Brad and Dan begin by discussing Trump and why exploring the ongoing revelations of the January 6th is more than just archival mining. The second major topic is the reclaiming of abortion as a religious right. Brad draws upon the United Church of Christ fight for queer marriage where religious leaders stated that a ban on queer marriage violated the religious liberty and leaders of their church. In this Brad and Dan ask what it means to frame abortion as a religious freedom - a narrative that Ev...
Sep 24, 2021•11 min
Brad discusses the strange contradiction at the heart of purity culture's vision of masculinity: You are a sexual savage that has a near uncontrollable libido and that is just how God made you. And you, the uncontrollable animal, should be the leader of church, family, and society. This, among other things, is a form of rape culture. It's also an infantilizing view of masculinity and sexuality that hurts men . . . and women. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, a...
Sep 22, 2021•8 min
Brad speaks to his co-host Dan Miller about Miller's new book, Queer Democracy: Desire, Dysphoria, and the Body Politic. Dan explains why the metaphor of the social body is helpful for understanding Christian nationalism as a visceral reaction to the expansion freedoms and rights to marginalized groups within the American body politic. In essence, Miller explains, Christian nationalism holds a myopic vision of what the American body should look like. When it morphs not only to include, but to fo...
Sep 20, 2021•8 min
Dan and special guest Blake begin by discussing the Babylon Bee, and the anti-censorship bill in Florida. They explore how misinformation is disseminated disguised as free speech. The second major topic is the planned "Justice for J6" rally planned at the Capitol on September 18. This is, in their view, a ritual enactment of the myth of the Big Lie--a return to the site of violence to commemorate battle heroes and martyrs - the creation of myth in real time. They finish by discussing moral respo...
Sep 18, 2021•11 min
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/ On this first installment of Mild at Heart, Brad shares some of his experience with purity culture. He focuses on how it taught him to hate his mind for the way it led him into continual sexual sin, and to hate his body for the way it stood in the way of his walk with God. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...
Sep 15, 2021•18 min
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 SWAJ Apparel is here! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/listing/not-today-uncle-ron To Donate: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/BradleyOnishi Venmo: @straigh...
Sep 13, 2021•8 min
Brad and Dan begin by discussing Biden's sweeping new vaccine mandates and measures. They explore the right-wing response to the measures in comparison with right-wing responses to the Patriot Act and other policies in the wake of 9/11. They then dissect Ben Shapiro's statements about vaccines and COVID using the standard of a freshman logic course. The second major topic is the planned "Justice for J6" rally planned at the Capitol on September 18. This is, in their view, a ritual enactment of t...
Sep 11, 2021•9 min
Brad refutes the idea that mandating vaccines is un-American and anti-Christian. 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 SWAJ Apparel is here! https://straight-white-american-jesus.creator-spring.com/listing/not-today-u...
Sep 09, 2021•7 min
Brad speak with Ryan Stollar, expert on child protection and a Christian homeschooling survivor. Ryan shares his research on the evangelical and ex-evangelical components of Britney's story--from her childhood in church, to her experiences in purity culture, to the powerful evangelical business manager who convinced her dad to put Britney under conservatorship. It is a story of sexualizing young women, toxic sexual standards, overwhelming patriarchy, and a shocking loophole in our legal system. ...
Sep 06, 2021•11 min
Brad and Dan begin by discussing the slate of new laws in Texas: Abortion: The six-week abortion ban that includes a 10k bounty for anyone involved. Handheld Killing Machines: The new permitless carry law. Voting: making absentee voting harder, preventing 24-hour voting in Harris County, demanding driver licenses for mail-in votes, etc. School Curricula: Laws creating an "1836 Project," outlaw discussing current events and systemic racism, and prohibit credit for civic engagement. The conclusion...
Sep 04, 2021•8 min
A re-release of Dan’s interview with Professor R. Marie Griffith, author of Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics. Dan and Prof. Griffith discuss the surprising history of evangelical positions on abortion, and how evangelical extremism has left no room for nuance in the debate. R. Marie Griffith, the John C. Danforth Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis, is currently the director of the John C. Danforth Cente...
Sep 03, 2021•11 min
On another installment of Ex-Evangelical Apologetics Brad takes on the mantra, "I stand for the flag and kneel for the cross." By looking back to the New Testament and Early Church Fathers, he is able to show the Uncle Rons of the world that the earliest iterations of Christian faith were often staunchly against war, violence, and revenge. 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.su...
Sep 02, 2021•12 min
Dr. Liliana Mason is faculty at Johns Hopkins University and author of Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity. In a new article, Activating Animus: The Uniquely Social Roots of Trump Support, she and her co-authors show that "Trump’s support is thus uniquely tied to animus toward minority groups." She provides key takeaways fro this study: "First, the people who really like Trump in 2018 are the same ones who really disliked Blacks, Muslims, LGBT+, and Hispanics in 2011. It's NOT TH...
Aug 30, 2021•12 min
Brad and Dan discuss the dangerous rhetoric coming from the right that frames the COVID outbreaks as the result of "infestations" of undocumented immigrants. It is not founded in data. And it is dangerously dehumanizing. They then discuss Madison Cawthorn's suggestion that masks for children = abuse. This is rich in a country where kids practice active shooter drills regularly. They also discuss Tucker Carlson's framing of Ashil Babbitt as an unarmed protester who was executed. The episode finis...
Aug 28, 2021•10 min
Brad discusses the idea that capitalism and Christianity go together from two angles. First, he outlines how in the mid-twentieth century big business actors infiltrated church spaces with the ideas that free market capitalism, individualism, and libertarianism were God ordained from the Bible. Like abortion in the 1970s, the idea that capitalism and Christianity are natural partners is the result of an external operation that used faith to gain cultural traction. Brad then discusses the case of...
Aug 25, 2021•10 min
Dartmouth professor and pre-eminent scholar of Evangelicalism Dr. Randall Balmer returns to talk about his new book, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right. He and Brad discuss how over the course of the 20th century, race and xenophobia have been the drivers of Evangelical theology and politics. Balmer explains how Evangelicals once invested in social reform, but over the last century have undergone a transformation at the hands of conservative political operatives and fear of ethn...
Aug 24, 2021•8 min
Brad and Dan discuss the vehement support for the Iraq War and the invasion of Afghanistan during the Bush years and comment briefly on the ills of American Empire. They then discuss the dangers and implications of the alliance between anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers with the Proud Boys and how cultural melding leads to strange--and in this case, scary--bedfellows. This leads to a reflection on the Christian nationalism of the Capitol Bomber. He blames immigrants for his family's ills. He spout co...
Aug 21, 2021•14 min
Brad continues the Exvie Apologetics series with a retort to those who would say that there are only two genders and that the idea of pronouns is a leftist invention. 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 SWAJ Apparel...
Aug 19, 2021•11 min
Luke Wilson is a survivor of "conversion therapy." He has written about his experiences at Liberty University for Religion Dispatches, Queerty, and other outlets. In this conversation, Luke provides his response to the Netflix doc "Pray Away." They discuss the complexities of those who are both survivor and perpetrator sharing their stories and taking the spotlight. They also discuss the (unsurprisingly) blithe reactions to the film by Evangelical sources, namely the Gospel Coalition. Subscribe ...
Aug 16, 2021•9 min
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 peo...
Aug 14, 2021•10 min
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 pe...
Aug 12, 2021•11 min
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 se...
Aug 10, 2021•9 min
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, t...
Aug 07, 2021•8 min
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-de...
Aug 05, 2021•10 min
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...
Aug 02, 2021•10 min
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 insurrection...
Jul 30, 2021•10 min
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: Do non-Evangelicals allow culture to shape them, while Evangelicals allow Scripture to be the formative influence? Is Truth all or nothing? Why are Evangelicals so upset when exvies "share the Gospel" of their deconstruction? Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-epi...
Jul 28, 2021•12 min
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 o...
Jul 26, 2021•7 min
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 n...
Jul 23, 2021•10 min
Last weekend theologian and former head of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Owen Strachan tweeted that taking away even one comma from the Bible would demean it. This let to a Twitter storm and many folks pointed out the misguidedness of attributing things like commas to the original composition of the biblical texts. Brad digs deeper into this controversy to show how Strachan's approach to the biblical textual body lines up with his complementarian theology and his White Christian...
Jul 21, 2021•13 min
