Episode Summary:John Dominic Crossan is the world’s most prominent Jesus scholar. He joins me today on Holy Heretics to discuss what we can, and what we cannot, know about the life of this first century Jewish peasant. Unlike traditional theological portrayals of Jesus, which center primarily on his death and resurrection, Crossan’s scholarship focuses on the historicity of Jesus. Who was he? What evidence do we have to support his existence? Instead of asking why Jesus died, Crossan has spent decades unearthing the reasons Jesus lived.For Crossan, Jesus was a radical social revolutionary who confronted Roman oppression and attempted to live into an alternative version of reality. His portrayal challenges conventional Christian perspectives that see Jesus primarily as a divine figure who came to die for our sins.In books like The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (1991), Crossan presents Jesus as a figure who opposed both Roman imperial rule and the hierarchical structures of Jewish society. He describes Jesus' movement as one of radical inclusivity and nonviolent resistance. Crossan’s work has been controversial, particularly among conservative Christians, because he downplays the supernatural aspects of Jesus’ life, including the literal resurrection. Instead, he sees the resurrection as a symbolic event representing the triumph of Jesus' teachings.I’m delighted to share our conversation with you! If you are interested in learning more about the historical Jesus, this episode is a fantastic introduction. By challenging conventional wisdom and introducing his rigorous historical methods, Dom Crossan invites listeners to meet Jesus again for the first time.BIO:John Dominic Crossan is an Irish-born American theologian and former Roman Catholic priest best known for his association with the Jesus Seminar. Upon graduating from high school in Letterkenny, Ireland, in 1950, Crossan moved to Chicago, where he joined the Servites, a Roman Catholic monastic order. Ordained a priest in 1957, he returned to Ireland to study at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, and received a doctorate in theology in 1959. He then studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome for two years before returning to his Servite community to teach.In 1965 he began study at the École Biblique et Archaéologie Française de Jérusalem (French Institute of Bible and Archaeology, Jerusalem). Two years later he returned to Chicago to join the faculty of the Chicago Catholic Theological Union. In 1969 he resigned from the Servite priesthood, citing a longing for academic freedom and his intention to marry. He soon joined the faculty of religious studies at Chicago’s DePaul University, where he taught until his retirement in 1995.Crossan continues to write and lecture today. His most insightful books include The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’ Final Days in Jerusalem, The First Paul, God and Empire, andJesus: A Revolutionary Biography.Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review, or share on your socials 🙏Show notes:http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/the-historical-jesusFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics | Substack: holyheretics.substack.comAdvertising inquiries: garyalan@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics or subscribe to our Substack to gain access to Holy Heretics Shorts, premium content, and our online class on faith deconstruction!This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:I wrote an article almost two weeks ago titled, Trump’s Willing Executioners. Drawing on my graduate work in Holocaust Studies, I compared and contrasted the MAGA movement and Nazi Germany, and in particular, the glaring lack of empathy championed by both cults. The article went viral, encouraging me to consider a more robust analysis of how cruelty, the lack of empathy, and propaganda drives ordinary men and women to commit extraordinary crimes against humanity. We saw it in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and we are witnessing it in real time in the United States.When comparing political movements like MAGA America and Nazi Germany, it's important to approach the discussion with sensitivity and academic rigor. The comparison between the two must be grounded in the analysis of both movements' ideologies, symbols, rhetoric, and policies. Without overstating things, both movements utilized nationalism to rally support, often with a focus on restoring a golden age of past glory. Both cults also exploited social unrest, attacked the intelligentsia, created an “us vs them” mentality, and enlisted the church to absolve their crimes. More sinister, both groups embraced xenophobic rhetoric and abject racism, identifying certain groups as threats to the nation’s purity and survival. While both groups rose to power legally, the Nazi Party and the MAGA cult quickly eroded the principles of democracy in route to a fascist regime.There’s a lot of talk these days comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. I understand the analogy, but what I find even more significant is the correlation between Nazi Christians and MAGA Christians. As I said in the article, “The same cast of characters and religious propaganda that created the Holocaust are alive and well in the United States.” MAGA Christians are cruel because the MAGA cult is cruel; and MAGA Christians are cruel because cruel people tend to become MAGA members. For Trump evangelicals, empathy is a sin because cruelty is the point.In todays podcast episode, I discuss:The intersectionality between fascism and the lack of empathy.How does the MAGA cult benefit from the idea that empathy and compassion are sinful?Why do ordinary men and women often commit the most heinous offenses when they believe other people aren’t actual people?Why are prominent evangelical Christians promoting cruelty and indifference?Why are white, conservative Christians almost always on the wrong side of history and morality?How did the historical Jesus center compassion as the foundational ethic of his life and ministry?Why is compassion, and not holiness, the core attribute of God?When cult behavior, hatred of the other, and a lack of empathy come together, you create a culture of death. And it’s happening in real time here in the United States. As Pastor Robin Meyers recently warned:“America is going fascist, and it's doing so with the help of religious zealots whose real passion is for the politics of privilege, not the radically disturbing presence of Jesus. This will sound alarmist to some, but the truth is that no country ever thinks it is going fascist until it wakes up one day to that indisputable reality. Then the people will say, ‘How did this happen?’ And the answer is ‘one day at a time, and with the blessing of the church.’”This is one of the top three most important episodes we’ve ever released. I hope you will take some time today to listen, and share it with a friend.Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review, or share on your socials 🙏Show notes:http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/the-sin-of-empathyFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics | Substack: holyheretics.substack.comAdvertising inquiries: garyalan@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics or subscribe to our Substack to gain access to Holy Heretics Shorts, premium content, and our online class on faith deconstruction!This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:For ten years running, Dr. Rupert Sheldrake has been recognized as one of the “most spiritually influential living people in the world” by Watkins Mind Body Spirit magazine. His work has been featured in many magazines, newspapers and broadcast media, including New Scientist, The Guardian, Discover magazine, The Spectator, The Washington Post, Die Zeit, the Netflix original Cunk on Life, and on BBC Radio and television.Sheldrake, a Cambridge educated biologist and author, is best known for his controversial and pioneering work on the concept of morphic resonance, which suggests that there are inherent patterns of behavior in nature influenced by past occurrences of similar patterns, creating a kind of collective memory that transcends individual organisms and time. His ideas have sparked debate, especially within the scientific community, because they challenge the mechanistic worldview that traditional science holds. Labeled a heretic within the scientific community for his embrace of spirituality, Sheldrake’s research opens up a fascinating dialogue between science and spirituality, suggesting these realms are not as separate as we’ve been told.Sheldrake argues that science and spirituality can complement each other, rather than be in opposition. He believes modern science has become too reductionist, focusing solely on material explanations and overlooking the potential for interconnectedness and universal consciousness. Spiritual practices like meditation, singing, and pilgrimage, which have long been seen as purely subjective experiences, have positive effects on the human experience that can be understood and measured through scientific research.While Sheldrake’s work doesn’t directly “prove” the spiritual benefits of practices like meditation, singing, and pilgrimage, he offers a perspective that allows for these practices to be understood scientifically. For instance, numerous studies have shown that meditation has tangible effects on the brain, such as enhancing neuroplasticity, reducing stress, and improving emotional regulation. Singing has been shown to have positive effects on mental health and can trigger the release of endorphins and oxytocin, promoting feelings of well-being and connection. Pilgrimages are associated with transformative spiritual experiences, and research on this topic shows that they often lead to positive shifts in mental health, increased sense of purpose, and connectedness with others. Sheldrake believes pilgrimages are sacred journeys that not only connect us to sacred sites, but more broadly, to the universal field of human connectivity across space and time.I sat down with Dr. Sheldrake from his home in London to discuss how his background as a world-renown scientist impacted his spiritual quest. We discussed his journey in and out of the Anglican tradition, morphic resonance, why he’s been labeled a heretic in the scientific community, the transformational power of pilgrimage, why evolution and Christianity support one another, and other existential questions like, “What really is the meaning of life?”We’ve had some incredible guests on the show over the previous five years, but Sheldrake is by far the most prominent, globally recognized scholar we’ve been fortunate enough to know and engage. Pull up a chair, grab a pen and paper, and let this luminous conversation awaken you to the “more” that surrounds us on this living, beautiful planet. Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review, or share on your socials 🙏Show notes:http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/the-science-of-spiritualityFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics | Substack: holyheretics.substack.comAdvertising inquiries: garyalan@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics or subscribe to our Substack to gain access to Holy Heretics Shorts, premium content, and our online class on faith deconstruction!This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:Dr. Rachel Wheeler joins me today on Holy Heretics to discuss ecospirituality and the practice of rewilding both our life and faith.Let’s be honest, Christians have a horrendous relationship with the natural world, best understood through a combination of harmful historical, theological, and cultural influences. Growing up evangelical meant believing the world was bad and, as a result, ecological well-being and the health of the planet were seen as secondary or unimportant compared to “getting saved.” In addition, an overt emphasis on the afterlife as well as a history of colonialism has often led to a devaluation of our earthly home.From a theological perspective, one of the most influential ideas shaping Christian attitudes toward nature is the concept of dominion described in Genesis 1:28, where humans are given authority over the Earth and its creatures. Historically, this idea was interpreted as humans being granted the right to exercise control over nature and exploit its resources. Western Christianity interpreted "dominion" not merely as stewardship but as mastery or ownership over creation. This led to an anthropocentric (human-centered) worldview, where human needs and human desires were placed above the health of ecosystems and non-human creatures.Thankfully, we are evolving.Ecospirituality has gained significant attention and popularity in the modern world due to a convergence of ecological, spiritual, political, and social challenges. It refers to a spiritual perspective that recognizes the interconnectedness of all life and emphasizes the sacredness of the natural world. It involves an awareness of the Earth’s ecosystems, the understanding that human beings are part of a larger web of life, and the recognition that spiritual growth is inherently tied to the health and well-being of the planet.Ecospirituality often incorporates elements from various spiritual traditions, including indigenous wisdom, pantheism, animism, Buddhism, and environmental ethics. It seeks to address the environmental crises through spiritual practices, such as reverence for nature, rewilding, meditation, forest bathing, and radical kinship with all sentient beings.This rising interest reflects a growing recognition that environmental issues cannot be addressed solely through scientific or political means, but also require a profound shift in our worldview, values, and spirituality.So, where do you start? How can you change your relationship with the natural world as an integral part of your faith journey?Dr. Rachel Wheeler invites us to see ourselves and the world around us in radically new, yet ancient ways. Drawing from the deep wisdom of the Desert Mothers and Fathers, Dr. Wheeler reminds us that we humans aren’t separate and distinct from creation, but in fact we are mutually dependent. While still emphasizing our human responsibility to steward the Earth and its resources, Dr. Wheeler sees human beings not as masters but caretakers and co-creators with nature. Her book, Radical Kinship: A Christian Ecospirituality, is available now!Bio:Professor Rachel Wheeler teaches courses on the Bible, Christian spirituality, ecospirituality, and spiritual practices at the University of Portland. She earned a PhD in Christian Spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union Berkeley and her other degrees reflect interests in monastic studies, literature, and music. She is particularly interested in the so-called desert Christians who lived in Egyptian, Palestinian, and Syrian deserts during late antiquity and her first book, Desert Daughters, Desert Sons: Rethinking the Christian Desert Tradition, offers a feminist critique of these Christians' practices. She is also interested in how people interpret their pro-environmental behavior as spiritual. An enthusiastic knitter and cyclist, she enjoys very much living in Portland, Oregon, with her spouse and two cats.Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review, or share on your socials 🙏Show notes:http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/ecospirituality-and-rewildingFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics | Substack: holyheretics.substack.comAdvertising inquiries: garyalan@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics or subscribe to our Substack to gain access to Holy Heretics Shorts, premium content, and our online class on faith deconstruction!This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:I distinctly remember sitting in the back row of sixth grade art class in Jonesboro, Arkansas and saying to myself, “I am NOT CREATIVE!” I couldn’t draw a lick. While my friends brought forth beautiful sketches and lovely paintings their parents would proudly hang on the refrigerator, I looked down at my work with disdain. My parents should burn this. I am not creative.That thought stayed with me for decades, until I realized I was in fact creative, just in different ways. I still can’t draw or paint to save my life, but I love the creative process of writing and creating meaningful conversations. Regardless of your artistic aspirations and talents, “We were created to be creators. At its deepest heart, creativity is meant to serve and evoke beauty,” writes Irish poet and seer John O’Donohue.Creativity brings the ideal into the real. Maybe that is why Fyodor Dostoevsky proclaimed, “Beauty will save the world,” hinting that the way things currently are aren’t the way they will always be.Whether you realize it or not, you are creative! You were born with gifts and talents that only you can give the world. The first step towards claiming this Divine inheritance is recognizing that you are a sacred, creative being. As today’s podcast guest Ally Markotich reveals, “When we claim ourselves as creators, our life becomes a creative adventure; even mundane moments become ripe with possibility for transformation.”The mystical and often illusive creative flow weaves through every human heart. How do you capture her presence? What sparks your creative spirit? As Caitlin Matthews writes in her book The Celtic Spirit, “There are many ideas and inspirations wandering throughout the world. They seem to be shaken like stardust over everything, to be caught in handfuls by those who are ready to receive them.”Our task as co-creators is to join God in bringing forth the beautiful future God has promised. To help us in that eternal work, I am joined on the podcast by Ally Markotich.In this episode we discuss:How creativity is a form of resistance to dominator agendas and beliefsWhy authoritarian leaders are terrified of artistsHow to awaken your inner, creative soulThe relationship between spirituality and creativityHow seeing God in female form opens your heart to the beautifulWhy beauty mattersBio:Ally Markotich is an artist, poet and Creative Formation Practitioner. Ally is the creator of Soul Kindling LLC, an online creative respite where she guides her clients to express their truest colors and gently encourages their creative growth. Ally is certified as a Red Thread Guide and Intentional Creativity® Educator from Musea under the guidance of artist, Shiloh Sophia. She is certified in Spiritual Formation from Columbia Theological Seminary and is a Holy Fire Reiki Master in the tradition of Mikao Usui. As she shares, “Two of the deepest beliefs I hold are: You and I are sacred BE-ings. CREATIVITY is our birthright.”Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review, or share on your socials 🙏Show notes:http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/created-to-createFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics | Substack: holyheretics.substack.comAdvertising inquiries: garyalan@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics or subscribe to our Substack to gain access to Holy Heretics Shorts, premium content, and our online class on faith deconstruction!This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Liz Charlotte Grant, an award-winning writer and author of "Knock at the Sky," dives into the complexities of interpreting the Bible, particularly Genesis. She challenges the literalist views that many hold, advocating for a more metaphorical approach. The discussion addresses the historical issues in biblical texts, including the depiction of God and the portrayal of women. Liz also sheds light on the story of Hagar, emphasizing the resilience found in personal interpretations. Ultimately, the conversation encourages listeners to seek deeper understanding and connection.

Episode Summary:John Philip Newell is best described as “a wandering teacher with the heart of a Celtic bard and the mind of a Celtic scholar.” Formerly the Warden of Iona Abbey in the Western Isles of Scotland, John Philip joined me from his home in Edinburgh to offer a new, yet ancient way forward in a time when the empire has once again wedded and bedded Christianity.Long before the colonizing forces of imperial Christianity made their way to the British Isles, an indigenous form of spirituality nourished those sacred souls living in the borderlands of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The Celts believed divinity pervaded every aspect of life. There was no distinction between secular and sacred, human and divine. The Celtic vision of the world is essentially sacramental, perceiving God’s presence in ordinary things like rocks, forests, springs, groves, hills, and meadows. “The Celtic approach to God opens up a world in which nothing is too common to be exalted and nothing is so exalted that it cannot be made common,” writes Esther De Waal. For them, the natural world is the container of the sacred and a gateway to the luminous—the holy intersection between mortals and the supernatural. These tribes bewildered the Roman church because they were relational rather than rational, inspirational rather than institutional, and indigenous instead of imperial.In this modern age, when we find ourselves divorced from the natural world, addicted to technology, controlled by institutional religion, and victims of an empire of our own making, there is a great deal to learn from the ancient Celts. We need nothing less than a reclamation of our humanity, a rekindling of the Beltaine Fire burning in every human heart.Most of us are still reeling from the recent presidential election. The dark forces of authoritarianism, patriarchy, and white supremacy are chronically ingrained in the highest levels of government, blessed and absolved by white Christianity. But here’s what I’m slowly starting to believe—every dark ending births a new beginning. Evil never has the last word. We’ve been given a dark gift, a chance to resist and re-imagine the world as it should be. We are living in liminal time, “when we can’t go back but we can’t see the way forward,” writes my friend Melanie Mudge.What better time to wake up, “dream new dreams,” and rekindle the sacred flame in every human soul. As John Philip reminds us:“We live in a threshold moment. We are waking up to the earth again. We are awakening to the feminine and the desire to faithfully tend the interrelationship of all things. In this moment, politically, culturally, and religiously, we are witnessing the death throes of a shadow form of masculine power that has arrayed itself over against the earth and over against the sacredness of the feminine. This shadow form of power, however, has no ultimate future, for it is essentially false in its betrayal of the earth and the feminine. So in fear it is lashing out with unprecedented force. But it is not the deep spirit of this moment in time. Something else is trying to be born.”Celtic spirituality is needed now more than ever. Allow John Philip to lead you into deeper streams of indigenous wisdom where action and contemplation, vision and profound mystery light our collective way forward. His latest book, The Great Search, is out now. Bio:John Philip Newell (b 1953) is an internationally renowned Celtic teacher and author of spirituality who calls the modern world to reawaken to the sacredness of Earth and every human being.Canadian by birth, and also Scottish, he resides with his wife Ali in the ecovillage of Findhorn in Scotland. In 2016 he began the Earth & Soul initiative and teaches regularly in the United States and Canada as well as leading international pilgrimage weeks on Iona in the Western Isles of Scotland.His PhD is from the University of Edinburgh and he has authored over fifteen books, including his award-winning publication, Sacred Earth Sacred Soul, which was the 2022 Gold Winner of the Nautilus Book Award for Spirituality and Religious Thought of the West. His new book, also with HarperOne (and published in the UK by Wild Goose), is The Great Search (August 2024), in which he looks at the great spiritual yearnings of humanity today in the context of the decline of religion as we have known it.Newell speaks of himself as ‘a wandering teacher’ following the ancient path of many lone teachers before him in the Celtic world, ‘wandering Scots’ (or scotus vagans as they were called) seeking the wellbeing of the world. He has been described as having ‘the heart of a Celtic bard and the mind of a Celtic scholar’, combining in his teachings the poetic and the intellectual, the head as well as the heart, and spiritual awareness as well as political and ecological concern. His writings have been translated into seven languages. In 2020 he relinquished his ordination as a minister of the Church of Scotland as no longer reflecting the heart of his belief in the sacredness of Earth and every human being. He continues, however, to see himself as ‘a grateful son of the Christian household’ seeking to be in relationship with the wisdom of humanity’s other great spiritual traditions.In 2011 John Philip was awarded the first-ever Contemplative Voices Award from the Shalem Institute in Washington DC for his prophetic work in the field of spirituality and compassion. In 2022 he received the Sacred Universe Award from the Well Center for Spirituality in Chicago, IL in recognition of his significant work in furthering humanity's relationship with the sacredness of Earth.Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review, or share on your socials 🙏Show notes:http://www.sophiasociety.org/celtic-spiritualityFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics | Substack: holyheretics.substack.comAdvertising inquiries: garyalan@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics or subscribe to our Substack to gain access to Holy Heretics Shorts, premium content, and our online class on faith deconstruction!This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:Like a dog returning to her vomit, America chose the sexual predator, white nationalist, pathological liar, and criminal instead of an educated, compassionate Black woman to lead this nation into our collective future. This feels more sinister than 2016 because Trump and his henchmen now have a plan in Project 2025 and I promise you, people are going to suffer.How do we sit with suffering and respond with compassion? How do we continue to seek justice without demonizing the Christians who willfully voted for this madness? How do we implement a politic of compassion in an era of cruelty?Bekah McNeel joins me today on Holy Heretics to reset this new normal, to offer a way forward through the solidarity of suffering.In her career as a journalist, Bekah has encountered a lot of suffering. After all, the most polarizing topics in US politics all revolve around suffering (gun violence, immigration, Covid-19, sexual violence, and white supremacy). She’s sat with migrants seeking asylum. She’s stood outside the school in Uvalde, Texas weeping with parents. She’s been to Detroit and shared space with Iraqi immigrants. As she says in this conversation, “I have zero tolerance for political justifications for suffering.”Bekah’s ability to break down complex political and ethical arguments through the lens of compassion is a starting point for those of us who refuse to give up the fight for justice.In this timely conversation, we discuss the following:How for-profit journalism failed the American peopleThe media’s role in electing TrumpThe power of compassion and the limits to our compassionHow to respond to disinformation with questions and compassionHow to distinguish between political and ethical issuesHow to cultivate healthy relationships with friends and family with whom we vehemently disagree withThe issues behind the issues that turn political disagreements into personal attacks, i.e. the conversations about politics with your parentsBio:Bekah Stolhandske McNeel is a native of San Antonio, Texas, where she works as a journalist. Her work has appeared in Texas Monthly, Sojourners, The Guardian, The Trace, The Texas Tribune, The 74 Million, Christianity Today, Texas Public Radio, Relevant, Andscape, The Hechinger Report, and the Christian Science Monitor, among others. She published her first book, Bringing Up Kids When Church Lets You Down: A Guide for Parents Questioning their Faith with Eerdmans in 2022. Known for her ability to communicate the high stakes of politics and policy and bring clarity to complex systems, Bekah keeps the human beings most affected at the front of her coverage.Bekah is a graduate of the London School of Economics, where she earned a MSc in Media Studies. She is married to Lewis McNeel, an architect with Lake | Flato. They have two young children who, while they do not yet have careers, are very busy.Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review, or share on your socials 🙏Show notes:http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/this-is-going-to-hurt-Bekah-McneelFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics | Substack: holyheretics.substack.comAdvertising inquiries: garyalan@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics or subscribe to our Substack to gain access to Holy Heretics Shorts, premium content, and our online class on faith deconstruction!This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:We are less than two weeks away from election day here in the United States. The question is - will America get its first female president or a second Donald Trump term? A more pressing question is - will America remain a democracy or will our constitutional republic deteriorate further into a Christo-fascist Trump family dynasty?Kamala Harris has a slight lead over Trump in the national polls, but in the seven battleground states, Trump holds a narrow margin of victory.How is this possible? Why is this race so close? How, after all the lies, conspiracy theories, federal crimes, sexual assaults, authoritarian ideology, attempts to overthrow the government, white supremacy, and hatred of ‘the other’ does Donald Trump still hold sway in the hearts of 46% of the voting population? Even more damning, why are 82% of white evangelicals poised to vote for Trump a third time? In a speech in Pittsburg, former President Barack Obama asks similar questions. “When did lying become Ok? Why would we go along with that?”I will be even more direct. When did supporting someone so vile, so evil, so bereft of any moral compass become OK for Christians? The answer? White evangelical Christians really are this cruel, this racist, this fearful, and this easy to manipulate. In short, the propaganda is working.In today’s podcast interview on Holy Heretics, I sit down with Professor Scott Coley from Mount St. Mary’s University to discuss his latest book Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right.According to Coley, “American evangelicalism is beset by two distinct yet related scandals, one intellectual and the other social. In the decades since Mark Noll published The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, evangelical anti-intellectualism has only grown more pronounced: white evangelicals are overrepresented among skeptics of public health officials and scientific experts; and white evangelicals are more likely than other Americans to embrace conspiracy theories that threaten public health and weaken our nation’s democratic institutions.” This timely conversation brings a “philosophical scalpel to evangelical truth claims. Coley demonstrates with devastating precision how much of what passes as ‘biblical’ can better be understood as propaganda, as the deliberate obfuscation of reality,” writes New York Times bestselling author Kristin Du Mez. In this episode, we discuss:How biblical literalism leads to white supremacy.Why 82% of white evangelicals supporting Trump might actually be a good thing. The connection between Creation Science and Right Wing Propaganda.How evangelical ministers have been corrupted by Republican Party ideology.How to have conversations with your friends and family about evangelical propaganda.How to be political without being partisan.What happens next regardless of who wins the election. Bio:Scott M. Coley holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Purdue University, a Master’s degree in systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame, and a B.A. in philosophy and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include philosophy of religion, moral epistemology and political philosophy. He serves on the philosophy faculty at Mount St. Mary’s University, where he teaches courses in moral and political philosophy, history of philosophy and logic. Grab his book Ministers of Propaganda today! Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review, or share on your socials 🙏Show notes:http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/evangelical-ministers-of-propagandaFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics | Substack: holyheretics.substack.comAdvertising inquiries: garyalan@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics or subscribe to our Substack to gain access to Holy Heretics Shorts, premium content, and our online class on faith deconstruction!This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.

Episode Summary:In this captivating conversation with mythologist and psychologist Dr. Sharon Blackie, we explore the mythic imagination, the reclaiming of indigenous Western spiritual traditions, and the relevance of our native myths, fairy tales, and folk traditions.Your life is a story, and your story is one small part of a larger cultural story. For good and bad, your individual story is shaped by the larger cultural story of which you are a part. Culture shapes the way we think; it tells us what “makes sense.” In a way, culture is a cult. It holds people together by providing us with a shared set of customs, values, ideas, and beliefs. We live enmeshed in this cultural web: it influences the way we relate to others, the way we look, our tastes, our habits; it enters our dreams and desires. But as culture binds us together it also selectively blinds us. As we grow up, we accept ways of looking at the world, ways of thinking and being that might best be characterized as cultural frames of reference or cultural myths. These myths help us understand our place in the world. But what if these myths are harmful? What if the guiding cultural narratives that shape our lives today in the West are killing us?By questioning the myths that dominate our culture and shape our personal stories, we can begin to resist the limits they impose on our vision of reality. What might it look like to trade in the cultural myths of progress, greed, conquest, and individuality with cultural narratives that encourage reciprocity, relationships, compassion, connectivity, and wonder?Dr. Blackie speaks to those of us who feel lost in a sick, vampiric culture. If you long for a more enchanted life filled with wonder, beauty, and mystery, this episode will encourage you to find meaning through ancient wisdom, Celtic Spirituality, folklore, and indigenous tales of subversive wisdom.Bio:Dr. Sharon Blackie is an award-winning and internationally bestselling author, and a psychologist with a background in mythology and folklore. Her highly acclaimed books, lectures and teaching programs are focused on reimagining women’s stories, and on the relevance of myth and fairy tales  to the personal, cultural and environmental issues we face today.As well as writing six books of fiction and nonfiction, including the bestselling If Women Rose Rooted, her writing has appeared in anthologies, collections and in several international media outlets – among them the Guardian, the Irish Times, the i and the Scotsman. Her books have been translated into several languages, and she has featured in programs by the BBC, US public radio and independent filmmakers. Her awards include the Society of Authors’ Roger Deakin Award, and a Creative Scotland Writer’s Award. Her next book, Wise Women: Myths and Stories for Midlife and Beyond will be published by Virago in October 2024.Sharon is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and an Honorary Member of the UK Association of Jungian Analysts, awarded ‘in recognition of the importance of lifetime achievement and contribution to Jungian ideas in the world’. She has taught and lectured at several academic institutions, Jungian organisations, retreat centres and cultural festivals around the world. She is online faculty for Pacifica Graduate Institute, California, where she teaches a Graduate Certificate Course on ‘Narrative Psychological Approaches to Finding Ourselves in Fairy Tales’ and other programs.Sharon lives in Cumbria, in the north of England, with her husband, dogs, hens and sheep. She is represented by Jane Graham Maw, at Graham Maw Christie Agency.Sharon’s TEDx talk on the mythic imagination can be viewed here. Her publication ‘The Art of Enchantment’ is in the Top Ten Literature Substacks.Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! (Also, please don’t hesitate to use any of these channels or email to contact us with any questions, concerns, or feedback.)If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review, or share on your socials 🙏Show notes:http://www.sophiasociety.org/podcast/finding-your-place-in-this-worldFollow us on social media! Twitter: @holyheretics | Instagram: @holyhereticspodcast | Facebook: @holyheretics | Substack: holyheretics.substack.comAdvertising inquiries: garyalan@sophiasociety.orgSupport our work on Patreon or Substack and get early access to episodes and premium content like our online class on deconstruction!https://www.patreon.com/holyheretics or subscribe to our Substack to gain access to Holy Heretics Shorts, premium content, and our online class on faith deconstruction!This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Gary Alan Taylor.  Music is by Faith in Foxholes.