Josh went on a podcast to talk about evangelical culture
Added 2023-09-01 22:08:48 +0000 UTCHello everyone! This week, Josh appeared on Fruitless, an interview-style podcast hosted by Josiah Sutton, who you might remember from Whit’s Endless Summer 23: “Everything’s Coming Up Meltsner!” They talked about Christian entertainment, the similarities between Dutch trance and worship music, the future (or lack thereof) for American evangelicalism, and a lot more. Check it out, subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast platform, and let us know what you think!
Comments
Hi there! Swedish listener here, and I thought I'd add some data points to the thing Josh says about social atomisation. It's definitely just as bad here, and in fact this conversation really shook stuff loose for me about the parallels between my own upbringing and what Josh and Brian talk about regularly on this show. I'm not evangelical, but I did grow up with a parent who was (and is) an extremely active local politician for the Social Democrats, who have of course been in government here for most of the past century (although they're not currently). I took an early interest in the same stuff and spent a lot of my childhood going around various youth groups connected to the party, and I think there are a _lot_ of similarities between the vibe there and that of Christian groups in the US. There's obviously a belief in one's own worldview and an emphasis on "missionary"/"evangelising" work, that's table stakes, but there's also a thing where the party and its ideology is seen as synonymous with everything good about the country, in a similar way to how American exceptionalism and evangelical Christianity seem to feed off one another. And on a purely institutional level, there's the same issues retaining members - especially young members - and it's for similar reasons. Obviously social democracy as an ideology is a lot more benign than Christian dominionism, but the party as it exists today pays about as much attention to its own platform as your average evangelical church does to Matthew 7:12. There's still this incredible faith in a "Party" that exists in people's heads and can do no wrong, which seems completely detached from the actual flesh-and-blood people who governed the country until last year, and that's why, like our lads, I eventually soured on the whole thing and felt compelled to leave. IDK how much of this actually makes sense and how much is just me looking for patterns and trying to get over my sense of betrayal, but in my head it's interesting, and I would be interested to hear if it makes sense to anyone else here. PS. The concept of "the Homeschool Building" will live in my head forever.
Max Johansson
2023-09-24 23:13:44 +0000 UTCI actually found TWOAPW roundabout through a chain of guests with KF. Was waiting for the ladscast shoutout for this name and a message to Dan resulted in a fast and unexpected shoutout.
im so daddy i havent slept in a year
2023-09-07 16:11:20 +0000 UTCThank you so much for your reply! I will absolutely check those out, I really appreciate you sharing your perspective on these areas. There are so many of us who are working out what to believe and where to build community after having the proverbial scales fall. Now that I don't feel obliged to dogma I really enjoy hearing the stories and perspectives of others on this journey and you communicate really effectively! For myself, Richard Rohr was really helpful to hear a progressive Christian perspective which matched so much better with scripture than the mainstream evangelical culture.
im so daddy i havent slept in a year
2023-09-07 16:03:12 +0000 UTCHey, this is Josiah! I'm really glad the episode resonated with you so much. I don't think I have a podcast episode specifically about returning as an Episcopalian, but I do talk about it in more detail in a few prior episodes (Ep 13. To Tradition and Back, and Ep 2. Crossing the Bosporus) if you're interested. I also wrote a substack piece a few years back that gets into aspects of it https://josiahwsutton.substack.com/p/the-faith-of-digital-children
Josiah Sutton of the Fruitless Podcast
2023-09-07 13:58:26 +0000 UTCI just need to tell you that your name popped up as a policy wonk shout out on today's Knowledge Fight. It was a little weird to be like "wait, I know exactly where I've seen that long string of words before"
TalkGibberish
2023-09-07 03:44:47 +0000 UTCHaving undiagnosed ADHD also ruins going to church, CCM love can't save you from a boring homily full of tortured analogies.
im so daddy i havent slept in a year
2023-09-06 21:35:29 +0000 UTCAyyy, homeschool and co-ops! Josiah is speaking my language. I gotta see if there is somewhere that Josiah goes into his journey leaving and coming back as an Episcopalian. As an exvangelical I'm always interested in when people come back to Christianity after leaving and getting woke. I feel like even if I wanted to I couldn't accept any one religion now...
im so daddy i havent slept in a year
2023-09-06 21:29:13 +0000 UTCGreat stuff here. Your analysis of why evangelicals are drawn to Trump is really illuminating. I hadn't considered that angle but it makes a lot of sense.
murt pie
2023-09-03 05:25:23 +0000 UTC
