There are many things that Jewish people wish Christians would know. Jo sits down with Rabbi Harvey in today’s episode to dissect what it looks like to live inside of Christian hegemonic power. This conversation also opens up the door to begin exploring the beautiful wisdom that can come from Jewish theology.

Michael E. Harvey is an ordained rabbi, a hospital chaplain, and a social justice advocate with extensive experience serving congregations and leading large-scale community change. He is a published author who concentrates on bringing deep Jewish understanding to the public. His book "Let's Talk: A Rabbi Speaks to Christians" (Fortress Press, 2022) comes out in July and is available for preorder on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Additionally, Rabbi Harvey created a bi-monthly podcast with a local Episcopal priest, titled A Priest and a Rabbi Walk into a Bar, which continues to discuss religious issues and interfaith subjects.

In This Episode

• 3:27 - Appreciating Judaism as a non-Jewish person
• 12:07 - Jewish history and how Jewish people carry it with them in the modern world
• 19:03 - Overcoming victimization and dismantling Christian hegemony
• 39:31 - Jewish Atheism and other ways that Judaism teaches us to hold contradictions
• 59:48 - What Jewish people need the most from their Christian allies

Donnell McLachlan is a writer and theologian who is passionate about helping to create a more empathetic and inclusive society by writing for social change and advocating for intersectional and accessible theological education/research.

His research centers on the study of black faith and life. In particular, he focuses on the black church, liberation theologies, womanist theology and biblical interpretation, theomusicology, and the spiritual & sociohistorical dimensions of hip-hop music & culture.

Jo and Donnell chat about religious pluralism and decolonizing faith. They explore the idea of religion as a language and how that can help anyone who is going through a deconstruction process.

In This Episode 

• 2:47 - Religion as a language
• 7:58 - Letting go of colonized narratives that are engrained in Christianity
• 13:40 - Deconstruction for BIPOC and indigenous people
• 24:24 - Why deconstructing and decolonizing need to go hand in hand
• 47:33 - Returning to the original intention of a church

Connect with Donnell

Alicia T. Crosby (she/hers) is a justice educator, activist, and minister whose work addresses the spiritual, systemic, and interpersonal harm people experience. Through her writing, speaking, and space curation, Alicia helps individuals, communities, and institutions explore and unpack topics related to identity, inclusivity, and intersectional equity.  

Alicia’s work is focused on facilitating communities where people can show up as their full selves. The ability of people to show up in the community has been deeply impacted by the pandemic in the last couple of years. So in this episode, Alicia and Jo have a frank, in-depth conversation about building liberatory communities.

In This Episode 

• 8:17 - What actually makes a true liberatory community
• 17:58 - Addressing and dealing with privilege inside the community
• 25:00 - Embodying solidarity as a tool of community liberation
• 30:36 - Implementing transformative justice to change communities for the better permanently
• 41:00 - Dismantling fear through curiosity

Resources Mentioned

Aja Barber is a writer and sustainable fashion consultant and she has recently written a book called Consumed. Aja’s work talks about the intersections of today’s consumer markets (focusing on fashion) and how racism, colonialism, feminism all have a place in the conversation.

In today’s episode, we talk about fast fashion. The fashion industry pumps out 100 billion items per year on the backs of the global south. Jo and Aja will invite you to take stock of your consumer habits and how you may be participating in an industry that runs on exploitation and causes harm to the planet.

In This Episode

• 4:09 - taking stock of fast fashion and consumerism
• 11:41 - fashion as a colonial system
• 16:19 - which clothing items cause the most harm
• 20:17 - how everyone can actually afford ethically sourced clothing
• 39:55 - honoring our interconnectedness through your fashion choices

Connect with Aja

Melissa is a renowned sexuality educator, best-selling author, and leading national voice for sex-positive education. Her work with Sex-Positive Families has been featured in Huffington Post, Parents Magazine, CNN, The New York Times, and reaches thousands of families around the globe via an engaged social media following and monthly live workshops. Sex Positive Families is guided by the belief that all children deserve holistic, comprehensive, and shame-free sexuality education so they can live informed, empowered, and safer lives. Melissa is confident this work starts in homes.

Jo and Melissa discuss what sex-positive, empowering parenting can look like. Wherever you are in your parenting or sex-positive journey, this episode will help you to open new avenues for reflection and conversation with your family members. 

In This Episode

• 2:16 - What is sex positivity? 
• 4:34 - Empowering children to honor their bodies and the bodies of others through consent 
• 12:41 - Navigating boundaries at home while also giving autonomy to children 
• 20:12 - Why secrecy around sex actually puts children at risk 
• 29:35 - Shifting to sex-positive conversations when your children are older and didn’t grow up it 
• 39:00 - Creating heaven on earth in your own home with open communication and compassion

Sex Positive Families Website

Mr. Chazz is an educational specialist who envisions a world where teachers, parents, and children wake up every day inspired to learn. He is committed to helping teachers and parents develop their children in a way that is less frustrating and more enjoyable and effective for everyone. He helps turn interactions from war to peace, and he translates the child’s language in a way any adult can understand.

This episode is for anyone who is raising a child or simply unpacking some trauma from their own upbringing. This episode can serve as the beginning of your journey towards breaking generational cycles and healing your family lineage. We talk about how to improve as parents by showing more compassion and empathy to ourselves and our children.

In This Episode 

• 2:14 - what parents can do to help their children break generational cycles
• 16:16 - How to improve in areas where your parents fell short
• 19:29 - How to take the first steps towards breaking generational cycles in your family
• 22:19 - Is therapy a helpful tool for this work?
• 28:05 - Why you shouldn’t feel shame for needing to improve as a parent and asking for help
• 41:26 - Preventing perceived judgment from affecting your parenting
• 49:35 - Reframing stigma around different ages of children

Find Mr. Chazz Online

In this episode, Jo talks about her story, her beliefs, and how they have shifted over the years. Born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, Jo’s parents were cultural Catholics, so she was raised within the Catholic religion. She got new perspectives on her ingrained belief system through the non-denominational church she attended in the USA as a teenager and her college education in Colombia.

Her deconstruction process began when she started working at evangelical churches on the American west coast and getting her master’s in Ministry and Theology.

She continued to learn about marginalization, spiritual abuse, different forms of oppression, and supremacy, and she started to see how the religion she was raised with contributed to those systems.

This episode is how she deconstructed and decolonized her faith after breaking from the church.

Gabes Torres was born in raised in the colonized islands of the Phillippines and comes from an ancestral lineage of freedom fighters, musicians, educators, and community organizers. As a person who has experienced a great deal of geographical movement for the majority of her lifetime, Gabes aims to teach the message of international solidarity, and global liberation from imperial forces and cultures.

She is a therapist, singer, songwriter, and organizer whose work pays attention to community care and safety and anti-colonial ways to healing and unbecoming. Gabes founded and co-facilitated the heritage workshop, a virtual workshop for the people of the global majority where they collectively explore and bear witness to ancestral lineage, stories, and medicine.

Gabes and Jo talk about the romanticized narrative of interconnectedness in the spiritual community, and how this can be radicalized to create more accountability to ourselves and the planet.

Listen to this episode to contemplate ways that we can be more conscious about the ways we all affect each other and depend on each other and the planet. 

Find Gabes Torres Online

Leesa Renee Hall is an anti-bias facilitator and mental wellness advocate who has helped over 65,000 leaders with quiet, gentle, and highly sensitive personalities go on an inner field trip to explore their unconscious biases so they protect their energy and stable bravely in their quest to become better ancestors.

Jo and Leesa talk about unconscious biases and why it is so crucial that everyone reflects on this. This episode explores ways that unconscious biases form that aren’t typically part of the mainstream discussion.

Unconscious biases influence the systemic biases that unfairly hold people back in society. So addressing the unconscious biases we all hold as individuals is the best path forward to creating an equitable and accountable society.

Listen to learn practices that can help you recognize and challenge the biases you hold. Leesa and Jo have found that journaling can be a gentle and helpful practice during their own journeys, so they share some of the specific prompts they have been using.

Find Leesa Online

The Living Room is a bi-monthly podcast where we consider ways of existing that lead to our individual and collective liberation. Hosted by writer and theologian Jo Luehmann, The Living Room is an invitation to conversations where we reimagine parenting, relationships, community, spirituality, sexuality, politics, and where we address the individual and collective trauma of systems of oppression in order to move toward healing and wholeness.

Subscribe for new episodes every other Tuesday.