The Interlocking Crises of Religion and Democracy

Last updated on: November 19, 2024 at 7:00 am by Vance Morgan

0 Comments

The Interlocking Crises of Religion and Democracy 2024-11-18T17:12:32-04:00 Vance Morgan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Readers of this blog know that a month ago, I spent two days with my son Justin in Denver, CO at Theology Beer Camp, a memorable gathering that we undoubtedly will do our best to attend next year as well. One of the memorable sessions we attended at Beer Camp was “The Interlocking Crises of Religion and Democracy,” a conversation between scholars Diana Butler Bass, Gary Dorrian, and Robert C. Jones, moderated by Aaron Stauffer. If you don’t know who those people are, keep reading. They are academic superstars.

Justin and I arrived about 5 minutes late from Saturday lunch and had to sit in the very back row of a packed (100+ people) small auditorium. The ensuing 75-minute conversation was riveting; Justin furiously took notes as we both soaked it in. We were particularly taken by Diana Butler Bass, who had been a central conversant in a panel discussion we had attended the previous day. After the conversation concluded, I asked Justin if he wanted to meet her–he immediately said “yes” and we headed up front to stand in the groupie line.

Before long it was our turn. I stood to the side as Justin asked Diana Butler Bass the pressing question that was on everyone’s mind that weekend: “What if Trump wins???” I appreciated that she did not respond with platitudes but rather with the truth: “I don’t know. But in the remaining three weeks we need to do everything we can to keep that from happening–we’ll deal with that if it unfortunately happens.” Justin and Diana then talked for a good 10 minutes about what he might be able to do in the bright red area of Colorado where he lives and didn’t even dare to put a Harris/Walz sign in his front yard. She talked to Justin with direct eye contact as if he was the only person in the room, even as the line behind us waiting to meet her grew longer and longer.

Well we all know that the unthinkable did indeed happen. Tripp Fuller, the main organizer of the Theology Beer Camp, put the audio of this conversation as an entry on his podcast “Homebrewed Christianity” yesterday–the link is below. I highly recommend that you listen to it to glean a great deal of wisdom and what will sound like marching orders for those of us still feeling stunned by the election. The link will take you to the “Homebrewed Christianity” podcast page; the link to the audio is at the bottom of the page. On the way to the bottom of the page, you will find brief bios of all of the participants. I’ll be interested to hear what you think of the conversation.

The interlocking crises of religion and democracy

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 17, 2024

Hannah’s Bold Faith Amid Patriarchal Blind Spots

Next Post

November 22, 2024 Ordinay Time is coming to an end . . .

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Mary did have a choice. And she was able to make it before the Holy ..."

madalyn baumstark

Mary Got To Choose

"i cannot read beyond your recommendations for the books since i like to have a ..."

madalyn baumstark

A Doubting Faith

"AI will never be able to utter with honesty, feeling, or humility, the greeting: "Namaste".It ..."

madalyn baumstark

AI and Human Dignity

"They do. I'm sure you could find discussions of the same topic from any of ..."

Vance Morgan

AI and the Life of Faith

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Advent AI Angels Artificial intelligence atheism attention baptism Baptists beauty belief Benedictines Bible bicycling Big Bird books Bovina Camaldoli hermitage Canada Catholicism cats certainty change Christianity Christmas Collegeville Covid-19 creativity Development of Western Civilization dogs doubt Easter Enneagram Epiphany Episcopal ethics Eucharist evil extroverts Facebook faith family fear flowers forgiveness freedom friends God goodness grace happiness heaven hell history Holy Spirit Holy Week hope human nature humility humor idolatry incarnation introverts irreverence Islam Jeanne Jesus Joe Biden joy Judaism justice Kamala Harris knowledge Lent listen literature liturgy love Marsue Memorial Day miracles movies music mystery mythology NPR Old Testament optimism paradox peace Penguins philosophy piano podcast politics power prayer Protestantism Providence College Religion Rhode Island sabbatical sacrament science seeing silence Simone Weil Socrates soul sports St. John's College stories suffering tattoo teaching technology television theology thinking time tolerance transcendence travel trees trust truth Uncategorized Vermont wisdom wonder writing

Select a Month May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz