Sacred Tension

After growing up in Northern Ireland, storyteller Gareth Higgins understands better than most how stories shape society, conflict, and change. In this episode of Sacred Tension, Gareth shares his wisdom with my listeners about how to tell better stories in a world that seems overrun with fundamentalism, violence, and totalitarianism. 

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Donald, Danielle, and I continue our conversation about gender complementarianism and the mission statement of the Council For Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. In the process we discuss power structures, the importance of doubt, and how organizations like the Council For Biblical Manhood and Womanhood might exist to maintain certainty and control.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of Sacred Tension, Danielle, Donald, and I discuss the mission and vision statements of the Council For Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. We rant about Biblical interpretation, the social consequences of complementarianism, and more.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I speak with religious scholar Joseph Laycock about the Satanic Panic of the 80's and 90's, and why the Evangelical world was so terrified of role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. We discuss his book Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic Over Role Playing Games Says About Religion, Play, and Imagined Worlds. His book serves as an important cautionary tale in our age of hyper-connectivity, fake news, and conspiracy theories.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode I sit down with environmental scientist Melissa Wilson to talk about her journey out of Evangelicalism, her grieving process for her old faith community, her journey towards embracing LGBT people, and the struggle of being a questioner in Christian community.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I introduce Tarot-virgin Justin to the beautiful art of reading Tarot. While reading his cards, I share my (extremely basic) knowledge of the Tarot, and my theories about why it works. Is Tarot primarily about psychology, or is it about seeing the future? Listen to find out.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of Sacred Tension, Scientology survivor Chris Shelton comes back onto the show to help me figure out if Youth With a Mission (YWAM) is a destructive cult. Youth With a Mission is one of the largest Christian mission organizations in the world, and I was a member for two painful years. In the process we talk about the marks of a destructive cult, trance states, the ubiquity of destructive ideas, and gay conversion therepy.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

Merry Christmas! In this episode of Sacred Tension, we give you company during this miserable holiday by discussing Catholicism, the child sex abuse scandal, pentecostalism, and equality for LGBT people and women in the church.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

Merry Christmas! In this episode of Sacred Tension, we give you company during this miserable holiday by discussing Catholicism, the child sex abuse scandal, pentecostalism, and equality for LGBT people and women in the church.

In part two of my conversation with drag queen Ida Carolina, we discuss what it was like being queer in Christian college. We explore the difficulties of navigating sexual orientation in a hostile environment, the survival skills we developed, and respectability politics.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe