Halloween gets thrown out of school, presidential candidates get invited to church, and Oprah makes a show to promote her version of “faith.” (And tries to explain it to Stephen Colbert!)
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Enjoyed Phil, nice work… Oprah stuff was fascinating.
Hi guys! I just started listening to the show recently and I love the humor and the chemistry you guys have. Here comes the “but.” I’m sorry to complain, but it struck me as odd that so much time was spent criticizing a television series that you all admitted you hadn’t even watched. Maybe you would justify it by saying that you weren’t criticizing the show you hadn’t watched as much as the woman who produced the show? Honestly, I’m not sure which is worse. She is not a seminarian or a philosopher. She is a former talk show host. Just because she funded and aired a documentary series about faith on her network, does that mean it is fair to mock the way she talks about her faith? You may be aware that she was recently on Rob Bell’s podcast. I haven’t listened to this show enough to know…maybe you guys like to make fun of Rob Bell as well. But if you are sincerely interested in Oprah’s story and why she wanted to make that series, you might want to listen to the podcast. You aren’t going to hear her and say “nevermind, Oprah has an air-tight orthodox Christian theology,” but it might help you see her as a human being on a journey of faith and not a scapegoat for what you think is wrong with faith in America today. I’m sorry to leave a negative comment, I do enjoy what you guys do, I think this just didn’t sit right with me.
Marilynne Robinson is actually A UCC – United Church of Christ – member. Or she was in the past. I can’t imagine she would call herself a Calvinist! Of course, the President attended a UCC church in Chicago as well. Diana Butler Bass is someone that would be a wonderful guest on your podcast. Yes, she’s a progressive (like me), and she is out with a new book – Grounded – that I bet she would love to promote. She is a very well respected scholar in the Progressive Christian Community (I’m probably just a bit to her right) and would be a sincerely engaging guest for you.
I do wish you guys would dip your toes in the Progressive Evangelical world a bit more. There is a split going on in the Evangelical world and I think it’s definitely worth your time. I would be curious, for instance, to listen to Skye and Dr. Daniel Kirk from Fuller for a show. I would also be interested in your take on the Zahnd/Jersak /Boyd movement that has a lot in common with Eastern Orthodox Theology.
I always enjoy the podcast – see you next week.
P.S. I’m looking forward to when you all discover that the evil child kidnapper in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was none other than Benny Hill!