The Christian Past That Wasn't: Formerly Telling Jefferson Lies
Season Three is coming. I am renaming the podcast The Christian Past That Wasn't to be consistent with the forthcoming book from Broadleaf Books, The Christian Past That Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths That Hijack History. This is so much more than a fact-checking book; it critiques the entire Christian nationalist project and misuse of history for political gain. Consistent with the first two seasons of this podcast, The Christian Past That Wasn't demonstrates that separation of church and state was the intention of the framers of the charter documents. We would be so much better off if we stayed true to separation of church and state in the US.
Podcast episodes will focus on themes covered by the book and will begin in the Spring. Watch for trailers coming soon!
Season Two is complete!
Telling Jefferson Lies chronicles how history can be hijacked for ideological and political purposes, as well as a much broader story about the surge of Christian nationalism and the misuse of history which often goes along with it. The series begins with an in-depth consideration of the methods of Christian nationalist story teller David Barton. Then I tell the story of how his book on Jefferson was pulled from publication in 2012 and the response of evangelicals to that rare event. From there, I broaden the scope to examine the varieties of Christian nationalism and the negative consequences of this way of thinking about church and state. The last segment examines the reasons why the separation of church and state is good history, good civics, and good religion.
For more information, go to http://www.gettingjeffersonright.com.
The Christian Past That Wasn't: Formerly Telling Jefferson Lies
What's So Good About Separation of Church and State?
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Often debates focus on Christian nationalism and the problems which come from blurring the line between church and state. In this episode, I end the Telling Jefferson Lies series with some thoughts and testimony from experts about what is good about separation.
Helping me close out the series are:
Randall Balmer, John Phillips Chair in Religion, Dartmouth College
Caleb Campbell, Pastor, Desert Springs Bible Church, Phoenix, AZ
Michael Coulter, Professor, Political Science and Humanities, Grove City College
Greg Forster, theologian, Trinity International University
Charles Haynes, senior fellow for religious liberty at the Freedom Forum
Paul Kemeny, Dean of Arts and Letters, Grove City College
Joel McDurmon, Attorney, theologian
Glenn Sunshine, Colson Fellows
The closing song is Gemini by Robo Surgeon Fish. You can add it to your Spotify playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/track/6vqnUYyOrqLAWudh6Z5B5x?si=d76ccbb6edb94cfc
Theme Song: The World Awaits Us All, Roman Candle
Background Music: Jonathan Swaim, Robo Surgeon Fish, Warren Throckmorton
Telling Jefferson Lies was written, produced, and hosted by Warren Throckmorton
To see what's next, follow my blog/substack at warrenthrockmorton.substack.com
For more information about the book Getting Jefferson Right, go to gettingjeffersonright.com.