The Christian Past That Wasn't: Formerly Telling Jefferson Lies
Season Three is coming. I am renaming the podcast The Christian Past That Wasn't to be consistent with the forthcoming book from Broadleaf Books, The Christian Past That Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths That Hijack History. This is so much more than a fact-checking book; it critiques the entire Christian nationalist project and misuse of history for political gain. Consistent with the first two seasons of this podcast, The Christian Past That Wasn't demonstrates that separation of church and state was the intention of the framers of the charter documents. We would be so much better off if we stayed true to separation of church and state in the US.
Podcast episodes will focus on themes covered by the book and will begin in the Spring. Watch for trailers coming soon!
Season Two is complete!
Telling Jefferson Lies chronicles how history can be hijacked for ideological and political purposes, as well as a much broader story about the surge of Christian nationalism and the misuse of history which often goes along with it. The series begins with an in-depth consideration of the methods of Christian nationalist story teller David Barton. Then I tell the story of how his book on Jefferson was pulled from publication in 2012 and the response of evangelicals to that rare event. From there, I broaden the scope to examine the varieties of Christian nationalism and the negative consequences of this way of thinking about church and state. The last segment examines the reasons why the separation of church and state is good history, good civics, and good religion.
For more information, go to http://www.gettingjeffersonright.com.
The Christian Past That Wasn't: Formerly Telling Jefferson Lies
Money, Lies, and God: An Interview with Katherine Stewart
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Today I feature an interview with Katherine Stewart, the author of the New York Time bestseller Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy. The segment is timely in that we discuss income disparities accentuated by the passage of the recent Trump budget. The dominance of Christian nationalism in the current administration isn't helping many of the foot soldiers who helped bring Trump to power.
Katherine discusses her new book and much more. Here is a sampling of topics:
- The uneasy coalitions in Christian nationalism and MAGA world
- The lifeblood of Christian nationalism: bad history
- Religious liberty means the freedom to do what Christian nationalists want to do
- Religion is a tool of autocratic leaders
- The threat of the New Right to American governance
- Power is what unites the religion of the New Right
- David Barton (Where's Waldo) is still active
- The rank and file are ultimately victims of the theology of power
CREDITS:
Music is provided by Earl's Taco Shack and Jonus Fair. Artwork is by Sarah Eshelman.