February 2023

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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.

— I’ve shifted to Substack. (0:48)

— Saddleback Church was kicked out of the Southern Baptist Convention for having a woman pastor. (1:56)

— Arizona House Republicans passed a bill forcing kids to say the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. (14:13)

— Nikki Haley, who wants to present herself as a sane Republican, got an extremist pastor to kick off her presidential campaign. (23:50)

— A former member of Westboro Baptist Church is now whitewashing a different kind of hate. (30:53)

— Nebraska State Sen. Megan Hunt called out her Christian colleagues for ignoring Jesus in how they vote. (40:03)

— A Christian school canceled a concert after learning one of the singers is gay. (46:35)

— The Feds fined the Mormon Church and its investment division for trying to hide its assets. (59:15)

— A victim of the Satanic Panic, Melvin Quinney, has finally been exonerated. (1:10:59)

— Don’t automatically trust stories about pastors who die for bizarre religion-related reasons in Africa. (1:17:19)

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This week, Jessica did a solo interview with Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson, an Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Wellesley College where she studies the lived experiences of Black people with a focus on slavery and abolitionism.

She also co-hosts the podcasts This Day in Esoteric Political History and Oprahdemics.

Jess and Dr. Carter Jackson discussed how Christianity informed opinions on slavery and abolition, why the church was (and still is) entwined with Black American culture, and the first lady of talk, Oprah.

Join our private Facebook group and Discord server!

Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.

— Sam Smith’s and Kim Petras’ Satan-themed performance of “Unholy” at the Grammys angered conservative Christians. (0:22)

— A Christian school decided to affirm LGBTQ people… and now it will shut down because the donors left. (10:26)

— White evangelical parents want their kids to have the same faith. What does that say about their parenting? (16:30)

— Get ready for some Jesus-y Super Bowl ads. (28:28)

— An atheist Republican (!) is back (!) in the New Hampshire legislature. (30:55)

— Kent Hovind’s Dinosaur Adventure Land is a cesspool of chaos and that’s putting it lightly. (43:56)

— The Democratic National Committee passed a resolution condemning “white religious nationalism.” (51:50)

— Victoria (Australia) officials want guidance from higher-up officials so they can eliminate Christian invocation prayers at meetings. (56:10)

— Oklahoma Republicans want to inject Christian Nationalism into history classes. (59:35)

Join our private Facebook group and Discord server!

Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.

— Nebraska Sen. Megan Hunt responded to an anti-drag bill with an amendment to protect children from religious indoctrination. (0:49)

— The Satanic Temple is about to launch “The Samuel Alito’s Mom’s Satanic Abortion Clinic,” named in honor of someone whose lack of options in 1950 forced the rest of us to pay the price. (10:35)

— The Pope wants you to remember that the middle finger represents honesty. (17:00)

— Let’s talk about unhealthy relationships between minor celebrities and their wonderful fans. (19:10)

— Montana Sen. Daniel Emrich wants to ban everything but “scientific fact” from public school classrooms. (40:45)

— Christian hate-group leader Mat Staver wants Christian schools to expel children of gay parents before they convince other kids same-sex families are perfectly fine. (49:32)