Sacred Tension

In this episode of Sacred Tension, Matt and I are honored to share our conversation with Timothy, an old friend in the process of coming out of the closet. He shares what life was like as a conservative Christian, the importance of authenticity, the health consequences of the closet, the Gay evangelical ghetto, and much more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subsc...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I have a fascinating conversation with cult expert Joseph Laycock. He answers questions from me and my audience about new religious movements, and sheds enormous clarity on our culture in the process. We talk about why we differentiate between cults and religions, the history of the cult wars, new religions that have emerged in the past five years, whether or not...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I continue my conversation with Satanic Temple spokesperson Greg Stevens about the core seven tenets of the Satanic Temple. Along the way, we talk about freedom of speech, bodily autonomy, the significance of how we treat our neighbor, the importance of science in shaping belief, and much more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other su...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I talk to Greg Stevens, a leader and spokesman of the Satanic Temple. In part one of this interview we discuss nontheistic religion, worship, atheism, the 7th tenent of the Satanic Temple, and much more.  You can find Greg at Gregstevens.com . You can find the Satanic Temple at thesatanictemple.com . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with ot...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I talk to the hilarious and insightful youtuber Kevin McCreary of Say Goodnight Kevin fame. We discuss his childhood as a Christian homeschooler, his firing from Focus on the Family, and why Christian movies are so gag-inducingly terrible.  Kevin makes a living critiquing terrible Christian movies on youtube. Find his channel at  https://www.youtube.com/user/sayg...

Donald, Danielle and I continue our breakdown of the Danvers Statement. In the process we discuss women in leadership, privilege, the American Evangelical persecution complex, and much more. Love this show and want to support it? Please take the time to write a kind review of this podcast on itunes. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bon...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, Danielle, Donald, and I discuss the Danvers Statement. The Danvers Statement is a statement from the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood on gender roles in the church, home, and culture. Danielle leads the charge with a complete breakdown on why the statement falls apart at the seams. While the Danvers Statement seems dusty, arcane, and out of touch, it is...

If you’ve spent any amount of time on the Internet lately, you’ve probably heard of Jordan Peterson: a charismatic professor of psychology turned guru dad to the discontented young men of the western world. His meteoric rise has been swift, prompted by his refusal to use non binary pronouns, and he is now a figurehead of the anti-pc, anti-social-justice-warrior movement. The New York Times has des...

Content warning: this episode features some discussions of physical, medical, psychological and sexual abuse that some listeners may find difficult. Grey Faction is a campaign of the Satanic Temple dedicated to overcoming the causes and consequences of the Satanic Panic which swept through the United States in the 80’s and 90’s. While the Satanic Panic is no longer mainstream, it lives on in the m...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I talk to gay Christian activist and blogger Donald Scherschligt about his recent HIV diagnosis, and how he is integrating his HIV positive status into his life and faith. Donald speaks vulnerably and beautifully about the first moment he found out he is positive, the politics of HIV, the cognitive shift that takes place when one receives a positive diagnosis, an...

This episode of Sacred Tension is a bit different, in that it isn't actually a Sacred Tension episode. Matt Langston has graciously agreed to let me share the audio from an interview I did for his show Eleventylife on what it was like to survive a shooting when I was 19 years old. Because this is a story I rarely tell publicly, and becuase I don't see myself sharing it again anytime soon, I wanted...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, Matt and I follow up our Axioms of Faith series by "answering" some questions from listerners on social media. We discuss whether or not Christianity passes the cult test, whether the serpent in the garden was a benevolent figure, why people of faith do bad things, and much, much more.  Do you get value out of this show? Please take a moment to write a kind revie...

In part two of our series on doubt, Matt Langston and I continue our discussion of Science Mike's Axioms. In the process, we talk about hell, salvation from a scientific perspective, how we relate to the Bible, and how nontheism might be the way of the future.  Find Matt's new album here .    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus epis...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, Matt Langston of Eleventyseven and I sit down to discuss our on-going struggles with doubt and faith. We discuss Science Mike's axioms of faith, and why we are still, against all odds, in the Christian community.  Love my work and want to support it? Take a moment to write a kind review of Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.  Find Matt's new album here This is...

After growing up in Northern Ireland, storyteller Gareth Higgins understands better than most how stories shape society, conflict, and change. In this episode of Sacred Tension, Gareth shares his wisdom with my listeners about how to tell better stories in a world that seems overrun with fundamentalism, violence, and totalitarianism.  Love my work and want to support my show? Please take a moment...

Donald, Danielle, and I continue our conversation about gender complementarianism and the mission statement of the Council For Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. In the process we discuss power structures, the importance of doubt, and how organizations like the Council For Biblical Manhood and Womanhood might exist to maintain certainty and control. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, Danielle, Donald, and I discuss the mission and vision statements of the Council For Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. We rant about Biblical interpretation, the social consequences of complementarianism, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscri...

In this episode, I speak with religious scholar Joseph Laycock about the Satanic Panic of the 80's and 90's, and why the Evangelical world was so terrified of role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. We discuss his book Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic Over Role Playing Games Says About Religion, Play, and Imagined Worlds. His book serves as an important cautionary tale in our age of hyp...

In this episode I sit down with environmental scientist Melissa Wilson to talk about her journey out of Evangelicalism, her grieving process for her old faith community, her journey towards embracing LGBT people, and the struggle of being a questioner in Christian community. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacred...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I introduce Tarot-virgin Justin to the beautiful art of reading Tarot. While reading his cards, I share my (extremely basic) knowledge of the Tarot, and my theories about why it works. Is Tarot primarily about psychology, or is it about seeing the future? Listen to find out. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acc...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, Scientology survivor Chris Shelton comes back onto the show to help me figure out if Youth With a Mission (YWAM) is a destructive cult. Youth With a Mission is one of the largest Christian mission organizations in the world, and I was a member for two painful years. In the process we talk about the marks of a destructive cult, trance states, the ubiquity of destr...

Merry Christmas! In this episode of Sacred Tension, we give you company during this miserable holiday by discussing Catholicism, the child sex abuse scandal, pentecostalism, and equality for LGBT people and women in the church. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

In part two of my conversation with drag queen Ida Carolina, we discuss what it was like being queer in Christian college. We explore the difficulties of navigating sexual orientation in a hostile environment, the survival skills we developed, and respectability politics. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredten...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I sit down with lifelong friend and fabulous drag queen Ida Carolina AKA Nathan Adams about growing up queer in Christian school. We share what it was like being queer in evangelical culture, what lessons we internalized about ourselves, and how we survived the experience.  If you enjoy this show, please take a moment to give it a positive review on iTunes or whe...

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I discuss the harms of mandatory gay celibacy with blogger Patrick Gothman. Patrick shares what it was like growing up gay in the Catholic church, how he came to believe God requires him to be celibate for the rest of his life, and how and why he eventually walked away from that conviction. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscr...