In our discussion during Podcast #10 about education, I remarked that I don’t remember much, if anything, that I “learned” in school. As a matter of fact, most of what I know and use now, besides the basics, I learned after I graduated. It’s not because I was a bad student. I actually graduated with honors. It’s because, for the most part, I wasn’t learning, I was memorizing. If I learned anything, it was how to pass a test! During the podcast, I brought up “unschooling,” which is a non-traditional philosophy of education. It’s also an easy idea to make fun of because the idea of not attending school regularly is ridiculous, right? That idea is mostly for religious zealots and militia members, right? Sometimes our conditioning gets the … [Read more...]
On Pee-Pees and Hoo-Haws
In episode #10 of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Christian and I discuss the thorny issue of sex education. Now to be honest, I have not actually listened back to it myself, so I don’t remember exactly what I said on the matter. I’ll take a stab at re-presenting some of my thoughts, and you can feel free to push back and challenge them. My main concern is that I am uncomfortable with something of such monumental significance being taught to my children by a P.E. teacher (true story in my case). This kind of education should be happening primarily in the home, with outside sources reinforcing what mom or dad is already communicating. Secondly, what if (that’s hypothetical language, by the way) a family’s values don’t match up with a school’s? … [Read more...]
Thank God for Hell!
During episode #9 of Drunk Ex-Pastors we fielded a provocative question we received via Twitter: “Since neither Jesus, nor Paul, nor the early church fathers displayed the kind of urgency that a belief in hell as a place of eternal torment would seem to necessitate, is it possible that there is something wrong with the paradigm that insists that hell is in fact a place of eternal torment?” During the podcast, Christian made an interesting point about how upset many evangelicals get when it is suggested to them that their theory of hell is wrong. They clench their fists and dig their heels, as if the suggestion that God might not spend eternity waterboarding people were actually bad news. What do you think? Do you have an opinion … [Read more...]
Racism: For Whites Only?
In podcast #8 (available for streaming and download below), one of the topics we discuss is racism. Jason brings up a quote from the first season of MTV’sThe Real World where Kevin Powell (a black cast member) is accused of racism and in response says, “Black people cannot be racist. We don’t have the power to control. . . .” At first hearing, I dismissed Kevin’s statement as ignorant. After all, racism, to me (a white male), means considering someone to be inferior in some way simply because of their race. While this is a valid definition of racism, it’s not the only definition of racism and not even the main definition. A quick search through the various definitions of racism will show that racism also has to do with the exercise … [Read more...]
What Did Jesus Drink?
Should a Christian drink alcohol? Simple answer: What did Jesus do? I mean, this isn’t even what would Jesus do! There’s no speculation here. It’s simply “What Did Jesus Do?” He drank. He even drank enough to be accused of being a “wine-bibber,” which I believe is first century speak for “alcoholic.” He himself said, “The Son of Man came eating anddrinking…” and in the context “drinking” refers to alcohol. On top of that, his first miracle was turning water into wine at a party. At a party. A party where people were drunk. And it wasgood wine, too! Now, don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of reasons not to drink. Perhaps it’s an addiction for you. Perhaps your body doesn’t process alcohol well. Perhaps drinking makes you angry. All good … [Read more...]
Extremism, Flowers, and the Powers that Be
If you take a strong position on some issue, or on cultural/political matters in general, it is easy to label those on the other side as “extremists” or “reactionaries” (while failing to see that they might be passing the exact same judgment on you). For example, I remember when the O.J. Simpson verdict was about to be read, the police in Los Angeles were out in full force, decked out in riot gear, ready for the worst. But when the jury decided to acquit, the cops breathed a sigh of relief, packed up their tear gas and rubber bullets, and went home. Being very evangelical and somewhat racist at the time, I said, “Hey, wait! Why aren’t the police going to stay out and deal with the inevitable white-people riots and looting and … [Read more...]
Police and Wannabe Soldiers
Piggybacking on our latest podcast, I thought I’d post this clip from John Oliver’s HBO show, Last Week Tonight. In it he addresses the shooting of Michael Brown and chides the Ferguson Police Department and mayor’s office both for their deplorable handling of the situation, but also for ridiculous weapon-envy: “The police are troublingly dressed like they’re about to launch an assault on Fallujah. . . . The police are NOT soldiers, so why, in. . . Ferguson, are they wearing f***ing camo? They are northwest of St. Louis, not northwest of the Amazon! If they want to blend in with their surroundings, they should be dressed as a Dollar Store.” You can stream the podcast below. … [Read more...]
Podcast #2: Michael Brown, Right vs Left, and the Rapture
In this episode, Jason and Christian discuss the shooting of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teen who was shot in the back and head by a white police in Ferguson, MO, last week; they explore the issue of whether people on the right are more ideologically driven than those on the left, who tend to be more pragmatic; they roll up their religious sleeves and dig into the nuts and bolts of the Rapture and its accompanying apocalyptic doomsday prophecies (during which hilarity cannot but ensue); and Jason complains about Hollywood’s over-sensationalizing of bathroom murders, while Christian moans about pushy salespeople and how they not only make him feel heartless but also cause him to publicly lament his years and years of poor … [Read more...]
Podcast #1: The American Work Ethic, ISIS, and Irrelevant Traffic Laws
In this episode, Jason and Christian discuss the American attitude toward work and compare it to that of other cultures (as in, why do we live to work while people in other cultures work to live?); they talk about the horrific actions of the Islamic group ISIS and attempt to distinguish fact from fiction regarding the worldwide persecution of Christians -- is it fair to call the denial of special treatment for American believers "persecution" while in the Middle East Christians are having their heads chopped off?; Christian vents about how pissed off he gets at the way air travelers conduct themselves at the luggage carousel; Jason bemoans how beholden humans are to machines as well as explains why most traffic laws don’t apply to him. And … [Read more...]