The Political Animals

In this special episode, host Jonathan talks to a young politically and theologically conservative Christian who is same-sex attracted and called to singleness. Jonathan's guest talks honestly and courageously about his struggle to come to terms with his sexuality and his faith growing up in a conservative Christian home and belonging to a theologically conservative church. In addition to the guest's personal story, they discuss the theology of same-sex attraction, conversion therapy, the ex-gay movement, Milo Yiannopoulos, the secular LGBTIQ movement and the contemporary church's attitude to same-sex attracted believers. Host of The Political Animals, Dr Jonathan Cole, is an academic, writer, speaker and translator who specialises in political theology: the intersection of religion and politics. He is currently Assistant Director of the Centre for Public and Contextual Theology at Charles Sturt University. Prior to that, he worked as a Senior Terrorism Analyst at Australian intelligence agency The Office of National Assessments. Newly published research indicates that giving a 5-star rating to The Political Animals Podcast on Apple grants seven years of good luck. So be sure to take advantage of this finding! You can follow the show on Facebook and Twitter.

This week, returning guest Stephen Chavura joins host Jonathan for a deep dive on the political and cultural legacy of one of our age's most significant public intellectuals: Jordan B. Peterson. Has Jordan Peterson saved a generation of young basement dwelling deadbeat males from doom? Has he undermined the influence of ideological feminism? Is he one of the greatest theologians of the early 21st century? These are just some of questions Stephen and Jonathan explore in this appreciative tour of the Peterson phenomenon. Dr Stephen Chavura lectures in history at Campion College and Dr Jonathan Cole is Assistant Director at the Centre for Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University. You can follow the podcast on Facebook and Twitter, and if you like what you hear, don't be afraid to drop a five-star rating on Apple: it keeps the god Algorithm at bay.

This week, Jonathan discusses religious freedom with John Steenhof, principal lawyer at the Human Rights Law Alliance. John provides insight into the types of religious freedom cases he handles, the legislative situation regarding religious freedoms in Australia, the developing cultural climate that imperils the free practice of religious faith, the reasons secular society struggles to comprehend the importance of religious freedom and how the situation in Australia compares to that in America and elsewhere. The Human Rights Law Alliance is a Christian charitable law firm set up to protect and advance the religious freedom of all Australians. Since commencing as a law firm in 2019, HRLA has provided legal advocacy and advice to people who are under attack for living out their faith and convictions in public.

In this episode, Jonathan discusses the conservative tradition with Damien Freeman, author of Abbot's Right: The Conservative Tradition from Menzies to Abbott (Melbourne University Press). They cover the conservative cast of mind, ideology versus pragmatism, identity and belonging, same-sex marriage and energy policy, the liberal and conservative traditions within the Liberal Party and the political philosophies of prime ministers Robert Menzies, Malcolm Fraser, John Howard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison. Damien Freeman is the Principal Policy Advisor at the PM Glynn Institute, Australian Catholic University. He was educated at the University of Sydney (BA, LLB (Hons), MA, MPhil) and Magdalene College, Cambridge (MPhil, PhD). He is the Editor of the Kapunda Press, the imprint of the PM Glynn Institute, which is published by Connor Court. He lectured in philosophy for ten years at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and currently lectures on law at Exeter College, Oxford. He is a Legal Practitioner of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and a Licentiate of Trinity College, London. He has been a guest lecturer at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on a range of topics including a lecture series on Sublime: the pleasure of the overwhelming. Together with Julian Leeser MP, he founded Uphold & Recognise, a non-profit organisation committed to the twin imperatives of upholding the Australian Constitution and recognising Indigenous Australians in the Constitution.

How did it come to this: the pornification of our society? Our children and youth now contend with peer sexual assault and sexual harassment at growing rates and disturbingly young ages. This week Jonathan sits down with Melinda Tankard Reist of Collective Shout for a very honest conversation about the widespread sexual dysfunction of our age and its catastrophic consequences for our children.   Melinda is a co-founder and movement director of Collective Shout, a grassroots campaigns movement for a world free of sexploitation in all its forms. Melinda is author/editor of six books including Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls (Spinifex Press, 2009) and Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry (Spinifex Press, 2011, co-edited with Dr Abigail Bray). Melinda has appeared on ABC’s Q&A and The Gruen Sessions and many other TV and radio programs. She is an Ambassador for World Vision Australia, Compassion Australia, Hagar NZ and the youth mentoring body the Raise Foundation. She is also Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Culture and Ethics, Notre Dame University, Sydney.  Melinda's recent article on ABC Religion & Ethics is called "Why “consent” doesn’t stand a chance against porn culture."

This week, Jonathan sits down with Lachlan Macquarie Institute Director, Dan Anderson, to discuss the formation of Christian citizens and political leaders. What is Christian citizenship? What if anything makes it distinct from other conceptions of citizenship in contemporary Western liberal polities? Is politics a legitimate vocation for Christians? How does a political vocation relate to the church's core gospel mission, if at all? Join Jonathan and Dan as they explore these questions and much more.  Dan Anderson the Director (CEO) of the The Lachlan Macquarie Institute (LMI). LMI seeks to train Christian men and women for wise leadership in politics and culture. Prior to LMI, Dan was chaplain to Robert Menzies College (a residential college at Macquarie Uni established by the Anglican church of Sydney) and the pastor of Trinity Chapel (the University church on the RMC Campus). He also served as the Anglican Chaplain to Macquarie University. Dan is completing a PhD at Macquarie University exploring the ethics of forgiveness in political contexts.

In this episode, Jonathan discusses politics with centre-left blue labor colleague and friend the Reverend Canon Professor Scott Cowdell. They debate the centre-left, blue labor, the radical left, the centre-right, the radical right, political theology, the politics of Jesus and contentious policy questions such as same-sex marriage, abortion and refugees. Scott Cowdell is Research Professor at the Charles Sturt University Centre for Public and Contextual Theology and Canon Theologian of the Canberra-Goulburn Anglican Diocese. He was Farnham Maynard Lecturer in Theology at Trinity College, Melbourne, and Principal of St Barnabas' Theological College, Adelaide. He is Founding President of the Australian Girard Seminar. Professor Cowdell is the author of nine books exploring the interface between Christianity and contemporary Western culture, and the co-editor of five. His current research project is on the work of today's premier theorist of violence, culture and religion, René Girard. His most recent books are René Girard and Secular Modernity: Christ, Culture, and Crisis and, also with the University of Notre Dame Press, René Girard and the Nonviolent God.

In this episode Jonathan is joined by the inimitable Prof. Wayne Hudson from Charles Sturt University to review the seminal developments of 2020. They cover the civilisational rise of China, the civilisation decline of America, the consequences of both for the global order, the China-Australia relationship (or what's left of it), as well as covid, economics, law, rights, politics and science.