The Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Mark interview Father Richard Rohr. Listen in as they talk about the Enneagram, the relationship between spirituality and activism, the relationship between movements and institutions, and more.

Father Rohr is a Franciscan priest. He founded the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1971, and the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1986, where he presently serves as Founding Director.

Through writing and speaking, Father Rohr explores issues such as Scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and social justice issues, male spirituality, the  Enneagram, and eco-spirituality.

Direct download: s1e21-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this interview, Jarrod and Mark interview Father John Dear. Dear is a Jesuit priest, peace activist, lecturer, and writer of twenty books on nonviolence.

He has been arrested many times in the course of his activist career. His longest period of incarceration lasted eight months, plus nine months of house arrest, following his participation in a Plowshares Movement disarmament action.

Father John Dear received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award in September 2009 for his solidarity and leadership in nonviolent resistance, vegetarian life style and Gospel living. He was chosen for the 2010 Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Desmond Tutu.

Direct download: s1e20-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this interview, Joanna and Jason interview Anton Flores.

Anton Flores is one of the founders of the Alterna Community. Alterna is a Christian missional community comprised of U.S. citizens and Latin American immigrants devoted to the ancient practices of accompaniment, advocacy and hospitality.

Find out more at www.alternacommunity.com.

Direct download: s1e19-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Mark and Sarah interview Becky Garrison. Becky is a religious satirist and freelance writer. She is author ofJesus Died for This?: A Satirist Searches for the Risen ChristThe New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy GrailRising from the Ashes: Rethinking Church, and Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church. She is a regularly contributes to SojournersKilling the BuddhaReligion Dispatches, and Geez magazine.

Direct download: s1e18-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Mark and Jarrod interview Stanley Hauerwas. Dr. Hauerwas is a Christian theologian and ethicist. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame and is currently the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Law.

Among his many books are Resident AliensLiving Gently in a Violent WorldThe Peaceable Kingdom, and Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir.

Direct download: s1e17-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Jarrod interview Rita Nakashima Brock. Dr. Brock is Founding Co-Director of Faith Voices for the Common Good, an organization dedicated to educating the public about the values and concerns of religious leaders and organizations. She also works with The New Press in New York as Senior Editor in Religion.

She is the author or co-author of a number of books including: Journeys By Heart: A Christology of Erotic PowerProverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, & the Search for What Saves Us, and, most recently, Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire.

Direct download: s1e16-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Eliacin and Mark speak with one of America’s most celebrated and controversial public intellectuals: Dr. Cornel West.

Dr. West is an African American philosopher, theologian, author, critic, actor, and civil rights activist. West currently serves as the Class of 1943 University Professor at Princeton University, where he teaches in the Center for African American Studies and in the department of Religion. He is the author of a number of books including: Prophesy Deliverance! An Africo-American Revolutionary ChristianityRace MattersThe Future of RaceDemocracy Matters, and Hope on a Tightrope.

In the interview, we talk to Dr. West about being disinvited as a keynote to the CCDA conference, his relationship with Barack Obama, the rarity of social movements, the power of love, the difference between charity and justice, and much, much more.

Special thanks to Jarrod McKenna…who stayed up all night in Perth, Australia to be a part of this interview but (due to upsetting technical difficulties with Skype) was unable to participate (listen to the end of the podcast–at around 56:45) to find out more…

Direct download: s1e15-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Mark talk to Onleilove Alston, a native Brooklynite and student at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University School of Social Work. Onleilove has worked with and studied emerging intentional communities and brings some helpful insights to potential blindspots folks in such communities have about race. She is a regular contributor for Sojourner’s Magazine.

Direct download: s1e14-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Jarrod interview Carol Rose, Co-Director of the Christian Peacemaker Teams. Christian Peacemaker Teams is a living answer to the question, “what would happen if Christians devoted the same discipline and self-sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war?” Carol has served with CPT in Colombia, Iraq, Palestine, Arizona and Kenora. She has been an active peacemaker since the late 1970′s.

Direct download: s1e13-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, Mark sits down with Seth Martin and the Menders for a few songs, a few laughs, and a conversation about folk music, prophets, and revolution.

Seth is a folk singer who brings together the deep spirit of American folk, anarchist thought (in the vein of Ammon Hennacy), a love for creation, and Quaker spirituality. He has travelled all over the country (when his car is working) to share his music (often on the fringe). He’s also spent time in Palestine with the Christian Peacemaker Teams. When he isn’t on the road, he lives in the Portland area.

Direct download: s1e12-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna, Mark, and Sarah discuss gender, sexism, and community. For most of its history, the church has NOT been a safe place for women to develop as whole and healthy people. As a result, men also struggle to know what it means to be healthy males.

The conversation explores:
The way women and men both lose out in a sexist society.
The importance of community in finding a better way to think about gender.
The fact that “Rocky 3″ is, perhaps, the most “manly” movie ever made.
Sexism in film.
Cookies.
And much, much, more.

Direct download: s1e11-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Mark interview Richard Horsley.

Richard Horsley is Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and the Study of Religion at the University of Massachusetts. He is a prolific author with twenty New Testament studies to his credit. He has edited or authored such words as In the Shadow of Empire: Reclaiming the Bible as a History of Faithful ResistanceJesus and Empire: The Kingdom of God and the New World Disorder, and most recently, Covenant Economics: A Biblical Vision of Justice for All.

Advanced apologies to Canada (listen through to the post-interview “banter” at the end to find out why an apology is necessary).

Direct download: s1e10-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Sarah, Mark, and Jarrod interview Brian McLaren. Listen in as they explore the nonviolence of God, the state of the world, and our relationship to Empire.

Brian is an internationally known (and controversial) evangelical pastor, speaker, and activist. He is the author of numerous books, including his latest book, “a new kind of Christianity.”

For more information about Brian, visit www.brianmclaren.net/archives/about-brian/

Direct download: s1e9-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Mark interview Wes Howard-Brook.

Their conversation covers, among other things: the “argument” within Scripture between advocates of the “religion of Empire” and the “religion of Creation,” the ethic of love (rather than nonviolence in the New Testament) and the anarchic impulses within Scripture.

Wes is adult educator, writer, and co-founder of Abide in Me Ministries. His book  ‘Come Out, My People!’: God’s Call Out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond, is now scheduled for Fall 2010 for publication by Orbis Books. His other books includeJohn’s Gospel and the Renewal of the Church, Becoming Children of GodThe Church Before Christianity, and Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now (co-written by Anthony Gwyther).

Direct download: s1e8-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Mark interview Mary Jo Leddy–Canadian writer, speaker, theologian and social activist. Leddy works alongside refugees at Romero House in Toronto.

She is the author of such books as Say to the Darkness We Beg to DifferReweaving Religious Life: Beyond the Liberal ModelAt the Border Called Hope: Where Refugees are Neighbors andRadical Gratitude.

Direct download: s1e7-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

Recently, Mark spent time in Birmingham Alabama, where he sat down with Jim Douglass, an activist, and noted author on nonviolence and Christian theology.

He and his wife, Shelley Douglass, founded the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington, and Mary’s House, a Catholic Worker house in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1997 the Douglasses received the Pacem in Terris Award.

Douglass’ latest book, JFK and the Unspeakable, explores how JFK was martyred as a peacemaker by forces within the Government. He is also the author of such books asThe Non-Violent Cross and The Non-Violent Coming of God.

Direct download: s1e6-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

Recently, Mark spent time in Birmingham Alabama, where he sat down with Jim Douglass, an activist, and noted author on nonviolence and Christian theology.

He and his wife, Shelley Douglass, founded the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington, and Mary’s House, a Catholic Worker house in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1997 the Douglasses received the Pacem in Terris Award.

Douglass’ latest book, JFK and the Unspeakable, explores how JFK was martyred as a peacemaker by forces within the Government. He is also the author of such books asThe Non-Violent Cross and The Non-Violent Coming of God.

Direct download: s1e5-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, we (Sarah Lynne Anderson and Mark Van Steenwyk) continue our interview Dakota scholar Waziyatawin. Be sure to check outpart one. In this part of the interview, we continue to grapple with how Christianity needs to come to terms with its imperial history. We need to repent with more than just words. Our ecclesial bodies (especially denominations with land holdings) may want to ask themselves “what does justice look like?”

We know that, until this podcast, most of you have never heard of Waziyatawin…but this interview raises more questions (in a starkly eloquent way) than any interview with a high-profile Christian provocateur. Please take the time to listen–we promise that it will mess with your head in amazing ways.

You might be interested in a series that has developed as a response to the challenges Waz issues to Christians in the interview: Christianity is Empire. That series will engage the imperial nature of historic Christianity and seek, we hope, to offer a chastened, faithful, alternative.

Waziyatawin is a Wahpetunwan Dakota from the Pezihutazizi Otunwe (Yellow Medicine Village) in southwestern Minnesota.

Waz currently holds the Indigenous Peoples Research Chair in the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria (British Columbia). Her interests include projects centering on Indigenous decolonization strategies such as truth-telling and reparative justice, Indigenous women and resistance, the recovery of Indigenous knowledge, and the development of liberation ideology in Indigenous communities.

She is the author or editor of: Remember This!: Dakota Decolonization and the Eli Taylor NarrativesIndigenizing the Academy: Transforming Scholarship and Empowering Communities, For Indigenous Eyes Only: A Decolonization Handbook,In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors: The Dakota Commemorative Marches of the 21st Century, and What Does Justice Look Like? The Struggle for Liberation in Dakota Homeland.

Direct download: s1e4-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, we (Sarah Lynne Anderson and Mark Van Steenwyk) interview Dakota scholar Waziyatawin. This is the first of a two part interview. For part two, go here.

This is an intensely challenging two part interview (part two will air in two weeks); we discuss how Christianity is intrinsically unjust, how justice requires the entire dismantling of civilization, and how denominations, if they are sincere in their apologies to Indigenous peoples, should take the first step of handing over unused lands to the tribe upon whose land they occupy. You’ll definitely want to forward that to your denominational headquarters. 

Waziyatawin is a Wahpetunwan Dakota from the Pezihutazizi Otunwe (Yellow Medicine Village) in southwestern Minnesota.

Waz currently holds the Indigenous Peoples Research Chair in the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria (British Columbia). Her interests include projects centering on Indigenous decolonization strategies such as truth-telling and reparative justice, Indigenous women and resistance, the recovery of Indigenous knowledge, and the development of liberation ideology in Indigenous communities.

She is the author or editor of: Remember This!: Dakota Decolonization and the Eli Taylor NarrativesIndigenizing the Academy: Transforming Scholarship and Empowering Communities, For Indigenous Eyes Only: A Decolonization Handbook,In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors: The Dakota Commemorative Marches of the 21st Century, and What Does Justice Look Like? The Struggle for Liberation in Dakota Homeland.

Direct download: s1e3-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Sarah Lynne Anderson and Eliacin Rosario-Cruz interview Ched Myers, activist, educator, and the author of a number of books–inclucing “Binding the Strongman”.

Ched, a fifth generation Californian, lives in a small intentional community in Oak View, CA, an hour and a half north of Los Angeles. Over the past three decades he has worked with many peace and justice organizations and movements, including the American Friends Service Committee, the Pacific Concerns Resource Center and the Pacific Life Community. Today withBartimaeus Cooperative Ministries he focuses on building capacity for biblical literacy, church renewal and faith-based witness for justice.

Direct download: s1e2-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna Shenk and Mark Van Steenwyk interview Nekeisha Alexis-Baker (founder of JesusRadicals.com, activist, organizer, and thinker). Note: this interview was recorded months before the Iconocast became a part of JesusRadicals.com.

Direct download: s1e1-Iconocast.mp3
Category:Iconocast -- posted at: 12:00pm CDT

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