Straight White American Jesus

Do all religions lead to God? It's the kind of question that can get you in trouble in strict religious communities, so we look at why. Then we explore who has asked it over the years, from scholars and philosophers to Hindu, Sikh, and mystical traditions, and why many religion scholars today aren't convinced by it.

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494

🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com

Books mentioned:

📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/

📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants

Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour

🔗 axismundi.us

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In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi is joined by Matthew D. Taylor, author of Defying Tyrants, to discuss the raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home 22 days before the midterms, which came inside the Justice Department’s usual 60-day window for avoiding overt investigative steps. They weigh the evidence that the raid is politically motivated, including years of debunked conspiracy theories about her immigration story, pressure from right-wing influencers, and Trump’s rhetoric about the Somali community, while also acknowledging that a warrant was issued and that questions about her immigration paperwork remain open. They also consider Andy Craig’s argument that the case threatens Congress’s constitutional power to judge its own members, and what it could signal as a trial balloon for 2028. Max from UNFTR then joins to discuss Russ Vought, the head of the Office of Management and Budget: his Christian nationalism, his role in Project 2025 and impoundment, and a Center for Renewing America piece outlining how members-elect might be refused the oath of office in the next Congress. The conversation closes with thoughts on how citizens and institutions can prepare, including mass action and what Democrats need to do after the midterms.

If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.

Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com

Books mentioned:
📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e...

📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/...

Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com...

🔗 axismundi.us

www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months

www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad Onishi talks with three Wheaton College alumnae about the growing controversy over how the college handled abuse by a former administrator, and why they say the problem is systemic rather than the work of one person. The abuse took place in the 1990s. Alumni say it was covered up for roughly 25 years, leaving students and later victims at risk. The conversation covers the case itself, the calls for President Philip Ryken to resign, the theology of gender and sexuality that shapes how reports are received, and what it’s like to parent students on campus now.

Content note: this episode discusses sexual abuse and assault.

Guests

Andrea Sorensen Hamler: Wheaton class of 2004, writing teacher, scholar of rhetoric, and longtime behind-the-scenes member of the Axis Mundi Media team

Christy Hemphill: Wheaton class of ‘99, parent of two current Wheaton students, former international development worker and current public school teacher

Erika Roland: Wheaton alum, holds an MBA and CFRE, PhD student in organizational leadership, lives in Minnesota

UPCOMING EVENTS (Brad Onishi, American Caesar)

Oct 11: Knoxville, TN, Unitarian Church, with the Rationalists of East Tennessee
Oct 12: Nashville, TN, downtown library, 6 p.m., with Phil Williams
Oct 14: Memphis, TN, Rhodes College

MORE FROM STRAIGHT WHITE AMERICAN JESUS
Sunday: Interview | Tuesday: Live show with Brad and Matt Taylor, 1:30 ET | Wednesday: In the Code with Dan Miller | Friday: Weekly Roundup

If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.

Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com

Books mentioned:
📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e...

📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/...

Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com...

🔗 axismundi.us

www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months

www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They want to rule, not govern. This week on the Weekly Roundup, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller break down Trump’s “bomb LA” comments, the “enemy combatant” rhetoric aimed at Somalis in Minnesota, Hegseth’s plan to live-stream a firing squad execution, and Tucker Carlson and Curtis Yarvin’s Hitler comments. Then they close with some reasons for hope: Ossoff in the Georgia debate and a Satanic invocation in Ottumwa, Iowa.

With the midterms less than a month away, Brad and Dan argue the GOP is ramping up fear-mongering, race-baiting, and empty promises because it has little else left to offer.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro: Iran, LA, Somalis, and the live-streamed execution
03:38 The thesis: ramping up the tactics before the midterms
06:43 Somalis as “the new Haitians”
10:46 JD Vance can’t define socialism
15:26 Ruling vs. governing
17:37 Hegseth’s live-streamed firing squad
27:34 “Pro-life” and “family values”? Bloodlust and the research on televised executions
33:16 Tucker Carlson on why the UK fought WWII
42:38 Curtis Yarvin, JD Vance, and the “engineering” view of society
50:58 Transit funding tied to birth and marriage rates
55:15 Reasons for hope: Ottumwa, Iowa, and Ossoff vs. Collins
1:01:14 Upcoming events and wrap-up

UPCOMING EVENTS (Brad Onishi, American Caesar)

Oct 11: Knoxville, TN, Unitarian Church, with the Rationalists of East Tennessee
Oct 12: Nashville, TN, downtown library, 6 p.m., with Phil Williams
Oct 14: Memphis, TN, Rhodes College

MORE FROM STRAIGHT WHITE AMERICAN JESUS
Sunday: Interview | Tuesday: Live show with Brad and Matt Taylor, 1:30 ET | Wednesday: In the Code with Dan Miller | Friday: Weekly Roundup

If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.

Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com

Books mentioned:
📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/e...

📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/...

Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com...

🔗 axismundi.us

www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months

www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens to people who have never heard the gospel? It's one of the most common questions people raise in church, and one of the most uncomfortable: how can God be just if he condemns people who never had the chance to respond to the message that could save them? In this episode of It's in the Code, part of the series Questions I Wasn't Supposed to Ask in Church, Dan Miller walks through three broad Christian answers that stretch back nearly to the beginning of the tradition. Exclusivism, the historically dominant view from Augustine and the Protestant Reformers, holds that salvation comes only through explicitly accepting the gospel. Inclusivism, associated with Justin Martyr and more common among Catholics, holds that people can receive Christ's saving work through responding in faith to general revelation. And a third category, miraculous revelation, includes the "harrowing of hell" (Jesus preaching to the spirits in prison), as well as the idea, associated with Thomas Aquinas, that God provides a way for sincere seekers to encounter the gospel. Along the way, Dan explores why this question has troubled believers for centuries, how the answer often depends on the kind of church you grew up in, and how it differs from the separate question of what happens to Jews who lived before Jesus. He also invites listeners to keep sending in the questions they weren't supposed to ask in church.

If you enjoy our work, please subscribe.

Paid subscribers get bonus content, ad-free listening, access to the entire 1k episode archive, an invite to our Discord community, and access to the Axis Daily Brief.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494

🔔Subscribe - Substack: www.axismundi.substack.com

Books mentioned:

📕 American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy by Brad Onishi — out September 15: https://static.macmillan.com/static/essentials/american-caesar-9781250427922/

📗 Defying Tyrants: Following Jesus in a World of Christian Antichrists by Matthew D. Taylor — out October 6: https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9798341900370/Defying-Tyrants

Live events:

Full tour dates: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/p/the-american-caesar-book-tour

🔗 axismundi.us

www.quo.com/SWAJ - Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months

www.groundnews.com/SWAJ 40% off the Vantage Subscription!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices