Straight White American Jesus

In the previous episode, Dan looked at what’s going on when people tell us we are “right where God wants us to be.” But what does it mean when those same people DON’T tell us that? Why do they seem to say this at some times, but not others? What does it mean, and what effects does it have on us? In this episode, Dan explores this topic, arguing that this reflects bad theology and that it matters because of the damage bad theology doe to people.

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Brad interviews writer Scott Okamoto, author of Asian American Apostate, his wry and ironic story of leaving religion while teaching at an evangelical university. Okamoto’s often-chilling accounts reveal that such schools, where prayer and trite theological debate erupt in any lecture, demonstrate anything but higher education. Stories range from a classroom declaration against interracial marriage because it causes painful pregnancies, to grading a paper entitled, “Why Obama Is a Nazi,” and to the times Okamoto, a popular teacher, was disciplined by school officials for keeping standards for writing. Okamoto’s personal reporting gives you the inside story of how America’s evangelical schools encourage not a life of the mind but White cultural power. More than that, you’ll see how Okamoto found clarity about who he was not, and who he was coming to be.

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

Asian American Apostate: https://www.lakedrivebooks.com/books/asian-american-apostate/

Merch: BUY OUR NEW Come and Take It and Election Affirmer ! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC

Order Brad's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1506482163

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Brad and Dan begin with a thorough breakdown of why the Texas bill to post the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms is unconstitutional and un-American. They discuss parental rights, hypocrisy, and the dangerous escalation of religious supremacists - and where we are headed next.

Rep. Talarico: https://youtu.be/we0b04Qbbvc

In the second segment, Dan discusses all things Florida - from the fight with Disney, to the 1st Amendment implications of banning books, to the way DeSantis is flaming out as a presidential candidate before he even gets started.

In the third segment both hosts discuss the oversight issues at SCOTUS and why it's a longstanding problem that needs addressing.

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

Merch: BUY OUR NEW Come and Take It and Election Affirmer ! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC

Order Brad's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1506482163

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Today we are launching a new limited series called One Nation, All Beliefs. produced in partnership with Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. This is the series intro.

You can subscribe by going here:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0HIjnVZjUwY8H1PD0M7F04?si=2653997c43cf442f

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

Produced by Brad Onishi, with help from Emma Hulbert and Isaiah Perkins, at Straight White American Jesus in partnership with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the series highlights the voices of reproductive rights organizers, education activists, queer Black clergy, trans pastors, and progressive politicos in order to show the ways a strong separation of church and state is the shield that protects everyone's right to live as themselves and believe as they choose — ensuring freedom without favor and equality without exception.

LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, protecting public schools, and freedom from religion - as well as freedom of religion - they all depend on a wall between church and state.

Because we want an America where:

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What does it mean when someone assure you that you are “right where God wants you to be”? Is it intended as a word of encouragement? As an affirmation that God is control? As a message of empowerment? Or is the aim manipulative, or controlling? And regardless of the intent, what are the possible effects of this assurance, positive or negative? Dan tackles these questions in this week’s episode.

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

Merch: BUY OUR NEW Come and Take It and Election Affirmer ! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC

Order Brad's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1506482163

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Brad speaks with Jeff Sharlet about his NYT bestseller The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War. Jeff talks about everything from his long conversations about MLK Jr. with Harry Belafonte, to the lustful feeling of the first Trump rallies in 2015, to the desire for vengeance felt among MAGA nation in the wake of 2020, to following the ghost of Ashli Babbitt all over the country. In all, he paints a picture of a cracked nation filled with fear - and a longing for hope.

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

Merch: BUY OUR NEW Come and Take It and Election Affirmer ! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC

Order Brad's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1506482163

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Merch: BUY OUR NEW Come and Take It and Election Affirmer ! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC

Order Brad's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1506482163

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On the day that the Pornography Wars is released, we re-release Brad's interview with the author Dr. Kelsy Burke, a sociologist from the University of Nebraska.

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/pornography-wars-9781635577365/

Burke spent the last five years researching and interviewing internet pornography's opponents and its sympathizers. She does a deep dive into the long history of pornography in America and then turns her gaze on our present society to examine the ways this industry touches on the most intimate parts of American lives. She offers a complete understanding of the major players in the debates around porn's place in society: everyone from sex workers, activists, therapists, religious leaders, and consumers. In doing so, she addresses and debunks the myths that surround porn and porn usage while showing how everything from the way we teach children about sex to the legal protections for what can be published is tied up in the deeply complicated battles over pornography.

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

Merch: BUY OUR NEW Come and Take It and Election Affirmer ! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC

Order Brad's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1506482163

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What is “public confession,” and what is its relation to the practice of sharing one’s testimony? When and how does sharing a testimony verge into public confession? Why does public confession have to be “public,” and what concerns does this raise? In this second of a two-part pair of episodes, Dan explores these and other questions.

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

SWAJ Seminar: https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/seminars/

Merch: BUY OUR NEW Come and Take It and Election Affirmer ! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC

Order Brad's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1506482163

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Many are wondering how and why religious minorities in the USA adopt conservative - and even fascist - political identities when it seems that the American Right is anti-immigrant and in many cases explicitly racist. Scholars Dr. Jane Hong (Occidental) and Dr. Adrian de Leon (USC/NYU) argue that Asian American (religious) conservatism should be understood not just as an imported phenomenon from outside these communities, but as something structural within the formation of Asian America itself, within white supremacy and other political contexts in the United States.

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

Special Issue of Amerasia: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00447471.2023.2167934

SWAJ Seminar: https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/seminars/

Merch: BUY OUR NEW Come and Take It and Election Affirmer ! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC

Order Brad's new book: https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-War-Extremist-Christian-Nationalism/dp/1506482163

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices