Straight White American Jesus

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Brad Onishi converses with Dr. Scott Coley, author of 'Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right.' Coley discusses the concepts of ideology, propaganda, and legitimizing narratives within conservative evangelical communities. They explore how these elements create and maintain social hierarchies, such as those based on race and gender, and the role of 'Christo authoritarianism.' Coley emphasizes how religious resources are used to justify and perpetuate these hierarchies. The episode also addresses how questioning or resisting these beliefs is often suppressed within these communities.

Buy Ministers of Propaganda: https://www.eerdmans.com/9781467466004/ministers-of-propaganda/

00:00 Introduction to Civil Rights Movement and Passive Resistance

00:51 Critique of Civil Rights Movement's Approach

01:43 Introducing Dr. Scott Coley and His Book

03:53 Understanding Ideology and Propaganda

07:48 Legitimizing Narratives and Social Hierarchies

17:26 Christo Authoritarianism and the Hermeneutics of Legitimization

25:03 Explicit and Implicit White Supremacy in Evangelicalism

35:08 Gender Hierarchies and Patriarchy in Evangelicalism

39:06 Conclusion and Premium Content Information

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Brad Onishi and Dan Miller examine the shocking comments by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito caught on tape and contrast them with Chief Justice John Roberts' more measured approach. The hosts also delve into the Southern Baptist Convention's recent resolution condemning in vitro fertilization (IVF) and its implications for reproductive rights and the 2024 elections. Lastly, they discuss Georgia as a testing ground for voter suppression tactics designed to benefit Trump and the GOP in upcoming elections.

00:00 Introduction: The Challenge of Polarization

01:19 Supreme Court Controversies: Alito's Shocking Comments

01:55 Analyzing Alito and Roberts: Trust in the Supreme Court

02:04 Southern Baptist Convention and Reproductive Rights

02:22 Georgia's Voter Suppression Tactics

02:55 Meet the Hosts: Brad and Dan

04:43 Supreme Court Justices Undercover: Alito and Roberts

30:48 Reflecting on Political Discourse and Integrity

31:11 Supreme Court Controversies: Then and Now

34:34 Southern Baptist Convention's Stance on IVF

38:24 Political Implications of the SBC's IVF Resolution

50:00 Georgia: The MAGA Movement's Testing Ground

51:06 Election Integrity and Voter Suppression Tactics

59:32 Hope Amidst Political Turmoil

01:01:01 Upcoming Events and Final Thoughts

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If you’ve encountered today’s right-wing culture warriors, you have heard them lambast efforts at LGBTQ+ inclusion, police reform, combatting climate change, and myriad other issues as reflecting the “spirit of the age.” But what do they mean by this? Where does this phrase come from? Is it specifically Christian, or does it have broader meanings? And most importantly, once we decode this phrase, what do we find people doing with it? Dan tackles these questions in this week’s episode.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC

Order Brad's book: https://bookshop.org/a/95982/9781506482163

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Brad Onishi discusses with Eric Klinenberg the long-lasting social and political effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, framing it as a form of 'social long COVID.' The conversation highlights how the events of 2020 intensified distrust in government and deepened societal divisions, setting the stage for challenges in the 2024 elections. They also explore the symbolic role of face masks in these divisions and the impact of local mutual aid networks. Looking ahead, they assess how unresolved issues from 2020 continue to influence American civic life and political attitudes.

00:00 Introduction: The Lingering Effects of 2020

01:25 The Social Disease of Long COVID

02:04 Reflecting on the Pandemic's Impact

02:12 Interview with Eric Kleinberg

04:07 The Symbolism of Masks

07:49 America's Unique Pandemic Response

25:38 Mutual Aid Networks and Community Resilience

31:49 The Structural Isolation Crisis

36:25 Looking Ahead to the 2024 Election

43:31 Conclusion: The Future of American Democracy

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Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get full access to this episode, bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/

Brad and Dan discuss the harsh rhetoric from the American right in response to Trump's recent conviction on 34 felonies, including calls for retribution against Democrats. They explore the significant ethical issues surrounding Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The episode also covers Texas' proposed public school curriculum changes that push a Christian-centric education, and reactions from a Mexican American family's departure from Idaho due to feeling unwelcome. The hosts emphasize the dangers of the current conservative landscape and its implications for American politics and education.

00:00 Introduction: Should Democrats Be in Jail?

00:26 Reactions to Trump's Conviction

01:04 Exploring the Supreme Court Fallout

02:09 Texas School Curriculum Controversy

02:33 Weekly Roundup and Personal Updates

04:04 Discussion on Trump's Verdict and Political Reactions

18:30 Clarence Thomas and Supreme Court Ethics

29:26 Frustration with Institutional Norms

30:08 Texas School Curriculum Controversy

31:54 Religious Influence in Education

38:46 Parental Concerns and Ignorance

46:01 Texas GOP Convention Highlights

53:25 Mexican American Family's Idaho Experience

59:46 Concluding Thoughts and Reasons for Hope

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Brad speaks with journalist and scholar Philip Deslippe about the origins of yoga in the United States as a response to the precarity of South Asian lives in 20th century America. "A century ago, students of yoga in the United States, like many practitioners today, believed that they were engaging in something pure, ancient, and Indian. In reality, the yoga they were doing was a bricolage of the metaphysical and mundane presented to them in an exotic, Orientalized package by largely educated and worldly immigrants from India. These teachers were themselves responding and adapting to a nativist and racist climate. Yoga in the United States during the interwar decades is one of many examples of how Asian religions in the United States cannot be fully understood outside the context of Asian American history."

This episode is part of a new series by Axis Mundi Media and APARRI called APA Religions 101. Subscribe here: https://feeds.redcircle.com/581b8afe-eda8-45df-997d-3b22e5b57c64

Learn more about APARRI. 

APARRI’s vision is to create a society in which Asian Pacific American religions are valued, recognized, and central to the understanding of American public life. Since 1999, The Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI) has been a vibrant scholarly community advancing the interdisciplinary study of Asian Pacific Americans and their religions. 

Producer: Dr. Bradley Onishi: @bradleyonishi

Audio Engineer and Musician: Scott Okamoto: @rsokamoto

For more information about research-based media by Axis Mundi Media visit: www.axismundi.us

Funding for this series has been generously provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.

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Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get full access to this episode, bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/

Mike Hixenbaugh is a Pulitzer finalist, Peabody award winner, and the author of They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms. In the book, Hixenbaugh delivers an immersive and eye-opening story of Southlake, Texas, a district that seemed to offer everything parents would want for their children—small classes, dedicated teachers, financial resources, a track record of academic success, and school spirit in abundance. All this, until a series of racist incidents became public, a plan to promote inclusiveness was proposed in response—and a coordinated, well-funded conservative backlash erupted, lighting the fire of a national movement on the verge of changing the face of public schools across the country.

They Came for the Schools pulls back the curtain on the powerful forces driving this crusade to ban books, rewrite curricula, limit rights for minority and LGBTQ students—and, most importantly, to win what Hixenbaugh’s deeply informed reporting convinces is the holy grail among those seeking to impose biblical values on American society: school privatization, one school board and one legal battle at a time.

Buy it here: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/they-came-for-the-schools-mike-hixenbaugh?variant=41284682088482

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Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get full access to this episode, bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/

Last night we learned that Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 accounts of falsifying business records. Brad and Dan ask what this means for the coming months, how it will affect the election, and why the GOP refuses to abandon a man who has been impeached twice, lost his re-election campaign, and now becomes the only former president convicted of a felony. Brad is joined by Dr. Hank Willenbrink at the end of the episode to talk about the roles, performances, and characters Trump and Trump supports play in order to create a self-enclosed MAGA ecosystem impervious even to the news that he is now a convicted criminal.

Dr. Hank Willenbrink substack: https://performingforthedon.substack.com/

Book: https://www.routledge.com/Performing-for-the-Don-Theaters-of-Faith-in-the-Trump-Era/Willenbrink/p/book/9781032302898

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Dan had a family emergency this week, so instead of It's In the Code we have a special episode. In the first part, Brad speaks to Dr. Jeffery Stoyanoff and Dr. Brian Onishi about their new podcast Horror Joy - a deep dive into horror in hopes of finding joy lurking in the shadows. They talk about the allure of horror films and books, the ways horror provides a window into our contemporary hopes and fears, and why Jaws is actually reallly good f*cking movie.

In the second part, Brad speaks to Dr. Susannah Crockford, creator of Miss Information. She explains the allure of conspiracy theories, what they do for people, and how we need to think differently about the misinformation problem.

Subscribe to Horror Joy here: https://redcircle.com/shows/97996083-5fe9-41d5-824e-f069a412ed76

Subscribe to Miss Information here: https://redcircle.com/shows/21b4b512-ceef-4289-b9fc-76f302f5bd22

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On this Memorial Day, we are proud to introduce the newest limited series from the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement and Axis Mundi Media. Miss Information is a podcast about how conspiracies and misinformation infiltrate wellness communities and religious spaces.

Subscribe here: https://redcircle.com/shows/21b4b512-ceef-4289-b9fc-76f302f5bd22/episodes/3532f1b2-5f15-4302-82f6-8a281d676871

Misinformation is big news, but what does it mean and why does it matter? If misinformation is simply incorrect information, can it be solved simply by telling people the right answer? 

In this episode, we learn how misinformation can prevent people from voting if they think they aren’t eligible or can’t vote by mail; how misinformation can convince people to take certain drugs to cure a disease even if it’s not proven to be safe; and the ways misinformation can draw people into conspiracies like QAnon. But it’s not as simple as dispelling all misinformation from our midst. That seems impossible. Rather, in dialogue with Dr. David Robertson from the Open University, what we will discover points to a different question: Why do people believe misinformation at all and what does it do for them? In other words, instead of focusing on what people believe, perhaps the phenomenon of misinformation directs us to ask what beliefs do - who they favor, who they put in power, who they marginalize, and who they leave vulnerable. And by understanding the mechanics, maybe we can mitigate the damage misinformation does to our public square.

For more information about research-based media by Axis Mundi Media visit: www.axismundi.us

For more information about public scholarship by the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement follow us @irmceorg or go to www.irmce.org

Funding for this series has been generously provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. 

Creator: Dr. Susannah Crockford

Executive Producer: Dr. Bradley Onishi (@bradleyonishi) 

Audio Engineer: Scott Okamoto (@rsokamoto)

Production Assistance: Kari Onishi 

Dr. Susannah Crockford (@suscrockford): Ripples of the Universe: Spirituality in Sedona, Arizona

Further Reading

Robertson, David G. UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age: Millennial Conspiracism. London: Bloomsbury, 2016.

Robertson, David G., and Amarnath Amarasingam. “How Conspiracy Theorists Argue: Epistemic Capital in the Qanon Social Media Sphere.” Popular Communication 20 (2022): 193-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2050238.

Howard, Philip N. Lie Machines: How to Save Democracy from Troll Armies, Deceitful Robots, Junk News Operations, and Political Operatives. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020.

Bail, Chris. Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2021. 

Uscinski, Joseph E., and Joseph M. Parent. American Conspiracy Theories. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. 

Byford, Jovan. Conspiracy Theories: A Critical Introduction. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Argentino, Marc-Andre. “The Church of QAnon: Will Conspiracy Theories Form the Basis of a New Religious Movement?” The Conversation, May 18, 2020, https://theconversation.com/the-church-of-qanon-will-conspiracy-theories-form-the-basis-of-a-new-religious-movement-137859 

Hao, Karen. “How Facebook got addicted to spreading misinformation,” MIT Technology Review, March 11, 2021, https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/03/11/1020600/facebook-responsible-ai-misinformation/ 

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