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On this episode, the Convocation Unscripted team reflects on Pope Francis's impact on the Catholic Church and the world. The participants reflect on Francis's unconventional approach to the papacy, including his choice of name, simple lifestyle, and compassionate focus on the poor and marginalized. They highlight his efforts to make the Church more inclusive, particularly towards LGBTQ+ individuals and immigrants. In the second half of the conversation, the team draws attention to a DOJ press release summarizing the first meeting of the Trump's Anti-Christian Bias Task Force, arguing that it misrepresents Christianity and distorts facts to claim persecution. They analyze specific examples from the press release, such as fines against Christian universities for lying to students or failing to report sexual assaults, which are distorted and presented as anti-Christian bias.
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This week Jews are observing the eight days of Passover, while Christians are observing Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday. In this episode, The Convocation Unscripted team (minus Jemar who is on the road) discuss the parallels between the crucifixion of Jesus and the current political moment, particularly the abduction and disappearance of Kilmar Abrega Garcia without due process. We express concern about the lack of action from Congress resisting Trumpâs attacks on the rule of law and democratic norms and the need to move beyond partisanship to save our democracy. On the Democratic side of the aisle, we express frustration that most have been reluctant to act beyond the normal expectations of their office; but we give thankful shout outs to senators Cory Booker, Chris Van Holland, AOC, Bernie Sanders for their actions. On the Republican side, we acknowledge and appreciate Sen. Lisa Murkowskiâs recent confession of fear for her own safety, but we also note that if just four sitting Republican senators would even temporarily side with the 45 Democratic and 2 Independent senators, they could stop the worst of Trumpâs actions and halt our nationâs slide into fascism.
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The Convocation Unscripted team kicked off this episode by talking about our encouraging experiences from the road, where weâre feeling the energy building to resist the attacks on our democracy. Jemar spoke at a conference in DC sponsored by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and visited elected officials at the US Capitol to encourage them to stand up for religious freedom. Kristin spoke to a rowdy (in a âgood troubleâ way) audience at St. Maryâs College in Indiana and is preparing for an upcoming âFree to Be Faithfulâ event in Grand Rapids, sponsored by by the Institute for Christian Studies. Robby just returned from a conference on âTelling the Story of Religion in Texas through Journalismâ conference, where he urged journalists to interrogate the religious language used by leaders like Trump who are using it to justify authoritarian policies. Robby also applauded the American Academy of Religion for standing up and condemning book bans after his book, White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, was banned at the US Naval academy along with six other authors writing about religion, race, and gender in American history. These are all beacons of hope as Trump continues to undermine democracy and devastate the US and world economy.
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In our latest LIVE episode of The Convocation Inscription, we all report from our experiences from the road over the last two weeksâfrom California, Indiana, Tennessee, and New York. Weâre sensing that all of the destruction unleashed by the Trump administration is finally sinking in to a broader swath of Americans, including folks in predominantly white Christian spaces. People are beginning to wake up, not only to the incompetence, but to the critical threat Trump and his presidency is to our pluralistic democracy. We urge people to understand the purges of websites, databases, and exhibits of the lives and work of women, LGBTQ Americans, and Americans of color for what they areâthe modern day equivalent of a massive book burning. And we give a grateful shout out to Sen. Cory Booker, who took the record from segregationist Strom Thurman, for the longest speech given in the Senate in our nationâs historyâthis time calling for a more inclusive vision of America. Finally, we urge people to channel their anxiety, anger, frustration into action by looking for local ways to be loud and to use whatever resources they have now, before it gets even harder, to protect democracy.
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In this episode, the Convocation Unscripted team takes a break from the daily outrages coming from the Trump administration to talk about the work for racial justice, healing, and repair that is taking place in unexpected places. Jemar talked about his recent travels to Jackson, Mississippi, and Montgomery and Selma, Alabama. Robby talked about his recent trips to speak at First Baptist Church of Richmond, Virginia, where his book White Too Long was chosen as a city-side book read for Black History Month, and to the Zacchaeus Foundation in Little Rock, Arkansas, which is facilitating reparations payments from white residents and historically white churches to support Black nonprofits in Northwest Arkansas. Diana is also about to be on the road for much of April, speaking with churches and groups who are continuing the work of social and racial justice, even against the prevailing winds. We wrapped the episode with a tribute to Roger Freet, a literary agent to and friend of Diana and Robby, who passed away this week. He was a great soul who supported so much good work in the world, and we miss him.
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Amid the continued onslaught against our Constitutional rights by the Trump administration, Robby, Kristin, and Diana discuss the importance of focusing on âbright linesâ that are being crossed. We celebrate the institutions that continue to hold courageous conversations in these challenging days, such as First Baptist Church of Richmond and St. Maryâs College in Indiana, which are hosting Robby and Kristin for public conversations. We discuss the likely illegal detaining of Mahmoud Khalil--a Palestinian recent graduate of Columbia University, U.S. green card holder, and husband of an American citizenâfor speech the Trump administration did not like. We also talk about the dangers of Trumpâs usurpation of power by declaring a national emergency. This emergency declaration, made without any legitimate grounds, gives Trump the power to unilaterally impose tariffs and to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, as he is likely to do shortly to institute mass deportations.
Finally we talk about the heresy circulating in Christian circles that empathy is a threat to the gospel. We point out that previous purges of empathy as a Christian virtue among white Christians in America prepared the ground for the genocide of Indigenous people and the enslavement of people of African descent. We know where that road leads. We also discussed the importance of universities and churches to avoid the trap of neutrality, since, as our colleague Jemar always reminds us, justice takes sides.
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In this episode of The Convocation Unscripted, Diana, Jemar, and Kristin talk about the AI-generated video about Gaza that Trump shared, the ongoing relevance of the "God & Country" documentary, Jeff Bezos' interpretation of "free speech", and how not lose your humanity from an article by Kelly Brown Douglas.
Watch "God & Country"
Read about the AI-generated video
Read Kelly Brown Douglas's article
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The Convocation Team (minus Diana, who was traveling this week) opened the show by talking about the importance of Katherine Stewartsâs important new book, Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy, which was released this week. The hosts agreed that Money, Lies, and God is a must-read book to understand the coalescing of white Christian nationalism, the tech bro oligarchy, and authoritarianism that is actively wrecking the nation under Trump. We also discuss emerging alternative platforms of courageous journalism happening on platforms like Substack. And we note the hypocrisy of Trumpâs executive order establishing an âAnti-Christian Task Forceâ at all federal agencies, which is simultaneously a vehicle for white evangelical Protestant Christian favoritism and a weapon against other Christians and religious groups Trump considers disloyal.
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In this episode, the Convocation Unscripted team highlights the religious resistance to the Trump administrationâs abandonment of three decades of guidance that prohibited the government from conducting immigration enforcement raids in âsensitive locations,â including places of worship, schools, and hospitals. In response, a diverse group of 27 Christian and Jewish organizations filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, claiming that such raids would violate their religious liberty and duty to welcome the stranger. We also talked about the role the law played in securing civil rights for African Americans when the executive and legislative branches failed to do so. Finally, we talked about the absurd turns the MAGA DEI hysteria has taken and the opportunity for Christians to develop a new theological anthropology consistent with a pluralistic democracy.
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On our second live Convocation Unscripted show, we were glad to be joined by over 600 live participants. Robby kicked us off by highlighting the main findings of PRRIâs recent study of support for Christian nationalism in all 50 states, reminding us that while the 3 in 10 Americans who are Christian Nationalism Adherents or Sympathizers are enjoying a moment of extraordinary influence, they are actually outnumbered by a margin of 2 to 1 in the general population. They are neither the best of us nor the majority of us. Jemar reminded us, particularly those of us who are white Christians, that in addition to examples of courageous, justice-seeking leaders like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we have an often overlooked resource closer to hand in the witness the Black church here in the US. Kristin and Diana talked about Trumpâs jarring speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, where he announced the establishment of a task force on âanti-Christian bias,â making it clear that this administrationâs commitments to religious liberty are narrowly focused on protecting the interests of conservative white Christians alone. Trumpâs attacks on Lutheran and Catholic social service agencies are just the beginning. After discussing a dozen listener questions, we wrapped the episode by each sharing a passage about resistance and hope from our recent books.
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In this weekâs edition of The Convocation Unscripted, we take a moment to recognize and grieve with the families of the 67 people who lost their lives in the fatal collision between and American Airlines jet and a military helicopter. This tragedy was close to home to Diana and Robby, who fly out of DCA regularly and walk and bike the scenic trails near the airport along the Potomac River. We also reflect on President Trumpâs awful attempt to use a national tragedy to further pull the country apart by blamingâwithout any evidence other than what he called his own âcommon senseâ--Biden, Obama, Buttigieg, the military helicopter pilot, and of course DEI initiatives that he insisted favored lower intelligence hires. Noting that Trump similarly blamed the California wildfires on DEI firefighter hires, we emphasize the importance of recognizing that this will be the playbook: weaponize everything, even disasters and the deaths of scores of innocent Americans, to advance a white supremacist worldview that justifies the destruction of the government itself. But we also noted, with some cautious hope, that we are beginning to see the stirrings of a faith resistance: from Bishop Mariann Buddeâs âsermon heard round the world,â to Quakers quietly suing the Trump administration over its mandate for ICE officials to round up immigrants while they are at church, to the Catholic Bishops finally speaking out when J.D. Vance questions the authenticity of their religious commitments to support immigrant families.
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This weekâs edition of The Convocation Unscripted was our first show after the inauguration of Donald Trump as president. There was so much to talk about and so many incoming questions from the nearly 500 listeners who joined us live, that we extended the show a bit. We covered a lot of ground, opening with how we are all coping emotionally with the deluge of executive orders and authoritarian rhetoric. We also talked about the symbols and rhetoric of white Christian nationalism at the inauguration, Bishop Mariann Buddeâs courageous sermon and appeal to mercy at the Washington National Cathedral, the blanket pardon of the violent January 6th insurrectionists, Elon Muskâs Nazi salute (yes, it was a Nazi salute), Trumpâs torrent of big and little lies, and the need for all of us to contribute resources to organizations, clergy, and leaders who are taking courageous stands, not just at the national level but at the local level.
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This is our first Convocation Unscripted+LIVE episode for 2025, which weâll now be doing weekly during the first 100 days of Trumpâs administration. We opened this episode by talking about the devastating wildfires in Southern California, which incoming President Trump is already politicizing with blatant lies about its causes. We talked about two events that each seem to mark the end of an era and are related to truth-telling. First, we discuss Mark Zuckerbergâs announcement this week that META is going MAGA, by appointing top officials from Trumpâs orbit to its board and global policy positions, donating to Trumpâs transition fund, and, most significantly, ending its fact-checking program on all platforms. We also reflect on President Jimmy Carter's funeral, which provided moving tributes to his life and legacy. And we recall that Carterâs principal campaign promise was, âI will never lie to you.â A new era indeed.
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In our last episode of The Convocation Unscripted for 2024, the Convocation Unscripted team give previews of their upcoming writing projects for 2025. Robby unpacks the findings from PRRIâs new post-election survey. The survey found that majorities of all white Christian groups voted for Donald Trump, as did Latino Protestants. Majorities of every other groupâChristians of color, non-Christian religious groups, and religiously unaffiliated votersâvoted for Kamala Harris. The survey also found that Democrats are five times more likely than Republicans to say they are altering upcoming holiday plans to spend less time with certain relatives in the wake of the election. Jemar and Kristin talked about the bizarre conception of manhood that seems operative among Trumpâs inner circle. Jemar also emphasized a disturbing finding from the PRRI survey: that white evangelical churchgoers were more likely than infrequent attenders to support Trump. They are, Jemar noted, white vectors for, superspreaders of the MAGA movement and white Christian nationalism. Kristin talked about the importance of taking risks and normalizing the basic task of telling the truth in spaces that are denying it. Diana raised the dangers of Elon Muskâs influence over elected officials and the new threats of oligarchy and plutocracy we are facing with the staggering amount of wealth at the disposal of a few.
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The hosts of Convocation Unscripted kicked off the conversation by sharing their personal experiences of Thanksgiving. While each took some time away from the news to be with family, we talked about the importance of paying attention to Trumpâs rolling administration appointee announcements, particularly while the Senate still has a role in confirming them. We discuss Trump appointees Russell Vought, Pete Hegseth, and Kash Patel, along with their deep ties to white Christian nationalism and Project 2025. The team wrapped the conversation by discussing the themes of justice and joy in the context of Advent, even amid this challenging time in our nationâs history.
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On November 17th, The Convocation Unscripted team rolled into Atlanta for our third Faith & Democracy Tour stop, after previous events at First Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC, and Dayspring United Methodist Church in Tempe, AZ. It was an energizing night with our gracious hosts at St. Lukeâs Episcopal Church with great music, inspiring conversations, and a packed house of like-minded people who wanted to celebrateâand think seriously about what it is now going to take to protect and live outâan authentic Christian faith that supports a vision of a pluralistic democracy.
At this special two-hour event, we were also honored to be joined by an amazing set of musical artists. If you donât know their music, you should:
Ruby Amanfu, 2x Song of the Year Grammy Nominee, Recording Artist, Songwriter & Producer;
Sam Ashworth, Grammy & Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter (H.E.R., Leslie Odom Jr.);
Taylor Leonhardt, Solo recording artist, member of Paper Horses;
Tommy Sims, Grammy Award-winning producer & singer-songwriter (Eric Clapton â âChange the Worldâ).
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In the first week out from his surprising sweep of every swing state and electoral victory, Donald Trump has embarked on a âshock and aweâ strategy of overwhelming the media with rapid-fire announcements of administration and cabinet nominations. By picking extreme, unqualified, and controversial nominees, and by preemptively asking the Senate to forego its Constitutional duty to provide "advice and consent,â Trump is setting up the first loyalty test for Republican senators. We talk about how this clown car of nominees expresses contempt for the basic idea of competency and the task of governance, but accomplishes one clear end: embedding sycophantic Trump loyalists who have no regard for the missions of the institutions with which they are entrusted across every branch of the federal government. In the wake of whatâs coming, weâll need to look for models of faithful resistance. While many white Christians have understandably recently been invoking the example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as Jemar reminds us, there is a Spirit of Justice that has animated the Black Christian tradition that is much closer to home.
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Two days after the 2024 presidential election, which resulted in the return to power of Donald Trump, we held our first Convocation Unscripted+LIVE webinar. Jemar hosted this conversation with over 500 participants. We talked about our deep disappointment that a majority of American voters chose to return to power a twice-impeached convicted felon and adjudicated sexual abuser who incited a violent insurrection when he lost the last election. Robby went over the exit poll numbers that showed the steady support of white Christians for Trump: 8 in ten white evangelical Protestants, along with 6 in ten white Catholics and white non-evangelical Protestants. Diana talked about the importance of being prepared to protect what and who we can in the coming years. And Kristin emphasized the importance of grasping the new reality in which we will soon be living, emphasizing the mantra, âDo not obey in advance." And, most importantly, we took thoughtful questions from all the live participants on the webinar, ranging from coping to organizing.
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It's our last episode of The Convocation Unscripted before the 2024 election. We open the session by taking stock of how weâre each doing since we returned from being on the road together for our first two Faith & Democracy Tour stops at First Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC, and Dayspring United Methodist Church in Tempe, AZ. Diana shared insights from a sermon she preached on uncertainty last week at the Duke University chapel. Robby unpacked some recent survey findings on authoritarianism and violence that are keeping him up at night. And Kristin talked about the importance of having courage and the rule of refusing to obey in advance, tapping lessons from Timothy Snyderâs book, On Tyranny. We also talked about the cowardice reflected in Jeff Bezosâs decision to stop the Washington Post from endorsing Kamala Harris, and the plans to traumatize civil servants that people like Russell Vought of Project 2025 are going to unleash within our government should Trump be elected.
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