Episodes
Monday Jul 02, 2018
Catching the Faith Superbug
Monday Jul 02, 2018
Monday Jul 02, 2018
In this Episode of Sacred Tension, Danielle and I chat about what would make us lose faith in Christianity, what still scars us from our evangelical pasts, our favorite Catholic saints, why we eventually came to affirm gay relationships, and much more.
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Patreon: patreon.com/stephenbradfordlong
Twitter: @stephenblong
Read my dozens or article at sbradfordlong.com
Monday Jun 25, 2018
Out of the Closet, Pt. 3: Theosis
Monday Jun 25, 2018
Monday Jun 25, 2018
Matt and I wrap up our conversation with Timothy by discussing, among many other things, Theosis: the spiritual concept that ultimately led Timothy out of the closet. Theosis is the belief that God is working to unite all things to Himself, and what this taught Timothy about his own sexual orientation is profound.
Monday Jun 18, 2018
Out Of the Closet, Pt. 2: Theological Metamorphosis
Monday Jun 18, 2018
Monday Jun 18, 2018
Matt and I continue our conversation with Timothy, unpacking his journey of coming out. Timothy discusses the gradual theological transformation that led to his liberation and fundamental shift of worldview.
Monday Jun 11, 2018
Out Of the Closet, Pt. 1: The Gay Evangelical Ghetto
Monday Jun 11, 2018
Monday Jun 11, 2018
In this episode of Sacred Tension, Matt and I are honored to share our conversation with Timothy, an old friend in the process of coming out of the closet. He shares what life was like as a conservative Christian, the importance of authenticity, the health consequences of the closet, the Gay evangelical ghetto, and much more.
Monday Jun 04, 2018
Cults and New Religious Movements, feat. Joseph Laycock
Monday Jun 04, 2018
Monday Jun 04, 2018
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I have a fascinating conversation with cult expert Joseph Laycock. He answers questions from me and my audience about new religious movements, and sheds enormous clarity on our culture in the process. We talk about why we differentiate between cults and religions, the history of the cult wars, new religions that have emerged in the past five years, whether or not cult brain washing is real, whether cults are an American phenomenon, and much more.
Monday May 28, 2018
Exploring Satanism, Pt. 2: Carnal Religion
Monday May 28, 2018
Monday May 28, 2018
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I continue my conversation with Satanic Temple spokesperson Greg Stevens about the core seven tenets of the Satanic Temple. Along the way, we talk about freedom of speech, bodily autonomy, the significance of how we treat our neighbor, the importance of science in shaping belief, and much more.
Monday May 14, 2018
Christian Movies Suck, feat. Say Goodnight Kevin
Monday May 14, 2018
Monday May 14, 2018
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I talk to the hilarious and insightful youtuber Kevin McCreary of Say Goodnight Kevin fame. We discuss his childhood as a Christian homeschooler, his firing from Focus on the Family, and why Christian movies are so gag-inducingly terrible.
Kevin makes a living critiquing terrible Christian movies on youtube. Find his channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/saygoodnightkevin
Monday Apr 23, 2018
Gender Apocalypse: The Danvers Statement, Pt. 1
Monday Apr 23, 2018
Monday Apr 23, 2018
In this episode of Sacred Tension, Danielle, Donald, and I discuss the Danvers Statement. The Danvers Statement is a statement from the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood on gender roles in the church, home, and culture. Danielle leads the charge with a complete breakdown on why the statement falls apart at the seams.
While the Danvers Statement seems dusty, arcane, and out of touch, it is still important. It still shapes the way many people understand family, gender, and culture. Underlying the Danvers Statement is an infallible reading of scripture which, like a house of cards, collapses under its own weight. Scripture is far too huge, ancient, and complex to be held to the standards that the CBMW try to hold it to.
The result is an impoverished and potentially abusive view of scripture, culture, and, ultimately, women.
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Monday Apr 02, 2018
Gay, Christian, HIV Positive
Monday Apr 02, 2018
Monday Apr 02, 2018
In this episode of Sacred Tension, I talk to gay Christian activist and blogger Donald Scherschligt about his recent HIV diagnosis, and how he is integrating his HIV positive status into his life and faith. Donald speaks vulnerably and beautifully about the first moment he found out he is positive, the politics of HIV, the cognitive shift that takes place when one receives a positive diagnosis, and much, much more.
You can find Donald at www.donaldlawrence.me, and on twitter @donnysurelegit. He is also the editor in chief of SKEW, a Level Ground magazine, which you can find at http://www.onlevelground.org
Do you or someone you know need help or resources on HIV? Donald has provided me with resources for anyone who might need care or want to learn more:
Everything you could ever want to know and more about HIV: http://www.thebody.com/
To find an HIV testing center in your local area: https://locator.aids.gov/
To find PrEP providers, I recommend a couple places: First, https://preplocator.org/
Second, If you live in a "healthcare desert" (a location where access to PrEP is unavailable due to legal or geographical limitations), learn about Nurx and get their app. They're an amazing telemedicine start-up that is making access to this pill incredibly easy: https://www.nurx.com/prep/
If you need help affording PrEP: https://www.truvada.com/how-to-get-truvada-for-prep/truvada-cost
To learn more about the history of the AIDS crisis: "How To Survive A Plague" is an infuriating, moving, powerful, amazing film and a must-watch for anyone who wants to learn about ACT UP and AIDS. It's totally worth the $3 for a rental on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrr0eA34CSM
Monday Mar 26, 2018
Surviving a Shooting
Monday Mar 26, 2018
Monday Mar 26, 2018
This episode of Sacred Tension is a bit different, in that it isn't actually a Sacred Tension episode. Matt Langston has graciously agreed to let me share the audio from an interview I did for his show Eleventylife on what it was like to survive a shooting when I was 19 years old.
Because this is a story I rarely tell publicly, and becuase I don't see myself sharing it again anytime soon, I wanted to offer my listeners the opportunity to hear it. In the process, Matt, Davey and I discuss mental health, social media, religious child abuse, and Matt recalls that one time when demons were cast out of him.
And please take the time to subscribe to Matt's show. You can find Eleventyseven's music and podcast here.