Shameless Theology: Queer Feminist Latine Decolonial Faith

Forgiveness is often preached as holy, but in abusive systems it becomes a tool of control that protects institutions and silences survivors. Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio) reflects on the weaponization of Christian forgiveness, sharing a story of an 18-year-old in Costa Rica shamed as “impure” and barred from church dance after giving birth at 12 due to abuse by a church elder the community protected. Reverend Sex critiques forgiveness lessons that use Scripture to shift the burden onto victims, erase anger and grief, and replace accountability and restitution with private repentance to God. 

00:00 Welcome Back Beloved

01:45 Late Night In Mexico

02:12 Costa Rica Story

05:43 Forgiveness Weaponized

09:27 God As Aggrieved

12:49 Healing Versus Performance

14:06 Focus On Family Rules

17:40 White Supremacy Lens

20:35 Jesus Cross Reframe

22:17 Prayer For Tenderness

24:33 Outro And Resources 

Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), Love Letters from Reverend Sex is confession and revelation, intimate and inspirational. This weekly message from an ordained pastor, spiritual healer, and bruja troublemaker will empower you to reject practices of spiritual violence and eradicate shame and fear in your life. This is the spiritual home you’ve been looking for.

The entire Shameless Theology podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful. It’s a space for exploration--un/learning and re/membering our spiritual journeys through sharing the experience, wisdom, and connections Soulforce has built as an international LGBTQIA+ social justice nonprofit organization over the last 30 years.

Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation.

https://soulforce.org/donate/

FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: https://soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/

Find episode transcripts at https://soulforce.org/podcast/

Spiritual Terrorism does not require intention to do harm when social, political, and cultural structures are established to facilitate harm. Today, Rev. Alba Onofrio introduces two scholars who have worked together for almost a decade to expose these structures and document incidents of Religious Racism in Brazil. Dr. Danielle Boaz and Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerquiera have built a bilingual database of 500+ documented incidents of religious intolerance against Afro-Brazilian faiths.

In cases where perpetrators were identified, every single one was Christian—most often Neo‑Pentecostal—revealing a pattern of organized hostility that shapes daily life and public safety.

In part one of this two part conversation, we learn how Danielle and Gustavo came to this work, and how the project started as a cry for help and a fight for survival. We’ll consider how their lived experience and research into the prohibition & persecution of African diaspora religions across the Americas relates to the concepts presented in Soulforce’s new book Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith and discuss the ways religion colludes with power to produce harm. 

Dr. Danielle N. Boaz is Professor of Africana Studies and Interim Director of Legal Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research focuses on discrimination and violence against African diaspora religious communities from the nineteenth to the present. Dr. Boaz is the author of Banning Black Gods: Law and Religions of the African Diaspora (Penn State University Press 2021) and Voodoo: The History of a Racial Slur (Oxford University Press 2023);she is co-author of Silencing the Drum:Religious Racism and Afro-Brazilian Sacred Music (Amherst College Press 2024). 

Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerqueira: Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerqueira is the Babalorixá of Ilê Axé Omi Ogun siwajú and an artist of performance and presence working as an actor, director, and playwright. He serves as Vice President of the International Commission to Combat Religious Racism (ICCRR), a global initiative dedicated to studying and confronting religious racism through research, advocacy, and international collaboration. His work bridges scholarship and activism, addressing discrimination against African and African diaspora religions worldwide. Dr. Melo Cerqueira holds a Ph.D. in African and African Diaspora Studies and an M.A. in Arts from the University of Texas at Austin and is an Adjunct Professor of Theater Education at UNIRIO. He has published widely in theater, performance, and religious studies, and is co-founder of Pele Negra – Escola de Teatro(s) Preto(s).

Find more about their work at www.religiousracism.org

Americans’ Double Standard on Religious Violence - PRRI 

Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), this podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful, while centering dialogue on Queer, Trans, and feminist theology.

Shameless Theology seeks to decolonize faith, mixing theological education with real-life experiences to support human rights and life abundant for all of Creation. Initially launched in Spanish as Teología Sin Vergüenza, this show addresses the monopolization of religious discourse by the extreme Right. Here, we gather people of diverse faith backgrounds and Christian denominations--pastors, activists, and scholars--to discuss gender identity, the erotic, and real life in the context of a radically inclusive faith, aiming to heal the wounds of colonizing religion and create a welcoming space for topics often considered taboo in religious spaces.

This season forefronts our new book: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith. This timely resource identifies and examines the consequences of white Christian Supremacy through historical context and case studies, centering lived experiences of marginalized people, and offers critical analysis and practical tools for healing and resistance. Each week, we’ll share engaging conversations with brilliant guests familiar with the work, as we explore the concepts and lived experiences of Spiritual Violence. The podcast is not a repetition of the book but an expansion of conversation adding new voices: experts in their fields who share their experience with our community. Even if you haven’t read the book yet, these are engaging conversations relevant to the here and how, and we invite you to join us and continue the conversation in your own communities. 

FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/    

Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation.

https://soulforce.org/donate/

What if your queerness isn’t just who you love—but the lens that teaches you to question everything? 

Reflecting on a rainy night at home and a recent visit to United Lutheran Seminary, Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio) answers a seminarian’s brave question: “What is a Queer Christian?” They unpack how identity-shaping adjectives matter, and how “Queer” differs from “gay” as a politicized, countercultural refusal to conform to broken systems. 

Through examples like chosen family, bodies and sexuality, and gendered language for God, they describe Queerness as a power analysis that challenges authority, including how biblical canon was formed. Seeing Jesus as anti-imperialist and resisting unjust power, they frame queer Christianity as hope-filled sacred resistance, then close with a prayer for courage to ask hard questions and build community.

00:00 Welcome Back Beloveds

01:45 The Seminary Question

03:16 Identity Words Matter

05:47 Queer As A Lens

06:35 Gay Does Not Equal Queer

09:28 Chosen Family And Bodies

12:12 Power And Authority

14:37 Jesus The Rebel

17:07 Hope And Liberation

19:45 Prayer For Holy Trouble

22:04 Closing and Resources

Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), Love Letters from Reverend Sex is confession and revelation, intimate and inspirational. This weekly message from an ordained pastor, spiritual healer, and bruja troublemaker will empower you to reject practices of spiritual violence and eradicate shame and fear in your life. This is the spiritual home you’ve been looking for.

The entire Shameless Theology podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful. It’s a space for exploration--un/learning and re/membering our spiritual journeys through sharing the experience, wisdom, and connections Soulforce has built as an international LGBTQIA+ social justice nonprofit organization over the last 30 years.

Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation.

https://soulforce.org/donate/

FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: https://soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/

Find episode transcripts at https://soulforce.org/podcast/

What do you do when you can’t find a spiritual home? You build one.

In pursuit of a faith that could withstand questioning and a community that embraced freedom and dignity, guest Rev. Rhina Ramos worked to create the spiritual home she’d been searching for. In today’s episode, Rev. Alba Onofrio invites Rhina to share her journey from a punitive Catholic upbringing in El Salvador, through migration to the U.S., and a decade in a Salvadoran Baptist church to the rupture of coming out as a lesbian, divorcing, and trusting God’s grace amid rejection. Today, as the co-founder and pastor of the country’s only Spanish‑speaking, queer‑led UCC congregation, she and the Ministerio Latino community offer both material support for newly arrived immigrants and a healing, affirming space where Queer and Trans people can be fully seen.

With more than 25 years of experience as an activist and advocate, Rhina has seen the effects of Spiritual Violence up close in our communities. In today’s conversation, Rev. Alba and Rhina reflect on those stories, the spiritual trauma carried by Queer immigrants and Trans people, our responsibility to costly love as an expression of faith, and the practices that sustain us: community care, rest, and drawing strength from revolutionary ancestors.

Rev. Rhina Ramos is an ordained United Church of Christ minister leading Ministerio Latino, a Spanish speaking open and affirming congregation for LGTBQI Latinx immigrants founded as her call in 2011. Rhina was born in El Salvador and emigrated to the United States at age 14 in 1983. As an immigrant undocumented during the first 3 years in the United States, Rhina knows first hand the fear and pain of belonging to an invisible community. She graduated from Hofstra University Law School in 1995 and was a labor attorney for five years recouping thousands of dollars in unpaid wages for immigrant workers. In 2003, she obtained a Masters in Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. Pastor Rhina has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 25 years as an activist, community organizer and manager. In November 2024, she published her first book In My Heart, A Volcano in Spanish about her family and memories of growing up in El Salvador during the 80’s and her journey north as undocumented immigrant.

Find Rev. Rhina at ministeriolatino.org or on Facebook & Instagram

Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), this podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful, while centering dialogue on Queer, Trans, and feminist theology.

Shameless Theology seeks to decolonize faith, mixing theological education with real-life experiences to support human rights and life abundant for all of Creation. Initially launched in Spanish as Teología Sin Vergüenza, this show addresses the monopolization of religious discourse by the extreme Right. Here, we gather people of diverse faith backgrounds and Christian denominations--pastors, activists, and scholars--to discuss gender identity, the erotic, and real life in the context of a radically inclusive faith, aiming to heal the wounds of colonizing religion and create a welcoming space for topics often considered taboo in religious spaces.

This season forefronts our new book: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith. This timely resource identifies and examines the consequences of white Christian Supremacy through historical context and case studies, centering lived experiences of marginalized people, and offers critical analysis and practical tools for healing and resistance. Each week, we’ll share engaging conversations with brilliant guests familiar with the work, as we explore the concepts and lived experiences of Spiritual Violence. The podcast is not a repetition of the book but an expansion of conversation adding new voices: experts in their fields who share their experience with our community. Even if you haven’t read the book yet, these are engaging conversations relevant to the here and how, and we invite you to join us and continue the conversation in your own communities. 

FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/    

Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation.

https://soulforce.org/donate/

Profane or impolite? How do the words we choose relate to the faith we practice?

Honoring a rebellious heart and faithful spirit Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio) explores why profanity unsettles many Christians but can be a political and spiritual practice rooted in activism where survival leaves little room for polite society. Drawing on the Battle of Hastings and the class divide between Old English and French-derived “educated” language, they show how “cuss words” became labeled vulgar. They distinguish swearing, cursing, and cussing, and invite a redefinition of “profane” as that which causes harm. 

00:00 Welcome Back Beloveds

01:45 Why This Love Letter

03:49 Activism And Real Talk

05:41 Unbecoming Of A Lady

06:23 Medieval Swearing Origins

07:40 Battle Of Hastings

09:18 Class And Language Split

12:47 Profanity Word Examples

15:11 Swearing Cursing Cussing

17:21 Redefining The Profane

17:57 Prayer For Holy Speech

20:10 Closing And More Shows

Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), Love Letters from Reverend Sex is confession and revelation, intimate and inspirational. This weekly message from an ordained pastor, spiritual healer, and bruja troublemaker will empower you to reject practices of spiritual violence and eradicate shame and fear in your life. This is the spiritual home you’ve been looking for.

The entire Shameless Theology podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful. It’s a space for exploration--un/learning and re/membering our spiritual journeys through sharing the experience, wisdom, and connections Soulforce has built as an international LGBTQIA+ social justice nonprofit organization over the last 30 years.

Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation.

https://soulforce.org/donate/

FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: https://soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/

Find episode transcripts at https://soulforce.org/podcast/

When purity is preached as protection but feels like surveillance, pastor’s kids can become extensions of the pulpit under constant scrutiny. 

In part two of a conversation with Yolanda Santiago-Correa,, the story turns personal. Yolanda describes how her parents—shaped by their own religious trauma—protected her through honest, nuanced dialogue rather than censorship. Even so, she navigated policing of her body, social isolation, pressure to represent her family, and the constant fear that any misstep could jeopardize her parents’ employment.  

Together, Rev. Alba (Reverend Sex) and Yolanda examine how white Christian Supremacist purity culture and rigid binaries create conditions for Spiritual Terrorism. They explore the tension between embodied Puerto Rican culture and church repression, and why Pentecostalism’s intimate, physical spirituality can feel grounding amid disenfranchisement. 

The episode invites listeners to take responsibility for their own faith—naming harm honestly while seeking ways to protect what is sacred without reproducing violence.

Yolanda M. Santiago Correa is a doctoral candidate in Religion and Culture. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico and an M.Div. from Duke Divinity School. Her research explores the intersection of Puerto Rican racial imagination and Christian practice, centering Black Boricua experiences to challenge colonial frameworks and reimagine religious life in the archipelago and diaspora.

She currently serves as Program Coordinator for the Hispanic House of Studies at Duke Divinity School and as the inaugural Director of the AfroLatine Theology Project.

Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), this podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful, while centering dialogue on Queer, Trans, and feminist theology.

Shameless Theology seeks to decolonize faith, mixing theological education with real-life experiences to support human rights and life abundant for all of Creation. Initially launched in Spanish as Teología Sin Vergüenza, this show addresses the monopolization of religious discourse by the extreme Right. Here, we gather people of diverse faith backgrounds and Christian denominations--pastors, activists, and scholars--to discuss gender identity, the erotic, and real life in the context of a radically inclusive faith, aiming to heal the wounds of colonizing religion and create a welcoming space for topics often considered taboo in religious spaces.

This season forefronts our new book: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith. This timely resource identifies and examines the consequences of white Christian Supremacy through historical context and case studies, centering lived experiences of marginalized people, and offers critical analysis and practical tools for healing and resistance. Each week, we’ll share engaging conversations with brilliant guests familiar with the work, as we explore the concepts and lived experiences of Spiritual Violence. The podcast is not a repetition of the book but an expansion of conversation adding new voices: experts in their fields who share their experience with our community. Even if you haven’t read the book yet, these are engaging conversations relevant to the here and how, and we invite you to join us and continue the conversation in your own communities. 

FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/    

Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation.

https://soulforce.org/donate/

If you’ve been wondering whether that persistent tug in your spirit is a real calling, this love letter is your sign to listen—and be brave. Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio) shares their own improbable path toward divinity school as a queer, non-monogamous mother, guided by Rev. Dr. Katie Cannon’s mantra: “Do the work your soul must have.” 

A transformative moment during a Moravian Love Feast—known for its ritualized welcome and egalitarian table—cracked something open: a divine challenge to their anger about the absence of affirming church spaces. What followed was a season of discernment, surprising confirmations, and the courage to “just apply,” ultimately leading them to seminary. 

This episode encourages listeners to ask what makes them come alive, to pray boldly, and to trust that callings often begin as a whisper. 

00:00 Welcome Beloveds

01:45 Called To Something

03:42 Soul Must Have Work

05:06 Moravian Love Feast

10:27 Searching For Church

13:43 God Asks What Now

14:17 Just Apply Anyway

15:57 Hearing The Call

18:59 Prayer For Discernment

21:16 Closing And Resources

Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), Love Letters from Reverend Sex is confession and revelation, intimate and inspirational. This weekly message from an ordained pastor, spiritual healer, and bruja troublemaker will empower you to reject practices of spiritual violence and eradicate shame and fear in your life. This is the spiritual home you’ve been looking for.

The entire Shameless Theology podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful. It’s a space for exploration--un/learning and re/membering our spiritual journeys through sharing the experience, wisdom, and connections Soulforce has built as an international LGBTQIA+ social justice nonprofit organization over the last 30 years.

Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation.

https://soulforce.org/donate/

FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: https://soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/

Find episode transcripts at https://soulforce.org/podcast/

Puerto Rico’s colonial past isn’t just politics—it’s a Christian story written into bodies, churches, and daily survival. Rev. Alba Onofrio (Reverend Sex), Executive Director of Soulforce, introduces Shameless Theology Season 2 as a series based on the book Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith, naming spiritual violence, religious abuse, and white Christian Supremacy as lived realities. 

In part one of a two-part conversation, guest Yolanda Santiago Correa traces Puerto Rico’s colonization under Spain and then the U.S., describing an “embedded dependency” reinforced through Christian rhetoric, U.S. policy, and economic control. She discusses Protestant denominations dividing the island, structural neglect highlighted by Hurricane Maria, and “Latinidad” as a homogenizing, anti-Black colonial project tied to purity, assimilation, and whiteness. The conversation considers queering inherited tools for understanding race, identity, and belonging, ranging from reggaeton to racial gatekeeping. Part two will explore Yolanda’s experiences of spiritual violence growing up, navigating identity and belonging as a pastor’s kid.

Yolanda M. Santiago Correa is a doctoral candidate in Religion and Culture. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico and an M.Div. from Duke Divinity School. Her research explores the intersection of Puerto Rican racial imagination and Christian practice, centering Black Boricua experiences to challenge colonial frameworks and reimagine religious life in the archipelago and diaspora.

She currently serves as Program Coordinator for the Hispanic House of Studies at Duke Divinity School and as the inaugural Director of the AfroLatine Theology Project.

 Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), this podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful, while centering dialogue on Queer, Trans, and feminist theology.

Shameless Theology seeks to decolonize faith, mixing theological education with real-life experiences to support human rights and life abundant for all of Creation. Initially launched in Spanish as Teología Sin Vergüenza, this show addresses the monopolization of religious discourse by the extreme Right. Here, we gather people of diverse faith backgrounds and Christian denominations--pastors, activists, and scholars--to discuss gender identity, the erotic, and real life in the context of a radically inclusive faith, aiming to heal the wounds of colonizing religion and create a welcoming space for topics often considered taboo in religious spaces.

This season forefronts our new book: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith. This timely resource identifies and examines the consequences of white Christian Supremacy through historical context and case studies, centering lived experiences of marginalized people, and offers critical analysis and practical tools for healing and resistance. Each week, we’ll share engaging conversations with brilliant guests familiar with the work, as we explore the concepts and lived experiences of Spiritual Violence. The podcast is not a repetition of the book but an expansion of conversation adding new voices: experts in their fields who share their experience with our community. Even if you haven’t read the book yet, these are engaging conversations relevant to the here and how, and we invite you to join us and continue the conversation in your own communities. 

FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: https://soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/     

Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation.

https://soulforce.org/donate/

“Grief is not a disorder, a disease, or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, spiritual and physical necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve.” --- Earl Grollman

When the waves of pain make everything feel senseless, Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio) offers presence to those grieving amid violence, systemic harm, and spiritual overwhelm in this opening episode of Season Two. Reverend Sex names how many were taught to privatize grief or rely on clichés. They argue that a core lie of “bad theology” is treating God as fragile—unable to hold rage, despair, doubt, and the question “why.” Instead, Reverend Sex invites listeners to let grief move through the body, using water and candlelight as companions for release and transmutation, while calling on the divine, ancestors, and elements for strength. 

00:00 Welcome Back Beloved

01:45 A Love Letter for Grief

03:37 Unlearning Fragile God

04:55 When Pain Makes No Sense

08:17 Water as Sacred Release

11:17 Opening Outward Together

12:32 Bless the Turning

14:37 Prayer for Holding Grief

18:11 Closing and Podcast Updates

Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), Love Letters from Reverend Sex is confession and revelation, intimate and inspirational. This weekly message from an ordained pastor, spiritual healer, and bruja troublemaker will empower you to reject practices of spiritual violence and eradicate shame and fear in your life. This is the spiritual home you’ve been looking for.

The entire Shameless Theology podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful. It’s a space for exploration--un/learning and re/membering our spiritual journeys through sharing the experience, wisdom, and connections Soulforce has built as an international LGBTQIA+ social justice nonprofit organization over the last 30 years.

Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation.

https://soulforce.org/donate/

FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: https://soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/

Find episode transcripts at https://soulforce.org/podcast/

White Christian Supremacy was brought to this continent through violent conquest. Subsequent nations and societies have been founded on its death-dealing ethos, shaping collective consciousness and enforcing oppression at every level. It’s time we name the harm caused by this spiritual terrorism - not as abstract theories, but in the lived realities of the many marginalized people hurt by White Christian supremacy. 

In this season premiere episode, Reverend Sex and Nadia Arellano introduce the concepts explored in Soulforce’s new book Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith to offer shared language for the rich conversations that fill this season. Learn about the work that went into this incredible resource and how it’s designed to spark conversation and inspire action.   

Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), this podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful, while centering dialogue on Queer, Trans, and feminist theology.

Shameless Theology seeks to decolonize faith, mixing theological education with real-life experiences to support human rights and life abundant for all of Creation. Initially launched in Spanish as Teología Sin Vergüenza, this show addresses the monopolization of religious discourse by the extreme Right. Here, we gather people of diverse faith backgrounds and Christian denominations--pastors, activists, and scholars--to discuss gender identity, the erotic, and real life in the context of a radically inclusive faith, aiming to heal the wounds of colonizing religion and create a welcoming space for topics often considered taboo in religious spaces.

This season forefronts our new book: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith. This timely resource identifies and examines the consequences of white Christian Supremacy through historical context and case studies, centering lived experiences of marginalized people, and offers critical analysis and practical tools for healing and resistance. Each week, we’ll share engaging conversations with brilliant guests familiar with the work, as we explore the concepts and lived experiences of Spiritual Violence. The podcast is not a repetition of the book but an expansion of conversation adding new voices: experts in their fields who share their experience with our community. Even if you haven’t read the book yet, these are engaging conversations relevant to the here and how, and we invite you to join us and continue the conversation in your own communities. 

FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: https://soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/    

Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation.

https://soulforce.org/donate/