Snarky Faith

"If 'church' is a place you go, you'll never get there..."  ~Chris Kratzer   Author, Chris Kratzer is no stranger to Snarky Faith. He's been on several times in the past, and it's always a wild ride. Today, we're discussing his new book: Stupid Sh t Heard in Church. It's an audacious book that lives up to its shocking title.  In the book, Chris does his best Miley Cyrus' impression as he...

"In our world, there are far more practical atheists who think they are religious than there are theoretically doctrinaire atheists." -Addison Hodges Hart   Our lives are full of deadlines, commitments, and responsibilities. Pulled in so many directions - there never seems to be enough time. It's a never ending cycle of busyness. If we don't watch out, that cycle will consume our lives a...

It's not often you get something for nothing, but this Black Friday, you will. Just in time for the holidays is the Christian Crazy bonus show. It's all free baby. You'll hear the choicest cuts of Christian nuts. The best of the worst in Christianity is here for your listening pleasure. Join us as we mock the pernicious prophets and their attempts to use Jesus to turn a trick and make a buck. They...

"The first and basic act of theological work is prayer." - Karl Barth We've all met religious assholes. Some days it's hard to avoid them. You know who I'm talking about, don't you? The ones that act pious and flaunt their faith publicly as if they're scoring points with almighty. Or maybe they're the ones that constantly post pictures of inspiring landscapes with out-of-context scriptur...

"If a house is burning, and a bucket of water is thrown on the blaze and doesn't extinguish the fire, this doesn't mean that water won't put out fire. It means we need more water. And so with nonviolence." - Dorothy Cotton   As we continue to work through the Sermon on the Mount, today we tackle oaths, revenge, and enemy love in Matthew 5:33-48. Christ continues his teaching here reframi...

"We’ve Already Come Too Far To End This Now.” - Sang-Woo, Squid Game   Squid Game is a popular Netflix series from Korea. It tells the story of debt-ridden individuals who are out of last chances when they receive a mysterious invitation to compete in the ultimate game of survival for possibility at a big cash payday and a reversal of fortune. The cutthroat game is ultimately for the viewing...

"We live lives of hope in the hint of the promise of what is to come... [and] we live lives of faith in the unforeseeable, in the coming of what we cannot see coming.” -  John Caputo     Is our faith cyclical and repetitive, or does it change, grow, and spiral in new territory. Too often do we treat our faith as a rinse and repeat cycle instead of an evolving journey. Why do we default to the...

"Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions." - Jerry Falwell Sr. - Founder of Liberty university Liberty University was founded in 1971 by Southern Baptist televangelist Jerry Falwell. Liberty is now the second-largest provider of online education in the US. It was also Falwell, that famously claimed that “Aids is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals. It is God’s punish...

"Becoming a child is living the Beatitudes and so finding the narrow gate into the Kingdom" -  Henri Nouwen If you're in the game to recapture the Gospels and look at Jesus in a new light, then this is the show for you. For too long has the institutional church hijacked the message of Christ. It's far time we reestablish the "kingdom of Heaven." So how do we do this? It's quite...

“Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” - Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland Sometimes in life, we get lost and lose our bearings. We forget where we are going, what we value, and sometimes we even lose who we are. In those times, it is often best to stop and collect ourselves. Here we can take stock of where we have come fr...

"Acceptance does not mean passive resignation. Resignation means giving up because you've decided that there's nothing you can do about your situation, whereas acceptance simply means that you accept that your situation  happened. " - Psychobabble for Ordinary people, blogger As we make our way through life, we all experience our wins and losses. There's heartache mixed with moments of b...

"Well, it's full speed, baby In the wrong direction There's a few more bruises If that's the way You insist on heading" - Mary Jane ~  Alanis Morissette   Sometimes along the journey of life, we need a bit of a course correction. Sometimes we acquiesce. Other times, we find ourselves lost, miles off track in a different direction. With faith, it's much the same way.  Some of us end up ra...

"Reconstruction begins with recognizing these cognitive distortions and discovering new and better ways of thinking. If you have thoroughly deconstructed, then theoretically all that remains are mental, emotional, and spiritual voids which are ready to be refilled with new and better information that serves your happiness and allows you to love and give freely. We are never more like Jesus th...

“There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of the deepest messages of the Incarnation.” ― Madeleine L'Engle We are all born unique and never meant to blend in, yet, humans spend a lot of time in life trying to fit in and look the same as others. We fear being different and labeled as weird, odd, or sinful. Then, slowly over time, we continue to strive to be something we...

"To have enemies as a source of liberation—for ourselves and for those who do harm—is to recognize structures of power and their relationship to identity... We have enemies in particular and curious ways, ways that do not make sense within the structures of violent power-keeping around us. Instead, we are people who have set down our lives within the reconciliation of all things." -Melis...

Today, on the show, we see the triumphant return of the Christian Crazy where Hank Kunneman has a surprise guest, and Jim Bakker needs more money. Shocking, I know. I'm also joined by Kassidy Beane, aka the HippieCatholic. She's a content creator on Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Twitch, Twitter, and YouTube. She's all about starting a conversation between the world, where the Holy Spirit moves, and...

As Pride Month comes to a close, I wanted to take a different approach to a conversation that I haven't heard in many happening various faith spheres. Much of June is either filled with celebration and allyship or open condemnation towards the LGBTQ+ community. It's sad, yet not surprising, that Christianity takes such a binary approach. If the American church would learn to love like Jesus, this...

"God works to influence, persuade, and teach people to move away from their misunderstanding to a better concept of who God is… but that can take time." -Gabriel Gordon   This week, I sit down with author, Gabriel Gordon. Gabriel's new book, God Speaks,  tackles the topic of Biblical inspiration or in laymen's terms, how can the Bible be the word of God if humans wrote it.  Gordon's work...

Typically on Snarky Faith, I'm interviewing different authors, advocates, and voices doing great work in the sphere of Christianity and beyond.  Today, we're going to flip the script and the interviewer becomes the interviewee as I pass the reigns to my good friend Dr. Justin Meier. Justin has known me for years and doesn't pull punches, so I thought he'd be an excellent candidate to skewer me and...

Within the walls of Christendom, most would tell you that  truth  holds the greatest currency... if you listen to how much they like to market the word truth and claim to be the bearers of truth (as if it was an object).  The funny thing is that if you look across headlines and dip your pinky toe into the shallow end of church history, you'll know that Christians -  especially Christian leaders  -...

"I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war." - Albert Einstein Today, I open up the snarky vault to delve into an old discussion from 2015. The show format was different, but the wrestling with faith remains the same. Join me today as I talk with Professor Ben about the ethics o...

Rabbi Brian Mayer is a beautiful anomaly. He helps people feel comfortable enough to question religion, and seek out their understanding through mindfulness, research, and his own heartfelt stories. He’s the founder of Religion outside the Box - a digital congregation reaching out to people regardless of religious background or affiliation. He also runs the popular ‘The 77% Weekly Newsletter.’ Tod...

" You're going to need a bigger boat... " - Martin Brody ( Roy Scheider), Jaws Christianity has a problem with tribalism. It's become selfish, inbred, and too exclusive. Christianity needs to embrace a bigger table.  Think I'm wrong?  The institutionalized version of the faith has forgotten why it exists. It focuses on minor details in scripture that divide, demonize, and miss the overwh...

THE FORMATION OF AN ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY WITH AN ALTERNATIVE CONSCIOUSNESS IS SO THAT THE DOMINANT COMMUNITY MAY BE CRITICIZED AND FINALLY DISMANTLED. BUT MORE THAN DISMANTLING, THE PURPOSE OF THE ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY IS TO ENABLE A NEW HUMAN BEGINNING TO BE MADE. – WALTER BRUEGGEMANN Bruggeman speaks of this alternative community that dismantles but also gives life. It speaks to the heart and i...

"God’s word is an instructive guide. If we disobey it for the right reasons, we are faithful saints."  -Matthew J. Korpman This week, on the show, I sit down with author, Matthew J. Korpman. Matthew's new book,  Saying No to God  is a radical approach to reading the Bible faithfully.  Scripture is rarely definitive and clear when it comes to things that "God says." Between the...