Straight White American Jesus

Brad begins this solo roundup by discussing how provocateur worship leader Sean Feucht provoked conflict in Portland Sunday. His security team was made up of Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer, leading to reflection on what the intimacy between conservative White Christians and militant nationalists groups means for the ongoing Cold Civil War. Brad then spends extended time charting the political/ideological migration to Idaho, the fastest growing state in the country. He demonstrates how and why people are moving there in order to be in homogeneous communities where White Christians are the majority. This is a reversal of what happened in the mid-20th century, when millions of Southerners and Midwesterners flocked to the Southwest.

Brad finishes by discussing what the new census data tells us about the nation and what it means moving forward.

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Brad speaks with Emily Torres, who is behind the Life She Wrote blog and podcast. Emily tells her story of growing up--and eventually leaving--Evangelicalism and describes the religious trauma that ensued from her experiences. She explains the mechanics of purity culture and how young women learn that their bodies are not their own, their bodies are stumbling blocks, and that they should never trust them. This leads to a prolonged conversation about how purity culture inflicts trauma on young people through both subtle and explicit cues, signals, and messages.

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Brad speaks with Dr. Laura Anderson, founder of the Center for Trauma Resolution and Recovery and co-founder of the Religious Trauma Institute. They discuss the nature of religious trauma, why it can be hard for individuals to label it trauma, and how it can be treated.

One of the issues for victims of religious trauma is the absence of a clear cut "before" and "after" that indicates when and how the traumatic event happened.

Their discussion addresses the specific contours of high demands on sexual purity within religious frameworks and the traumatic effects this can have years and even decades after one leaves the community.

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Brad and Dan discuss Tucker Carlson's trip to Hungary and interview with Orban as part of a decades-long pattern of White nationalists and White Christian nationalists looking to autocratic strongmen as the models of the ideal society. They trace Carlson's visit to Hungary to Rod Dreher and other White Christians who see Orban and his ilk as the prototypical Christian patriarchal leaders.

They then discuss the rise of Latino Evangelicals and how their resonances with White Evangelicals. Again, the themes of family, patriarchy, and authority come into play.

They finish with a look at the ideas of freedom and liberty at play in Ron DeSantis' opposition to masks and the rhetoric against mandating vaccines. Dan explains how Uncle Ron's discourse links up with political theory from the past and ultimately advances a misguided understanding of liberty.

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Brad addresses two common refrains about racism and social issues--the "racism is a heart issue" response and the "not of this world" response. He shows how when Evangelicals hold power, they turn to individualist responses to issues like race and guns. They don't want the systems changed, so the response is to turn it into a changing hearts for God issue. When they have lost the power, they do everything possible to elect their candidates, change laws, and get the power back. It's an offense-defense strategy.

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Brad speaks with Matthew Sheffield, the editor and publisher of the new media outlet Flux. They discuss his article, "Republicans are banking on a fusion of Trump autocracy and McConnell nihilism, but will it work for them?"

One of the arguments Sheffield makes is that the GOP has given up on policy and has become the party of outrage and resentment. Their only play is belligerence via Fox News and other outlets.

He then argues that it's been hard to ramp up this outrage machine during the Biden presidency because Biden is a boring grandpa who is as old or older than most Trump voters; a president who largely stays out of view; and one on whom they can't use racist and xenophobic tacts like they do with other politicians.

Finally, he argues that the GOP and the White Christian fundamentalists who anchor it are losing power and numbers, but becoming more violent. Leading to the question of our time: Can our democracy survive the autocracy and nihilism they are turning to in order to remain at the top of the political and social hierarchies?

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Brad and Dan begin with extended analysis of the testimony of the Capitol Police officers before the 1/6 committee. Their words are shocking and harrowing. They reflect on the words hurled at them that day as they were being attacked, words marked by the racism, xenophobia, Trumpism, and Christianity of the capitol rioters.

They then turn to the explicit Christian nationalism of the rioters.

This leads Dan to comment on how "religions are what religions do." There is no calling them insurrectionists not real Christians. We have to face up to the fact that some people of faith think their faith teaches them to raise gallows with the words "God Bless America" and attack the Capitol.

This leads Brad to reflect on how what is happening is myth making in real time--a revival of the Lost Cause and the denial of reality right in front of us.

They finish with a segment on the renewed attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Extended Segment: The Delta Variant and Binary Thinking

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Brad revisits the idea that exvangelicals are just broke and giving up on faith. He responds to an interview at the Remnant Radio with Skillet's John Cooper.

Topics discussed:

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Brad speaks once again with Dr. Susannah Crockford. They discuss her new book, Ripples of the Universe, which provides an ethnographic account of New Age spiritual practitioners in Sedona, Arizona. Dr. Crockford explains the various spiritual beliefs, cosmologies, and rituals that makeup the peculiar and dazzling form of spirituality in the Arizona desert. She also explains the term "conspirituality," which denotes the combination of conspiracy + spirituality.

One of the most interesting parts of this interview is the discussion of the deep resonances between Christian nationalism and New Age Spirituality when it comes to nostalgia for a mythical past, the centering of Whiteness, and belief in a global conspiracy to ruin the country and the world.

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Brad and Dan begin by discussing what's behind the anti-vax attitudes of many Americans, especially White Christians. After reviewing the staggering and heartbreaking numbers, they draw on scholarship related to wraparound media and conspiracy theories to examine what resisting vaccines does for people--especially as it relates to themes of power, belonging, and authority.

They then discuss the 1/6 Select Committee debacle and how the GOP can't decide if we need to investigate or not, why it's not okay to allow Jim Jordan to investigate himself, and the potential fracturing in the Republican caucus in the wake of recent events.

Brad and Dan finish by discussing the decision in Texas to stop requiring teachers to teach that the KKK was morally wrong, stop teaching about MLK Jr. life and legacy, and many other issues, because they are not supposed to give "deference" to one perspective. For two lifelong educators, this is reprehensible and undermines the very nature of teaching and pedagogy.

On the extended segment they discuss the sex abuse scandal at Liberty University and why White Evangelical spaces are unsafe for young women, girls, and members of the LGTBQ+ community.

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/

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