Straight White American Jesus

Brad and Dan begin by discussing the State of the Union address given by Pres. Biden this past week. Brad touches on Biden's main theme: how he is working to provide support, relief, funding for Americans in the form of infrastructure, healthcare, and price protections. On the other hand, Dan notes, the GOP reacted to the speech with consistent jeering and boos with Marjorie Taylor Green leading the way. This represents for both of them the ways that democratic processes have been eroded in the face of the perpetual culture wars waged by the GOP and the result of seeing your political opponent as enemies.

In the second segment they breakdown a long article by Timothy Keller at the Atlantic in which the pastor argues that Christianity can be saved in America if evangelicals are willing to clean up its image and prioritize justice. For the hosts, this is a classic evangelical rebranding exercise done in a faux intellectual vein.

This links to the topic of the third segment - the $100 million campaign "He Get Us," which is a marketing enterprise meant to introduce Americans to the ways of Jesus. While it seems to be POC centric and a message about welcoming the vulnerable - refugees and immigrants - the hosts dig into the funders and tell a deeper story . . .

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Piece by Chrissy Stroop on He Gets Us: https://religiondispatches.org/behind-the-inclusive-sounding-ads-of-the-100-million-pr-blitz-for-jesus-its-the-same-old-white-conservative-fantasy/

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Many of the themes and topics we explore in “It’s In the Code” figure prominently in the experience of those who have been traumatized by participation in high-control religious environments. But what is “trauma”? How is it possible that something as widespread and seemingly mundane as participation in very mainstream American religious communities can be “traumatizing”? Dan finds the answers to these and other questions in this interview with Dr. Laura Anderson, founder and head of the Center for Trauma Resolution and Recovery, which specializing in working with those processing religious trauma.

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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 author David Clary about his new book, Soul Winners: The Ascent of America's Evangelical Entrepreneurs. They discuss the history of evangelicalism's intimate relationships with big business. David explains how for centuries revivalist preachers have relied on financing from angel investors to fund their churches, rallies, and programs. He also explains how modern megachurches rely just as much on business principles as theology to grow their churches and appeal to the masses. The conversation provides a window into why so many Christian churches oppose collective action, unions, and anything that questions the gospel of capitalism.

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/

Soul Winners: https://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9781633887824

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 break down three issues:

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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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The language of “purity” looms large within certain Christian discourses in the US. But what is “purity”? What are the religious, cultural, and religious implications of employing the metaphor of purity? Why might be a considered a problematic, or even dangerous, metaphor? Dan explores these and other issues 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/

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 Zac Dayvis and Ashley McKinless, co-hosts of Jesuitical and editors at America Magazine, about why young Catholics are drawn to the Latin mass, the contours of traditional Catholicism, and the ways that right-wing politics and culture attach themselves to older forms of the liturgy.

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/

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 by discussing the arrest of the FBI agent who was in charge of the NY bureau in the lead up to the 2016 election. He was arrested for working for Oleg Deripaska, a man who was at the center of the Trump-Russia scandal.

In the second segment they transition to the book banning policy in place under Ron DeSantis in Florida. They then compare the respective agendas of the Dems and the GOP by looking at how Red States in the Midwest are about to benefit from a renewed manufacturing sector as a result of the CHIPS Act.

In the final segment they discuss Kevin McCarthy's approach in the House and the way Michigan might be a model moving forward.

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/

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 have had someone tell them, or grew up hearing, that we all have a “God-shaped hole” in our souls or hearts, and that only faith in (or a “personal relationship with”) Jesus can fill it. What do they mean by this? Where does this idea come from? And what are the consequences, intentional or not, of this way of understanding the human person and the Christian faith? Dan tackles these questions in this week’s episode

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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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As environmental, political, and public health crises multiply on Earth, we are also at the dawn of a new space race in which governments team up with celebrity billionaires to exploit the cosmos for human gain. The best-known of these pioneers are selling different visions of the future: while Elon Musk and SpaceX seek to establish a human presence on Mars, Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin work toward moving millions of earthlings into rotating near-Earth habitats. Despite these distinctions, these two billionaires share a core utopian project: the salvation of humanity through the exploitation of space. In Astrotopia, philosopher of science and religion Mary-Jane Rubenstein pulls back the curtain on the not-so-new myths these space barons are peddling, like growth without limit, energy without guilt, and salvation in a brand-new world. As Rubenstein reveals, we have already seen the destructive effects of this frontier zealotry in the centuries-long history of European colonialism. Much like the imperial project on Earth, this renewed effort to conquer space is presented as a religious calling: in the face of a coming apocalypse, some very wealthy messiahs are offering an other-worldly escape to a chosen few.

Mary-Jane Rubenstein is professor of religion and science in society at Wesleyan University. She is coauthor of Image: Three Inquiries in Imagination and Technology, also published by the University of Chicago Press, and the author of Pantheologies: Gods, Worlds, Monsters; Worlds Without End: The Many Lives of the Multiverse; and Strange Wonder: The Closure of Metaphysics and the Opening of Awe.

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/

Astrotopia: https://bookshop.org/p/books/astrotopia-the-dangerous-religion-of-the-corporate-space-race-mary-jane-rubenstein/18335420

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 by discussing the recent news that Ron DeSantis and his administration rejected the AP course in African American studies course in Florida high schools, because in their estimation it holds no "educational value" and does not align with the historical record. This leads to a longer examination of the history of MLK Jr.'s holiday and the White Christian nationalists who have always opposed it.

In the second segment Dan lays out the newly opened rift between evangelicals and Trump. Both hosts wonder if this could spell a decisive blow to Trump's political viability - and what it means for the GOP moving forward.

In the final segment, Brad goes through the gas stove culture war discussion and explains why culture was are often both silly and incredibly important.

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/

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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