Podcasts about foxholes

Last time we spoke about the battle of Malacca strait. In the intense Battle of the Malacca Strait, Japanese forces undertook a desperate evacuation amidst relentless attacks by the Allies. After suffering heavy casualties from previous confrontations, the Japanese regrouped and attempted to maintain their defensive positions. However, under the pressure of determined Allied assaults and strategic maneuvers, they faced increasingly fierce resistance. As the Allies advanced, they successfully overwhelmed Japanese defenses, leading to significant losses for the opposing forces. The battle transformed into a pivotal moment in the Pacific War as Japanese resistance crumbled, ultimately shifting the tide toward Allied victory. This clash not only showcased the harsh realities of war but also underscored the relentless determination of both sides as they fought for dominance in the region, marking a crucial step towards the conclusion of the conflict. This episode is the Breakthrough on Okinawa Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  As of mid-May, General Buckner's forces had made steady, albeit slow, progress against the determined Japanese defenders on the Shuri defensive line. On May 16, the offensive continued. Colonel Schneider's 22nd Marines and Colonel Whaling's 29th Marines launched yet another unsuccessful assault on Sugar Loaf Hill, while Colonel Snedeker's 7th Marines exhausted their strength in a failed attempt to seize Wana Ridge. To the east, Colonel Coolidge's 305th Regiment advanced 200 yards closer to Shuri. Colonel Hamilton's 307th Regiment nearly captured Flattop and Chocolate Drop Hill but was ultimately pushed back. Colonel Dill's 382nd Regiment successfully cleared Dick Hill but came under intense fire from Oboe Hill. Meanwhile, Colonel May's 383rd Regiment made only minor gains on the southeastern slopes of Conical Hill and Love Hill, even as tanks broke through toward Yonabaru for the first time. The following day, the 383rd Regiment maintained pressure on Conical and Love Hills, prompting General Bradley to commit part of Colonel Halloran's 381st Regiment to the attack. To the west, the 382nd Regiment staged a hard-fought advance of 200 yards but was unable to capture Oboe Hill.  Slowly the 77th Division forces between Flattop and Route 5 were reducing enemy positions bearing on the area in front of the 307th Infantry. By 17 May this progress began to show in the advances of the foot troops around Chocolate Drop. Covered by company heavy weapons out on both flanks, infantrymen worked around both sides of the hill to the huge caves on the reverse slope. Inside were 4 antitank guns, 1 field piece, 4 machine guns, 4 heavy mortars, and a American 60-mm. mortars. By nightfall the caves had been partially sealed off. During the night an enemy force launched a counterattack against the American positions around the hill but was repulsed with the loss of twenty-five Japanese killed. On the 17th another bitter struggle raged on Flattop. The struggle swayed back and forth across the narrow crest of the hill. Company K, the assaulting unit, had been reduced to fourteen infantrymen by the end of the day; finally it was forced back off the top. Tanks tried to go through the road cut between Flattop and Dick Hill, but two of them were disabled by mines, leaving the cut blocked. The road cut was later blown along its entire length by seven tons of bangalore torpedoes to remove the mines. Company E continued to push toward Ishimmi Ridge, where they faced a series of heavy Japanese counterattacks. Coolidge's 3rd Battalion and the rest of Hamilton's 2nd Battalion dug in just a few hundred yards north of Shuri and Ishimmi in the highway valley. Meanwhile, Coolidge's 1st Battalion was halted by heavy fire from 110 Meter Hill and the extensive fortress houses in Shuri's suburbs. The intense fighting had nearly depleted the 22nd Regiment, prompting General Amamiya to direct the 32nd Regiment to take over the defense of Shuri along a line extending from Ishimmi to Oboe. Meanwhile, on Wana, the 7th Marines launched a renewed attack but were once again repelled. However, the 5th Marines succeeded in advancing to Hill 55. Further west, the bulk of the 29th Marines attacked toward Half Moon Hill, successfully reaching its forward slopes but later having to withdraw to more defensive positions overnight. Whaling's 2nd Battalion also mounted relentless assaults on Sugar Loaf, each time suffering heavy losses in repelled attacks. As dusk fell, Japanese planes targeted American shipping, successfully damaging the destroyer Douglas H. Fox. On May 18, tanks played a crucial role in a successful assault on Sugar Loaf, executing a double envelopment while securing the top of the hill. The 2nd Battalion then advanced to Horseshoe Hill, while the remainder of the 29th Marines managed to secure the forward slopes of Half Moon.After a night of sporadic bombardment from enemy artillery and mortars, 3/7 again attempted to gain a foothold on Wana Ridge. During the morning supporting weapons concentrated their fire on the forward slopes and crest of the objective and at noon Company I, followed by a platoon of Company L, jumped off and fought its way to the ridge. The assault troops' gains "were measured in yards won, lost, and then won again." Finally, mounting casualties inflicted by enemy grenade and mortar fire forced Lieutenant Colonel Hurst to pull back his forward elements and consolidate his lines on positions held the previous night. On the right flank of the division front the isolated platoon from Company E of 2/5 was unsuccessful in exploiting its hold on the western slopes of Hill 55. The men were driven to cover by intense enemy fire, and tanks again had to be called upon to supply ammunition and rations to the outpost. During the morning operations the 5th Marines laid protective fire with tanks and assault guns along Wana Ridge to support 3/7's advance. At noon, under cover of this fire, Company F sent one rifle platoon and an attached platoon of engineers into Wana village to use flame throwers and demolitions against the enemy firing positions in the ruins. Numbers of grenade dischargers, machine guns, and rifles were found in Wana and the tombs behind it and destroyed. Further advance into the draw was not feasible until the 7th Marines could occupy the high ground on the eastern end of the ridge and furnish direct supporting fire to troops advancing in the draw below. At 1700 the troops were ordered to return to their lines for the night. n the center, General Bruce pressed his attack deeper into the Shuri defenses, with Coolidge's 3rd Battalion gaining 150 yards along the Ginowan-Shuri highway and Hamilton's 2nd Battalion advancing up to 300 yards toward Ishimmi, although attacks against 110 Meter Hill and Flattop failed to gain ground. On the morning of 18 May, orders were given to stay at all costs. Lieutenant Bell said firmly, "We stay." The men resigned themselves to a last-ditch stand. Their grenades exhausted and their machine guns and mortars destroyed, the remaining men salvaged every clip of ammunition from the bandoleers of the dead. Spare workable rifles were loaded and bayonets laid alongside. Enemy pressure increased steadily during the day. Some Americans were shot at close range as they darted from hole to hole to escape grenades. At one time eight knee mortars were pounding the ridge, firing in pairs. Friendly artillery could to some extent keep off the charging Japanese but seemed unable to ferret out the enemy mortars, which were well protected. The moans of wounded men, many of whom were in pitiful condition from lack of water and of medical aid, added to the strain. All canteens had been emptied the previous night. Nevertheless, battle discipline remained excellent. The worst problem concerned the replacements, who were courageous but inexperienced. Thrust suddenly into a desperate situation, some of them failed at crucial moments. One man saw two Japanese attacking a sergeant thirty feet away, but his finger froze on the trigger. Another shouted wildly for a comrade to shoot some Japanese while his own rifle lay in his hands. Another saw an enemy soldier a few yards from his hole, pulled the trigger, and discovered that he had forgotten to reload. By the end of the ordeal, however, the replacements who survived were battle-hardened veterans. During the afternoon the 307th attempted to reinforce the small group. Elements of Company C tried to cross the open ground north of Ishimmi Ridge. Only the commander and five men reached Company E. The men scrambled safely into foxholes, but the commander, shot through the head while racing toward the command post, fell dead on the parapet of the command post foxhole. Spirits rose considerably when word came later in the afternoon that a litter-bearing unit of eighty men would try to get through in the evening. Enemy fire slackened after dark, and the first of the litter bearers arrived at about 2200. They immediately started back carrying casualties. Walking wounded accompanied them. The litter bearers moved swiftly and managed to avoid being seen in the light of flares. Through splendid discipline and good luck eighteen men were carried out in two and a half hours, and others walked out. The litter teams had brought some water and ammunition and the troops drank for the first time since the day before. The second sleepless night on the ridge passed. The 382nd Regiment continued to face heavy resistance from Oboe Hill but managed to secure the road cut between Flattop and Dick Hill. Meanwhile, Halloran's 3rd Battalion could only push about 400 yards south due to the relentless mortar and small-arms fire coming from Hogback Ridge. At sea, a low-flying kamikaze aircraft struck LST-808 off Iejima, resulting in the deaths of 17 men. The following day, while the 382nd and 383rd Regiments focused on neutralizing the cave positions and gun emplacements in the uneven terrain between Conical and Dick Hills, Halloran's 3rd Battalion launched an attack to the south and west toward Sugar Hill but made little progress due to the heavy defensive fire. In the center, the 307th Regiment systematically worked to eliminate enemy firing positions on the high ground in front of them, employing every available weapon for the task. Colonel Smith's rehabilitated 306th Regiment began moving up to replace the battered 305th, with its 3rd Battalion relieving Coolidge's 3rd Battalion and portions of Hamilton's 2nd Battalion along the low ground bordering the highway to Shuri, including the isolated men at Ishimmi Ridge.  On 19 May the enemy seemed to intensify his efforts to recapture Ishimmi Ridge. The besieged troops wondered whether his supply of men and ammunition was inexhaustible. The Japanese launched several attacks which were repulsed with great difficulty. Only the support of artillery and mortars, together with self-propelled mounts firing with precision on both flanks of Ishimmi Ridge, prevented the enemy from making an attack in strength which would have overrun the American positions. One enemy attack of platoon strength was dispersed by mortar and machine-gun fire and by a four-battalion time-on-target artillery concentration. Japanese mortar fire continued to fall on Ishimmi, however, and took its toll during the day. A message arrived during the morning that Company E would be relieved that evening. By noon the radio had become so weak that further communication with the company was impossible. The day wore slowly on. By 2100 there was still no sign of the relief. Shortly afterward, however, rifle fire intensified to the rear, a sign of activity there. At 2200 Company L, 3d Battalion, 306th Infantry, arrived. The relief was carried out in pitch darkness; each member of Company E left as soon as a replacement reached his position. As the haggard survivors were about to descend the ridge at 0300, a bursting shell hit two of the newcomers; one of them had to be evacuated on a poncho. Carrying its own wounded, Company E followed a white tape to the rear and arrived safely. Of the 204 officers and men of the reinforced company that had made the night attack on Ishimmi, 156 had been killed or wounded. There were 28 privates, 1 noncommissioned officer, and 2 officers left of the original 129 members of Company E. The platoon sent in relief by Company C had gone out with 58 effectives and returned with 13. Of the 17 men in the heavy weapons section only 4 came back. Company E had spearheaded a several-hundred-yard advance toward Shuri, however, and with the help of supporting weapons had killed hundreds of Japanese around Ishimmi. The 7th Marines launched one last unsuccessful assault on Wana Ridge before being relieved by Colonel Mason's rested 1st Marines. Meanwhile, after repelling a strong night counterattack, the exhausted 29th Marines were also relieved by Colonel Shapley's reserve 4th Marines, which made additional advances alongside the 22nd Marines, now under Colonel Harold Roberts. Four new regiments had been committed over the past few days to revitalize the offensive. On May 20, Shapley's assault battalions gained more ground on Horseshoe Hill but were still unable to reach the crest of Half Moon, though they successfully repelled another strong night counterattack. To the east, Mason's 2nd Battalion advanced rapidly to the base of 110 Meter Hill and captured part of Wana Ridge, while his 3rd Battalion secured a firm hold on the northern slope. Concurrently, the 5th Marines attacked southwest along the Naha-Shuri Road and successfully captured the high ground. Meanwhile, in coordination with the 1st Marines, Coolidge's 1st Battalion and Smith's 3rd Battalion made a slow, grinding advance of about 150 yards, positioning themselves within 200 yards of the outskirts of Shuri in the highway valley. At the same time, the 382nd Regiment expanded its hold on the reverse slope of Dick Hill but remained unable to penetrate Oboe Hill. The 307th Regiment consolidated and expanded its positions around Chocolate Drop, finally seizing Flattop. Reducing the tiny hill continued to be ticklish work because enemy positions to the south still overlooked the area. The fighting was still so confused that three wounded Americans lay south of Chocolate Drop for two days before relief arrived. By that time two had died and the third was so delirious that he thought he was still fighting Japanese and had to be forcibly subdued. By 20 May the caves were completely sealed off. The enemy made a final attempt to retake Chocolate Drop, attacking in company strength, but was repelled with the loss of half his force. On the same day the 3d Battalion, using tanks, flame throwers, and demolition teams, finally secured the crest of Flattop. The final American attack started with a saturation shower of grenades. A chain of men extending from the base of Flattop passed hand grenades to the troops lined up along the crest, who threw the missiles as fast as they could pull out the pins. Having seized the advantage, the infantry moved down the reverse slope blasting caves with satchel charges and flame throwers. Tanks along the road cut accounted for many of the Japanese. BY 1545 Flattop had fallen. More than 250 enemy bodies lay on the crest and reverse slope of the hill. Further east, Halloran's 3rd Battalion made a slow but steady advance down the eastern slopes of Hogback, reaching the foot of Sugar Hill despite constant grenade duels with an enemy fighting desperately to hold every inch of ground. Additionally, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 383rd Regiment fought their way to jump-off positions within 300 yards of Love Hill, destroying enemy strongpoints that had obstructed their advance for a week. Meanwhile, back at sea, Japanese aircraft managed to damage two destroyers and three transports. The following day, the 383rd again attacked Love Hill but was ultimately forced to withdraw from its base due to fierce defensive fire. Despite this setback, May's 2nd Battalion successfully supported the 381st Regiment in clearing Hogback and pushing to the top of Sugar Hill. To the west, the 382nd advanced quickly against moderate opposition toward Oboe Hill and Hen Hill, encountering retreating enemy units moving toward the high ground at Shuri. Concurrently, the 307th pushed 350 yards south of Flattop before being halted by enemy forces at the Three Sisters, while the 306th completed the relief of the 305th, with its 3rd Battalion advancing 200 yards unopposed to the eastern slopes of 110 Meter Hill. Meanwhile, the 1st Marines continued their assault along Wana Ridge, making only limited gains at the Draw, where the 5th Marines held out and aggressively patrolled forward. The 4th Marines began their push toward the Asato River, achieving a costly advance of about 200 yards on Horseshoe. By nightfall, heavy rains began to fall, significantly impeding efforts to resupply assault troops and replenish forward ammunition dumps. Amidst this torrential downpour on May 22, Shapley's 1st and 3rd Battalions slogged through the "gooey slick mud" to reach the bank of the rain-swollen river. This prompted the Japanese to evacuate Naha and establish new defensive positions on the Kokuba Hills. To the east, the continuous rain flooded Wana Draw with mud and water, transforming it into a makeshift lake. For the next few days, General Del Valle's Marines were forced to attack without support, leading to aggressive patrolling rather than organized assaults. The prospects of success for the infantry alone, slogging through the mud without the support of other arms, were not encouraging. Tanks bogged down, helplessly mired. Amphibian tractors were unable to negotiate the morass, and front-line units, which had depended on these vehicles for carrying supplies forward in bad weather, now had to resort to hand carrying of supplies and of the wounded. These were back breaking tasks and were performed over areas swept by enemy fire. Mortar and artillery smoke was used as far as possible to give concealment for all movement. Litter cases were carried back through knee-deep mud. Living conditions of front-line troops were indescribably bad. Foxholes dug into the clay slopes caved in from the constant soaking, and, even when the sides held, the holes had to be bailed out repeatedly. Clothes and equipment and the men's bodies were wet for days. The bodies of Japanese killed at night lay outside the foxholes, decomposing under swarms of flies. Sanitation measures broke down. The troops were often hungry. Sleep was almost impossible. The strain began to take a mounting toll of men. Under these conditions the Marine attack against Wana Ridge was soon at a standstill. The action degenerated into what was called in official reports "aggressive patrolling." Despite inactivity, enemy mortar and artillery fire continued to play against the American front lines, especially at dusk and at night. In the center, Bruce's 77th Division faced similar challenges, with the 306th Regiment stalled and the 307th Regiment again unsuccessfully attacking the Three Sisters. There, Company A became isolated at the base of the forward slope of Jane Hill, nearly cut off by intense enemy mortar and machine-gun fire. For the following week, the 382nd Regiment struggled to make headway on Hen and Oboe Hills, where fierce hand-to-hand combat erupted. Similarly, all attempts by the 383rd Regiment to breach the defenses of Love Hill on the western side of Conical failed, as the 381st was also unable to make any progress against Cutaway. General Hodge had also moved General Arnold's rehabilitated 7th Division to assembly areas just north of Conical Hill to spearhead the advance toward Yonabaru and the high ground south of the village. Strengthened by 1,691 replacements and 546 men returned to duty from hospitals since it left the lines on 9 May, the 7th Division moved up to forward assembly areas just north of Conical Hill and prepared to make the dash through the corridor. At 1900 on 21 May the 184th Infantry, chosen by General Arnold to lead the way, was in place at Gaja Ridge, at the northern base of Conical. The initial move of the envelopment was to be made in the dead of the night and in stealth. General Buckner felt that "if the 7th can swing round, running the gauntlet, it may be the kill." As part of this operation, the 2nd Battalion of the 184th Regiment moved out from Gaja Ridge during the night, swiftly and silently passing through Yonabaru in the early morning hours to capture Spruce Hill and Chestnut Hill in a surprise attack. Colonel Green's 3rd Battalion then followed the 2nd Battalion through Yonabaru, but their assault on Juniper and Bamboo Hills was unsuccessful as the surprised defenders regrouped. The following day, Green's two battalions continued to push toward these initial objectives, ultimately securing a solid line that stretched from the coastline across the southern slopes of Chestnut, and then over to Juniper and Bamboo by day's end. This success allowed Colonel Finn's 32nd Regiment to pass through Yonabaru and advance westward along the Naha-Yonabaru valley to assault the enemy's western hill defenses focused around Oak Hill.On the west coast, after a successful night reconnaissance of the Asato River, the 4th Marines rapidly crossed the river under cover of smoke, beginning their advance toward a low ridge 500 yards south of the Asato. However, as previously noted, the torrential rain had turned every draw and gully into a sticky morass of knee- and thigh-deep mud in the center. The steep slopes of the hills and ridges, treacherous under the best of conditions, became virtually unassailable. Consequently, full-scale coordinated attacks had to be canceled, and only localized gains could be achieved. Despite the breakthrough in the center, the Japanese command remained concerned about the threat posed to the flanks of the Shuri bastion by American advances along both coasts. While they believed the Naha breakthrough could be contained, every available soldier was deployed to establish a defensive line stretching from the southwest slopes of Conical Hill through Yonawa to the road junction village of Chan, aiming to eliminate Arnold's spearhead that had penetrated into the Naha-Yonabaru valley. General Ushijima feared that his forces were being gradually encircled in the Shuri fortress, where they would become “easy prey” to overwhelming American firepower. In light of this situation, Ushijima began planning a withdrawal to the Chinen Peninsula or the southernmost part of the island, the Kiyamu Peninsula. This decision was met with resistance from General Fujioka, who expressed concern that thousands of severely wounded men would have to be abandoned during the retreat.  Although the holding of the heights surrounding the city had been the keystone of the Japanese preferred plan, several factors now militated against its retention. There were an estimated 50000 surviving officers and men to be crammed into a final defense zone less than a mile in diameter. Once these troops were surrounded, the Japanese believed that they would be rendered ineffectual and become "easy prey" to overwhelming American fire superiority. In addition, Japanese long-range artillery pieces, many of which were still intact, could not be effectively utilized within the limited space that would be available. The best chance of prolonging the battle for Okinawa seemed to rest in defending the Kiyamu Peninsula region which was dominated by the Yaeju Dake-Yuza Dake Escarpment. Natural and artificial caves, sufficient to accommodate the whole of the surviving army, abounded in the area. The 24th Division, which had organized the terrain, had left a considerable amount of ammunition and weapons there when it moved north to the Shuri lines. The principal roads in southern Okinawa led directly to the proposed position, thus facilitating the movement of large bodies of men in the shortest possible time. These roads also gave American tanks an excellent route of advance, but only to the outposts of the defensive zone where cliffs, hills, and precipitous ridges barred the way. To add weight to his argument, General Amamiya indicated that his 24th Transport Regiment had preserved enough trucks to move the Shuri munitions reserve to the new position within five nights if weather conditions permitted. General Ushijima, after considering the respective positions of his staff and commanders, decided to order the move to Kiyamu.  Although General Suzuki preferred the Chinen Peninsula, which his brigade had fortified, most officials supported a move to the Kiyamu Peninsula, where Amamiya's 24th Division had previously established defenses in the natural and artificial caves of the Yaeju Dake-Yuza Dake Escarpment. Thus, transportation of wounded personnel and munitions reserves to the south commenced at midnight on May 23, with the bulk of the 32nd Army scheduled to begin their withdrawal six days later.  On the night of 25 May, the remnants of the 62d Division were to pull out of the Shuri line and move through Tsukasan to counterattack the Americans. The relatively strong 22d Independent Infantry Battalion, which had been in reserve throughout most of the fighting in April and May, was directed to hold the Shuri front in place of the division. The orders to General Fujioka were "to annihilate the enemy rushing from the Yonabaru area." Failing this, the division was at least to stop the American advance long enough to allow the main body of the Thirty-second Army to retire. In order to gain time to organize the new positions, the holding force left on the Shuri front was to fight on until 31 May. Withdrawing units were to leave behind strong rearguards which would defend a line along the Kokuba Gawa to the hills north of Tsukasan and Chan and then south through Karadera to the east coast until the night of 2 June. Then a second line centered on Tomusu, approximately 2,000 yards farther south, would be held until the night of 4 June. By that time the Thirty-second Army would be firmly set up within its Itoman-Yunagusuku-Gushichan outpost zone. Admiral Ota's naval force was directed to hold the west flank of the withdrawal corridor and begin its own retreat when ordered by 32nd Army. During the night, Admiral Ugaki initiated his seventh mass Kikisui attack, launching 165 kamikaze aircraft that inflicted only light damage on landing craft. On May 24, while engineers constructed a bridge over the Asato River to facilitate vehicle movement, the 4th Marines suffered heavy casualties as they attempted to advance through the muddy, flooded valley and low clay hills. Simultaneously, Shepherd's Reconnaissance Company crossed the lower Asato and roamed the streets of northwestern Naha without encountering any resistance. To the east, Dill's 1st Battalion faced a brutal counterattack that inflicted significant casualties and nearly drove the Americans from Oboe Hill. Following Ushijima's directives, the 32nd and 184th Regiments began to encounter increasing resistance as they sought to expand their control over the valley and the high ground to the south. This culminated in a series of aggressive nighttime counterattacks that ultimately slowed and halted the western advance of the 7th Division. During the night, Japanese forces conducted heavy raids on American airfields at Kadena, Yontan, and Iejima. However, these attacks were merely a diversion for Operation Gi-Gou, a suicide raid against Kadena and Yontan. In this operation, twelve Ki-21 heavy bombers, carrying Giretsu Kuteitai special airborne assault troops, aimed to crash land on the airfields to deploy commandos tasked with destroying aircraft stationed there.  After the start of B-29 attacks on Tokyo from bases in the Mariana Islands, the 1st Raiding Brigade of the Teishin Shudan was ordered to form a commando unit for a "special operations" mission to attack and destroy the bombers on the Aslito Airfield on Saipan. Captain Okuyama Michiro, commander of the brigade's engineering company and trained in sabotage and demolition was selected as mission leader. He selected an additional 126 men from his own team, the 4th Company of the 1st Raiding Regiment, to form the first Giretsu Airborne Unit. It was initially organized with a command section and five platoons and one independent squad, based at the Imperial Japanese Army's air academy at Saitama. The group unit also included eight intelligence officers and two radio men from the Nakano School. Giretsu operations were to be undertaken at night, beginning with air strikes by bombers. After this, commando units would be inserted onto the target airfield by crash landing their transports. The fact that there was no provision for extraction of the strike force, along with the rejection of surrender in Japanese military doctrine at the time, meant that the Giretsu ground operations were effectively suicide attacks. Though the Saipan attack was eventually cancelled, the 6th Air Army ultimately requested the deployment of the Giretsu Special Forces to neutralize the Okinawa airfields. The 6th Air Army accordingly began preparations for the attack in early May. Led by Captain Okuyama, the raid force moved from Nishitsukuba to Kumamoto as it continued to prepare for the assault, codenamed Operation Gi-Gou. Aircraft for the raid came from the 3rd Independent Air Unit based in the vicinity of Hamamatsu. The raid force consisted of 120 commandos broken up into a headquarters section and five flights, each containing twenty men. They were to be transported by twelve Mitsubishi Ki-21s stripped of their guns and with additional forward and rear exits added to assist raiders with exiting. The timing of the raid was also meant to coincide with the withdrawal of the 32nd Army from the Shuri Line in southern Okinawa. Of the twelve bombers dispatched, four encountered engine trouble and returned to base, while three were intercepted by American night fighters en route to Okinawa. The remaining five Ki-21 bombers approached Yontan Airfield at low altitude and engaged Marine anti-aircraft gunners from the 1st Provisional Anti-aircraft Artillery Group. As a result, four of the bombers were shot down or crash-landed; however, a small number of Giretsu commandos survived this wave and commenced their mission to attack aircraft on the airfield. The fifth bomber, however, successfully evaded anti-aircraft fire and belly-landed approximately 100 meters from the control tower. About 10 commandos disembarked and attacked aircraft and air personnel with grenades. In the ensuing chaos, the Japanese commandos killed two Americans, wounded 18, destroyed nine aircraft, damaged 29 more, and set a fuel dump ablaze, destroying 70,000 gallons of aviation gasoline. After twelve hours of mayhem, however, American troops hunted down the commandos and exterminated them to a man. Despite this partial success, the Japanese operation occurred against a backdrop of heavy losses, with American fighters and anti-aircraft fire claiming a total of 150 Japanese planes on May 24. During the course of three days, Ugaki committed a total of 387 Navy planes and 174 Army planes to his kamikaze attacks, which continued through May 25. These attacks successfully sank the destroyer Bates, one transport, and one landing craft, while further damaging two destroyers, one destroyer minesweeper, one minesweeper, one transport, and one Liberty ship. On the same day, Admiral Rawlings' Task Force 57 launched its final strikes in the Okinawa area before retiring late on May 25, having completed the Royal Navy's Iceberg mission. On land, while Shepherd's Reconnaissance Company occupied the deserted ruins of Naha, the 4th Marines fought to seize Machisi Ridge and continued pushing into the eastern outskirts of Naha. However, across the remainder of the 10th Army front, assault units struggled to make progress due to the havoc wreaked by the rain and the stiffened Japanese resistance. That night, in accordance with the withdrawal plan, the 62nd Division began moving its remaining 3,000 men to counter the advance of the 7th Division, hoping to delay the American advance long enough for the main body of the 32nd Army to retreat. The arrival of additional forces on the Ozato-Mura front had little significant impact, primarily serving to strengthen the covering and holding force. On May 26, the 184th Regiment successfully cleared the Hemlock-Locust Hill Escarpment. Meanwhile, the 32nd Regiment was brought nearly to a standstill in front of the Japanese defensive line across the Yonabaru valley. Looking west, Del Valle's Marines observed large numbers of enemy troops withdrawing from Shuri and were able to pinpoint their location for naval guns, artillery, and aircraft to bombard. However, despite penetrating the Shuri defensive line on both flanks, the day yielded minimal progress. At sea, further kamikaze attacks caused damage to one destroyer, one destroyer minesweeper, and a subchaser. In total, Ugaki's raids over the past three days resulted in the deaths of 103 sailors.  Believing the fast carriers' continued value off Okinawa had become dubious, back on May 18 Mitscher had requested that TF 58 be relieved from its Okinawa station. Spruance regretfully declined. A week later an increasingly weary Mitscher reported: “For two and a half months [Task Force 58] operated daily in a 60nm square area East of Okinawa, less than 350nm from Kyushu. This was necessitated by the restricted area available and the necessity for being able to cover [the] Amami Gunto airfields, intercept air raids before they could reach Okinawa, and still furnish air support to ground forces. There was no other location from which all these things could be done.” Reflecting on the months of unrelenting stress, tedium, and fatigue, TG 58.1's screen commander, Captain Tom Hederman, signaled Rear Admiral J.J. Jocko Clark: “See Hebrews 13, verse 8.” Consulting his Bible aboard Hornet, Clark read: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Amused, Clark forwarded the verse to his entire Task Group, adding, “No disrespect intended.” Clark then signaled Mitscher, “What the hell are we doing out here, anyway?” Mitscher's response: “We are a highspeed stationary target for the Japanese air force.” Indeed, TF 58 had already suffered over 2,000 Iceberg fatalities. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The brutal Battle of Okinawa was reaching a critical point as General Buckner's forces pressed against fierce Japanese defenses. Struggles unfolded over Sugar Loaf Hill and Wana Ridge, with Marines suffering heavy casualties but slowly gaining ground. By late May, the dire situation prompted Japanese commanders to plan a retreat to more defensible positions as American forces closed in. Despite challenging conditions, the Allies pushed forward, marking a decisive breakthrough in the Pacific War.

Episode Summary:Regina Cates joins me on the show to discuss her latest book The Real Conversations Jesus Wants Us to Have: A Call to Bravery, Peace, and Love. This episode is part memoir, part social commentary, and part call to action for those of us who grew up in religious fundamentalism and have found our way out to a bigger, broader, and more inclusive world.I realize that a lot of our episodes lean toward the scholarly and the erudite, but this is not one of those. This conversation is personal, real, and raw. In fact, this is our 90th episode on Holy Heretics, and it may just be our most candid, open, and vulnerable conversation to date. You'll learn about Regina's early years as a young LGBTQIA girl, the abuse she suffered, and the way she protected her heart and soul in the midst of oppression. You'll also learn what it looks like to set boundaries, fight oppression, and find yourself after leaving evangelicalism. This episode is a clarion call to wake up, to care for your body and soul as you recover from evangelical Christianity and all it's oppressive forces.Regina is an author, activist, podcaster, and founder of Romancing Your Soul, an organization that helps people develop lives of love, compassion, and purpose. Her first internationally bestselling book Lead with Your Heart: Creating a Life of Love, Compassion, and Purpose continues to be an inspiration to people who desire a more fulfilled life. Regina is followed by hundreds of thousands on social media who embrace her messages of kindness, compassion, and empathy for one another as equal members of our human family.I think you will enjoy this conversation as Regina and I share our personal stories of leaving religious fundamentalism and finding faith, community, hope, and wholeness post-evangelicalism.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

Episode Summary:You need to sit down for this episode.Mercer University's Dr. Angela Parker joins me today on the podcast for a heart-wrenching conversation about white supremacy, intersectionality, womanist theology, authoritarian Christianity, decolonization, Kamala Harris, and her sought-after book, If God Still Breathes, Why Can't I? According to Eerdmans Publishing House, “Angela Parker wasn't just trained to be a biblical scholar; she was trained to be a White male biblical scholar. She is neither White nor male.” Thank God.Womanist theology is a methodological approach to theology that centers the experiences and perspectives of Black women, particularly African-American women. Emerging in the mid to late 1980s, it serves as a corrective to early feminist theology—which often overlooked racial issues—and Black theology, which predominantly reflected male viewpoints. In plain language, Womanist theology interprets the Bible, Christianity, and life here in the American empire through the eyes and lived experiences of Black women.As a Black scholar who traces her family history out of slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, and into the halls of higher education, Dr. Parker talks candidly about what it means to be an educated Black woman in both predominantly white higher education and Trump's MAGA America.I know I say this a lot, but this is one of the most important conversations we've had to date on Holy Heretics.If the United States is to survive the MAGA cult, it will be through the embodied actions, wisdom, spirituality, and lived experience of Black women and men who understand what it takes to resist, regroup, and offer the world a beautiful invitation into God's beloved, alternative community. In the context of Trump's America, characterized by racist policies and rhetoric, Womanist theology is particularly poignant. By offering a framework that not only addresses the intersections of race, gender, and class, “womanism” also actively resists the oppressive structures of White America.BIO:Rev. Dr. Angela N. Parker is associate professor of New Testament and Greek at McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University. She received her B.A. in religion and philosophy from Shaw University (2008), her M.T.S. from Duke Divinity School (2008-2010) and her Ph.D. in Bible, culture, and hermeneutics from Chicago Theological Seminary (2015). Before this position, Dr. Parker was assistant professor of Biblical Studies at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. She teaches courses in New Testament, Greek Exegesis, the Gospel of Mark, the Corinthians Correspondence, the Gospel of John, and Womanist and Feminist Hermeneutics unto preaching.In her research, Dr. Parker merges Womanist thought and postcolonial theory while reading biblical texts. Dr. Parker's most popular book is titled, If God Still Breathes, Why Can't I: Black Lives Matter and Biblical Authority. In this book, Dr. Parker draws from her experience as a Womanist New Testament scholar in order to deconstruct one of White Christianity's most pernicious lies: the conflation of biblical authority with the doctrines of inerrancy and infallibility. As Dr. Parker shows, these doctrines are less about the text of the Bible itself and more about the arbiters of its interpretation—historically, White males in positions of power who have used Scripture to justify control over marginalized groups. This oppressive use of the Bible has been suffocating. To learn to breathe again, Dr. Parker says, we must “let God breathe in us.”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

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

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

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

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

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

This is a subsection of the newsletter Hints and Guesses by Federico Blanco Sánchez-Llanos. Video available.Collaborations — babyblueviperbusiness@gmail.com .www.fed965.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.fed965.com/subscribe

Episode Summary:If I had a guess, I'm betting one of the main reasons why you deconstructed evangelicalism is because of the Bible. Growing up evangelical, the Bible was the center of faith. It was the key to unlocking the Divine. This big black book held all the secrets to a good life. Just open it up, ask it a question, and out popped God's answer. Easy-peasy.But as you matured from naivety into adulthood, things got messy. A thoughtful reading of the biblical texts suddenly revealed all kinds of problems. The God of the Old Testament is often depicted as tyrannical, petty, vindictive, jealous, genocidal, and malevolently capricious. Women are by and large treated as property and playthings. Violence is often encouraged and slavery is seen as a necessary evil. As theologian Marcus Borg famously quipped, “People are leaving faith these days not because of what they don't know about the Bible. It's because of what they do know.” I agree.But, is all this the Bible's fault? Have we made the Bible into something it was never intended to be? The pressure we modern Christians have placed on the Bible to be perfect, offer total representation of God, and be universally applicable on all matters for all time is just unfair. The Bible isn't an encyclopedia or a rulebook, nor is it inerrant and written by God. Best understood, the Bible isn't even meant to be read literally or historically, but rather spiritually and metaphorically. Instead of passively accepting all the Bible has to say, you are invited into a conversation with the text. Wrestle with it, challenge it, question it, and yes, even disagree with it. According to today's guest on Holy Heretics, “You have permission to question the sacred without fearing unbelief.”I'm joined today by Liz Charlotte Grant to have a conversation about reframing our relationship to this ancient, complex set of documents we call the Holy Bible. “What does Bible study look like after inerrancy? Do you have to give up studying Scripture when you no longer believe in its literal interpretation?” Liz addresses these questions and more in this funny, candid, and informative episode. Oh, and we also talk about her chickens! :)Bio:Liz Charlotte Grant is an award-winning writer whose work has been published in The Revealer, Sojourners, Brevity, Christian Century, Christianity Today, Hippocampus, Religion News Service, US Catholic, Huffington Post, and elsewhere. Her essays have twice won a Jacques Maritain Nonfiction Prize. She also writes The Empathy List, a popular newsletter that has been nominated for a Webby two years running and garnered an honorable mention from the Associated Church Press Awards in 2023. Knock at the Sky:Seeking God in Genesis after Losing Faith in the Bible is her first book.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

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

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

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

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

In this episode, the hosts delve into the idea of whether bonds formed in moments of workplace trauma and high-stress situations are uniquely irreplaceable. The discussion also touches on how team-building activities can simulate the bonds formed under duress, the cultural differences in work stress, and challenges faced in the workplace.Follow the show and be sure to join the discussion on Discord! Our website is workingcode.dev and we're @WorkingCodePod on Twitter and Instagram. New episodes drop weekly on Wednesday.And, if you're feeling the love, support us on Patreon.With audio editing and engineering by ZCross Media.Full show notes and transcript here.

Senators push selective registration for women in National Defense Authorization Act - North Korea Sent Russia Millions of Artillery Shells, South Korea Says - LA schools to consider banning student cellphone and social media use during school day - Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama applies to be Austin's next top cop    KMJ's Afternoon Drive with Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson   Weekdays 2-6PM Pacific on News/Talk 580 & 105.9 KMJ   Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and X   Listen to past episodes at kmjnow.com   Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, or Amazon Music    Contact See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senators push selective registration for women in National Defense Authorization Act - North Korea Sent Russia Millions of Artillery Shells, South Korea Says - LA schools to consider banning student cellphone and social media use during school day - Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama applies to be Austin's next top cop    KMJ's Afternoon Drive with Philip Teresi & E. Curtis Johnson   Weekdays 2-6PM Pacific on News/Talk 580 & 105.9 KMJ   Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and X   Listen to past episodes at kmjnow.com   Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, or Amazon Music    Contact See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Summary:[TW: sexual assault and sexual harm language]I am joined today by Rev. Dr. Danielle Tumminio Hansen to speak about the unspeakable. A theologian and Episcopal priest focusing on pastoral approaches to trauma, Hansen addresses the persistent crisis of sexual harm in the U.S., and the “haunting silence” of survivors. Why do most victims remain silent? Why don't we trust women? Why do we assume perpetrators of sexual harm are strangers who jump out of bushes instead of trusted boyfriends, pastors, teachers, or family members? How does our society's rape myths further silence victims of sexual harm?In this unflinching conversation, we discuss the difficulty of coming up with the right language to describe sexual harm, how the words we use often cause even more harm, how our legal system, churches, media, and culture are complicit in rape culture, and the practical steps you can take to recover.Talking about rape and sexual assault is difficult for a number of reasons. Victims often feel ashamed or stigmatized by society's attitudes towards sexual violence. There's a pervasive culture of victim-blaming, where survivors may fear they won't be believed or will be judged for what happened to them. Sexual violence can cause profound emotional and psychological trauma. Discussing the experience may trigger intense emotions, flashbacks, or other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), making it incredibly challenging for survivors to talk about what happened.So, why this book and why this episode on rape? Because talking about rape and sexual assault breaks down layers of stigma, trauma, fear, and systemic barriers. It also has a direct impact on how we process trauma. Creating safe spaces for survivors to share their experiences, offer support, and challenge societal norms are crucial steps towards fostering open and meaningful conversations about sexual violence.Like many individuals, Hansen's story of sexual violence didn't come at the hands of a stranger, but rather by someone she knew, causing her to wonder if what happened to her really was sexual assault. “Statistically, you would be more likely to believe me if I said this person was someone I'd never met,” she writes. “Raised to believe stereotypes of what constituted ‘real rape'—forced intercourse in a physically violent attack by a male stranger—I did not have a word to express what had happened to me.” Now she does.In this episode we discuss:The rape myths of the “ideal” victim and “stranger perpetrator”How purity culture and porn perpetuate rape cultureWhy telling your story is liberating and healingMoving beyond stigma and shameThe road to recovery—how art, contemplation, meditation, community, and therapy can restore your sense of self, trust, and agency.Pick up Danielle's book here. It is an amazing read.Bio:Danielle Tumminio Hansen is Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Spiritual Care at Emory's Candler School of Theology, where she researches at the intersection of trauma, theology, narrative, and philosophy. Her book publications include Speaking of Rape: The Limits of Language in Sexual Violations and Conceiving Family: A Practical Theology of Surrogacy and Self. She has written on the intersection of religion and culture for a variety of national and international news outlets, including CNN, The Guardian, and Huffington Post. She is also an Episcopal priest.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

Episode Summary:Liberation theology is a theological movement that emerged primarily in Latin America in the late 20th century, although its principles and ideas have influenced theological discourse worldwide for millennia. It seeks to address the social, economic, sexual, gendered, and political oppression experienced by marginalized and disadvantaged individuals and communities. Liberation theology actually dates all the way back to the Old Testament prophets, and can be witnessed in almost every spiritual tradition.At its core, liberation theology emphasizes the gospel's message of liberation and justice for the oppressed and marginalized. It announces God's preferential treatment of the poor, marginalized, and oppressed. God loves the margins because God was marginalized. It was Jesus' second-rate existence that allowed him to see and feel what those at the center of society were sheltered from and thus callously indifferent to. Seeking liberation and justice is the sine qua non of Christian discipleship. Standing in solidarity with the oppressed is one of the more practical ways to live out our faith in a cruel world.People on the periphery, those victims of our forced conformity, have the ‘eyes to see' what many of us at the center simply cannot see without their guidance. “To be in the margin is to be part of the whole but outside the main body,” writes Bell Hooks. Which gives those on the outside a different vantage point, as well as the power to create change. Today, we're having a conversation about change, injustice, liberation, and salvation and I can think of no one more perfect to address these issues than Kalie May Hargrove from The Center For Prophetic Imagination.In this episode we'll address:The systematic rights violations LGBTQIA students face at Christian collegesWhy liberation is more biblical than eternal salvationWhat you can do to work for justice in your communityHow to stand against the genocide in GazaSubverting the empires we find ourselves living in and benefiting fromBio:Kalie May Hargrove (she/her) is a writer, theologian, and activist. She lives in the greater-Atlanta area with her partner and two kids. Kalie has been part of LGBTQ+ activism bringing awareness of the legalized discrimination queer and trans students face at religious universities. She received her Master of Divinity from United Theological Seminary of Twin Cities. Kalie is Director of Digital Outreach at the Center for Prophetic Imagination, which seeks to connect spirituality with intersectional social justice in our world.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

Anybody who wanted to escape death could, by paying a very simple price—denial of life! The Moon is Green by Fritz Leiber, that's next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.Once again we've received another 5 star review on Apple Podcasts, this from Amgreenbean “Great stories. So happy I found this podcast! The background information on the authors and stories are phenomenal! Thanks.” Thank you Amgreenbean! Your 5 star reviews make a difference and we'd appreciate it if you would leave us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts, if you think we deserve it.We're the #1 science fiction podcast in another country!! We are #1 in Bhutan and we've hit # 1 in 15 countries on Apple podcasts and #2 in 15 more. Thank you for your incredible support! This is the 5th time author Fritz Leiber has been on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast. Previously you've heard The Black Ewe, Nice Girl With 5 Husbands, The Foxholes of Mars and A Pail of Air. Today's Apocalyptic Sci-FI Story first appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction in April 1952. Open your 35 cent copy of the magazine to page 89, The Moon is Green by Fritz Leiber…Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, It was a dream house; yet the dream could have been a nightmare… The Missing Room by Lynn Venable.☕ Buy Me a Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/scottsV===========================

Episode Summary:In this unique, collaborative episode of Holy Heretics, I chat with Jude Mills, the creator of the FKD Up By Faith podcast. Jude created the FKD Up By Faith podcast for individuals harmed by religious fundamentalism. She hails from the Southeast of England, and is using her podcast to fuel her scholarly work at the University of Kent.Jude and I are both hosts of our own respective shows, and this time, instead of asking the questions, Jude interviewed me about my faith deconstruction journey. It was a blast! It's also probably the first time I've had the chance to fully discuss how my personal, professional, and spiritual life was “f'kd up” by evangelical Christianity. Here's a few things we get on about in this conversation:*Why Melanie and I created Holy Heretics*Why it's a good thing to be labeled a heretic these days*How my faith deconstruction journey costs me my job*Where I've landed post deconstruction*How to move beyond the rage stage of deconstruction*What your life and faith can look like after evangelicalismI hope my story helps you process, heal, and continue your journey of recovery from religious fundamentalism.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

WW2 reenactor Victor Verano brings history to life through immersive experiences. In this fun and informative interview, he'll share his experiences at large WW2 reenactments, encounters with WWII veterans, and exploration of battlefields. You'll really enjoy Victor's passion for living history, which enriches our understanding of the past.   Here's the link to Victor's first Left Behind interview about his reenactment work with the Philippine Scouts Heritage Society.     You'll find images of Victor Verano's reenactment and other living history experiences online at: Left Behind Website (includes transcript) Instagram: @leftbehindpodcast  Left Behind Facebook 

Episode Summary:(CW): Mental Illness, Suicidal Ideation, Depression, and Anxiety)Anna Gazmarian's new book Devout: A Memoir of Doubt, investigates the overlapping complexities of religious faith, mental illness, and doubt. If you grew up in religiously conservative spaces, odds are you either never talked about mental illness or you were made to believe only people with a demonic spirit could suffer from mental and behavioral disorders. According to research by the National Institutes of Health, evangelical Christians often see mental health as the outworking of a harmful spiritual condition and therefore, the solution is to just have more faith in God. This is not only completely erroneous, it's harmful. In this deeply personal conversation, Anna shares her struggles with depression, bipolar disorder, darkness, and doubt. For those of us who have lived on the dark side of the human experience, we have gifts to give to the world that only we can give because we know what it is like to lose touch with reality, to be in pain, to question the entire human experiment, to suffer with anxiety, to struggle to get out of bed in the morning, and to fight to find meaning in an otherwise meaningless existence. I'm honored to share this space with Anna and have this needed conversation about mental health and faith. Bio:Anna's debut, Devout: A Memoir of Doubt is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster in March 2024. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Bennington Writing Seminars. Her essays have been published in The Guardian, The Rumpus, Longreads, The Sun, and Quarterly West. She works for The Sun Magazine and lives in Durham, NC. 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

Episode Summary:Interviewing Jonathan Merritt felt like having a conversation with myself. His journey out of white evangelical subculture is an almost mirror-image of my journey. My guess is, you'll find a lot of correlation as well. Jonathan was a card-carrying evangelical who left his Southern roots and evangelical home to find faith, family, and freedom outside the confines and cult-like community of evangelical Christianity. His journey led him from certainty to contemplation, from winning to wisdom, from the shallow end of the pool into the deep waters of Ignatian spirituality, and from exclusion to radical inclusion. As he reminds us, evangelical Christianity is not only a fairly modern invention, it is also a minority movement within global Christianity. Evangelicals do not have a monopoly on God. There are a myriad of spiritual pathways available to you once you leave. So take heart, there is life after evangelicalism. There is faith after evangelicalism. There is new found family after evangelicalism. You get to decide what your future is going to look like. You have the power to form a freer faith and a more inclusive “family.” Four years and seventy-four episodes into Holy Heretics Podcast and I can honestly say I believe this conversation with Jonathan Merritt to be the most helpful and hopeful episode we've ever created. I hope you enjoy!Bio:Jonathan Merritt is one of America's most popular writers on issues of faith and culture. He is author of several critically-acclaimed books, including Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words are Vanishing - and How We Can Revive Them, named “Book of the Year” by the Englewood Review of Books. Jonathan is an award-winning contributor for The Atlantic, a contributing editor for The Week, and a regular columnist for Religion News Service. He has published more than 3000 articles in respected outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Buzzfeed, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast and Christianity Today. In addition to the written word, Jonathan regularly contributes commentary to television, print, and radio news outlets. He has been interviewed by ABC World News, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NPR, PBS, and CBS' “60 Minutes.” Jonathan is also a sought after speaker at colleges, conferences, and churches on topics relating to spirituality, politics, and current events. Whether he is delivering an academic lecture or inspirational sermon, Jonathan's captivating communication style and powerful presence are well-suited for intimate gatherings of hundreds or arenas filled with thousands. As a collaborator or ghostwriter, Jonathan has worked on more than 50 books, with several titles landing on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists. Additionally, he trains hundreds of young writers through his Write Brilliant seminars and online course. He is often available for exclusive one-on-one coaching for a select number of advanced writers.Jonathan holds a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Master of Theology from Emory University's Candler School of Theology, and has done additional graduate work focused on ascetical theology at The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church. He is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades including the Wilbur Award for excellence in journalism, and the Religion News Association's columnist of the year award. Jonathan currently happily resides in New York City. You can find Jonathan's latest children's book My Guncle and Me here! For more information about Jonathan and his writings, visit his website. You can also connect with Jonathan on Instagram. 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

Sunday Service

Do you believe that being creativity builds resilience? Well this week we aim to convince you so get ready. In support of the the upcoming www.fova.org.au we outline how: when you engage in creative activities, you increase your brain's capacity for creative thinking, pattern recognition, and developing visual-spatial skills. These skills enhance your problem-solving abilities in real-life situations From Ruth Richards (Harvard), “Engaging in creative behaviours, makes us more dynamic, conscious, non-defensive, observant, collaborative, and brave.” “Everyday creative activity is a path to flourishing”- Conner, DeYoung and Silvia  in the Journal of Positive Psychology. Recent experience sampling and diary studies have shown that spending time on creative goals during a day is associated with higher activated positive affect (PA) (flourishing) on that day. The real question isn't "How creative are you?" but rather "How are you creative?" says educational psychologist Donald Treffinger.   Intelligence Summary (INTSUM) 03:30       Announcement from Mark Johnson from anvam.org.au  04:20       What's the problem that means we need creativity? 05:50       What is flow state? 09:40       What does the research and literature say? 10:30       “Brave, non-defensive and collaborative” 14:50       Laminate your neural pathways! 18:00       From Tara Swart at MiT…. Expose your brain to novelty 20:20       What is creativity for Tim and Ben? 32:15       Why did Ben have a guitar in his backpack in the SAS (artists in foxholes) 35:00       SAS Band Tongue Charge play a cover of ‘Getting Away with It in Afghanistan'… and we talk why?! 44:30       Art and identity 47:00       How do we get going? Go join a pub choir! 52:00       Ben and Tim do galleries and museums 55:00       Tongue Charge play another song: “One Crowded Hour”   References:  www.fova.org.au https://www.anvam.org.au      Contact Us   www.unforgiving60.com   Email us at debrief@unforgiving60.com   Instagram, Twitter: @Unforgiving60       Music …. With thanks to:   Tongue Charge The Externals – available on Spotify Ben Frichot        

Episode Summary:Do you feel spiritually and physically domesticated? Are you struggling to free yourself from the long-term impacts of spiritual colonization? Do you feel disconnected from the natural world? Are you longing for something more than merely reconstruction? If so, spiritual rewilding might be the next step in your faith seeking journey.Though an environmental term—meaning letting nature take care of itself and referring to conservation strategies that reintroduce species to their natural environment, restore wilderness areas and the land to its original state, and create corridors to connect these lands and species with each other—rewilding is a concept that just makes sense at a soul level.The faith deconstruction movement has provided an unprecedented opportunity to rediscover the untamable within, to decolonize our souls, and to free ourselves from a fenced-in faith domesticated by dogma, ideology, whiteness, patriarchy, power, purity culture, and rationalism. We have the opportunity to trade in our certainty for wonder and our literalism for mystery. As stewards of a once-wild faith that has all but been domesticated, we have a duty to free our faith from some of the repressive, world-denying, and destructive practices that have facilitated our spiritual stagnation. This episode with Holy Heretics host Gary Alan Taylor is an introduction to spiritual rewilding through the re-introduction of indigenous spirituality and Creation-centered Christianity. Along the way, we'll look back at the history of our faith tradition and find examples of how our spiritual ancestors responded to spiritual domestication through their pursuit of a primeval faith.Bio:Gary Alan is the host and co-creator of Holy Heretics Podcast. He spent the first-half of his life in evangelicalism before beginning his faith deconstruction journey in 2020. He started Holy Heretics and The Sophia Society with his friend Melanie to serve the thousands of other individuals leaving toxic Christianity. Gary Alan has an undergraduate degree in History from Milligan University and a Master of Arts degree from East Tennessee State University. An international speaker, content creator, and writer, Gary Alan has over 26 years experience working in nonprofit ministry and higher education. He is in recovery from fundamentalist Christianity and his passion is to see others free themselves from toxic expressions of faith. He and his family live in Monument, Colorado and he works for the University of Colorado. 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

Episode Summary:Author Liz Cooledge Jenkins joins us on the show to discuss the harmful effects of patriarchy on men, women, families, LGBTQIA persons, culture, nations, and spiritual communities.With its ties to domination, violence, aggression, militarism, and white supremacy, patriarchy centers white, heterosexual men at the expense of everyone else. Patriarchal communities often tolerate or even condone violence against women, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and honor killings. Patriarchy comes to us in overt and subtle ways, but even nice, churchy patriarchy is toxic AF.How has patriarchy damaged your identity and self-worth? How has patriarchy impacted the assault on women's reproductive rights and what might it look like for you to resist patriarchy in a post-Roe world? How do we use literary criticism to re-interpret those clobber passages in the Bible? Why have we seen an uptick in violent, hyper-masculine, patriarchal expressions since 2016? This episode answers all those questions and more as Liz and I dissect, dismantle, and destroy the theological, social, and sexual manifestations of patriarchal culture.Liz wrote Nice Churchy Patriarchy in the hope of helping evangelical and formerly evangelical women make sense of their experiences in church, feel seen and validated in the frustrations they may have, and be inspired to chart a new way forward. "Oppressive mindsets, theologies, and systems are not okay. Change is needed. We are not asking for too much, too soon. We deserve better. And we have the power to find that better—to build it together," writes Jenkins. This practical conversation addresses the ways you and I can work to dismantle patriarchal structures, theologies, communities, and families to achieve a more just world. Connect with Liz on Insta @lizcoolj and @postevangelicalprayers.Bio:Liz Cooledge Jenkins (MDiv) is a writer, preacher, and former college campus minister who lives in the Seattle area with her husband Ken and their black cat Athena. Liz is passionate about building more just faith communities and a more just world. She has a BS in Symbolic Systems (Stanford University) and a Master of Divinity degree. Her writing has appeared in Sojourners, The Christian Century, Christians for Social Action, Feminism and Religion, and Red Letter Christians, among other places. When not writing, Liz enjoys swimming, hiking, attempting to grow vegetables, and drinking a lot of tea.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

Episode SummaryHave you ever wanted someone to sit with you by the fire and watch your old religious beliefs go up in flames? Maybe you've longed for a guide or a coach to help you navigate all this wandering in the spiritual wilderness. If so, then this week's episode is what you need right now!Faith deconstruction coach Angela J. Herrington joins me to talk about life after evangelicalism, and in particular this tender time in your spiritual journey when you feel alone, bewildered, angry, lost, and a bit terrified of what comes next. “There are a ton of people out here in the wilderness trying to figure out what we believe and what faith looks like during and after deconstruction. Together, we slog through the uncertainties and complexities of faith deconstruction. Laughing, crying, and raging against the toxic religious machine together,” she shares.This incredibly practical, approachable, and applicable conversation is a must for anyone in the throes of faith reconstruction. Faith deconstruction is disorienting, it's painful, it's also triggering. It's often hard to find the language to describe what you are feeling, much less to find a way forward. As you navigate this space in between who you were and who you are becoming, may this conversation guide you on the long journey back to yourself as well as to God.Bio:As a certified life coach, seminary-trained online pastor, and a faith deconstruction coach, Angela has a lot of experience helping people connect with God. But this is also a very personal journey for me. For the last decade, I've been on my own journey to break free from learned smallness and step into wild sacred holy womanhood. Long story short, after finding faith in my early 30's I began to realize that what I was hearing from the church about women didn't always line up with what God was telling me. I loved God but realized the church was teaching some really toxic stuff. So this Enneagram 8, first born, Gen Xer started deconstructing. I questioned and challenged everything I thought I knew about faith, gender, and myself. It was messy and took a lot of work to sort it out. Therapy. Coaching. Bodywork. Spiritual healing. Conferences and retreats. And even a couple of college degrees. But the thing that made the biggest difference was the presence and support of wise people who helped me up when I didn't know where else to turn. Which is just one reason why I became a faith deconstruction coach, to help people just like me make their way through the wilderness of deconstruction. 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

Episode SummaryHave you ever paused long enough to consider why you continue pursuing the spiritual path? After all the scandals, abuse, religious trauma, and oppressive theology, why are you still here?This same question hit me last week during church and I didn't have a profound answer. For whatever reason, I just can't quit my search for the Sacred.I bet you've asked a similar question, or at least had the honesty to wonder just what the hell you are still doing in a movement that has caused you so much heartache. If eternal punishment is off the table, why even bother? I believe our latest episode on Holy Heretics provides an answer.According to today's guest, spirituality isn't about escaping the fire of hell, it is about your personal transformation. In short, you must become fully human in order to become fully divine. Sounds like the historical Jesus doesn't it? A closer look at ancient Christianity reveals a novel truth—what Jesus was attempting to create was not a path to heaven but the revelation of the Way to birth a fully divine human race, a people as radically alive, compassionate, and enlightened as he is himself.What Jesus lived into and enacted was a new life of “kingdom consciousness,” available now to every person willing to claim their divine inheritance. The invitation is clear: you can walk the same road Jesus walked and attain the same deification he attained. The point to all your spiritual seeking isn't to sin a little less, or ensure your spot in heaven, it is to become like Jesus himself. That, my friends, is the point.In today's episode with monk and mystic Father Brendan E. Williams, we attempt to show you how to walk that road, what spiritual tools you will need along the way, and how to begin the practice of daily contemplation and meditation in our modern world. If you are seeking a more contemplative pilgrimage back to God, if you are ultimately wondering why to continue the spiritual journey, this conversation will provide a more mystical pathway forward, allowing you to discover the divine secret within you.Bio:The Rev. Father Brendan E. Williams, CMR is a monk and a priest of the Episcopal Church, and serves as Prior of the Episcopal monastic order, The Communion of the Mystic Rose. He also serves in chaplaincy, parochial ministry, and retreat leadership. Father Brendan is a scholar of religion and mystical theology, a yogī, a professional spiritual director and meditation instructor. He frequently writes and offers teaching in comparative religion, ascetical theology, contemplative practices, Indo-Tibetan and native Gaelic traditions. He can be found online at: www.brendanelliswilliams.com.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

Travis Tougaw is a writer and editor. He has degrees in English from Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. An Air Force Veteran, Travis has worked in a variety of roles, including English teacher, employee educator, and health care administrator.  He lives in Denver with his wife and children. Foxholes, coming out January 11 (2024), is his first novel.  More: https://travistougaw.com/ Intro Music by Moby Gratis: https://mobygratis.com/ Outro Music by Dan-o-Songs: https://danosongs.com/

Episode Summary:Living in the United States is a daily dose of trauma. Our nation is philosophically and pragmatically built on injustice, coercion, lies, oppression, exploitation, violence, dehumanization, and planetary destruction. Do we ever stop to think about how messed up the world is? The answer, of course, is an overwhelming no. We are living in what theologian John Dominic Crossan called a domination system—shorthand for a way of organizing society in a hierarchical, patriarchal, power-driven arrangement where the masses are politically oppressed, economically exploited, and socially marginalized. This same system has an almost demonic disregard for the environment. Worse yet, the largest Christian movement in the United States (white evangelicals) can be counted on to support it all. It's madness writ large dressed in drag as the “American Dream.” We don't seem to realize it, but most of us are suffering from Complex PTSD simply for existing in this dirty, rotten system.Worse, we live in a culture of lies. As today's podcast guest Derrick Jensen writes, “In order for us to maintain this way of life, we must tell lies to each other, and to tell lies to ourselves. Truth must be avoided at all costs.” The truth about our economy, about our dying planet, about violence and domination at the family and cultural level; truth about the daily injustices that rule our lives in this decaying empire. Life doesn't have to be this way. We can work together to create a more just and equitable world. We can carve out subversive spaces even if we will never be able to leave these shores for a different home. But, how do we do it? How do we speak truth to power? How do we challenge a culture that silences the least of these? How do we push back on the religious, political, economic, and social domination systems that rule our lives and malform our bodies and our planet? How do we confront evil and injustice without losing our souls? How, as Christians, can we resist the dominant culture and live into what Dr. Martin Luther King called “the beloved community?” As theologian Marcus Borg writes, “Jesus wasn't talking about how to be good within the framework of a domination system. He was a critic of the domination system itself.”Today's conversation on Holy Heretics with eco-philosopher and environmentalist Derrick Jensen invites us to envision this way of life. A way that will take great courage, but is necessary for the life of every sentient being on this planet. Jensen's visceral, biting observations and stories always manage to lead back to his mantra: 'Things don't have to be the way they are.' I think this is the most profound conversation we've had to date on the show. I hope you enjoy!Bio:Hailed as the philosopher poet of the environmental movement and a leading voice in cultural dissent, Derrick Jensen is is an American eco-philosopher, writer, author, teacher and environmentalist. He explores the nature of injustice, how civilizations devastate the natural world, and how human beings retreat into denial at the destruction of the planet. author of twenty-one books, including A Language Older Than Words, The Culture of Make Believe, and Endgame. He was named one of Utne Reader's “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.” Jensen unflinchingly examines the culture's darkest corners while searching for a way forward. In A Language Older Than Words, he draws on his own experience of childhood abuse to examine violence as a pathology that afflicts every life on the 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

Episode SummaryHave you ever paused long enough to consider that maybe, just maybe you are living a lie? Is it possible that your outer shell, or your outer identity isn't really you after all? What if all your coping mechanisms that have come to shape your identity isn't the real you? Maybe you've spent your life operating out of your false self based purely on survival, but is that who you were born to become? I hope not. At some point, if you don't examine your false self, the real you will die. Father Richard Rohr writes, “Too much of both religion and common therapy seem to be committed to making people comfortable with what many of us call our “false self.” It's just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, which is going to sink anyway. To be rebuilt from the bottom up, you must start with the very ground of your being.”I'm not sure why it's this way, but your true self is oftentimes hidden and must be sought out and cultivated. Your true self is who you are in God and who God is in you. Truth be told, you don't need to create your true self, you simply need to awaken to the you that you already are. This is the point of real conversion, that moment in your life when you wake up to who you were made to be. As you listen to Heather's story of awakening to trauma and discovering the still, small voice within her, ask yourself what you need to do in order to be reborn from the false self that dominates your life and into your true self hidden all these years under the weight of ego, defense mechanisms, and posturing. Being human, or finding your true self, is a constant search for our divine nature as “children of God,” an eternal journey that will one day end back where it started, in mystical union with our Creator. Thankfully, you'll know you are on your way to becoming your true self when love, compassion, grace, beauty, and truth take root in your soul and become actualized in your daily life. Our choice in life, C.S. Lewis says, is either “to be like God”—by sharing the divine life—or to be miserable.Bio:Heather first cultivated her storytelling skills through video production and editing. By listening to thousands of people share their stories, she learned to listen for authenticity and confront difficult realities. The collision of certain truths with her religious worldview led Heather on a search for clarity and understanding. She prioritizes truthful answers over personal comfort. Heather writes honestly about the power of love, fear, beauty, angst, and courage. Heather's background gives her a unique ability to pull up what is real from underneath the stories we tell ourselves about God and our lives. Heather lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and three precious children. She sometimes forgets to do basic things like put conditioner in her hair while showering or start dinner on time because her mind is busy pondering how the Universe works and why humans behave like they do. You can connect with Heather on her website www.ReturningToEden.com or on Instagram @heatherhamilton1 or on Facebook: Facebook.com/heatherhamiltonauthor. Please follow us on social media (use the buttons below) and help us get the word out! 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

Episode SummaryOne of the paths available to you post-evangelicalism is mysticism, a spirituality that in many ways is almost the direct antithesis of evangelical Christianity. If evangelicalism was all about certainty, apologetics, Biblicism, and defending your faith at all costs, Christian mysticism can be defined by unknowing, mystery, paradox, and direct experience with the Sacred. Mystics know something the rest of us don't know. God is right here with us, right here inside us, right here hidden in plain site just waiting on us to have the eyes to see that this tired old world is filled to the brim with Divinity.A mystic is anyone who has moved beyond the basic understanding of faith as a belief system and into a deeper level of spirituality, recognizing faith as an intimate relationship with the divine through direct experience. They have a “thirst to taste both the holy and the human with unmediated directness,” in the words of Harvard scholar Harvey Cox. The mystical life has less to do with brief moments of divine euphoria and more to do with the realization that through practice, meditation, silence, contemplation, service, and prayer, God is a lived and present reality in daily life. To the mystic, God is no longer some external object to be studied from a distance, but rather an immediate reality to be known, loved, and communed with. Mystics typically inhabit the border streams of faith, existing on the margins, often running afoul of institutional religion. The telos or end goal of their faith is loving union with God, a kind of returning home to your maker and sustainer. Mystics embody what orthodox Christianity has been preaching from the beginning—that God is both transcendent (other worldly) and immanent (present), beyond us yet with us, unknowable yet utterly known. Simply, mystics understand that “knowing” God goes beyond the intellectual and the rational to include intimacy, like a bride “knows” her husband.Bio:Keith Giles is a former pastor who left the pulpit to follow Jesus and start a house church where no one takes a salary and 100 percent of all offerings are given to help the poor in the community. He has been a published writer since 1989. He is the author of several books, including: "Jesus Unbound: Liberating the Word of God from the Bible" and "Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics To Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb."Keith is the co-host of the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast which has featured interviews with Bart Ehrman, John Fugelsang, Richard Rohr, Brad Jersak, Greg Boyd, and many others.Keith also teaches several online courses including "Square 1: From Deconstruction to Reconstruction" and other courses based on his many books.You can follow him online and find out more about his books at www.KeithGiles.comPlease 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

Episode SummaryAuthoritarianism is on the rise all across the world. Here in America, the leading proponents of anti-democratic ideology are evangelical Christians who have been swept up in the cult of Donald Trump. Driven by a dominator theology and good old-fashioned white supremacy, conservative Christians can be counted on as the leading supporters of dictatorial politics. As Dr. David Gushee writes in his book Defending Democracy From It's Christian Enemies, “Our current democratic crisis reveals a need to revisit the very meaning of democracy…Concerned citizens should care about the direction of movement in their own country. Ours is trending in a bad direction.”And that trend is leading many Christians to embrace what Gushee describes as “Nazified Christianity.” Since the 1960's, much of American public life has been moving toward greater freedoms, greater inclusivity, greater access to power, self-determination, and wealth for underrepresented populations. The Civil Rights Movement, feminist movement, sexual revolution, LGBTQIA movement, and the #METOO Movement have leveled the playing field. And who does that threaten? White, male Christians who are reacting to those new freedoms with violence and extremism. So, how do we work to not only save our democracy from it's Christian enemies, but to awaken our friends and family who have been taken captive by the rise of totalitarianism and the despotism of the Republican Party? This scholarly, yet practical conversation provides you with the resources and tools to have transformational conversations about the politics of Jesus as well as helping to equip you with the action-steps to save democracy during this political season. Bio:Rev. Prof. Dr. David P. Gushee (PhD, Union Theological Seminary, New York) is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University, and Chair of Christian Social Ethics at Vrije Universiteit (“Free University”) Amsterdam, and Senior Research Fellow, International Baptist Theological Study Centre.Gushee is the elected Past-President of both the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Christian Ethics, signaling his role as one of America's leading Christian ethicists. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than 28 books and over 175 academic book chapters, journal articles, and reviews (see his full academic C.V.). His most recognized works include Kingdom Ethics, and Changing Our Mind. His other most notable works are Introducing Christian Ethics, Still Christian, After Evangelicalism, Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, and the forthcoming Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies. Altogether his books have sold over 100,000 copies and been translated into a dozen languages.With his works read around the world, and an active lecturing schedule on several continents, he has global impact in the field of Christian ethics. A leader in the growing post-evangelical movement, he has also put feet to his faith in several activist campaigns.David and his wife Jeanie live in Atlanta. He is a classic novel reader, world traveler, and tennis player, and awaits a call from his beloved Atlanta Braves to resume the baseball career he abandoned in college.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

The wars of the far future will be fought with giant spaceships, but it will still take the infantryman to hold down the planets. And some of the thoughts bred in the foxholes of Mars or Alpha Centauri Duo or Rigel Tres will be fully as bitter as some of those dredged up in the foxholes of Earth. The Foxholes of Mars by Fritz Leiber, that's next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, with at least one lost vintage sci-fi short story in every episode. We love reading your emails. This one comes from Graeme Dalling, “I came across your podcast 2 weeks ago, and I have been listening to all the back episodes as often as I can. Thank you so much for a wonderful and entertaining show. The narration is top notch, very easy and enjoyable to listen to. I am blind, so access to printed material is very limited to either very large magnification devices or Text to Speech reading. To hear my favourite authors and alot of new ones (to me) read out so well, is such a marvellous find! Again, a very big Thank you!!! Graeme Dalling, South Australia.” Thank you sir! Thank you for your email and your kind words. We would love to hear from you! scott@lostscifi.com Commenting on “The Wall of Darkness” Stephen Kagan says, “An enthralling story beautifully told!” Thanks Stephen! Fritz Leiber returns today with an interesting science fiction short story about war set on Mars.  “What is it we're fighting against,” he wondered–and what for? rWe find our story on page 125 in the June 1952 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories, The Foxholes of Mars by Fritz Leiber… In three days on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, There is one fact no sane man can quarrel with... everything has a beginning and an end. But some men aren't sane; thus it isn't always so! And It Comes Out Here by Lester del Rey. That's in three days on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, with at least one lost vintage sci-fi short story in every episode.Support the show

Who ever thought that Frane Lewis—wholesale triggerman, spaceways pirate—would be the sweating victim of a simple, webbed, nylon garment known as spaceman's underwear? Slay-Ride by Winston Marks, that's next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, with at least one lost vintage sci-fi short story in every episode. We get a lot of emails at scott@lostscifi.com and a lot of comments on our YouTube channel. Some of the more recent YouTube comments include this from “trevorwheatley4166”“Thank you for all your story telling. It's a fresh breath of life to hear, also extremely MELLO.” Thanks Trevor, I'm guessing MELLO is good! This from “sleepywilliams6381” who commented on “Let's Get Together by Isaac Asimov” “Another great story by a great author and narrator, as usual. Keep up the good work.” Thank you Sleepy! DebMurphyBits also commented on “Let's Get Together” “Good one!!!! I've listened to quite a few of your episodes now and why you don't have hundreds of thousands of followers yet is beyond me. Great narrations and awesome story picks!! What timing this one is, now, with artificial intelligence coming together with robotics and the dawn of a real life technological revolution. Keep up the stories please” Deb, we are thankful for you and every listener and follower we have. Hopefully those hundreds of thousands of followers you mentioned are on their way! If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you know Winston Marks is one of my personal favorites. He was a busy man from 1953 to 1955 with 46 stories published in a variety of magazines. Although our story originally appeared in Planet Stories magazine in 1953 it can also be found in Science Fiction Monthly published in Australia in September 1956.  Let's turn to page 25 in the November 1953 issue of Planet Stories magazine for Slay-Ride by Winston Marks… In two days on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, The wars of the far future will be fought with giant spaceships, but it will still take the infantryman to hold down the planets. And some of the thoughts bred in the foxholes of Mars or Alpha Centauri Duo or Rigel Tres will be fully as bitter as some of those dredged up in the foxholes of Earth. The Foxholes of Mars by Fritz Leiber. That's In two days on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, with at least one lost vintage sci-fi short story in every episode.Support the show

Stephanie Quick teaches Session 6 of the Difficult Things series of the MARANATHA GLOBAL BIBLE STUDY from FAI STUDIOS

Stephanie Quick teaches Session 6 of the Difficult Things series of the MARANATHA GLOBAL BIBLE STUDY from FAI STUDIOS

Friendship – it's critical to being a strong father. But most guys struggle in this arena. Find out why and where to find them.

OK, I'll admit it right up front, this is a heavy episode. This one feels like a therapy session processing through the anger, the rage, the bitterness, and all your past complicity in white evangelical Christianity. If you haven't noticed yet, one of the pit stops on the deconstruction road is animosity. You finally wake up to all the harmful ways evangelical Christianity has impacted your life and the lives of others and sometimes all you can feel is resentment. It's easy to get stuck here, raging against the evangelical machine. But what might it look like to fuel your anger for something good, beautiful and true? Author Marla Taviano helps us unlearn our past by learning how to heal and move forward, channeling anger into transformative love. Ultimately, how do you stay emotionally, spiritually, and mentally healthy as you process the grief of growing up evangelical? We also discuss what it means to be a real ally, how to decolonize the deconstruction space, and ways you can center marginalized voices in your daily life. BioMarla Taviano (she/her) is into: books, love, justice, globes, anti-racism, blue, rainbows, poems (and a hundred other things). Reads and writes for a living (and a life). Mom to some freaking awesome kids. Wears her heart on her t-shirts. On a mission/quest/journey to live wholefarted (not a typo). (Big fan of parentheses—and em dashes.) Connect with her on IG: @marlataviano and @whitegirllearning or marlataviano.com.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review

Episode SummaryIn the second-part of our conversation about the Divine Feminine, we look at the ramifications of believing God is a guy. Institutional Christianity has given us God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, a triune male God with “He/Him” pronouns. And this male dominated theology has created a male dominator culture that manifests itself politically, socially, sexually, religiously, and economically in pragmatism, patriotism, persecution, capitalism, greed, aggression, egoism, hierarchy, oppression, exclusion, bigotry, ignorance, and emotionally stunted men. All of which has the planet on the brink of destruction. But what if we're wrong? What if God isn't a guy after all? And how would seeing God in female form change the way we understand ourselves and the world around us?Rediscovering the Divine female attributes of God is one of the first steps toward our collective liberation from the dominant power structures that rule our lives. In this episode, we uncover all the ways God is referenced in female language throughout Scripture and church history. We also look at Jesus' primordial identity as Holy Wisdom, or the Sophia of God, making the historical Jesus the personification of the Divine Feminine. Quotables“If God is male, the male is God.”“Domination of women has provided a key link, both socially and symbolically, to the domination of earth.”“The symbolic evidence of women's invisibility in the human race is most clear perhaps in her suppression, her camouflage, her negation even in language. Women are subsumed, excised, erased by male pronouns, by male terminology, by male prayers, even by exclusively male images of God.”“There has always been a vocal minority recognizing the many pronouns for God, including “He/Him,” “She/Her,” “They/Them.”“All Language about God is metaphorical, but those metaphors matter.”“One of the most ancient metaphorical understandings and expressions of Divinity is God as womb of the world.”“How can women be made in the image of God if God cannot be imagined in female form?”“What does God do all day long? God gives birth. From all eternity God lies on a maternity bed giving birth.”“Sophia is the first of God's works, God's female companion in the creation of the cosmos.”“Sophia became flesh and dwelt among us.”“Just as God is our Father, so God is also our Mother.”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

Episode SummaryHave you ever paused to wonder why it was always God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—a trio of divine beings known only as “He” and “Him?” This should cause us to ask a basic question. Why is God so overwhelmingly referred to as a He in institutional Christianity, as well as in Judaism? Did you know that from ancient times God was first known as our Mother, and sustainer? Over the next two episodes we're going to discuss what I believe is one of the most important spiritual conversations we've ever had on the show, the Divine Feminine. What might it look like to see God in female form and through female language? How would your relationship to the Divine change if you were equipped to see the other side of God? And how has knowing only God the Father warped our souls, impoverished our theology, and deadened our spirits? As Sister Joan Chittister writes, “It is precisely women's experience of God that this world lacks. A world that does not nurture its weakest, does not know God the birthing mother. A world that does not preserve the planet, does not know God the creator. A world that does not honor the spirit of compassion, does not know God the spirit. God the lawgiver, God the judge, God the omnipotent being have consumed Western spirituality and, in the end, shriveled its heart.”I hope this episode will introduce you to the Divine Feminine, to God our Mother, and how reframing your image of God will change how you view yourself, the world, and your neighbor. BioGary Alan Taylor is the Co-Founder of The Sophia Society and Host of Holy Heretics Podcast. Gary Alan has an undergraduate degree in History from Milligan University, a Master of Arts in Holocaust Studies from East Tennessee State University, and worked on a PhD at The University of Tennessee. Gary Alan has spent his life in faith-based organizations and began deconstructing his faith about ten years ago when he was introduced to a theology of liberation and nonviolence. With his friend and colleague Melanie Mudge, Gary Alan created The Sophia Society to be a sacred space for the spiritual formation of post-evangelicals. Since then, The Sophia Society has served thousands of “exvangelicals” through it's monthly Liminal Spaces publication, podcast, articles, online classes, and community spaces. You can plug in or simply learn more about The Sophia Society here! Gary Alan is passionate about overcoming his own religious trauma by pursuing a more mystical form of faith. Additional ReadingWoman Strength by Joan ChittisterThe Divine Feminine by Virginia Ramey MollenkotThy Queendom Come by Kyndall Rae RothausGod is a Black Woman by Christena ClevelandShe Who Is by Elizabeth A. JohnsonBeyond God the Father by Mary DalyIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review

Episode SummaryWe continue our march toward the marginalized this week with another conversation with Dr. Miguel De La Torre about the future of American political identity. As a Lantinx scholar, Miguel sees a future in which American society is run by white Christian nationalist elites at the expense of everyone who is 'the other.' Much like South African Apartheid, America could become a nation controlled by a very powerful and violent minority all supported by white evangelicals. After all, it was conservative Christians who helped set up South African Apartheid in the 1948. Following these through lines of American racism and oppression, he warns of a decline in democracy and rise in political violence—but equips us with the nonviolent ethical framework to resist this bleak future. If you are a citizen of the United States, have you ever considered what it might look like to become Un-American? Have you ever considered all the ways the American Empire forces you to compromise your faith? As Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas once wrote, “Being a Christian is going to put you at odds with a great deal of what it means to be an American.” In this episode, we call upon listeners to consider what it might mean to remake America in the image of the God of liberation, and how do achieve that nonviolently? What role can you play in resisting this dominator form of Christianity and politics? BioDr. Miguel De La Torre is Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. He has served as the elected 2012 President of the Society of Christian Ethics and served as the Executive Officer for the Society of Race, Ethnicity and Religion (2012-17). Dr. De La Torre is a recognized international Fulbright scholar who has taught courses at the Cuernavaca Center for Intercultural Dialogue on Development (Mexico), Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (Indonesia), University of Johannesburg (South Africa), Johannes Gutenberg University (Germany). Additionally, he has lectured at Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana (Costa Rica), The Association for Theological Education in South East Asia (Thailand) and the Council of World Mission (Mexico and Taiwan). Advocating for an ethics of place, De La Torre has taken students on immersion classes to Cuba, Guatemala, the Peruvian Amazon, and the Mexico/U.S. border to walk the migrant trails. Among multiple yearly speaking engagements, he has also been a week-long speaker at the Chautauqua Institute, and the plenary address at the Parliament of World Religions. De La Torre has received several national book awards and is a frequent speaker at national and international scholarly religious events and meetings. He also speaks at churches and nonprofit organizations on the intersection of religion with race, class, gender, and sexuality . In 2020, the American Academy of Religion bestowed on him the Excellence in Teaching Award. The following year, 2021, the American Academy also conferred upon him the Martin E. Marty Public Understanding of Religion Award. De La Torre is the first scholar to receive the two most prestigious awards presented by his guild and the first Latinx to receive either one of them. Check out De La Torre's BLOG for additional resources and readings. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review

Contrary to what many assume, peace isn't meekness in the face of evil it is the courageous and oftentimes creative task of disarmament. Active peacemaking is a way to fight against injustice without using violence. It is using the transformative force of love to resist oppression. It says that the means are the ends, that the way to peace is peace itself. “Love of enemies does not necessarily ease tensions; rather it challenges the whole system and becomes a subversive formula for true personal and national liberation,” writes liberationist theologian Gustavo Gutierrez. Therefore we shouldn't be surprised that peacemakers like Dr. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi appear as anything but peaceful.But what might it look like for you to live a life of nonviolent resistance to evil? How do you confront evil and injustice without becoming unjust yourself? In this episode with Holy Heretics host Gary Alan Taylor, we discuss ways to take power back from the oppressors through nonviolent, subversive action. We draw on the teachings of Jesus who provided a 'third way' beyond fight or flight that leads to an opportunity for the perpetrator to not only recognize your humanity, but repent of his oppression. For our new patrons, thank you for joining us! Thank you for providing the resources we desperately need to continue creating this sacred, subversive space. Our podcast is an act of nonviolent resistance to dominator evangelicalism. We will not be silenced. We will not be intimidated by the religious establishment. We will continue to speak loudly and proudly for the marginalized, no matter the cost. Your commitment to this work is also an act of resistance, thank you! BioGary Alan Taylor is the Co-Founder of The Sophia Society and the Host of Holy Heretics Podcast. Gary Alan grew up in conservative evangelical culture as a preacher boy and his deconstruction journey began way back as an undergraduate at Milligan College when he took a course that changed his life. Taught by Stanley Hauerwas protege Phil Kennesson, Christ and Culture planted seeds that would grow into a subversive faith decades later. Prior to his faith deconstruction, Gary Alan worked in evangelical spaces as a content creator. He has written for RedLetter Christians and Missio Alliance and has a Master of Arts degree in Holocaust Studies as well as PhD work in Colonial American History. Gary Alan and his wife Jennifer live in Monument, Colorado and attend Grace and St. Stephens Episcopal Church. Quotables“Four in ten Americans live in a household with a gun. 44% of Republicans say they own a gun.”“What might it look like to deconstruct your faith nonviolently?”“Here in America, we love our guns, and we love our God given right to blow you away.”“Even out theology is violent. We believe in a violent, wrathful God, so violence is wrapped into the DNA of what it means to be an American.”“When the United States kills it's enemies, it's probably a Christian who pulls the trigger.”“What I fear is being in the presence of evil and doing nothing. I fear that more than death.”“We don't have enough money for healthcare, education and basic human services because we spend billions of dollars on war, and we call that pragmatic.”“For what the world spends on defense every 2.5 hours, smallpox was eliminated.”“We believe that violence saves.”“Can you commit an act of violence for the cause of justice?”“Is there ever a time that you could kill for the right cause?”“What if the people we think are so evil aren't evil at all?”“Our addiction to redemptive violence is the fault of the church.”“When war is undertaken in the name of God, there can be no limit in the killing, because so much is at stake.”“Nonviolence isn't an exception to the rule, but is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian.”“There wasn't even a word for pacifism in the early church because to call yourself a Christian meant you lived a life of nonviolence.”“Even in death, Jesus was nonviolent.”“Jesus was nonviolent because God was nonviolent.”“Is my job causing suffering to the planet or to the poor?”“What or who am I afraid of?”“In what ways do I benefit from the empire in which I live?”“Pacifism isn't meekness in the face of evil.”If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review

Episode SummaryIn the second installment of our conversation with Natalie Drew, we move deeper into her gender transition and how it impacted her marriage, career, and spiritual journey. If you haven't checked out Part One, go back and listen now before moving forward into this episode! We answer several questions including, can you be Christian and transgender and what might it look like to transcend the false gender binary that pervades our social and spiritual spaces? I know you will appreciate the intimacy, honesty, and bravery Natalie continues to show to her online trolls and the theobros who wish her ill. May her grace provide a way forward in your own dealings with individuals who doubt you, question, you, and try to thwart your personal and spiritual path. BioDespite what many within conservative Christian circles may claim, “Christian” and “transgender” are not mutually exclusive. Natalie is living proof of this, as she navigates life post-transition within conservative Christian circles. She, her wife Heather, and their two teenagers are recent transplants to the heart of Reformed country…west Michigan. Natalie has spent the past 13 years as an HR professional, and currently serves as an HR Manager for a Fortune 500 company in the Grand Rapids area. After 6 years as an infantry soldier in the Army, Natalie has committed her life to advancing an ethic of Christian nonviolence and fighting for the rights of trans people. She is dedicated to elbowing her way in Christian spaces to help make room for her LGBTQIA+ siblings who have historically been rejected and despised by the church.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

CW: We discuss trauma, addiction, suicidal ideation, abuse, and other topics that may be triggering. Please listen at your own discretion.A lot of times on our show, we discuss theological matters that mostly reside in your head, but this episode is altogether very different. This conversation is personal, it's raw, it's painful, it's the deeply transformative work of an individual who fought to save her own life by becoming who she always knew she was. It's not only an episode about gender dysphoria and transition, it's a conversation about what it means to live peacefully with yourself and the violent world around us. In many ways, Natalie Drew is one of our heroes. Here's why.Despite what many within conservative Christian circles may claim, “Christian” and “transgender” are not mutually exclusive. Natalie is living proof of this, as she navigates life post-transition within conservative Christian circles. She, her wife Heather, and their two teenagers are recent transplants to the heart of Reformed country…west Michigan. Natalie has spent the past 13 years as an HR professional, and currently serves as an HR Manager for a Fortune 500 company in the Grand Rapids area. After 6 years as an infantry soldier in the Army, Natalie has committed her life to advancing an ethic of Christian nonviolence and fighting for the rights of trans people. She is dedicated to elbowing her way in Christian spaces to help make room for her LGBTQIA+ siblings who have historically been rejected and despised by the church.I hope her personal story of religious trauma, addiction, recovery, and transition will inspire you to live into who God fully made you to be. Especially in a day and age when transgender individuals are thrown into the culture war to chum the water of hatred and bigotry by evangelical Christians and their Republican Party goons, leading to a rise in dehumanizing tactics and strategies aimed at eliminating transgender people from society. Recent laws passed in Bible-belt states like Texas, Alabama, and Florida are making it almost impossible for transgender people to get healthcare, participate in sports, be themselves at school, and even be in an affirming relationship with their parents. And it is Christian organizations helping to write bigotry into the laws of our land. May we, like Natalie, find ways to resist such evil nonviolently, protecting our souls as we fight each day to make the world a better place for everyone. Quotables“Let me wake up a girl…let me be me! Or God, if you are not going to do that, then please kill me.”“I grew up in that world where it was King James version only where women and children were to be seen and not heard…It was a very spiritually, emotionally, and physically abusive world I grew up in both in the Church and at home.”“I didn't have the vocabulary for it, I just knew I wasn't like the boys in class.”“I had no safe place…My parents, I could have never taken this to them.”“I did what a lot of young trans girls do. I retreated into myself and became very violent.”“Like any good cult, you go to their schools. You plan to go to their colleges, you marry the person you meet at college and move back and repeat the cycle with your kids.”“I found the perfect job. It's a job that let's me be violent without the condemnation of society. And I would be held up as a hero in society. So, I joined the Army.”“There is a higher percentage of former Special Forces soldiers that are transgender than there is in the general population. It's called the flight to hyper-masculinity.” If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review

CW: Adult Language.Christians were never meant to be normal, we've always been "holy troublemakers" who do not accept the world as it is but who insist on the world becoming the way God wants it to be. In the words of our friends at The Center for Prophetic Imagination, “A world where all walls of alienation are torn down as we live justly with one another.” From the very beginning, Jesus called us to be a beloved community of resistance to the brutal normalcy of a world dominated by the powers and principalities of darkness. Often, that darkness comes to us cloaked in the status quo, in the normative ideology of white, cis gender, patriarchal ideology. But racism, transphobia, homophobia, economic injustice, violence, patriarchy, and white supremacy are only normal in a world dominated by oppression. In this prophetic episode, we talk with Ashe Van Steenwyk about what it might look like for you and I to "confront not only the institutions and systems and structures that control and constrain our material lives, but also the myths, beliefs, and ideas that shape and bind our imaginations." And what better way to do that than to embody the radical, subversive way of Jesus who came to upend life as we know it.Some of the questions we seek to answer in this episode include: What do we mean when we say Jesus was queer?How do we discern what is real? How do we push back against injustice without losing our souls? How do we not only resist evil, but redeem evil? What does it look like to carve out new possibilities in a world of forced conformity? What if everything we call 'normal' is really just evil in disguise? What if what we believe to be profane is actually holy and what we have been told is orthodoxy is just a set of lies created to keep us in line? How do we resist dominance and power? And where have even liberal and progressive Christians been captivated by oppressive systems and structures? BioM. Ashe (she/they) is the co-founder of the Center for Prophetic Imagination. She is a writer, teacher, organizer, and spiritual director. For nearly 15 years, she has sown seeds of subversive spirituality throughout North America. Ashe is the author of That Holy Anarchist, unKingdom, and A Wolf at the Gate. You can find out more about Ashe here. The Center for Prophetic Imagination works to subvert the existing social order through deep discernment culminating with creative action. Check out their online resources and online classes to learn more about what it means to be a holy troublemaker in our world. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review

What Do You Do When Your Life Feels Like a War?Here are some thoughts on foxholes and faith for Mind Change Monday.(I wrote a post yesterday about this. Click below to read it!)Music by Matt Redman(Music shared on The Dr. Lee Warren Podcast is authorized under BMI license #61063253 and ASCAP license #400010513 ) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drleewarren.substack.com/subscribe