

Christians 'serious about their faith' should consider getting guns, Lt. Gov. says (article)

Allen's 10 Point Plan to Curb Gun Violence (image)

Bernie Sanders reacts to Oregon campus shooting (video interview)

Ronald Reagan and the Commitment of the Mentally Ill: Capital, Interest Groups, and the Eclipse of Social Policy (journal article)

Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason Michel Foucalt (book)

John Oliver Rips GOP's Oregon Shooting Reaction: 'Worst Time To Talk About Mental Health' (article and video)

Is This Working? (This American Life episode on the School-to-Prison pipeline)

Despite Obama order, CDC still unable to research gun violence (article)

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Allen's 10 Point Plan To Curb Gun Violence (mentioned throughout the episode)

1. Mandatory psych evals for all school-age children (like we do with tests for scoliosis in PE classes).
2. Ban all privately-owned guns that can easily kill entire crowds of people.
3. No weapons for anyone with violent priors.
4. Decrease the amount of weapons on the street:
   • Make owning more than two firearms per person illegal.
   • Tax businesses that manufacture and sell weapons as hard as those that sell cigarettes.
   • Dramatically increase the buyback programs and rewards for surrendering privately held guns.
5. Dump taxpayer money into the research of less-than-lethal weaponry, awarding contracts and prizes to private companies with best solutions.
6. Reduce the number of on-screen deaths witnessed by children with laws that make the dramatization of homicide more taboo than sex acts.
7. Federally mandated conflict resolution training for all public school students.
8. Government funded campaign to make gun culture "uncool" like the campaigns against cigarettes in the 90's (which were doing great until this whole vape crap).
9. Allow the CDC to research gun violence.
10. Ban the unlicensed sale of firearms and ammunition.

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:

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What do immigration, violence and homemade clocks have in common? Fear. Fear seems to be a consistent motivator in our culture, especially fear of the other. This week Jeff, Mona & Allen address many of the issues connected to Xenophobia. Wrapping up the show our hosts bring back a segment called Say What!?

Xenophobia Conversation (00:24)

Say What?! Segment (53:12)

RELEVANT LINKS

Will Sasso Arnold Schwarzenegger Driving Vines (YouTube Video)

Donald Trumps History of Saying Offensive Things (article)

Ronald Reagan - "I Believe in Amnesty for Illegal Aliens" - (YouTube Video)

Handcuffed for Making Clock, Ahmen Mohammed, 14, Wins Time with Obama (article)

Media Matters (organization)

Xenophobia: Understanding the Roots and Consequences of Negative Attitudes toward Immigrants (article that contains M.W. Watt's quote of xenophobia as "discriminatory potential)

The Neuroscience of Race – Is Racism Inbuilt? (article)

Treme (TV Series)

Unpopular Essays by Bertrand Russell (book)

The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne (book)

Stunning and Brave (South Park Episode S19E01)

THANK YOU

A big 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

The subject of church can be a joyous one or a difficult one depending on your experience. This week Jeff, Mona and Allen explore some of the possible reasons why people are leaving church. Specifically they discuss a group of people known as 'The Dones'. People who are done with church, but not done with their faith. And then for something completely different, the team plays a round of Was it Hitler?

Why People Are Leaving Church Conversation (00:24)

Was it Hitler Segment (49:57)

RELEVANT LINKS

Done and Almost Done: Renewed Hope for the Church? (article)

The Dones (blog site)

Church Refugees: Sociologist Reveal Why People are Done with Church But Not Their Faith by Josh Packard Ph.D. (book)

Church After Christendom by Stuart Murray (book)

The McDonaldization of Church: Consumer Culture and the Church's Future by John Drane (book)

'Ghosting:' The 21st-Century Dating Problem Everyone Talks About, But No One Knows How To Deal With (article)

THANK YOU

A big 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

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The conclusion of our conversation with Brandy Daniels focuses on her current work in the field of theology. She explains in detail her thoughts on the importance of the connectivity of theology and the way that we live.

You can check out Brandy's full list of accomplishments and bibliography on her Vanderbilt bio page.

RELEVANT LINKS

PHD Comics (humor site)

Stanley Hauerwas (theologian)

Sarah Coakley (theologian)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (theologian)

Reinhold Niebuhr (theologian)

Women in Theology WIT (blog site)

THANK YOU

Thanks again to Brandy Daniels for sharing her story on the show!

And as usual, 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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Love Us

Jeff sits down this week with Brandy Daniels. Among the many things Brandy is involved in she is an author for the blog, Women in Theology (WIT), and a Ph.D. candidate at Vanderbilt University. Her work centers on the intersection of queer theory and Christian theology. In this conversation Brandy shares her journey from youth group kid in an evangelical church to a career in academia and how that journey not only affected her theology, but her spirituality as well.

You can check out Brandy's full list of accomplishments and bibliography on her Vanderbilt bio page.

RELEVANT LINKS

Taking the Bible Seriously: Honest Differences About Biblical Interpretation by J. Benton White (book)

Breaking Up With God: A Love Story by Sarah Sentilles (book)

SoulForce (activist organization)

Sexuality and the Christian Body by Eugene F. Rodgers Jr.(book)

Empire by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri (book)

Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri (book)

Common Wealth by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri

THANK YOU

Thanks again to Brandy Daniels for sharing her story on the show!

And as usual, 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

Bugapolocalypse, seductive scarf dancing and humans with lion tails. This is all in just the first 5 minutes of this week's episode. Our conversation is an in-depth discussion on the Ashley Madison hack and privacy in the digital age, capped off by a round of "Craigslist Hall of Fame."

Host Check In (00:23)

The Ashley Madison Hack and Privacy Conversation (06:54)

Craigslist Hall of Fame Segment (53:27)

RELEVANT LINKS

From Our Opening Check In

• Bees sniffing out explosives (YouTube Video)

From Our Conversation on the Ashley Madison Hack and Privacy

• Brief overview of the details of the Ashley Madison Hack (YouTube Video)
• The Visible Man: An FBI Target Puts His Whole Life Online (article)
• Expert: 400 Church Leaders Will Resign This Sunday Because Names Surfaced In Ashley Madison Hack (article)
• I (single gay man from Saudi Arabia) Could be Stoned to Death if Ashley Madison Records Are Leaked (reddit post)
• Two suicides are linked to Ashley Madison Leak (article)
• Hacked Adultery Website Ashley Madison created hundreds of fake female profiles to lure in male customers, claims former employee (article)

From Our Craigslist Hall of Fame Segment

• Mona's Craigslist Ads
• • Chicken Diapers
  • Satan's Marionette Puppet
  • Stupid Christmas Plates and Mugs

• Allen's Craigslist Ads
• • Craigslist Mattress
  • Craigslist Ring

• Jeff's Craigslist Ads
• • Avocado Car
  • Bad House Guest

THANK YOU

A big 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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Listen to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

Speak to Us on our Feedback Page

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Total Eclipse of the Heart, Alanis Morrisette, and high school reunions are some of the stops along a stroll through the respective pasts of our hosts this week. In this episode, Jeff, Mona & Allen conclude their secular vs sacred series with a discussion on the sacred in terms of selves. What makes a person sacred? Can one person be more sacred than another? Do we confuse the sacredness of a person's status, position or accomplishments with the sacredness of the person? These are all questions, and more, our hosts attempt to tackle, before finishing off with another round of Name that Sound.

Host Check In (00:22)

Secular vs Sacred Selves Conversation (07:07)

Name that Sound Segment (50:59)

RELEVANT LINKS

From Host Check In

• Taza Chocolate
• Total Eclipse of the Heart Literal Video Version (YouTube Video)... and btw, Total Eclipse of the Heart was released in 1983 in case you were curious :)
• The song that Jeff was trying to remember was Forgive by Alanis Morissette (YouTube video of her Woodstock '99 performance of the song)

From Our Secular vs Sacred Selves Conversation

• Selection of Steven and others Acts 6
• Polycarp of Smyrna (early Christian martyr)
• No Logo by Naomi Klein (book)
• Paul Tillich (theologian)

From Our Name That Sound Segment

• Tri-tip

THANK YOU

A big 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

In this second installment of the secular vs sacred, hosts Jeff, Mona and Allen discuss "spaces." They explore what makes a certain location more or less sacred than another. This weeks episode is wrapped up with a segment called Dinner Party. Each of our hosts share three people they would have over to a dinner party and why.

Host Check In (00:21)

Sacred vs Secular Spaces Conversation (06:02)

Dinner Party Segment (57:14)

RELEVANT LINKS

From Host Check In

• Monument Valley (Mobile Game)
• Aeropress Coffee Maker (product)

From Secular vs Sacred: Spaces Conversation

• Porziuncola (Place of the Legend of the Thornless Roses)
• Thin Places - A Biblical Investigation by Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts (blog post)
• The Oracle of Delphi
• Believing in 'Bad Vibes' by Daisey Grewal (A Scientific American article about 'emotional residue', or as Mona described it, 'lingering hormonal signals')
• Study Finds the More Beautiful Your Home Is, The Less Likely You Are to Be Religious (article)
• MONA - Charismatic to Institutional? 32:01
• What If Shopping Malls Are Really Sanctuaries? by Allen O'Brien (An Irenicon Blog Post)
• For God so Loved...America? (example of Allen and Vicky playing "Jesus Junk")
• Testamints (Christian Mints… holy crap they still exists!)
• On Charisma and Institution Building by Max Weber (book)

From Diner Party Segment

• Jeff's Dinner Party
• • Alton Brown, Tina Fey, and Dr. Dre
  • Honorable Mentions: Scott Snyder, Eddie Vedder, Mike Rugnetta
• Allen's Dinner Party
• • C.S. Lewis, Richard Feynman, Kurt Vonnegut
• Mona's Dinner Party
• • Victoria Woodhull, bell hooks, Amy Poehler

THANK YOU

A big 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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Listen to Us on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and TuneIn

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Love Us

Jeff, Mona (Umami) and Allen (Smellfungus) start a new series of episodes this week on the secular vs sacred. Their first stop on this journey is exploring the sacredness, or lack of sacredness, in stories. Our hosts specifically explore the mediums of art, media and even the Bible. Our discussion of the sacred leads into a mash up of Apples 2 Apples and Balderdash, called Appledash.

Host Check In (00:12)

Secular vs Sacred - Stories Conversation (06:12)

Appledash Segment (58:22)

RELEVANT LINKS

From Our Conversation on Secular vs Sacred Stories:

• If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horsemen Do? Trailer (YouTube Video)
• If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horsemen Do? Whole Movie (YouTube Video)
• Thomas Kinkade (Painter)
• Star Wars Kinkade Parody:

• Noah (movie - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Mona hates balloons… She's not the only one (YouTube Video)
• The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (organization)
• Ramayan1987, 2008 and 2012 (Indian TV Series)
• The Robe 1953 (movie - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Barabbas 1961 (movie - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Facing the Giants 2006 (movie - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell (book - Amazon Affiliate Link)

From Our Appledash Segment

• pandiculation - the act of stretching oneself
• aspergillum - a brush or instrument for sprinkling holy water; aspersorium
• sackbut - a medieval trombone, or musical instrument from Daniel 3
• smellfungus - a captious critic
• effable - able to be described, utterable, expressible
• umami - savory taste

THANK YOU

A big 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

You might think an episode on the importance of language would be an easy topic to conquer for three people who speak on a weekly podcast. This, however, is not entirely the case. Jeff, Mona and Allen get meta as they discuss the importance of language and tackle the issues of rhetoric, political correctness, cronuts, the Bible, and new attempts on metaphors for God. All that, plus the brand new segment Fill in the Blanks: Etiquette Edition.

Host Check In (00:12)

The Importance of Language Conversation (6:22)

Fill in the Blanks Segment (53:32)

RELEVANT LINKS

From the Opening

• 10 Min Video on Disney artists and creation of tree (YouTube Video)

From Conversation on the Importance of Language

• Paul Ricoeur (philosopher)
• Metaphorical Theology: Models of God in Religious Language by Sallie McFague (book - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• "Is and is not" quality of metaphors in Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age by Sallie McFague (book - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• "If god is male then male is god" from Beyond God the Father by Mary Daily (book - Amazon Affiliate Link)
• God is Not a White Man by Gungor (song)

From the Fill in the Blanks: Etiquette Edition Segment

• "In public a woman should ask for help before attempting to carry bundles in the street, because asking for a man's assistance might humiliate and emasculate him in public unless the bundle is very small." (Lost Ettiquite, The Week)
• "It is incredibly boorish to butter your bread before eating it, unless it was bite sized." (Bread and Butter Etiquettearticle)
• "In Portugal it is impolite to ask for salt and pepper at a restaurant" (from Dining Etiquette from Around the World article)
• "If something should go wrong at the table, like you find a worm in your stew of someone drops a gravy boat on your Aunt Bess, in order to avoid incredible awkwardness you ought to say nothing." (in Farmer's Almanac)
• "If someone toasts you, it is ill-mannered to take a drink in response." (Toasts and Toasting Etiquettearticle)
• "In France it is impolite to take a bite of a slice of bread." (from Manner Matters: Bread and Butter Basics article)

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