Snarky Faith

Join me for another episode of "Snarky Faith" as we wade through the stormy intersection of faith and politics, exploring the emotional landscape marked by anxiety and depression. In these tumultuous times following the downfall of Roe v Wade and the erosion of LGBTQ rights, we're on a mission to make sense of it all and find our footing. In this episode, I'll share candid insights about these cha...

On today's show, we'll reflect on how Easter has become a religious shit-show and we're also joined by Keith Giles and Matthew Distefano to talk about Quior Publishing's new venture into class literature - and why books matter and shouldn't be banned.  Let's just be honest for a moment. Easter has lost the plot within modern Christendom and reveals the rot within the faith. Easter is supposed to b...

In this episode of Snarky Faith, we delve into the discussion of our collective struggles with the state of the world and the overwhelming noise surrounding everything. Drawing from Brene Brown's idea that faith minus vulnerability equals extremism, let's talk about the questions around why Americans seem to be doubling down on religious culture issues as religion declines in the country. The fait...

"We could be the people who risk with God in the face of apocalypse rather than the people who trust in a god who authors apocalypse." Jonathan J. Foster ~   Theology of Consent:  Mimetic Theory in an Open and Relational Universe   Coincidences happen and paradoxes occur.  In life, there are rare occurrences where cosmically divergent concepts combine, almost as if naturally intended - like peanut...

"I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly, we should be Christian nationalists." Marjorie Taylor Green ~ Politician and Conspiracy Theorist    You may have heard about Christian nationalism...  It's the hip (not) new trend all your Bible-beating relatives, and red-hat-wearing neighbors are talking about. Christian nationalism is a casserole of the worst parts of both the 4th of July and Christmas pai...

"If we aren’t careful, we can become so bitter about the journey that we aren’t able to see how much we’ve grown along the way." Desimber Rose Wattleton ~ The Church Can Go to Hell   Rarely do we hear honest and raw confessions and testimony from pastors and clergy. Usually, the Lords of the Pulpit carefully craft a public, pious persona and live it out - cosplay style. The rules of this game do n...

"It should come as no surprise when So-called Christian powerhouses fall Corporate greed dressed in Sunday best od has always been in the business Of toppling empires"   Meagan Ruby Wagner ~ Jericho   Presently, language is purposefully abused and exploited, often for evil ends, to benefit those in positions of power. How can we combat this? There are many ways to push back. Yet, one of those is f...

"Will we ever arrive at our destination? Who can say? But, God is not far away. God is alive within; living and breathing along with us in every moment. How do we know this? We can stop, be still, listen, and experience God’s presence anytime we need to. We can trust, by faith, that God will never leave us or forsake us. We can believe that Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in us, and we a...

"When you say to yourself. ' I don't care what happens, '  it just gives you a broader perspective." - George Carlin     There are times when we must wrestle with baggage from the road traveled as we progress in our faith. Questions begin to arise, and easy spiritual answers no longer soothe as a salve to the itching reality of balancing the trauma of living with the vastness of the divine.  Eithe...

"People are finding acceptance, love, and healing outside of the organizational church. They feel like they were supporting the organization of the church and the church was not supporting them."  Karl Forehand ~  Out Into The Desert   Karl J. Forehand was a bi-vocational pastor for 20 years and has training in spiritual leadership coaching, plant-based nutrition, and spiritual direction. He’s the...

"Based on this historical example, if our passion is to end abortion in our nation, the best way to do so is to circumvent political processes (which, to date, have not proven very effective), and to love our neighbor as Jesus commanded." Keith Giles ~  Jesus Untangled  Today's show is a mixed bag of talk about reproductive rights, and I'll also take you on a road trip discussion of our continuing...

To go somewhere, you have to leave.  There will be times in our journeys in faith when we're called to leave, either by choice or circumstance. Sometimes we pull away for a moment; other times, maybe forever. The keys to navigating these times are discernment, detachment, and humility. We encounter moments where leaving is healthy and gives us perspective. Other times, we just need to get the hell...

"As you start to walk on the way, the way appears." ~ Rumi    No one likes to be lost.  It strikes us with fear and disorientation because we like to be in control. When we're lost, things feel out of control. Yet being lost is part of the spiritual journey.  In many ways, it is an essential ingredient for change and growth. As humans, we're creatures of habit and depend on certain things for stab...

"We must realize that leaps of faith are the junk food of the spiritual realm... An authentic leap of faith may become the first step of a new beginning, but taking that step feels more like the culmination of a long and engaging journey."   Eric Elnes ~ Gifts of the Dark Wood   Continuing on our series about the tangible ways of faith, today we'll discuss different motivations for seeking after G...

Snarky Faith is a space where we irreverently wrestle through life, culture and spirituality. It’s a skewering of religion in culture today. The questions or even answers are never the point – it’s all about the conversation. Hosted by Stuart Delony. Snarky Faith is on WCOM LP 103.5 Chapel Hill/Carrboro, NC Tuesdays 5-6pm EST www.snarkyfaith.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.ad...

"I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglect to do it to me." -Jesus The pursuit of experiencing the divine is the age-old goal of religious and spiritual seekers. For those that believe or want to believe, such an encounter can be transformative and confirming to one's faith.  Yet, organized religion has manipulated this desire and used it...

"The courage to be is rooted in the God who appears when God has disappeared in the anxiety of doubt."  -Paul Tillich   Religious conversion is a peculiar thing. The very mention of "getting saved" most likely triggers lots of ideas, experiences, feelings, and bad memes in your head.  The funny thing is that conversion is not intended to be a spiritual, rapturous, or transcendent experience. It's...

“How many of us are strangers to ourselves in order to please the church.”  ~ George Azar   On this week's show, we sit down with author and ex-pastor George Azar to discuss his new book,  My Gay Church Days . The book is a profoundly raw, honest, and open memoir about his experiences within Christianity and ministry as a gay man. It's a journey of self-discovery from someone who's just like all o...

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Corinthians 13:12 Uncertainty is something that usually makes us feel uncomfortable. We like to be in control and have a hand in the outcome of things in life. It's a natural inclination, but it's also counter-productive when we seek to change and grow.   In re...

"For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ, we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God."   2 Corinthians 2:15-...

"It all has to do with love of others, which is the purest expression of our love of God. If Jesus has a theology, it is a "theology of humanism' - we love God through love of the humanity made in his image." -Addison Hodges Hart For the past few weeks on the show, we have been working our way through the Sermon on the Mount. It's the centerpiece of Jesus' teachings and lays the groundwork for the...

This week on the show, we'll pause our series on the Sermon on the Mount to do something a bit different. Yet, it's still very much in the same vein of the ethics of the Kingdom of God, where health and mindfulness matter. Mental health matters. It's an area that the church has long ignored or mishandled.  You can't pray away mental health issues; that's just bad theology. Self-work is necessary o...

In modern-day Christianity it seems that there's no shortage of self-proclaimed prophets. They make bold claims about the future. They'll insist that God measures your faithfulness by how much you give to their ministries. They preach of an angry God who seems to hate the same people they do.  It's all a crock of shit.  Don't believe me?  Jesus even said so.  He laid out simple and practical ways...

"I have abandoned all particular forms of devotion, all prayer techniques. My only prayer practice is attention. I carry on a habitual, silent, and secret conversation with God that fills me with overwhelming joy." -Brother Lawrence Too often do we only see prayer as something that connects us to the divine. Like a suggestion box to the hereafter or a letter to Santa, it's a one-way laun...

"It's time we reclaimed this wise saying. Our post-Christian culture may very well give us the opportunity to relearn the wisdom of doing so. Communities of followers of Jesus may grow smaller, commitment to his teaching more radical and real, and in time we may look like those with something valuable that others want and will seek to have." ~ Addison Hodges Hart   For the past few weeks, we've be...