697: Cancelling "Judeo-Christian," Defending Slavery, & Rethinking Gaza with J. Ross Wagner

·1 hr 23 min·5 clips

Why are conservative Christians now rejecting the term 'Judeo-Christian' while defenses of slavery gain popularity 160 years after the Civil War?

The episode opens by questioning the shift away from the term 'Judeo-Christian' among conservative Christians and links it to rising Christian nationalism. The hosts then discuss pop culture topics, including a new horror film, 'The Carpenter's Son,' which imagines a teenage Jesus with supernatural powers based on the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Next, they explore a scholarly claim that a woman named Electi was the original addressee of 2 John, erased due to a copying error. The conversation shifts to Christian nationalism, with analysis of figures like Tucker Carlson rejecting Judeo-Christian values. A major segment focuses on defenses of slavery, highlighting Douglas Wilson's arguments that Southern slaveholders were biblically justified and that the wrong side won the Civil War. The hosts critique this as neo-Confederate apologetics tied to authoritarian theology. The episode then transitions to an interview with J. Ross Wagner, co-editor of 'Being Christian After the Desolation of Gaza.' Wagner discusses Peter Beinart's book 'Being Jewish After the Desolation of Gaza' as a template for Christian reflection. He explains how evangelical fear of being labeled anti-Semitic leads to uncritical support for Israel, overlooking Palestinian suffering. The interview covers the flawed conflation of all Gazans with Hamas, the cynical Israeli support for Hamas to undermine peace, and the need for American Christians to reassess their theology and nationalism. Wagner emphasizes Palestinian Christian voices committed to nonviolent resistance and calls for a theology rooted in Jesus' teachings of enemy-love rather than militarism. The episode concludes with thoughts on the fragile ceasefire in Gaza and the ongoing relevance of these issues.

As heard by us

A careful review of Christian nationalism, slavery, and the theological reckoning over Gaza.

The episode treats "Judeo-Christian" less as a settled inheritance than as a political label under pressure, following conservative Christian rejection of the phrase into a wider argument about slavery, the Confederacy, and public memory.

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Why you'd press play

You can move from Christian nationalism and slavery to Gaza without leaving the theological stakes behind.

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