All in Current Events

379 Shotgun—BIPOC Plagiarism, Is Evil really so Evil?

379 Shotgun—BIPOC Plagiarism, Is Evil really so Evil?

Uncensored Unprofessor
Current Events

Following a 16-part series it's time for a happy-break! In this Theology-and-Culture shotgun I work through the following: a famous racist's plagiarism, a quote by the Chinese ancient Laozi, why I love Spudlandia culture (and why you won't want to move here!) (and why KS is angry at the I.D.!), how an embrace of divine determinism theology makes evil less evil, CNN's Dana Bash and her lengthy-28-whole-minutes!-long-piercing interview of Kamal Harris and Tim Walz, and a final reflection on St. Paul and the Old Testament law. This light hearted episode will make you think, laugh, and ponder what it means to follow Jesus Christ in the 21st Century.

362 Refuse Their Terms!

362 Refuse Their Terms!

Uncensored Unprofessor
Current Events, Cult of the Now, Discernment, Knowledge

Because I taught college for 25 years I'm tracking the devolution of Pro-Hamas rallies on university campusi. But it wasn't that which provoked this show's one-off reflection. No, instead it was a couple articles in my denomination's quarterly ministers' magazine that smacked me upside the head. They accepted the premise. Accepted the definitions and premises of a progressive framing of reality. Uncritically, they took progressive (woke) terms and tried to run them through a Christian-coffee-filter in order to flavor (or baptize) those terms and make them Christian. In this episode I explain what is happening to pastors and churches who try to Christian-baptize progressive terms and premises. I also reflect on the recent water baptism of actor Russell Brand. Beautifully so, Brand seems to have been red-pilled not only by the madness of our era but by the work of the Holy Spirit. So come and think with me, laugh with me, and reflect with me on what being Christian means in our 21st century and its context.

349 Necessary Discriminations (7) Fogginess of Fear

349 Necessary Discriminations (7) Fogginess of Fear

Uncensored Unprofessor
Discernment, Current Events, Cult of the Now

The number one reason people don't make decisions? Fear. Fear fogs our discriminating processes in a number of ways. I work through those painful ways in this episode. Then, as we all know, naming is powerful. I recently came across the name for a 50 year old social strategy: Cloward-Piven. With uncanny accuracy it describes the constant patterns we see at work in American society. Naming that strategy also helps us to realize, again, that we wrestle not with flesh and blood. Come think and laugh with me!

348 Necessary Discriminations (6) Gagged by Generosity

348 Necessary Discriminations (6) Gagged by Generosity

Uncensored Unprofessor
Discernment, Current Events

Just finished a book by an Ignatian spiritual mentor about discerning angels from demons, God's Spirit from evil spirits, and seeking God's will. Although tedious, it has some gems for both personal and communal decision making. I note those and then focus on the author's point that the Evil One loves to suggest some generous idea, an idea that then is used to draw a person and/or the church off the Lord's path, destroy purpose, and even ruin relationships. Then, the book of Daniel, as I learned 42 years ago, is also beautiful in its presentation of our own agency in light of God's revelation. Let's think through making discriminations in a biblical manner.

341 2023 Year in Review

341 2023 Year in Review

Uncensored Unprofessor
Current Events

What were the most important stories of 2023? I review those and offer commentary. Also tell the story of enduing medical-industry-chaos in the midst of all that. And yet, I recognize the medical industry is both overwhelmed and underpaid. So I begin the show with a prayer of blessing. Come reflect, laugh, and think with me about the year we just survived!

340 Special—Guts-Out Mission

340 Special—Guts-Out Mission

Uncensored Unprofessor
Discernment, Current Events, Secular vs. Sacred

Like a classroom where a substitute teacher fills in for the regular, I am, here on the holidays, interrupting my series. How should believers go about our Christ-given mission? Maybe it is 33%, each, with an eye to the past, present, and future? Maybe it is a balanced 50%-50% mix of indigenous and ancient Jewish culture? Using my recent trip to Costco to fill my truck and the recent Roman Catholic Synod on Synodality I think aloud with you about how we ought to frame mission. Along the way I also describe the work of some of my Christian heroes: Mother Theresa, John Wesley, Phil Keaggy, and John Wimber. How did they go about Christian mission? Come laugh and think with me!

339 Ncssry Discrmntions (4) Tracking with Truth

339 Ncssry Discrmntions (4) Tracking with Truth

Uncensored Unprofessor
Discernment, Christian Worldview, Current Events

No one is born with diakrino, a Jesus-y street smarts. It has to be developed and trained. Last week I offered goodness as a telos for discernment. This episode tracks with truth as a guide for discernment. To contemporize the topic of discernment I ask the questions, "are you a racist?", and "are all whites racists?" Along the way we see what the Bible means by truth, and what history and empirical data have to say about racism. The show begins with a holiday reflection from the Bible, "it doesn't have to be like this." Come laugh and think with me.

338 Ncssry Discriminatns (3) Guided by Goodness

338 Ncssry Discriminatns (3) Guided by Goodness

Uncensored Unprofessor
Discernment, Current Events

Western Civilization is cracking and creaking. There are obvious signs—educated people celebrating rape, slaughter, and genocide—and there are subtle signs—someone being sent to prison for 10 years for posting a snarky meme. But we will miss both signs if we are lacking discernment. In order to catch nuance and practice discernment (a Jesus-y street smarts) we need a telos—a path that guides us toward a target—that informs the whole of our lives. The Bible holds out goodness for us as just such a telos. Come think and laugh with me.

337 Necssry Discrimntns (2) Nuance: Trees from the Forest

337 Necssry Discrimntns (2) Nuance: Trees from the Forest

Uncensored Unprofessor
Eds Personal, Current Events, Discernment

Two thousand years ago a Roman centurion observed yet another Jewish rable-rousing "messiah" being crucified. Compared to the many taunting passersby, that soldier discerned that something unusual was transpiring. Seeing it all, he uttered an epic historic statement. Truth is, discernment takes time. Catching the nuance takes practice. In this episode I begin building out several ways by which we can build our discernment. How can we recognize political propaganda? My aim is to help us develop a Jesus-y street smarts. I also work through rhetorical self-defeaters: phrases that are commonly uttered which, supposedly, are show-stoppers. What can we do and say when we hear something like, "well, there are no absolutes"? Come laugh and think with me.

336 Necessary Discriminations (1) Judgment Lo Malo y Lo Bueno

336 Necessary Discriminations (1) Judgment Lo Malo y Lo Bueno

Uncensored Unprofessor
Bible, Current Events, Discernment

Jesus said, "do not judge lest ye be judged." And that settles it: we should never judge, right? Well, actually, no. In the same chapter—Matthew 7—where Jesus starts out by forbidding judgment he positively calls us to make several judgments: bad vs. good fruit, wolves vs. sheep, wide vs. narrow gates, bad vs. good fathers, foundations of rock vs. foundations of sand. So the notion that he banned all judgment is simply silly. In this first-of-a-series episode I unpack Jesus' teaching on good judgment: discernment. We also clarify the bad judgment he was banning. 

334 RfYtB (7) Election—Israel as Proof for God

334 RfYtB (7) Election—Israel as Proof for God

Uncensored Unprofessor
Reasons for Your Belief, Spirituality, The Spiritual World, Current Events

Election is a thoroughly biblical doctrine. Among many—Protestants especially—election goes to the matter of who is eternally saved, or not. But that's not where the Bible begins with the doctrine of election, and it's not even where Jesus began in his practice of election. No, instead? Election has to do with mission, being called to mission, and sharing in the mission of God's redemption of creation. With that formulation as a foundation, why then are the Jews so globally hated? Why, across all of written history, have the Jews been so targeted for pogrom, genocide, and Holocaust? And with that, why are the Jews so deeply hated and targeted for massacre today?

333 Israel & Gaza—Is this THE End?

333 Israel & Gaza—Is this THE End?

Uncensored Unprofessor
Current Events, Spirituality, The Common Good, Why Does Morality Matter?, World Religions

Immediately after an episode (last week) where I explained why governmental power (because it is too commonly insidious) should be slow-walked? Hamas invaded Israel. After I narrate some of the horrors of that, I explain my initial reactions to this heart-breaking event. What do we do to mitigate the "cycle of violence"? Or, is "cycle of violence" even the accurate way to assess what's going on? Then I frame our catastrophic-feeling era in light of both history and theology. Many Christians today—Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox—sense how apocalyptic this all feels. So, are we in THE end times? 

331 2020 in the Rearview Mirror

331 2020 in the Rearview Mirror

Uncensored Unprofessor
Current Events, Cult of the Now, Eds Personal, Christian Worldview

The show starts with me praying for my listeners' provision: interest rates and the cost of living are soaring. Then I discuss how a NYT email news-feed hit me like a bolt of lighting. The story read, "2020 was driven by a righteous spirit and legitimate moral demands." How did that spirit and its moral demands shape the hearts of ten millions of good-hearted Christians? Can an emotional response be legitimate if the perceived event was based on a lie? Come think with me about why we are now experiencing another 16th century Reformation, but this time around it is entirely to the bad. 

330 RfYtB (5) Afloat on Culture, Jesus “JUST as he was”

330 RfYtB (5) Afloat on Culture, Jesus “JUST as he was”

Uncensored Unprofessor
Reasons for Your Belief, Current Events, Jesus, Who is Jesus?

Which is more influential, the culture or the Church? Man, it's not even close! How do we know? One crisp way: examine what church leaders are doing. Take Pope Francis, for example. Conservative life-long Roman Catholics are beside themselves with how Francis is either working around or apart from Church tradition. The reality is we are living in an era that mirrors the 16th century Reformation for its significance. I also suggest an approach for when you're in a debate. Finally I examine the a priori assumptions and methodology of the Jesus Seminar. Just who was Jesus as he was?

328 RfYtB (3) Organ of Divine Vision, Honest about Errors

328 RfYtB (3) Organ of Divine Vision, Honest about Errors

Uncensored Unprofessor
Reasons for Your Belief, Current Events, Spirituality

Had a grand talk with my mom last week. Turning philosophical it was about the organ of vision, the sensus divinitatis, that characterizes human nature; we cannot help but spectate about transcendence. This episode's latter half touches on ancient copyists errors in the process of biblical formation; concerning truth it's better to be frank than pompous (re. covering up embarrassments). I also variously muse about politicians who go vacant in front of cameras, what to do when you're outgunned in a conversation, and how the Dems might play 81million's next roll out. Come laugh and think with me.

326 Reasons for You to Believe (1) The Empirical Proof of Evil

326 Reasons for You to Believe (1) The Empirical Proof of Evil

Uncensored Unprofessor
Reasons for Your Belief, Christian Worldview, Current Events, Knowledge

What are the good reasons, if any, through which one could believe in Christianity? In this first episode of a series I work an apophatic argument, one by negation: the existence of evil. Evil is so common as to be empirically beyond question. But the Christian worldview goes further: it calls evil by the name sin. Why? I also consider more questions one might ask one's dialogue partner when it comes to conversations about life. Are opinions arguments? Are emotional stories legitimate arguments? Oh, and then, what about Trump's mugshot? Come laugh and think with me!

325 Secular vs. Sacred (15) Spirituality vs. Religion

325 Secular vs. Sacred (15) Spirituality vs. Religion

Uncensored Unprofessor
Secular vs. Sacred, Christian Worldview, Current Events

The global church has seen its fill of horrors: pastors and priests betraying their call by sinning and deflating congregants' attitudes toward Christianity. And yet the broader culture still makes evident a hunger for transcendence: spirituality is on the rise. So what, respectively, do religion and spirituality take as their focus and their telos? I compare spirituality and religion in this episode. Along the way I also share more strategic questions one might ask in thoughtful conversations. Come think and laugh with me! 

323 Secular vs. Sacred (13) What Did Feminism Get Right?

323 Secular vs. Sacred (13) What Did Feminism Get Right?

Uncensored Unprofessor
Current Events, Sex, The Common Good, Why is the Church Sick?, Christian Worldview, Secular vs. Sacred

Significant to our culture's secular quality has been the presence and role of feminism. I offer a historical overview of family-and-public life, noting how the Industrial Revolution did things to women, men, and the family that the Feminist movement was right to protest and critique. Along the way I also note some of the shortcomings of the Feminist critique. At the show's beginning I reflect on the legalization of drugs in the state wherein I grew up: Oregon. Come laugh and think with me.

322 Secular vs. Sacred (12) Questions to Ask in Honest Conversations

322 Secular vs. Sacred (12) Questions to Ask in Honest Conversations

Uncensored Unprofessor
Christian Worldview, Current Events, Eds Personal, Knowledge, Why Does Morality Matter?, Secular vs. Sacred

A recent experience at the Oregon coast: an unknown woman walked into our camp and began to visit with us. When, after ten minutes, the pleasant conversation turned to the cultural-shift she went on a verbal tirade. It made me think, what are some good questions to ask in an honest conversation? Why are questions disarming? Why do questions make for space? Oh, and this episode has a "special" advertiser joining us. Come laugh and think with me.

321 Secular vs. Sacred (11) Gutting Evangelical Minds

321 Secular vs. Sacred (11) Gutting Evangelical Minds

Uncensored Unprofessor
Bible, Christian Worldview, Current Events, Knowledge, Spirituality, Secular vs. Sacred

If it's hard to look back on one's personal history it's doubly hard to do that concerning group history. But to that end I unpack American Evangelicalism's trio of emphases: conversion as a subjective experience, turning pastors into celebrities, and a hyper-individualistic expression of Christian life. All three are two-edged blades, having both healthy and injurious qualities that help (or not) us navigate turbulent times. I also start the show with a prayer for broken relationships. Come laugh and think with me!

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