I worked in " Liberal" California public schools for nearly 30 years. The dedicated educators and quality of education itself was inspiring. Many of those Public school teachers were themselves Christians who employed empathy, kindness, compassion, and dignity to all of their students regardless of economic level, social status , ethnicity, sexual identity, and ability. I worked alongside the students with specific learning disabilities. The work was so rewarding. I am now retired, but miss those remarkable kids. My children all attended public school and received quality instruction. They are all productive , kind, compassionate, and justice minded adults. I raised them to love God, and love their neighbor. They are good people. One is a High School English teacher himself who doubles his role as counselor as part of his daily job. The students see his compassion and come to him with their struggles. Just offering emotional support makes a huge difference in many of their lives. Project 2025 terrifies us, because we recognize that Trump's role is to just rubber stamp this horrendous agenda. He can sit at his desk, and lend his signature to their initiatives. This future is bleak. Please vote blue. I urge this as a follower of Jesus.
I wish I had had a nurturing, playful father. His daughters were terrified of him. If we were hurt and cried, he would bark, "shut up or I'll give you something to cry about ." My sister compares him to a combination of Hitler, Trump, and Frank Sinatra. A perfect description. Whenever I observe a kind, nurturing father interacting with his kids, it brings me to tears. The kind of man that I admire is one who shows gentleness, kindness, loving, and emotional engagement with his children. This is true manhood. Jesus was gentle with women and children. I hate this masculine macho ideal promoted by the Christian Nationalists as what manhood should look like. Uck.
I look forward to Friday's podcast with Tim and April. I'm grateful to you both for taking on the false Christianity being spoon fed to a gullible population of people afraid to think or question authority. Bravo!
My issue with teaching the Bible in schools, as a Christian, has always been, what version or denomination of Christianity are my children being taught. I preferred to teach my children what I believe, and keep it out of school.
I think I went backwards. I watched April on Fundie Fridays with Jen and James. I very much enjoyed the conversation. Always love April and Tim's conversations as well. Keep up the great work you two!
I haven't seen Bluey but engaged, empathetic and present fathers and more people modeling kindness for kids seems like a good idea. This is what sparks outrage? It's heart breaking.
I suspect the difficulty that person(sorry - can’t remember who was being quoted) is that HE personally feels incapable of fathering in the manner modeled by Bluey’s dad.
Just clicked Kindle for your book April & there it is instantly in my library. Can't wait to read it later today ... yes I'm probably going to binge read it in one go! Bravo April ... love you guys so much ❤
I am tired of all the hatred masquerading as righteousness. Have to check out for a few months to maintain my sanity. The US is such a messed up place right now. Blessings and see you next year.
Oh...it's one of those shows? I keep meaning to watch it, but if it brings out big emotions I'll have to meter myself. Those damn Pixar movies always get me, and on subsequent viewings I start crying the second the film starts because I know what's coming. This also happens every time I see Les Miserables; the first note plays and I burst into tears immediately. If Bluey is like this it's going to take me forever to get through the series since I'll have to take breaks to collect myself.
@@ChristopherSadlowski It’s very sweet and touching. The episodes are only 7 minutes and not every episode is super deep, some are just dang cute. But the episodes Baby Race, Sleepytime, Camping and Onesies can cut deep in very simple ways or just be so darn moving that you can’t help but choke up a bit as a parent.
Tim your two taps in the shower analogy was good imo. Human traits are unique and individual to each of us and comparing it to finding your preferred temp in the shower is a great way to conceptualize how masculine/feminine are both just human traits in our own personal blends.
Nebraska has a school voucher issue on the ballot also. The government just put it into law without putting it to a vote. So now the voters got it onto a ballot to try to revoke that.
As Tim was going off about “Trump is obviously biblical” it made me think of all the church leadership that’s been getting away with SA for … ever? And how people in those spaces are already used to accepting that, of course it’s nbd to accept Trump even with those negative attributes. They’re being led by people with those same negative attributes.
I feel like weighing in specifically on the Oklahoma request to issue 55,000 bibles to schools. I think there are multiple layers to this problem. I am originally from and currently reside in the state of Missouri in the southwestern (and conservative) part of the state, a close neighbor to Oklahoma. Back in the 1990's as a teen and 20-something, I lived in the Washington area (Fairfax County). I had the incredible experience of spending 3 out of 4 high school years in a Fairfax County High School (Annandale High, home to Mark Hamil and Dave Grohl.....use the force, there goes my hero). The education I received back in those days was what one might consider "woke" by today's standards. We did have to survey Christianity because it is crucial to understand western culture (NOT American history, western culture). I also had to survey Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, and Judaism. What made the experience a little extra awesome was the fact that there was at least one of each of those religions in every class. If we educated all of our kids like we educate our kids in Fairfax County, VA, America would be a much more reasonable place. And, poor Tim and April would have to find something totally different to podcast about :) :) In that context, we do need to survey Christianity in school because we want our kids to grow up to be well-rounded adults that are not Christian Nationalists. But - the number of errors in the Oklahoma request is too overwhelming to ignore. As April points out here, America is never mentioned in the bible. As Tim points out here, it is a bad idea to lump America's founding documents in with the Holy Bible. But it goes a bit deeper than that - the logic is messed up here. There's one historical fact that they're all missing - our early pilgrims and founding fathers HATED the Church of England. They hated King James. Most importantly here - they hated the King James Bible. In the 1600's when settlers came to Plymouth Rock on the Mayflower, they took the bible with them. They took the Geneva Bible of 1560. The King James bible was readily available to them, but people hated it. There are references to the Bible throughout various early American documents - references to the Geneva bible, not the King James bible of 1611. How do you think the signers of the Declaration of Independence would feel to see their document lumped in with the King James Bible? Probably not so good. Christian Nationalism was a movement that they left England to get away from. The other problem I have is on the same issue that both April and Tim have - and that is understanding the bible in its "historical context." If you really want to do that, you need to be studying the Roman Empire, first century history, Jewish history. There is some benefit to referring to both the Bible and the Quran in the context of World History. That's something our kids will grow up, make up their own minds on, and do on their own. Surveying history is good, but primarily we need to make sure our kids spend most of their time learning how to read, write, add, subtract, and understand Sir Isaac Newton. Exposure to culture is important too, but in the sense that we want to encourage our kids to appreciate it all. They can learn more about whatever they want, and they will, whether we (their parents) like it or not. My two cents - and I'd like to point out that here in Missouri we have apologized for Josh Hawley on the national stage on many occasions, unlike Oklahoma, Texas, or Georgia, who just embarrass themselves with Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ted Cruz, and James Lankford of OK. Cheers April and Tim!! Congratulations April on the book and Missouri salutes you Tim.
Love you, April and Tim!! (And, yes, I said April first on purpose :) Thank you both so much for another awesome Recap! And, yes, Tim, you DID create a lot of amazing content this week. Thank you for all that too!
I saw the 'face' in the storm meme. Someone commented that they couldn't see it, and I commented "You have to be a 'special' kind of Christian to see it!"
Thank you for this. I was an evangelical for forty years. I was a classic republican. But the birth of my grandson changed my life. He was not born a depraved sinner. I was also divorced because of an abusive husband. Women cannot go back. I’m a democrat now
Anything that goes against the fruits of the spirit is the talking point in Christian principle. Jesus says by the fruits you shall know them The fruits are peace joy love patience kindness goodness faithfulness and self - control, perseverance.
I love Bluey, and it's the first show I've watched that actually looks like our family. Bandit is a great dad, and the way he relates to his family is a happy reflection of my husband.
57 min - I was busy typing a comment and not looking at the full text of that post you are highlighting. 'The candidate I'm voting for is a Christian hero. Is my pastor. Is my Valentine. Is perfect. Is my sweetheart' yikes and triple yikes. I suspect the post was pro Trump; but even if pro Harris the idea/language is absolutely terrifying
Can we pause to remember Bluey is a 20 minute episode and focuses on the parents’ interactions with their kids. It’s not about what they do during the day. It models what imaginative play and play in general should look like between parents and kids. Also, kids and dads get oxytocin through play while mothers and kids release it during cuddling.
How does Trump uphold the constitution? He said he was gonna get rid of it. I’m voting for Kamala because I think she’s gonna uphold the constitution more than Trump.
Ya know, I forgot who said it but the line that really stuck out to me this episode was “America is no where in the Bible” and it really really hit me how much we are taught to insert ourselves, our Americanized perspectives, languages, dialects, and everything else in between, into the Bible because we think it revolves around our culture and our understanding of the world. Now that alone already makes me wonder how God really feels about America because if we were to look at it through the deluded Christian Nationalist perspective, we would think we’re God’s favorite and somehow the Bible revolves around America somehow. But now I just wonder, in light of how we generally treat one another within the country and abroad, I just can’t help but wonder how God really feels. Lord, help us, and great episode per usual!
Honestly, I wouldn’t give anyone under 16 a bible due to the violence and dehumanizing in it. There’s a no named woman sacrificed to a mob, violated, abused, crawled back to her betrayer, dies, gets yelled at for not serving her betrayer (because she’s dead), and then he chops up her body and sends the pieces out to get others to join in his war. This is just one bible story of many that makes the book unsuitable for children if we are being honest.
By 16 I think a child should have an understanding of the horrors that humans are capable of or else they become naive and ignorant to the horrors making them easier to fall victim to and for some, to exasperate the horrors. You don’t fix things by ignoring the reality of them and their best chances are in the knowledge they receive before they have to deal with them on their own.
I just hope there are enough people pushing back on this to stop it from happening. The fact that Trump even has a leg to stand on is just unbelievable!
I feel like teachers unions and the educational institutions need REFORM (because of how badly our kids with special needs are not getting what they need) - but I feel it means they need more help and reform, NOT REMOVAL 🙄
Personal comment of Laura Botten: I swear I will never call you Timmy :) Timmy is my brother, only ;) I loved April's Repentance!!!! Absolutely perfect. I've been trying to teach my son how to constructively debate. "It's stupid!" doesn't get you anywhere, even if it is stupid.
You can believe in rapture theology and also believe in climate change! Just because I believe that someday God will create a new world someday, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t take care and protect the earth for my grandchildren, and future generations.
Also I need to point this out regarding dannygokey's tweet: he is implying that rewriting the US constitution is inherently bad...and citing the amendments to said constitution as to the reasons why it shouldn't be.
Solzyenitzen would have found this group reprehensible, having spent years of his life in Gulag at the hands of the secular Soviet version of American Christian Nationalists
I’m a day late, so I apologize, but I was listening to your pod this morning and popped over here to comment since I think you engage more here. First, I ❤❤❤ how honest and real you both are! So refreshing! But I got triggered enough to write due to both the fact that that idiotic pop-up extremist group in OK used the words of world famous Soviet dissident Solzhenitsyn, whose Nobel Prize winning book, The Gulag Archipelago, told the world how this barbaric system works, AND the heartbreaking fact neither of you know him well enough to even pronounce his name. So yes, American education is lacking. Keep doing the awesome work you do and maybe take a minute to look up Solzhenitsyn or even read his book. ❤
43 min - marriage as we have now is a civil recognition of a union, for the purposes of tracking inheritances. Governments have been involved in marriage for centuries (predating US). Churches in UK were wary of even getting involved. Parish churches would hold the marriage vows at the Lynch Gate or the church porch for a chunk of history rather than pollute the sacred spaces with this legal action. 46 min - quote on abortion etc Listen to this.
1:17:26 - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - Russian author, dissident. It is strange choice for "mission" introduction. He fought in his works soviet prison labor system, he belongs to the Russian Orthodox, lived in USA for some years, returned to Russia and died. In Russia he is an icon for liberal minded people, who were oppose the soviet repressions on citizens. How had he become an icon for "mission" in some US based company linked to Christian nationalists? Strange. Maybe there are some ties with now days Russian Orthodox Church, which in reality became a branch of Putin's FSB system. Just strange.
I agree - very strange! I would assume Aleksandr would be opposed to "christian nationalism" based on his writings of the abuse of the Soviet Union's toward its people. He opposed those who had absolute/unchecked authoritarian power.
As someone who has grandparents near the autro- Hungarian border I do konw the thing with the churchbells but they do it for a different reason its basically the local storm warning like hey its dangerous dont leave your house. As a child my grandma allways said hey if the bells don't stop run home. I only know that meaning
What was also missed is that ‘Christ’ was never meant to be in our schools or government and Christ specifically warned against confusing God’s kingdom with social governments.
And frankly coming from a country with a state church; and from historic situations a chunk of state funded (esp primary = elementary) schools having clear links to certain denominations (mostly CoE or Catholic, but some others); Christianity is in schools (even the non faith linked ones) but nowhere near the agenda of the evangelicals in US. Religious studies is compulsory to a certain age - and Christianity is always included; but schools can choose which other faiths/worldviews they include - Islam; Judaism; Hinduism; Buddhism; Humanism..... In primary 2 faiths are to be included, a 3rd to be considered from yr 7 upwards... Philosophy of religion as a concept comes in at older levels too. Basically even the state faith churches have to teach that other faiths exist. And most are community schools, ie not taking just from religious homes, but the local village school etc. And whilst they may have carol service at the parish church and the vicar coming in to take assemblies, and tell Bible stories; faith is not enforced or presumed. In non faith linked schools then children will be told 'christians believe/do x' or better 'some christians....' . As a church leader who goes into schools to speak to children; or get quizzed by them about my beliefs, I am well aware of the boundaries and limits when with an audience that have not chosen to be there, or parents chosen to eg send them to sunday school. If I were to cross those boundaries I would not be invited back. TLDR - you can have Christianity in schools without deep indoctrination abuses.
Re: conservatives complaining about the nurturing, present father in Bluey - "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
I don’t want bibles in school.. BUT if they WERE… can you imagine the textbook graffiti that would get added! Middle schoolers and high schoolers just going crazy! 😂😂😂😂
I LOVE bluey. It is the greatest cartoon ever. Showing how a loving mother and father should be. I love it just like I love Hey Arnold. It shows real emotions kids feel and explores how their thoughts matter too!
A multicultural nation needs a multicultural education. While a Christian fundamentalist nation needs a Christian fundamentalist education. What does E Pluribus Unum mean to you? Christian fundamentalism is the clear and present danger to the rule of law and to our democracy. We can solve our problems peacefully as long as we have a democracy. If the democracy falls we will be in for interesting times.
How about people believing that the rapture is coming soon, so why work, why save money, why contribute to a retirement plan because Jesus will come soon? I won't hold my breath waiting to hear people say that.
The founders would have found Ryan Walters to be Reprehensible, and most of them were not what Evengelicals would consider Christian....Those who did believe in God were often Deists and Unitarians...these people were challenging Authoritarian structures for their time, which would not have sat well with neither the Calvinists/Puritains nor strict interpretation Catholics of their time
April I didn’t see anything in the satellite pic until you said goat then POW I seen it! That is God posting one of his creations for all of us to see!!! How amazing is that???
I love your channel. I've been on my own journey of deconstruction and reframing for some time. I was allowed to go through this journey with some very open-minded Christian leaders who didn't have a problem with my asking questions. My question is - around the 57 minute mark you brought up not allowing students to be alone with youth group leaders. I agree with this. In an earlier video you had an issue with the Billy Graham idea of men and women who were married to not be alone with a member of the opposite sex who were not their spouses. Can you speak to the difference? In my mind, there is a pervasive sexual nature between people. I have chosen to not be alone with a member of the opposite sex who wasn't my wife as a safe-guard against any perceived misdeed or potential allegation. This is in response to the ongoing misdeeds of leaders in Churches throughout history and a way to honor my partner and our marriage. Is my thinking misguided or am I playing into the patriarchy with this mindset? THANK YOU for everything you do and for assisting me on my journey to put language to what I have felt for years.
That is when I bring up Pete Buttigieg’s point that if you got that far in your pregnancy that you had most likely already decorated a nursery and picked a name, so it was a wanted pregnancy that obviously went wrong in some way. People do not wait that long then say no I don’t want a baby.
1:06:07 If you wanted to follow a region that taught us about the history of America, we should be practicing Animism, the religion of native Americans
Seriously, why do conservatives get such a hate hard-on for Bluey!? It's a show for little children for crying out loud! I keep meaning to watch the show because I hear it's great, and I love me some cartoons even when they're for little babies. Hell, I watch Daniel Tiger sometimes on PBS. It's a great show and I like how it teaches kids to talk things out instead of getting mad and hitting someone when you don't get your way. It also teaches kids to try to work out compromises on their own first, then seek out a trusted adult if that doesn't work. And a "present father" is somehow emasculating!? What. The. Actual. Fuck!!! Dads should be, what? Aloof, distant, and cold? I had a father like that and I went no contact the second I turned 18; there were many more reasons why I had to do that, but him being barely present was one component. PARENTS and GUARDIANS regardless of gender should be present, warm, loving, and an educator to their kids. A man being warm and loving is a good thing. I think the guy who wrote that article needs mega therapy more than anything right now. Way to tell on yourself dude.
Also, Meet is a really good source of protein that doesn’t contain carbohydrates and there’s not a lot of good alternatives yet to eating meat. I am hopeful that in the future when there’s a lot more alternatives to meet, we will be able to eat less meat.
Bluey for life. Bandit is a great dad after generations of bumbling and useless fathers in tv. Finally a really great father figure in children’s media, showing the kind of emotional benefit that can come from an engaged and loving father, and now people are pissed because he’s “too nurturing”. It sets up an expectation they can’t live up to for their own children, so they don’t want their children to watch it at all and question why their dad is not a source of comfort or confidence for them.
Also Bluey is named after an actual dog that the show creator had in childhood. People freaking out about the color and gender are looking for controversy that shouldn’t be there. It’s fun and novel to reverse this stuff. Adult women have no problem wearing blue and adult men have no problem wearing pink. This is a non-issue.
1 hr 7 Churchill was a strong wartime leader; but also has a history of dodgy racial ideas. Maybe OK could be leaders in education by paying the teachers at least as well as other states - rather than under paying; underfunding and throwing taxpayers money at Trump Bibles - when if want Bibles in every classroom, plenty of local churches would donate to their community schools. (they changed the rules but with too short a time for any publisher that doesn't already have a KJV plus Independence docs etc in a leatherlike cover; to be able to respond). Judeo-Christian as a phrase supports churches and christians defending the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible interpretation of christianity. Hence the obsession about having the 10 commandments displayed; rather than the NT where Jesus affirmed the summary of the law (already in OT) as Love God and Love your neighbour..... No we can't sexualise the children by a book showing a child with 2 mummies or 2 daddies; but we can have 'thou shalt not commit adultery' on the walls - as if children are never going to end up asking what adultery means....
That guy from Oklahoma obviously had a substandard education. And he is running the education in the whole state? Lord help us. Where is America in the Bible? Also talking about Churchill in American history? He needs to go back to school himself.
How is a "family role designed to produce a working multi-generational family unit" not a social construct? Isn't the family itself a social construct?
Can you look into the actor Kirk Cameron. He is really into fundamentalist Political Christian Nationalist. He use to be an actor in Hollywood. It would be interesting..
that is not a Biblical saying. But yes the Bible does talk about oversight of the planet; sadly for generations that has been interpreted as a right to exploit and rule over. Though always other voices about stewardship and care...
Thank you for this great message God has been so good to me. Awesome God ❤️my family are happy once again and I can now afford anything for my family even with my Retirement.$47k weekly returns has been life changing, after so much struggles.
Giving her my initial savings of $8,500 to invest in a brokerage account was a turning point in my life less 7days. It's been an incredibly rewarding experience.
'restoring the foundations of Western Civilization' What are those foundations? Well if assuming a focus on western European civilisation (as I suspect they do; as the roots for then US) then the foundations of modern life could be claimed to be the Roman Empire (and not the Pope kind). In covering this area and also to east and the south; trade routes that had already existed became stringer and more secure. Did Christendom dominate the later western european culture? Yes, absolutely. But I think the foundations of the european civilisation was trading; and with easily navigable rivers and then Roman roads the trade could flow freely and impacted development. (Compared to parts of the world where such connections were harder due to physical geography - read Prisoners of Geography). So the foundations of western civilisation is trading ie capitalism; and then expansionism and colonialism. The motivation for colonialism being trade based. Exhibit A - the British 'East India Company' that as a capitalist company ruled swathes of India before formally under the British government. Missionaries followed to these 'new' countries; but they followed the traders. I would say that the foundations of western civilisation are trade and capitalism.
I have a problem with that Bible! It does say to not add or take away from the Bible, so why do these people think it is okay to add the Constitution, and Bill of Rights? So wrong!
Most Hungarian Christians have historically been Catholic, so I wouldn't count on that church bell thing working for Evangelicals, at least those who think Catholics aren't Christians.
besides the term 'turn on the bells' ?? Ok sometimes can play recordings - but here in UK bellringing is done by bellringers; human beings creating the peals
@@helenr4300 yeah. In the US, most steeple carillons are now computer-controlled. We took the British bell-ringing tradition, made the bells smaller, and moved them indoors during the service as handbell choirs. Most of our church buildings aren't so old that it was hard to put the electronic bell systems in. At least, the majority of church buildings that ARE old enough that that was a challenge have very wealthy benefactors or have been sold off as private residences.
the whole cow thing is not really a good argument as grasslands help continue the carbon that is in the soil. Tilling up the soil to produce crops releases a lot of carbon, plus in America there were estimates say 30 to 60 million head of Bison, which would have produced equivalent amounts of methane as todays cattle herds. Then add in the herds of ungulates of Africa and in reality it is mostly a wash.
Oye... Yall need to do a bit more work in getting out of your former bubble. You dont know who Alexander Solzhenitsyn is ????? maybe read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. which exposed soviet prisons forced labor. Or The Gulag Archipelago.. which has been translated into over 35 languages because of its power.
