Straight White American Jesus
716 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 18 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 1.6K ratingsAn 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, Janelle Wong, Randall Balmer, Katherine Stewart, and many others.
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Episodes
Latinx Evangelicals and Christian Nationalism
August 08, 2022 17:00 - 9 minutesBrad speaks with Dr. Arlene Sanchez-Walsh, author of Latino Pentecostal Identity, about how and why many Latinx Evangelicals have signed on to Trump's brand of Christian nationalism. They discuss the history of Latinx conversion to evangelicalism and Pentecostalism and how such conversions require participation in an American colonial project that demands assimilation. They also discuss the religious-political Latinx leaders who have risen to prominence in the Trump era and sometimes inescapa...
Weekly Roundup: Are We In Kansas Anymore?
August 05, 2022 18:00 - 10 minutesBrad and Dan begin by discussing takeaways from Kansas, where voters soundly rejected a state amendment proposal to ban abortion. In one sense, it offers hope that pro-abortion movements and candidates can push back in the wake of the Dobbs decision and make headway in the fight for women's rights, reproductive rights, and healthcare in this country. On the other, it will provide fodder for the American Right to argue to conservative voters that the only way forward is a national ban on abort...
It's In the Code, Ep. 15: Being Biblical
August 03, 2022 08:00 - 9 minutesWhat does it mean when a Christian says something is “biblical?” Why do some Christians talk this way, while others don’t? What do “biblicist” claims tell us about Christians’ understanding of religious authority and social control? Do all Christian groups share these understandings? In this episode, Dan helps to crack the code of being “biblical” to answer these and other questions. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive...
Magical Thinking Is Going to Kill Us All
August 01, 2022 16:12 - 11 minutesWhat is power? How can power be yielded in helpful and harmful ways? Brad is joined by Dr. Stephen Backhouse, an international scholar, speaker, and podcaster. They discuss the idea of magical thinking - not in the sense of sleight of hand tricks - but in the sense of trying to bend other peoples' wills towards yours. This form of power yielding is a zero-sum game - one in which either I win and you lose, or vice versa. There is no room for dialogue, compromise, or cooperation. The goal is v...
Weekly Roundup: Christian Nationalism is Not Imposter Christianity
July 29, 2022 18:00 - 8 minutesDan is joined by guest co-host Dr. Sara Moslener. They begin by the calls by Mike Pence and others for a national abortion ban. Dan puts this in the context of the "culture of life" many Christian conservatives tout as their reasons for implementing inhumane reproductive rights policies. Dan zeroes in on the slogan, "Save the Babies, Save America" as a nationalistic straw man with tragic consequences. In the second segment, the hosts discuss the Turning Point USA conference, which is a vehicl...
Special Episode: Is Trump Going to Be Indicted?
July 28, 2022 08:00 - 10 minutesOn a special episode, Brad is joined by Dr. Thomas Lecaque to discuss the likelihood that Trump will face criminal charges for his role in the Insurrection. Brad begins by recounting the late breaking news that Trump is reportedly part of the DOJ investigation into the efforts to overturn the 2020 election. This news followed on the heels of Attorney General Merrick Garland's interview with Lester Holt, in which he said that anyone found to have broken the law will be prosecuted. Dr. Lecaque ...
It's In the Code, Ep. 14: God Hates Divorce
July 27, 2022 08:00 - 10 minutesIn this episode, Dan takes his lead from listeners who’ve written in about hearing that “God hates divorce,” that “the family that prays together, stays together,” and so forth. What does this language mean? How have theologically conservative and "traditional" Christians understood divorce? How has Christian rhetoric and messaging about divorce changed over time? Are those changes positive, or do they harbor negative dimensions as well once we decode them? Listen to the episode to find out! ...
What Counts as Religion According to SCOTUS? Whose Religion is Protected? Whose Isn't?
July 25, 2022 08:00 - 10 minutesBrad is joined by Dr. Charlie McCrary, postdoctoral researcher at Arizona State University and author of the new book, Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers. They discuss how SCOTUS determines what counts as religion, and thus what is deserving of protection under the 1st Amendment. Their conversation focuses on the "sincerity test" of religious belief, which has become a cornerstone of US jurisprudence, framing what counts as legitimate grounds for First Amendment claims in t...
Weekly Roundup: 187 Minutes
July 22, 2022 18:36 - 7 minutesBrad and Dan begin by discussing last night's J6 hearing, focusing on the 187 minutes between when violence erupted at the Capitol and when Trump finally released a video telling his followers to go home. They focus on the callousness of the Commander in Chief watching Fox News for three hours while the Capitol was attacked, police were killed, and the peaceful transfer of power was disrupted. Dan takes us through a leaked memo from AG Merrick Garland that states there won't be indictments be...
It's In the Code, Ep. 13: Church Family
July 20, 2022 08:00 - 8 minutes“Church Family” What does it mean when a church or spiritual community refers to itself as a “family”? If this is intended as a statement of support and affirmation, why does it make some people feel uncomfortable? And how does it relate to common workplace ideas like being part of the “team” or “community”? Dan tackles all these questions in this episode. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: ...
Immigrants, Refugees, and White Evangelicals (re-release)
July 18, 2022 09:31 - 9 minutesBrad and Dan discuss immigration, refugees, and White evangelicals with Dr. Janelle Wong, Core Faculty in Asian American Studies and Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland. Professor Wong discusses her new book on evangelicals and immigration in an era of policy change. 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/ Sign up for the SWAJ seminar: str...
Weekly Roundup: Woke Thomas Jefferson
July 16, 2022 01:00 - 8 minutesThis week’s episode focuses on the intersections of cultural and political debates about race, history, sexual violence, and abortion. Dan and guest co-host Professor Sara Moslener discuss a Fox new claim that "wokism" has taken over Thomas Jefferson's legacy because tour guides at Monticello now highlight his sexual relationships with the people he enslaved. Sara recounts her recent visit to Thomas Jefferson’s home in Monticello, VA and the lessons for understanding current debates a race, h...
Weekly Roundup: Woke Thomas Jefferson Has the Last Laugh
July 16, 2022 01:00 - 1 hourThis week’s episode focuses on the intersections of cultural and political debates about race, history, sexual violence, and abortion. Dan and guest co-host Professor Sara Moslener discuss a Fox new claim that "wokism" has taken over Thomas Jefferson's legacy because tour guides at Monticello now highlight his sexual relationships with the people he enslaved. Sara recounts her recent visit to Thomas Jefferson’s home in Monticello, VA and the lessons for understanding current debates a race, h...
It's In the Code, Ep. 12: Culture of Life
July 13, 2022 09:00 - 11 minutesWhat does it mean when cultural and religious conservatives proclaim that they affirm a “culture of life?” We know it means that they oppose abortion and abortion access. But what else does it mean? In this episode, Dan dives in to decode this message to look at the racial, gender, and social positions that are encoded in this seemingly familiar slogan. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: htt...
Heathen: Christianity, Colonialism, and the Other
July 11, 2022 18:00 - 7 minutesBrad speaks with Stanford scholar of religion Dr. Kathryn Gin Lum about her new book Heathen. They discuss how White American Christians have used the label "heathen" in order to name those they deem not only different, but in need of saving. In this context, "saving" often meant the occupation of native lands, the overtaking of entire cultures, and the exclusion of those "unassimilable" to the American way of life. Race continues to operate as a heathen inheritance in the United States, anim...
Weekly Roundup: Is this Freedom?
July 08, 2022 18:00 - 10 minutesBrad is joined by guest co-host Dr. Leah Payne. They begin by discussing how many White Americans - especially White Christian nationalists - view the national body as straight, White, patriarchal, and American-born. This framework helps guide a discussion on the drastically different reactions law enforcement took in the cases of Jayland Walker, who was shot by police 60 times in Akron, Ohio, and the Highland Park shooter who was apprehended without violence after he allegedly killed 7 peopl...
It's In the Code, Ep. 11: We Live in a Fallen World
July 06, 2022 17:00 - 8 minutesWhat does it mean when Christians say that we “live in a fallen world”? Where does that language come from? Most importantly, what to different kinds of Christians do with that language? Dan tackles these topics in this episode, discussing what different kinds of Christians imagine when they describe the world as “fallen,” how they think we should respond to that, and exploring how that plays out in our contemporary culture. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening...
The Great American Pornography Wars
July 04, 2022 18:00 - 9 minutesBrad speaks with Dr. Kelsy Burke, a sociologist from the University of Nebraska, who discusses her new book The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America's Obscene Obsession. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/pornography-wars-9781635577365/ Burke spent the last five years researching and interviewing internet pornography's opponents and its sympathizers. She does a deep dive into the long history of pornography in America and then turns her gaze on our present society to examine ...
Weekly Roundup: SCROTUS
July 01, 2022 17:14 - 13 minutesBrad and Dan are back together. They begin by discussing the validity and significance of Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony at the J6 hearing this week. Brad implores us not to get distracted by claims that her account of certain episodes is being disputed by off-the-record sources who won't testify under oath in front of the nation. They then turn to SCOTUS. Dan breaks down the religious freedom case in which the Court ruled that praying after football games is part of the free exercise of reli...
It's In the Code, Ep. 10: Love the Sinner Hate the Sin
June 29, 2022 16:00 - 10 minutesIn this episode, Dan decodes a phrase that A LOT of listeners have contacted him about: the claim that Christians are called to “love the sinner, but hate the sin.” What does this mean? What kind of Christian claim is this? Why does it strike such a nerve among those who hear it? Dan tackles these questions in the episode. 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/ L...
The Stay at Home Daughter Movement and the SBC
June 27, 2022 08:00 - 7 minutesBrad is joined by writer R.L. Stollar who discusses his recent article on Voddie Baucham and the Stay at Home Daughter Movement. Baucham may not be a household name-but he was nearly elected the president of the largest Protestant denomination in the country just over a week ago. According to Stollar, Bacuham is a pillar in the SAHD movement, which "argues that girls should remain at home—even after they become adult women—and submissively serve their fathers until they’re married." Here is h...
Weekly Roundup: The Texas GOP Goes Full Fascist
June 24, 2022 17:15 - 10 minutesBrad is joined by guest co-host Annika Brockschmidt, a historian and journalist who has written a wonderful new book about Christian nationalism in the USA. Brad and Annika begin by discussing the Texas GOP party platform, which claims Biden's election win was illegitimate, calls homosexuality "abnormal," promotes repealing the Civil Rights Act, denounces the ERA, pushes a total abortion ban, tries to set up an electoral college within Texas, and opens the door for secession from the Union. T...
It's In the Code, Ep. 9: Remember Who You Are
June 22, 2022 17:00 - 8 minutesIn this episode, Dan decodes the admonition to “remember who you are,” as well as the related admonition to “remember whose you are” and the question “what would Jesus do”. What are these admonitions intended to convey? What do they presuppose about authority, control, and Christian identity? Decoding these admonitions helps us to answer these questions. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode archive, Discord access, and more: ht...
Is It Possible to Be Non-Religious in the United States?
June 20, 2022 16:33 - 9 minutesBrad is joined by Dr. Joe Blankholm, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara. They discuss his new book, the Secular Paradox: On the Religiosity of the Non-Religious. The Secular Paradox: https://nyupress.org/9781479809509/the-secular-paradox/ Blankholm argues that, despite their desire to avoid religion, nonbelievers often seem religious because Christianity influences the culture around them so deeply. Relying on several years of ethnographic r...
Weekly Roundup: Go East to Get a Pardon, Young Man.
June 17, 2022 19:03 - 10 minutesBrad and Dan begin this weekly roundup with takeaways from the J6 hearings. They focus on the ways the committee demonstrated how Trump and Eastman both knew the theory was illegal, but pushed it anyway. The question: Will it make a difference? Dan then provides a helpful explainer on the difference between a nation and a state in response to a new statement on Conservative nationalism signed by a bunch of MAGA superstars like Charlie Kirk and conservative thinkers like Rod Dreher. He and Bra...
Special Episode: Patriot Front at Pride in Idaho
June 16, 2022 18:00 - 10 minutesOn June 11, 2022 31 alleged members of Patriot Front were arrested near the Pride celebration in Coeur d'Alene Idaho. Brad speaks with two people who were at the event--Alicia Abbott of The Idaho 97 and Chad Schobert, who was born and raised in the region. They talk about how even before Patriot Front arrived there were armed militia members circling the Pride event, how all of this fits into the radicalization of the region during the Trump years, and the experience of living in a Christian ...
It's In the Code, Ep. 8: It's a Relationship, Not a Religion
June 15, 2022 18:00 - 11 minutesBuilding from the previous episode, Dan explores what’s going on when people say that Christianity is “a religion, not a relationship,” when salvation is understood as requiring a “personal relationship” with Jesus, and so on. Like so many other uses of popular religious language, this language tells us a great deal about the identity of those who talk this way, who the “real” Christian are, and who they aren’t. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, access to t...
Christian Nationalists and the Holy Gun Crusade
June 13, 2022 08:00 - 9 minutesIn his recent article at Religion Dispatches, historian Thomas Lecaque writes: In the wake of every mass shooting in this country, we have a brief moment where we talk about the guns used and the need for gun control. And then rapidly, the gun lobby, conservative politicians, Second Amendment absolutists, and the rest find every conceivable other possible thing to focus on, starting with “thoughts and prayers” and moving on to hardening school buildings. The mass shooting at Robb Elementary S...
Weekly Roundup: January 6th Goes Primetime
June 10, 2022 18:00 - 9 minutesBrad is joined by guest co-host Dr. Leah Payne. They begin by discussing the first primetime hearing of the J6 Select Committee. Brad observes that they seemed to have two goals - first to show that Trump and Trump's team knew that there was no legal basis for contesting the election, whether via voting machines, vote counts, or anythign else. Two, that there was a months-long conspiracy to stop the certification of the election by the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. They then focus on Tucke...
It's In the Code, Ep. 7: Being Saved
June 08, 2022 16:25 - 8 minutesWhat does it mean when someone asks you if you’re “saved”? If you’re active in the life of a Christian church or tradition (of whatever kind), and someone says, “that’s fine, but are you saved,” what’s going on? In this first of paired episodes, Dan explores this question, decoding the different ideas of “salvation” and Christian identity that define and structure so much of the terrain of contemporary American religion. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, ac...
Pentecostalism is Taking Over the World
June 06, 2022 17:00 - 10 minutesBrad speaks with journalist Elle Hardy about her new book, Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World. How has a Christian movement, founded at the turn of the twentieth century by the son of freed slaves, become the fastest-growing religion on Earth? Pentecostalism has 600 million followers; by 2050, they’ll be one in ten people worldwide. This is the religion of the Holy Spirit, with believers directly experiencing God and His blessings: success for the mind, body,...
Weekly Roundup: Schools, Grocery Stores, Hospitals, Funerals, Churches
June 03, 2022 18:00 - 8 minutesBrad and Dan begin by discussing the mass shootings that took place this week at a funeral, a hospital, and more. They ask what can be done about gun violence in a country where one party has chosen to worship handheld killing machines (and the money it brings their leaders). Should laws be passed that allow for civil suits against gun owners responsible for violence and/or manufacturers? They then turn their attention to an op-ed at the New York Times that tries to downplay the GOP's Christi...
It's In the Code, Ep. 6: Open and Affirming
June 01, 2022 13:32 - 13 minutesWhat does it mean when a church declares itself to be “open and affirming?” How does this relate to churches that claim that “no matter where you are on your spiritual journey, you’re welcome here”? In this episode, Dan decodes these phrases to highlight their very different meanings, and suggests that they represent a significant resource for charting the terrain of American Christianity. Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus episodes, ad-free listening, access to the entire 500-episode a...
The Illusion of Religious Equality in the USA
May 30, 2022 17:29 - 10 minutesBrad speaks with Dr. Khyati Joshi, author of White Christian Privilege: The Illusion of Religious Equality in America (NYU 2020). https://nyupress.org/9781479840236/white-christian-privilege/ The United States is recognized as the most religiously diverse country in the world, and yet its laws and customs, which many have come to see as normal features of American life, actually keep the Constitutional ideal of “religious freedom for all” from becoming a reality. Christian beliefs, norms, and...
Weekly Roundup: Guns Over People (GOP)
May 27, 2022 18:46 - 9 minutesOn an emotional weekly roundup, Brad and Dan discuss the timeline, law enforcement failures, and nihilism of the Uvalde Massacre. From the handcuffing of parents trying to rescue their kids, to the myth of the good guy with a gun, to the hypocritical theologies of Christian nationalists . . . Brad points out that this took place in a town near the Southern Border--but that instead of an outsider other, who the GOP always tries to demonize, it was a monster created in this country, abiding by ...
Special Episode: The Southern Baptist Convention's Apocalypse with Robert Downen
May 26, 2022 08:00 - 9 minutesThis past week a 400-page report outlining the culture of coverup and the widespread abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention was released. The SBC is the country’s largest Protestant denomination with roughly 14 million members. Together Its 45k churches bring in roughly 11 billion dollars annually. The bombshell report provides details of an abuse and cover up scandal in the SBC that goes both to the very top of the organization but also spreads to every corner of its vast network of church...
It's In the Code, Ep. 5: Wherever You Are on Your Spiritual Journey
May 25, 2022 08:00 - 10 minutes“No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, you’re welcome here.” This is a slogan we might read on church flyers, websites, or signs. We might here it in the welcome given by the pastor of a church. But what does it mean? In this episode Dan decodes this phrase to find out if it delivers on the promise of acceptance and inclusion it communicates. He explores what kinds of churches make this affirmation and what the limits of acceptance might be on “wherever you are.” Subscribe for $5...
A Sex Educator and Abortion Care Provider on Organizing and Fighting Back
May 23, 2022 08:00 - 7 minutesBrad speaks with sex educator Erica Smith about her experiences working in abortion care and what the overturning of Roe looks like on the ground for ordinary Americans. They discuss how and why abortion is healthcare and the health risks involved for pregnant people if abortions are not accessible. They also discuss how the misguided approaches to sex education in this country lead to reductive conversations about pregnancy, abortion, and reproductive rights. They finish by discussing ways t...
Weekly Roundup: The Deadliness of Caucasian Replacement Theory (CRT)
May 20, 2022 19:00 - 8 minutesBrad and Dan begin by discussing the various dimensions of the Buffalo massacre and the shooter's understanding of Caucasian Replacement Theory (CRT). Dan demonstrates that this ideology is farm from fringe in today's American Right. Instead, it is a mainstream position touted by the likes of senators, congresspeople, and Fox News talking heads. Brad dives into the Christian nationalist elements of the shooter's identity, pointing to how he equates Whiteness with Christianity and uses both as...
It's In the Code, Ep. 4: Cool Kid Church
May 18, 2022 08:00 - 11 minutesWhat is “cool kid church?” It’s the gleaming church-that-doesn’t-look-like-a-church in suburbia. It’s the church with the pastor who’s just a “cool guy” talking with the congregation. It’s the church of modern consumer capitalist America. It’s the church of American suburbia and the upper middle class, preaching a Christian message that provides meaning without producing undue comfort. It’s the church that emphasizes a “relevant” Christianity that will speak to you “no matter where you are on...
The Post-Roe Landscape and the Fissures in the Anti-Abortion Movement
May 16, 2022 18:00 - 8 minutesBrad speaks with Teddy Wilson of Radical Reports about the trickle down effect of overturning Roe. They discuss how this will lead to an expanded police state that surveils women who have miscarriages, stillbirths, and abortions. They dig into how certain states will try to punish women who have abortions or who cross state lines in order to receive care. They discuss what might be next in terms of contraception bans, outlawing IUDS, and even IVF. The second part of the discussion turns to th...
Weekly Roundup: So Pro Life They'll Let You Die
May 13, 2022 19:00 - 7 minutesBrad and Dan continue to discuss what the post-Roe landscape looks like. They begin by going through a new article by Katherine Stewart and the New Republic. Stewart shows how Alito uses the argument from history to take women's rights away in the future. She compares it to the Dred Scott decision and argues that Alito smuggles in a White Christian nationalist framework into his legal opinion. Katherine Stewart's article: https://newrepublic.com/article/166404/christian-right-roe-alito-aborti...
It's In the Code, Ep. 3: It's All in God's Plan
May 11, 2022 13:18 - 9 minutes“It’s Part of God’s Plan” “God has a plan for your life.” “It’s all part of God’s plan.” How do we decode common religious sentiments like these? Are they sources of hope? Affirmations of a loving and caring God? Sources of solace in difficult times? They can be all of these things. But they can also have a darker side, legitimating authoritarian religious institutions and individuals. They can shut down dissent, questioning, and calls for social justice in name of existing structures of powe...
The Orange Wave, Ep. 4: It's Not Democracy. It's War
May 10, 2022 18:03 - 4 minutesIn the wake of the 1964 Goldwater campaign, three young men decided to start the Council for National Policy in order to take back the country for God--and themselves. They joined forces with an army of clergy, big donors, and media moguls in order to take back America. This "shadow network," as the journalist Anne Nelson calls it is the secretive, but pervasive force that has overtaken the GOP and infiltrated every level and every corner of this country's politics. Interview: Anne Nelson, au...
The Orange Wave, Ep. 6: Non-Biblical Christian Manhood
May 10, 2022 18:03 - 5 minutesSince the mid-twentieth century, evangelicals and others on the Religious Right have looked to Hollywood, rather than the Bible, to construct their visions of "cowboy masculinity." It started with John Wayne and Ronald Reagan, then moved to Mel Gibson and others. On the political side, tough guys like Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump were favored over more reflective leaders like Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. Conservative women, such as Phyllis Schlafly and Maribel Morgan, provided the tools...
The Orange Wave, Ep. 2: Every End is a Beginning
May 10, 2022 18:02 - 4 minutesOn this installment of the Orange Wave: A History of the Religious Right Since 1960, Brad traces two intertwined histories. First, the Sun Belt Migration, which led to a massive westward population shift in the 1950s and 1960s. The Sunbelt Migration turned Orange County into the nation's hub of defense production. This led in turn into an evangelical wave in Southern California. He interviews Professor Gerardo Marti of Davidson College about this story. Second, Brad examines the decline of th...
The Orange Wave, Ep. 1: Oranges and Peanuts
May 10, 2022 18:02 - 43 minutesThe Religious Right has not always existed. White evangelicals have not always been the guardians of far-right immigration policies and patriarchal models of the family. In the 19th century, they were often progressive activists fighting for labor rights, abolition, and women's suffrage. How did they transform into the scions of Christian nationalism? Brad digs in to the history with Professor Randall Balmer of Dartmouth College on the initial episode of The Orange Wave: A History of the Reli...
The Orange Wave Ep. 9: This is How it Ends
May 10, 2022 18:02 - 5 minutesSome just want to watch the world burn. But for others, the end of the world is an opportunity to rebuild it in their image. On this penultimate episode, Brad explores how global kleptocrats, Donald Trump, and Christian Reconstructionists all view the end of the world as a chance for power and control. It is the simplest and scariest explanation of why the Religious Right continues to support the 45th president--they both want to destroy the world. This episode contains an interview with Prof...
The Orange Wave, Ep. 8: Old School
May 10, 2022 18:01 - 5 minutesIf you want to take the country back for God, if you want to have dominion over every level of society, if you want to ensure a white Christian patriarchy rules over the land--you have to start with the children. Christian school movements are part of the fabric of the Religious Right. On this episode, Brad examines why the Christian schooling movement--including homeschooling--took off in the 60s, how it has shed government oversight, and what effects its having on our public education syste...
The Orange Wave Ep. 3: From the Goldrush to the Tea Party
May 10, 2022 18:01 - 4 minutesIn the early 1960s, Orange County became the hub for both white evangelical Christianity and libertarian politics. It was the epicenter of the John Birch Society and the Goldwater campaign. This history is crucial for understanding the rise of the Religious Right throughout the 80s and beyond. It was from this soil that Reagan and his evangelical coalition took over the GOP. The racism, conspiracies, and extremism of 1960s libertarian evangelicals in Southern California has remained part of t...