With All Due Respect

In this episode, Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen ask about the cost of conscience.  Conscience has been at the forefront in public discussions, as a new phase of the pandemic requires measures that have created an urgent set of ethical dilemmas. This has come at the same time as our politicians are debating bills about freedom of religion. The WADR team tease out the Biblical approach to f...

With All Due Respect's Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen are joined by The Centre for Public Christianity's Justine Toh to usher out the old year.  Like 2020, 2021 has had its social highs and COVID lows but, on balance, what did WADR think of the year that was? First up, the team give each other what they think was the theme of the year.  Then it's time for Megan, Michael, and Justine to sh...

As Australians have striven to get vaccination rates up and covid spread under control, one carrot held out to the long-suffering population has been the promise of a normal Christmas. Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit think we often associate Christmas with homecoming and family. For a start, it's a classic trope of Christmas movies - Christmas Homecoming , I'll Be Home For Christmas , Home...

This episode hosts Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen question their mental stability. Mental health has been a key conversation during the COVID crisis. People have argued for and against various public health measures by referring to the mental health effects. There has been a widespread understanding that a viral pandemic will have mental health costs as well. Yet quite often, it is still...

In a world in which Christianity is losing its cultural dominance, and under fire for various reasons, should Christians strongly defend the church, or should they be apologetic about its wrongdoing? There seems to be a wide spectrum between those who want to claim western society will regret abandoning its Christian foundations, and those who are quick to call it out from the inside. Whichever wa...

Some of the most beautiful poetry has Christian faith embedded within it, and yet some of the worst poetry we have experienced has been within the Christian community.  A couple of episodes ago the WADR team looked at poet Christian Wiman and brought up his thought that faithful literature should be an ice axe for the frozen sea within you.  As two people of faith and lovers of poetry, Megan Powel...

Australia is gearing up to reach its 80% 16 plus vaccination rate, with some states ahead of others. The news has been dominated by both federal and state plans for what reopening will look like with COVID present in Australia.  Within that, Christians have had particular concerns. What will be the rules around face-to-face church gatherings, and how should we as Christians respond to the risks an...

As the ancient saying goes, you can't go to bed if someone is wrong on the internet.  Social media can involve a lot of different communication types but it certainly does seem to have a lot of scope for arguing. In fact, it seems that one of social media's key contributions is polarisation and pitched debate.  Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen discuss how this has ramped up over COVID - the...

The Christian world has always had its prominent believers, right down to the present day. Though the advent of the Internet has given them a reach and influence like never before. Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen take a hard look at Christian celebrity - from luminaries like Tim Keller to Mark Driscoll - and ask what can be learned from our elevation of different believers. First up, it's...

Last season the With All Due Respect team brought you an interview with a Christian Liberal and former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull. So Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit thought it would be good to speak to a Christian Labor politician, Senator Deborah O'Neill.  Senator O’Neil is a Labor senator for new south wales who has been a politician since 2010, first as an MP in the Australian pa...

In some circles preaching is the one thing you can't skip at church. For others, it is an outdated practice. It can have a bad rap. We say to people, "Don't opreach at me!" Yet when Christian podcasts first started, the sermon was the first genre, and during covid, we have found ourselves listening and watching an endless supply online. But what makes for good preaching? Preaching is something bot...

With All Due Respect's Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit examine masculine Christianity in the United States and question what effect it might be having down under. The episode kicks off with an interview with Kristen Kobes Du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne, a publication that discovers the worship of Alpha Male role models in the American church. Megan and Michael then examine the pres...

This episode is a Q and Q episode - no answers, just more questions. Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit open by discussing whether questions are bad for your faith.   They then get personal and vulnerable by talking about the questions of faith they have that remain unresolved and why. Despite coming from different Christian traditions, do they share any? And finally, it's a Marg and Dave seg...

In the wake of Refugee Week, Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit talk to Regent College's Mark Glanville about the book he has co-written with his brother, Refuge Reimagined: Biblical Kinship in Global Politics. Mark Glanville brings the biblical scholarship of a respected theologian, while his brother Luke adds the insight of an associate professor in the Department of International Relations...

Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit delve into the world of the mass media, examining its potential bias against Christianity and asking how responsible we are for the public's misinformation about the Christian faith. The WADR team begins with a consideration of the classic film and media magnate commentary, Citizen Kane .  Then they tackle the fraught relationship between Christianity and th...

Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen take a long, hard look at masculinity in 21st-century society and ask if there is any way to stem its rising toxicity.  First in the show is a serious consideration of the thorny topic of sexual consent, followed by an examination of the health of masculine culture in general. Then it's off to Brooklyn 99 to see what healthy masculine relationships might act...

As Easter approaches, the With All Due Respect duo tackles how modern eyes have affected our view of the cross. Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen begin by asking if sacrifice has become an outdated idea in the 21st century. Then, as they attempt to bring the cross back into focus, they share with each other the impact John Stott and Henri Nouwen have had on shaping their own views. And final...

In this episode, Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen delve into the world of public theology - engaging in society's debates in a way that makes Christ shine.  The WADR team begins with Canadian scholar and journalist John Stackhouse and an in-depth interview on the nature of public theology. Then it's time to consider what the challenges are for both the presenter and the message in For Argum...

This episode the With All Due Respect team tackle the issue at the very heart of their podcast: friendship. Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit start the ball rolling by asking whether the COVID crisis has led us to neglect our friends? Then it's on to a revealing segment in which Michael and Megan discuss how they became friends, and what it is they've taken from each other. Then author and s...

With All Due Respect hosts Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit take a long, hard look at cancel culture. Is there a place for it in the Christian community? Beginning with a discussion about the nature of cancel culture and how they have experienced it in their own lives, the WADR team move on to an in-depth interview with American author, speaker, blogger and former podcaster Aimee Byrd who h...

Secular and religious societies are fond of using prayer as an easy means of addressing a crisis - so much so that hosts Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit discuss how 'thoughts and prayers' has become a phrase that has gained much antipathy in the public sphere. Examining this language of the inner life, Megan and Michael talk about what sort of prayers they use when addressing God, and in w...

This episode, the With All Due Respect team test our sense of the 'greater good' to its limits. The creation of a COVID19 vaccine from research that resulted from a decades old abortion has Christians asking whether or not they can benefit from a loss of life. Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen ask Denise Cooper-Clarke, a graduate of medicine and theology with a Ph. D in medical ethics, how e...

With All Due Respect hosts Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen take a long hard look at the last year. The first stop is ask demographer Mark McCrindle to tell us what the statistics have to say about our behaviour in 2020. Then Michael and Megan consider what those tendencies tell us from a Christian point of view. Finishing up, Michael and Megan tell us their favourite books, television seri...

The US election, a showdown between the Republican President Donald Trump and the Democrat candidate Joe Biden, has captivated Australian audiences. This episode Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen consider the take-home points from the close association between American evangelicals and the trounced Donald Trump. To help them, they interview American author and Christian commentator Karen Swa...

In this episode of With All Due Respect, Megan Powell du Toit and Michael Jensen investigate what it means to lose one's religion in the 21st century. Step one is a review of the iconic REM song, our hosts investigate what lead singer Michael Stipe was actually getting at, and then apply those findings to a loss of faith. Step two is an interview with journalist Michael Collett who describes his o...