Snarky Faith

Raised in a strict fundamentalist family, Marc-Henri Sandoz Paradella studied theology in Geneva and then worked as a successful pastor in an evangelical church. After 15 years of pursuing this life mission, he came to realize the narrow-mindedness of his faith and the sufferings and frailties that were hidden behind the cover of religion. Then he decided to resign. However, it was only years late...

In 2016, 80% of white Evangelical Christians went all-in on Donald J. Trump. It's a decision that will impact the future of the American church. In the past, the church has had strange bedfellows, but this was very different. After years in the making, conservative Christianity had finally traded in evangelism for a political power move as a means to change the nation. The church had long been on...

This week, Snarky Faith is turning over the microphone for the Earth. Enjoy the show. We’ve caused a turning point in the Earth’s natural history. Everybody Now is a podcast about what it means to be human on the threshold of a global climate emergency, in a time of systemic injustice and runaway pandemics. Scientists, activists, farmers, poets, and theologians talk bravely and frankly about how o...

The Trump administration has been extremely successful in normalizing horror. We move so quickly from a dumpster fire to a dumpster fire it's easy to lose track of where we have been. We've had so much to protest and so much to grieve, but we still cannot forget. One ugly story from the Trump administration reared its ugly head again this week. With new information coming to light about the situat...

When I speak to you, my dear audience, I speak the truth, whether it be popular or not. And as this recording is happening, the president of the United States of America has COVID-19 and is hospitalized. It would be easy to cheer or laugh at this news because it seems like he's been challenging reality for weeks. If Trump ordered COVID on Amazon Prime, it was back-ordered, but it eventually delive...

We are right in the thick of election season, and if you think this is a spectator sport like fantasy football, you are sorely mistaken. As much as religion should have no place in politics, we find ourselves mired in a hypothetical spiritual war of ideologies and Christian bullshit sold as ideologies. If you thought this season was just about voting, you were wrong. The followers of Jesus must st...

With the death of Ruth Bater Ginsburg, conservatives are frothing at the mouth with a chance to seat a new Supreme Justice. It's part of their new orthodoxy. Wait, since when did Christianity become all about abortion, seating judges, and filling the Supreme Court in the USA? I don't recall Jesus prophesying about that in the Bible? On that's right. American Christianity doesn't bother itself with...

Life is full of changes. Things don't go the way we expect. Other times, we're surprised by the way things come together. Mix that chaos in with the fact that every day, you're changing as well. With so much change, it pays to be on your toes. The life of faith is no different. It's not stagnant, and it's always moving. There are twists, turns, and shifts. The faith you had as a child should be di...

Like John the Baptist swearing and pointing people towards the kingdom of God, Matthew J. DiStefano is one of those unique voices seeking the truth outside of the religious bullshit. He may not be shouting from the wilderness, but he is a prolific podcaster and author. Matthew has a distinct voice that demands to be heard. Today, Matthew's on the show to talk about his newest podcast, Apostates An...

I'm so tired of bullshit sold as truth in Christian conservative circles. An alternative reality is sold to the masses, and the sheep gleefully take the bait every time. I used to think that many of the faithful flocks were just stupid, but I was wrong. Most people aren't stupid, they're just willfully gullible, and that's way worse. For the longest time, Christians have abdicated rational thinkin...

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 rel...

“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 o...

"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 th...

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 goi...

“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. L...

“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 churc...

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....

Cults and conspiracy theories are both founded on lies, but they also play heavily against people's fears and insecurities. You could say that cult leaders use misinformation and paranoia to manipulate others to follow blindly after them. It almost sounds like a lot of pastors too. This isn't a new occurrence, a Ponzi scheme as old as time. There are always swindlers and suckers. And every time, t...

The past few weeks on the show, we've been talking through the book,  Tug of War   by Wilmer Villacorta. This several-week discussion has centered around leadership in the vein of Jesus.  We've talked about what biblical leadership should look like in juxtaposition to the modern church. We've seen how modern leadership is capitalistic, caustic, and antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus. The church t...

We are living in the glorious time of the cancel culture. Yes, most call it an overreaction to civil, cultural, and political events happening now, but I think it's a beautiful thing. Conservative Evangelicals created a cancel culture against anything deemed counter to the faith, and the tactics of public shaming and boycott are now coming back to haunt them. After Louie Giglio's "white blessing"...

"The person who accepts his own suffering and does not try to repress it or push it away shows the power of hope." - Jurgen Moltmann As we continue in our series of reframing what power looks like in the mold of Jesus, we must begin at the beginning. There is no power outside of us owning our narratives. If we don't understand our story, how can we comprehend someone else's story?  Owning your fai...

" Our use of power will always be disoriented and destructive - will result in idolatry and injustice - unless we find a way to a restored relationship with the Giver of power". - Andy Crouch On, June 3, 2020, the President of the United States ordered militarized police to teargas and remove peaceful protesters who were hosting a "Solidarity Prayer Vigil" near St. John's Church in Lafayette Squar...

The world is on fire and my opinion doesn't matter right now. This isn't time for that. As a white person in America, this is the time for me to be silent and listen to those that are hurting. This is not a time to critique protesting or to offer alternative ways to seek justice and reform. This is not the time to assume I understand what it's like to live within systems of racism where I fear for...

Time moves forward. Life changes constantly. We'll never be what we were before. The Coronavirus pandemic has changed us all. Some are frantically trying to go back in time, while others are looking towards an uncertain future. We can't go back. We can only go forward. And that is not bad news. Change is part of life. We either adapt to it or we don't. When we don't adapt, we become out of sync wi...

Power is overrated. Yet, if you look around you, you see a world scrounging for it. We want to be leaders and influencers. We want to be successful and renowned. So we spend our lives seeking power and ultimately, what we see as power becomes our God. When we look at the life of Jesus, we see a different type of leader. He didn't see prestige or care about titles. He lowered himself. He sacrificed...