The Justice Briefing with Dr. Jemar Tisby

The Justice Briefing | Show Notes What Mainstream Media Keep Getting Wrong About Douglas Wilson NPR just gave Douglas Wilson another splashy, in-depth interview , and Dr. Jemar Tisby has a problem with it. Not that the media covers Wilson: the pastor from Moscow, Idaho has a direct line to power through his disciple Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, and that is newsworthy. The problem is how...

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, white Christian nationalists are telling their version of the story: that America was founded as a Christian nation. In part two of his America 250 series on The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby argues that there is a better, more truthful story to tell if we know how to tell it, and that telling it requires something most churches have never name...

How should we think about the Fourth of July, a day dedicated to celebrating independence and freedom, in light of the unfreedom of race-based chattel slavery? What do we do about the fact that of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence 41 of them held slaves? Do those noble words of the Declaration stating that “all men are created equal” apply to anyone other than wealthy white men? Fr...

As the country marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, one claim is everywhere: the United States was founded as a Christian nation. In this episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby refuses the flat yes or no and insists on the first move any honest answer requires, which is to define the terms. If "Christian nation" means a country shaped by Christians and their eth...

This week on The Justice Briefing , Dr. Jemar Tisby breaks down why Juneteenth and America 250 are not the same kind of anniversary, even though they fall just weeks apart this summer. Dr. Tisby argues that America 250 asks the nation to celebrate how great it has been, while Juneteenth asks a harder, more honest question: how free are we, really? Using a ten-point comparison chart, he walks throu...

In this episode of The Justice Briefing , Dr. Jemar Tisby breaks down the Southern Baptist Convention's recent vote to amend its constitution—by a 77 percent margin—banning women from preaching to assembled congregations. Dr. Tisby draws on his own history with the SBC to offer an insider's analysis of what the Truth and Unity Amendment actually says, why Al Mohler pushed for it, and what...

In this urgent episode of The Justice Briefing, Dr. Jemar Tisby breaks down the Supreme Court's latest ruling in Allen v. Milligan--a decision that allows Alabama to eliminate one of its only two majority-Black congressional districts just months before the 2026 midterm elections and while primaries are already underway. Drawing on his training as a historian and his recent trip to Selma to ma...

In this episode of The Justice Briefing , Dr. Jemar Tisby examines the stunning victory of Ken Paxton in the Texas Republican Senate primary and asks what it reveals about the moral state of American politics. Despite years of scandals, impeachment, felony indictments, and allegations of corruption, Paxton not only survived politically—he won decisively. Dr. Tisby explores why voters embraced a ca...

Episode Description In this episode of The Justice Briefing , Jemar Tisby confronts a pressing question facing the American church: Why are so many pastors silent about voting rights in this moment? Drawing from his firsthand experience at the “All Roads Lead to the South” march and rally in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, Tisby connects today’s attacks on voting rights to the long struggle for Bla...

The Trump Administration has released a massive new report from its “Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias,” arguing that conservative Christians were targeted by the federal government under President Biden. The report frames conflicts over abortion, LGBTQ rights, education, COVID policies, and workplace protections as evidence of anti-Christian discrimination. In this episode of The Justic...

Conservatives on the Supreme Court dealt what amounts to a “death blow” to the Voting Rights Act. But you don’t have to be a legal scholar to understand what really matters here. The effect is to dilute the voting power of Black people and other people of color who tend to vote Democratic.  But the entire decision rests on a faulty understanding of racism and how to address it. This assumption has...

In this episode of The Justice Briefing , Jemar Tisby examines the recent spotlight on Douglas Wilson—and why his influence is not new, just newly visible. For years, Black Christians and other truth-tellers warned about Wilson’s theology, his views on race and gender, and his vision for a theocratic society. Those warnings were largely ignored. Now, as his ideas gain wider attention, the conseque...

In this episode of The Justice Briefing , Dr. Jemar Tisby makes a clear and urgent case: stop trying to persuade white Christian nationalists. After nearly a decade of hardened political and theological divisions, the question is no longer who is confused—it’s what we do with the clarity we now have. Drawing on history, current events, and a powerful re-reading of Mark 6, this episode reframes fai...

People keep asking me, “How did it go?” And I understand the question. But there’s actually a better question. The better question is, “What did last night signal?” What happened last night was more than just a sold-out film premiere. It was a signal. A shift. A glimpse of what the future of Christian storytelling could be. This film is the first official production of Tisby Studios . It’s proof t...

Right now the Christian film industry is dominated by what I’ve called “Devotional” films. These films are often produced by people promoting a conservative—even fundamentalist—and heavily right-leaning version of Christianity. Not every film needs to do everything. And each type of film has its place. But we need more films in the Transformational category. Too many stop with personal piety and h...

The scariest thing about the movies Get Out and Sinners isn’t the body-snatching or the blood-sucking. It’s how accurately they show us what whiteness does. These films are not just horror stories. They are commentaries on extraction, exploitation, and colonization. In this episode, Dr. Jemar compares the two films and the use of horror to convey deeper social truths. -------- Learn about new shor...

What role should the church play in a moment of rising authoritarianism and political instability? In this episode of The Justice Briefing , Jemar Tisby sits down with Rev. Michael McBride—pastor, organizer, and executive director of Live Free USA—to explore why democracy depends on moral vision, collective action, and faith communities willing to show up. This conversation goes beyond politics. I...

Something strange happens whenever a certain kind of white Christian politician speaks about justice in public. Suddenly commentators act like they’ve discovered a brand-new species: the Christian who actually sounds like Jesus. David French wrote that James Talarico is “one of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian.” You can really only write a sentenc...

In this episode of The Justice Briefing podcast, I talk about Iran, Armageddon, and End Times Prophecy. We get into: Dispensationalism as explained by John Nelson Darby James I. Scofield’s reference Bible the Left Behind book and film series How end times theology shapes U.S. foreign relations with Israel and the Middle East Take Action: Subscribe on YouTube Leave a review on Apple podcasts Share...

You don’t have to cross an ocean, a continent, and cultures to 1930s Germany to learn how to resist authoritarianism Black history is a witness is right here in the United States. That is why any serious response to authoritarian power today must reckon honestly with Black history. In this episode, Dr. Jemar explains what we can learn from the people who promoted democracy before us. Here are four...

We lost another giant of human and civil rights. Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. died on February 17 at the age of 84. His passing gives us occasion to reflect on his life, his faith, and his moral imagination. What stands out to me about Jesse Jackson’s death in this moment is how he practiced politics. He wanted to form a 🌈 Rainbow Coalition that would be participatory and inclusive. Jackson’s Rainbow...

For decades, the dominant interpretation of Reconstruction came from something called the Dunning School. Named after William Archibald Dunning (1857-1922), an influential Columbia University historian who taught for more than forty years and served as president of the American Historical Association in 1913. This school of thought helped shape the modern historical profession in its infancy—and i...

And your pastor probably doesn't know it. The FBI seized 700 boxes of ballots in an attempt to further investigate the discredited like that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from DJT. This isn't about the past, it's about the future--the 2026 midterms. In this episode, Dr. Jemar talks about the implications of this act and the imperative of pastors, church leaders, and Christi...

We have the words of King but not his walk. We quote King, but we do not live like him. We celebrate him but we don’t imitate him. We love King’s wisdom, but not King’s way. In this podcast, I talk about what makes King’s way so hard, and why we need to take up the mission despite the difficulty. What part of King’s vision and legacy do you find most inspiring? What part are we most in need of tod...

About three dozen protestors entered the sanctuary of Cities Church in St. Paul and staged a protest so disruptive that they halted the service. They were there protesting the fact that one of the church’s leaders, David Easterwood, serves as the leader of the local ICE field office. They were there protesting the murder of Renee Good and the tyranny of ICE in their communities. But their protest...