Snarky Faith – Details, episodes & analysis

Trump’s back in office, and it’s officially time to get serious. This week, we dive into what his return means for democracy, humanity, and faith, as we grapple with the fallout of an election fueled by evangelical hypocrisy and the erosion of decency. From reproductive rights to racial justice, LGBTQ+ protections to environmental survival, the stakes couldn’t be higher. But despair isn’t an option—resistance is. Join us as we unpack how to fight back with grassroots action and reclaim what matters.

Next, we wade into the madness of the Christian Crazy, where characters like Lance Wallnau and Kat Kerr remind us how far evangelicalism has wandered from the teachings of Jesus.

Finally, we sit down with Keith Giles to talk about his new book, Wintermoon and Coffeestain: Poems and Lyrics, a poignant collection spanning decades of love, loss, and restoration. It’s an insightful conversation about creativity, faith, and finding beauty amidst the chaos.

This episode is a rallying cry, a critique of the absurd, and a reminder to keep showing up, no matter how dark it gets. Tune in, and let’s start making trouble—the good kind.

https://amzn.to/3Cj2RQK

Right Wing Watch

Christian Nightmares

Friendly Atheist

www.SnarkyFaith.com

Check out the other fantastic Quoircast partners: The Heretic Happy Hour Podcast, Apostates Anonymous, The Messy Spirituality Podcast, Ideas Digest, The New Evangelicals, This is Not Church, and Wild Olive.

In this week's episode of Snarky Faith, we’re turning up the heat with a “Snarkfire and Brimstone sermon” that takes aim at the bizarre fusion of faith and authoritarian politics. First, we kick things off with the Christian Crazy segment, highlighting the most ridiculous soundbites from the week. Then, we delve into the so-called new Christian orthodoxy of MAGA-land, where Trump isn’t just a candidate; he's the chosen one. We’ll explore how this unholy blend of politics and religion has warped the gospel into a manifesto of power and privilege, all while tossing out little inconveniences like love, mercy, and justice. Tune in for a sermon that’s sure to leave both the pews and the patriots squirming.

Feel the burn—it's about to get snarky.

Right Wing Watch

Christian Nightmares

Friendly Atheist

www.SnarkyFaith.com

Check out the other fantastic Quoircast partners: The Heretic Happy Hour Podcast, Apostates Anonymous, The Messy Spirituality Podcast, Ideas Digest, The New Evangelicals, This is Not Church, and Wild Olive.

In today's episode of Snarky Faith, we're venturing into a space that's often skirted around with discomfort or outright hostility. That's right—we're digging into the delightful mess that is religious diversity, but not in the way you might expect. We're not here to throw shade or to spotlight the foibles of faith; instead, we're talking about the rich gifts that diversity brings us, especially when we shut up and listen.

Our guidebook for this journey is none other than the recent release "Sitting in the Shade of Another Tree: What We Learn by Listening to Other Faiths." This isn't just your run-of-the-mill, kumbaya plea for peace. This is about tuning in to a symphony of voices from different faiths and belief systems that dare to speak to the transformative power of listening. It's about cracking open the door to perspectives that have long been shut out by the rigid gates of doctrinal fortresses.

We're joined by a panel of guests who are nothing short of pilgrims on this journey of cross-faith dialogue. Keith Giles, Duncan Pile, Caleb Gilleland, and Safi Kaskas—each an author and a story-weaver sharing tales of wisdom, transformation, and perspective shifts. Their narratives aren't just feel-good anecdotes; they're testaments to what happens when we learn from those who tread paths different from our own.

Forget the tired old trope of who's got it wrong in the world of religion. Our guests have set out to uncover where others get it right, engaging in the radical act of listening rather than preaching. The result? Insights that lead to understanding, connections that spawn friendships, and exchanges that birth peace.

Join us as we delve into the wisdom shared in "Sitting in the Shade of Another Tree," courtesy of Quoir Publishing and Patheos. Let's take this opportunity to step outside our comfort zones and into the possibility that the truth and beauty we seek might just be found in the faith community next door—or even one we've never heard of.

It's not about compromising your beliefs or losing your faith; it's about enriching it through the stories of others. So, let's drop the debate and pick up the dialogue. Tune in, listen up, and let's get ready to be transformed. This is Snarky Faith, and the conversation starts now.

We'll talk about all that and plenty more snark!

Sitting in the Shade of Another Tree: What We Learn by Listening to Other Faith

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHZCBX7V
 

Caleb Gilleland:

https://bahaiteachings.org/author/caleb-gilleland/

https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/caleb-gilleland

Safi Kaskas: 

https://www.amazon.com/Quran-References-Bible-Contemporary-Understanding/dp/099659244X/

Duncan Pile:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/duncanedwardpile/about/

https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Mage-Book-ebook/dp/B00CLOYOKA/

https://www.amazon.com/Who-Am-Judge-James-Bewley-ebook/dp/B086N27QWQ/

Keith Giles:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keithgiles/

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Keith-Giles/author/B0076E0UA8

Kent Christmas, Shane Vaughn, Greg Locke, Mike Johnson, and Mario Murillo. 

Right Wing Watch

Christian Nightmares

Friendly Atheist

www.SnarkyFaith.com

Check out the other fantastic Quoircast partners: The Heretic Happy Hour Podcast, Apostates Anonymous, The Messy Spirituality Podcast, Ideas Digest, The New Evangelicals, This is Not Church, and Wild Olive.

I'm so tired of God's name being used as an advertising tool by conservatives when their version of love looks like repression. It's false, heretical, and antithetical to the gospel. It's bullshit. 

For too long, have the grifters of the gospel sold their faith like a telemarketer giving you a buy one get one free deal. "God told me this. God said to do that." It's Santa Clause and Tooth Fairy religion. It's superstition and urban-legend-level meaninglessness sold to the masses every Sunday.

P.T. Barnum's accredited with saying, "there's a sucker born every minute." P.T. only discovered what religious leaders have always known. Sheep want a shepherd regardless if the shepherd eventually eats them. It's not about truth. It's more about blind certainty. People seek certainty; regardless if it's false or not. Oblivion is the goal, and thinking is optional in these circles.  

Today, we'll delve into lies peddled in the name of God by his emissaries and/or infomercial hosts. They're all the same, hollow and unscrupulous. Nothing could be further from the nature of God. 

To listen to the liars is to miss out on the gift that you are the beloved of God. The center of Christianity is supposed to be love. God is love. This truth may seem forgotten but is not lost. We need to recover this precious narrative from the Kingdom of God and champion it. 

Www.SnarkyFaith.com

“And all shall be well. And all shall be well. And all manner of things shall be exceeding well.” ― Julian of Norwich

We live in a time where it seems all we have is bad news and fake news. When denial reigns, it's hard to know what to believe and what's real anymore. Too often are we swayed one way or the other by manipulative forces that obscure what is happening.

We easily believe half-truths or quick answers in the pursuit of ways to ignore the problems at hand. Religion even makes it worse when it blames the cause of physical problems onto mystical or spiritual ones. We deny reality and try to avoid problems because we don't like the solutions.

For all to be well, all of the faithful must be vigilant and ready to serve and help as needed. Politics and religion create distractions that obscure the simple solutions.

It's easier to deny a pandemic if you are too emotionally fragile to handle it. If you deny reality, then you can fight silly, little insignificant issues like wearing masks. If you think your faith suffers because you can't sing in a church, your god is impotent and small. This pandemic isn't about people's preferences. It should be about humanity's finest moment of coming together to fix a simple, yet complex issue.

Yet, stupidity dominates.

But we don't have to like it. There's always hope to push back lazy and inert thinking. Action and vigilance push us forward and inspire movement. Let's deny denial. There are better days ahead if we continue to move towards progress.

Keep on keeping on in this profoundly weird time in history. Peace.

www.SnarkyFaith.com

"It's far time I talk to ya'll about your relationship with Jesus."

- said every good Christian talking about 'vangelism.

Yes, it's that time. We need to have that important chat about salvation, but it's not the talk you think I want to have. Today, we're going to discuss salvation. Yes, many have heard it packaged in different ways and tracts, but the result is always the same. It's the processed food version of the Gospel of Jesus. Jesus saves you from hell with Twinkies. 

The Kingdom of God wasn't meant to be a sales pitch to grow your Ponzi scheme religion. The Kingdom of God exists to free people, NOT enslave them. 

The story of Jesus tells you that you're loved by God just as you are. God already gives you the grace to live and love in a redemptive way. God's Kingdom says we have worth and are accepted. It tells us the story of freedom. So why does Christianity often make "gettin' saved" sound more like a duty like paying your taxes?

Today, we're going to talk about salvation in human terms and not theological ones. We're going to get logical and not spiritual. There won't be scripture quoted, but we're going to look at it as it is and talking about it in plain terms. 

Join us as we look past the church history and practice into the real call of Jesus for us as humans to live as we are supposed to be. Anything other than that is falsehood. 

www.SnarkyFaith.com

I hear that Oprah something called a "book club," so I figured if it was good enough for Oprah, it's good enough for Snarky Faith. Join us today, as we talk about some interesting gems that you may have missed. 

We'll talk about books, politics, and the Christian Crazy too. I'll even throw in a chat with author and artist, David Hayward, aka The Naked Pastor about his new book. Buckle up, it's going to be a wild and fun ride.  

Til Doubt Do Us Part by David Hayward

If changing beliefs are changing your marriage, you need to read this book where David Hayward speaks into the strain that deconstruction can cause in a marriage.  For those of us who have had huge faith shifts, this is like a roadmap to those tough, but necessary conversations that need to happen. 

Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints by Daneen Akers

"Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints" is an illustrated children's book about people of diverse faiths working for more love and justice in their corners of the world, even when that means rocking the religious boat. With original portraits from more than two dozen artists and engaging profiles of people from different faiths and different eras, these are stories that inspire, educate, challenge, and encourage.

Some of the people featured in this book are well known, like the beloved St. Francis of Assisi (a favorite of Hufflepuffs everywhere for his love of animals), who gave up a wealthy inheritance to serve the poor, Rumi, the Sufi poet, and Thich Nhat Hanh the beloved teacher who developed the concept of engaged Buddhism. Some are well known, but the deep faith motivating their work is lesser-known, such as Harriet Tubman, Florence Nightingale, and Mr. Rogers. Others are less known such as Bayard Rustin, an American Quaker whose role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s is often downplayed because he was a gay man; Maryam Molkara, an Iranian Muslim transgender rights advocate; and Regina Jonas, the first female rabbi to be ordained whose story was almost lost to history.

The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix

A 2018 Society of Illustrators Gold Medal Winner!

Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party is gaining strength and becoming more menacing every day. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor upset by the complacency of the German church toward the suffering around it, forms a breakaway church to speak out against the established political and religious authorities. When the Nazis outlaw the church, he escapes as a fugitive. Struggling to reconcile his faith and the teachings of the Bible with the Nazi Party’s evil agenda, Bonhoeffer decides that Hitler must be stopped by any means possible!

Www.Snarkyfaith.com

“And it was all that I needed...” ― The White Stripes - Take, Take, Take

When is enough, enough?

We live in a time where consumeristic impulses of culture look the same as the heartbeat of the institutional church. There's no difference in currency and values. We know what success looks like, and it doesn't look like Jesus, but that's okay. Forgetting Jesus hasn't stopped the church in the past.

Looking at the parables of Jesus, we can see broad strokes paintings of the Kingdom of God. The values, ethics, mission, and thrust all point to a different way of being. They tell us that a selfless way is sustainable, and anything counter leads to death and inequality.

Join us today as we talk through the ethics of the parables of Jesus and how they line up with the White Stripes. It's not what you'd expect and hopefully better than you deserve. ;)

We'll delve into a different way to live where we seek things of worth, value, and meaning. It takes looking at life through a different lens. As long as you don't mind a little swearing, hop in and join us. It'll be something interesting, and hopefully hopeful. We'll see.

www.SnarkyFaith.com

“Spirituality is not about being fixed; it is about God's being present in the mess of our unfixedness. (Messy Spirituality)” ― Michael Yaconelli

In Luke 14, Jesus tells a story about a wedding banquet where everyone was invited and welcome. It gives us a glimpse into the heart of the Kingdom of God. Imagine a God that has love and grace at the center of everything. How would that change the church and community if everyone was loved and treated with dignity? What if love and grace were as common as the air that we breathe?

Jesus said that there was a big table, big enough for everyone. It is a place where you are loved and accepted where you are. Grace is the currency and love like gravity. If they are constants in the Kingdom of God, why are treated like rare elements here on Earth?

Faith is messy because people are messy, but faith is also simple. Love God, love others, and live out grace. That is the Kingdom of God in a nutshell, yet we have made it complicated and perverted it. Though the road back is to where we should be is often seen as too simple and direct, so we stay where we are and remain.

Change happens when we embrace who and what we are. If we can accept ourselves, then hopefully we can accept others. If I am messy and you are also messy, then hopefully we can help each other to be less messy. Thus is progress. Thus is life.

If we want to change, we can. It requires a willingness to leave safety and journey into something new and unknown. That is the nature of change. It doesn't ask you to embrace it, but it's there waiting to be embraced if you're willing to do it. Change is only a decision away.

www.SnarkyFaith.com

One of the great sins of the American church has been its ability to normalize a myriad of sins. In a certain way, these sins have become part of an unstated and unwritten theology of practice. For too long has the faith system based on Jesus Christ has been associated with misogyny, ignorance, racism, abuse, and hate.

If your remove love from Christianity, you also remove Jesus from Christianity.

If that happens, what is left?

For the church to rectify itself and return to its roots, we must call out all that is opposed to love. For a faith-centered in the love of God and love of others, it has been perverted and mutated into something vastly different.

Following Jesus was never about political power, control, and influence, it was about making a tangible difference in humanity. If we're not loving more, then the Kingdom of God is not being advanced. If we're not loving others, the Kingdom of God is nothing more than a platform and talking points. If we don't see the humanity and image of God in others, we have forgotten who we are.

If any or all of this happens, what are we left holding?

The power of Jesus is in its ability to give up power. It exists in how it usurps influence from the mighty and gives voice to the lowly. Brokenness and injustice don't have to be normalized. They should be opposed. If you hold up things that are counter to Jesus, they should be castaway.

It may sound overly simplistic, but the ways of Jesus aren't that hard. They aren't that complicated. Just don't be shitty to other people and try to make the world a better place for everyone. Is that too much to ask for? It's orthodoxy, but that hasn't been orthopraxy in a long time.

www.SNARKYFAITH.COM