Shows / Straight White American Jesus
Straight White American Jesus
An in-depth examination of the culture and politics of Christian Nationalism and Evangelicalism by two ex-evangelical ministers-turned-religion professors. If you have ever wondered what social and historical forces led white evangelicals to usher Donald Trump into the White House this is the show for you. As former insiders and critical scholars of religion, Dan Miller and Bradley Onishi have a unique perspective on the Religious Right. Guests have included Chrissy Stroop, R. Marie Griffith…
Episodes
Straight White American JesusWhite Supremacists, Border Vigilantes, and Survivalists with Dr. Susannah Crockford
Brad is joined by Dr. Susannah Crockford, author of "Thank God for the greatest country on earth: white supremacy, vigilantes, and survivalists in the struggle…
Straight White American JesusThe Christian Soulmate Fallacy--Response to Timothy Keller
Brad responds to a Twitter thread by Timothy Keller, pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Keller argues for sex in a lifelong covenant marked by deep…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Why Are They Trying Write Trans People Out of Existence?
Brad and Dan are happy to announce that SWAJ is joining the Irreverent Media Group--a collective of podcasts that offers content on deconstruction…
Straight White American JesusBeing a Woman of Color in Purity Culture with Asha Dahya
TEDx speaker and author Asha Dahya is the Creator and Editor in Chief of GIRLTALKHQ. She was born in the UK, raised in Australia, and now lives in the USA. Of…
Straight White American JesusFocus on Your Own Family: Response to Focus on the Family's Jim Daly
Brad’s response to Focus on the Family head Jim Daly, who mentioned him in a recent article. In the article Daly tried to deflect the analyses that connect the…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Is There Anything Wrong with Christian Nationalism? (Hint: Yes)
Dan provides a detailed rebuttal to a piece claiming that there the concern about Christian nationalism is an overblown conspiracy by liberals and celebrities…
Straight White American JesusRavi Zacharias, the Atlanta Shooter, Anti-Asian Hate, and Misogyny
Brad talks with Adrian Gibbs, co-host of the Dirty Rotten Church Kids and an ex-evangelical of Filipino descent, about the connections between Ravi Zacharias'…
Straight White American JesusSex, Theology, Purity--Response to Al Mohler
Brad was featured in a NYT article about purity culture and its affect on the Atlanta shooter along with other academics and advocates including Sam Perry…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: A Massacre in Atlanta
Brad and Dan discuss the various threads connecting the massacre in Atlanta: from the history of anti-Asian racism, to the various dimensions of purity…
Straight White American JesusAnti-Asian Hate, Purity Culture, and Christian Nationalism
In the wake of the mass shooting of 8 people, 6 of whom were Asian women, Brad ties together the threads of anti-Asian hate, purity culture, and Christian…
Straight White American JesusFaith After Evangelicalism
Brad explains how evangelicalism destroys faith, because it destroys any sense of uncertainty and unpredictability. By working in a register of moral…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Jim Crow in a Suit and Tie
Voter suppression laws are Christian nationalist policy. They are part of a long lineage of movements that see White Protestants as the only legitimate power…
Straight White American JesusInside the World of Christian Nationalism with Katherine Stewart (Re-release)
This is a re-release of an episode from last year. Brad talks to journalist Katherine Stewart, author of the Power Worshipers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of…
Straight White American JesusThe Church Where Defying COVID Orders Takes on a Holy Aura with Sam Kestenbaum
Sam Kestenbaum is an award-winning freelance journalist who regularly contributes to the New York Times. He recently wrote a feature on Godspeak, a Calvary…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: The Seuss Potato Head Party
Brad compares the current moment to other times in American history when crisis and conflict led to a new normal. What will be our new normal after COVID? Will…
Straight White American JesusThe Atrocity of "Gay Conversion Therapy"
"Conversion therapy" is a discredited practice of trying to change an individual's sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Lucas Wilson is a Liberty…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Trump is Still King of the GOP
At CPAC this week, there is a golden calf, um, statue of Trump making the rounds. Brad and Dan explore how this emblematizes Trump's continuing reign over the…
Straight White American JesusWhy REvangelical is Not Deconstruction
Brad lays out the case as to why the REvangelical movement coming from The Gospel Coalition and other voices in the Evangelical universe should not be…
Straight White American JesusThe Nostalgic Myths that Drive MAGA Nation with Dr. Ruth Braunstein
Brad talk to Dr. Ruth Braunstein, Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut, about the nostalgic myths that drive MAGA Nation. Their conversation…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Abandon the Snowflakes
What is the point of government? Is is capitalist profit or the common good? Brad and Dan explain how these questions connect notable events from this…
Straight White American JesusS1.Ep.9 (Re-release): Genderqueer and Exvangelical Pastor Ann Reilly
Brad and Dan's interview with Reilly, Associate Pastor at Presbyterian New England Church in Saratoga Springs NY. Reilly shares how she grew up evangelical…
Straight White American JesusOn Sexual Abuse and the Jezebel Type
Brad discusses the Ravi Zacharias scandal and why sexual abuse is so rampant in Evangelical spaces: authoritarian leadership structures, patriarchal theology…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Who is the Demon Now?
Is talking about Christian nationalism akin to demonizing White Christians? Some right-wing theologians and leaders would like you to think it is. But they are…
Straight White American JesusS1.Ep8 (Re-release) If You Believe in Gay People, Please Leave! -with David Gushee
Dan's 2018 interview with ethicist and former AAR president David Gushee, who left evangelicalism after changing his views of LGBTQ relationships. Subscribe…
Straight White American JesusChristian Nationalism at the 2021 Super Bowl
Brad talks about: Christian nationalism and Bruce Springsteen's Meet in the Middle ad Tom Brady's friendship with Donald Trump and White Privilege Tom Brady…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: The Greene New Deal
Brad and Dan talk about the false equivalence the GOP tried to draw this week between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ilhan Omar. This takes place in the context of…
Straight White American JesusS1.E7 (Re-Release): Dating Jesus
On an episode from fall of 2018 Brad and Dan share stories from their experiences with purity culture and provide a primer on gender and sexuality in…
Straight White American JesusI Would Have Been at the Capitol Insurrection with author Monica Rodden
Monica Rodden is a novelist and ex-evangelical. She wrote this recent piece in the Boston Globe about how she would have been the type of Christian to be part…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: White Supremacist Christians Are Christians
Brad and Dan unpack how religions are what people do. The same goes for political parties. This means that White Supremacist Christians and QAnon Christians…
Straight White American JesusS1.Ep.6 (Re-release): Evangelical Cultures of Life and Angel Babies
In an episode from fall of 2018, Brad and Dan discuss the issue of abortion in Evangelical culture and how it became a litmus test for who is a "real…
Straight White American JesusReligion at the Capitol Siege with Peter Manseau
Dr. Peter Manseau is a curator of American religious history at the Smithsonian and the author of ten books. He started #capitolsiegereligion soon after the…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Biden Takes Office While MAGA Nation Wonders What's Next
Brad and Dan discuss the inauguration, including the theological aspects of Biden's speech and the civil religiosity of Biden's approach. They then transition…
Straight White American JesusS1.Ep.5 (Re-release): White Evangelicalism, Nationalism, and Populism
An episode from Season 1 where Brad and Dan discuss nationalism and populism in the White Evangelical subculture. This is a nice primer for understanding what…
Straight White American JesusHitler, Trump, and the Danger of Failed Coups
Brad is joined by Dr. Richard Steigmann-Gall, a historian and expert in Nazi Germany. They compare Hitler's failed coup of 1923 and the Jan. 6 Insurrection at…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: They Told Us Civil War Was Coming
Brad and Dan begin by recalling their episode from the eve of Trump's first impeachment, when the quoted a number of Evangelical leaders threatening/predicting…
Straight White American JesusS1.Ep.4 White Jesus (Re-release)
In an interview from 2018, Brad and Dan talk to Dr. Glenn Bracey of Villanova University about his experiences in White churches as a Black man. Dr. Bracey…
Straight White American JesusA White Christian Nationalist Coup Long in the Making - with Dr. Kelly J. Baker
Dr. Kelly J. Baker, author of Gospel According to the Klan: The KKK’s Appeal to Protestant America, 1915-1930, stops by to discuss how the January 6…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Trump's Insurrection
Brad and Dan analyze the January 6 Insurrection at the United States Capitol. They begin by discussing the unprecedented aspects of the events. Then, a…
Straight White American JesusS1.Ep3 (Re-Release): The History of the Religious Right
What if I told you the Religious Right formed on the basis of racism and not abortion? What if segregation was the real issue and the unborn were used later to…
Straight White American JesusS1.Ep.2 (Re-release): 81% WTF
Think of this as a SWAJ primer. We cover many of the major themes of the show in a relatively brief conversation. On our second ever episode, we put the White…
Straight White American JesusS1.Ep.1 (Re-Release): Why Straight White American Jesus?
After many requests, we begin the re-release of Season 1! On this first episode Brad and Dan introduce themselves and tell their stories of being evangelical…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: American Insurrection and Beth Moore's Anti-Christian Nationalism
On the last Weekly Roundup of the year, Brad and Dan discuss: 1) the myth of the stolen election and how it has gained legitimacy through support from GOP…
Straight White American JesusKen Kemp on White People Doing the Work
Ken Kemp is not the person you'd expect to be leading small groups and table talks helping White folks understand the histories of racism and strategies to…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Christian Privilege and Raced Religion
Brad and Dan briefly touch on three stories: MAGA rebellion in Georgia, Obama on "Defund the Police," and the federal government's abandonment of the American…
Straight White American JesusSophie Bjork-James on the Similarities Between White Nationalists and Christian Nationalists
Dr. Sophie Bjork-James is an anthropologist at Vanderbilt University. She is a specialist in race, gender, and religion with a focus on White nationalism and…
Straight White American JesusAnne Nelson on the Shadow Network Behind Trump's Coup, ACB's nomination, and the Coming Cold Civil War
Brad speaks with journalist Anne Nelson whose book Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right outlines in vivid detail the network…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Frederick Douglass on a Divided Nation, Whose Faith Counts as Really American?, and American Exceptionalism in Religious Terms
Brad and Dan begin by drawing on a famous speech by Frederick Douglass in order to put the nail in the coffin on the idea that it is the Democrats' job to…
Straight White American JesusSarah Posner on the Secession of MAGA Nation
Brad speaks with Sarah Posner, author of Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump. They discuss how Trump is the result of…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Reviving the Lost Cause - the Real Meaning of Trump's Refusal to Concede + Biden's Religious Voters + SCOTUS and Obama Care
Dan begins by explaining why Biden didn't underperform and why emotionally this should feel like a big win He and Brad also discuss the White religious voters…
Straight White American JesusThe Brown Church: 500 Years of Resistance and Organizing - with Robert Chao Romero, PhD, JD
In his new book, The Brown Church, Robert Chao Romero speaks from spiritual borderlands. As a Latino pastor and scholar trained in critical race theory, he…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: A Historic Election, the Religious Left's Huge Impact, and the Religious Right Remains the Religious White
As we process the unfolding events related to the election, Brad and Dan discuss: why Tuesday night felt so dismaying, despite knowing it would be a long road…
Straight White American JesusReligion, Roots, and Black National Identity with Richard Newton
In an episode recorded as part of a public lecture at Skidmore College, Brad speak with Dr. Richard Newton about his new book, Identifying Roots: Alex Haley…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: America's Tense Moment
In the week before the election, Brad and Dan begin with another chapter of Falwell's Follies. Dan then explains why the polls are similar, but different from…
Straight White American JesusAfter Evangelcalism with David Gushee
Dan speaks with Dr. David Gushee, Professor of Ethics and Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University. The former president of the…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Hunter Biden Explained, Pope and Civil Unions, and the American Values Survey
Opener: Brad and Dan each get 2 minutes uninterrupted on the last debate Explainer: Hunter Biden non-scandal mularkey Explainer: Pope announces he is in favor…
Straight White American Jesus81% WTF (Re-release): The Historical Receipts on Evangelical Leaders Hypocritical Support for Trump
The episode that started it all! On one of our very first shows, we went to the historical record to quote all the evangelical leaders who did everything…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Constitutional Originalism and Biblical Literalism
Dan briefs us on the dueling presidential town halls before he and Brad explain the tenets of Constitutional Originalism, a legal philosophy Amy Coney Barrett…
Straight White American JesusSarah Levin, Co-Chair of the DNC Interfaith Council and Founder of Secular Strategies
Brad speaks with Sarah Levin, the Co-Chair of the DNC's Interfaith Committee and the Founder of Secular Strategies, a firm dedicated to mobilizing secular…
Straight White American JesusWeekly Roundup: Pretty Fly for a White Guy
Some major announcements! We are now a proud partner of the Capps Center at UCSB! Capps is dedicated to ethics, religion, and public life in a way that matches…
Straight White American JesusTrump's COVID Diagnosis, the ACB "Celebration of Life," and White Evangelical Racism with Prof. Anthea Butler
Brad speaks to Professor Anthea Butler, a captain in the Biden campaign's "Catholics for Biden" initiative, and chair of the Religious Studies department at…