Sacred Tension

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sacredtension.substack.comBecome a paying subscriber: https://sacredtension.substack.com/In this paid subscriber podcast, Timothy and I are joined by Bo McGuffee, founder of the Evolving Christian Faith Network. He helps navigate Christians through re-envisioning what Christianity can be.We discuss my latest article Can I Return to Christianity? In the process, we explore what it means to have a mature and integrated Christian faith.

I am joined by journalist, author, and gay marriage activist Jonathan Rauch to discuss his recent article in The Atlantic, which is an investigation into America’s long assault on the humanity of gay people. For the majority of the 20th century, the United States waged a war of psychic terror against its gay population. This history is largely forgotten, even by LGBT people. Read Jonathan Rauch’s article.Do you agree with us? Disagree? I love hearing back from my audience. Share your thoughts on this conversation in the comments section. If your comment is excellent, I might feature it in an upcoming article. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sacredtension.substack.comIn this episode of House of Heretics, Timothy and I discuss our most recent articles. His article discusses struggling with faith, and mine is about Christian sexuality. Along the way, we talk about the necessity of ministers; my Christian ethics; the disturbing case of TikTok star Ryan Foley; myths about porn, and more.Please become a paying subscribe…

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by sex therapist and author Dr. David Ley to discuss male sexuality. We talk about how men use sexuality to meet their deeper needs, myths about “porn addiction”, the importance of sexual role models, and much more. Dr. David Ley is a clinical psychologist, certified sex therapist, consultant, and expert witness. He is the author of Ethical Porn for Dicks, Insatiable Wives, and The Myth of Sex Addiction. Learn more about Dr. David Ley here.I love hearing back from my audience. Did you agree with us in this conversation? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below. If your comment is excellent, I might feature it in an upcoming post.Sacred Tension is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sacredtension.substack.comIn this episode of House of Heretics, Timothy and I discuss the bills restricting the free speech of Satanists and how these encroachments threaten everyone’s liberty. We also discuss my latest essay The Limits of Satanism, especially my criticism of “adolescent Satanism” as a form of political protest. Become a paying subscriber to get the full episode…

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I'm joined by progressive Christian writer and minister Bo McGuffee. Bo is the founder of the Evolving Christian Faith Network and author of the Substack by the same name. We discuss his religious journey, how Christianity must evolve, orthodoxy vs orthopraxy, the necessity of spiritual practice, my journey beyond Satanism, and more. Find Bo on Substack: I love hearing back from my audience. Did you agree with us in this conversation? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below. If your comment is excellent, I might feature it in an upcoming post. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sacredtension.substack.comTimothy and I discuss purity culture, porn, and sexuality. Become a paying subscriber: https://sacredtension.substack.com/

In this episode of Sacred Tension, my sister Elizabeth Schultz returns for a spirited debate about free will, the existence of God, and the foundations of morality. I am skeptical of the concept of free will, miracles, and God, while my sister defends them.Sacred Tension is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.I love hearing back from my audience. Did you agree with us in this conversation? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below. If your comment is excellent, I might feature it in an upcoming post. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sacredtension.substack.comTimothy recounts his experience as a Christmas bell ringer in the Salvation Army. We also discuss the Catholic Church’s astonishing new policy on blessing same-sex unions and the aftermath of my recent interview with Rauch.

Become a paying subscriber: https://sacredtension.substack.com/In this episode of Sacred Tension, author and journalist Jonathan Rauch takes the helm to interview me about my political transformation from progressive leftist to liberal centrist. We talk about cancel culture as a form of thought control, why I have turned against identitarianism, how the left’s response to the Hamas invasion of Israel galvanized me, and much more.Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program and the author of eight books and many articles on public policy, culture, and government. He is a contributing writer of The Atlantic and recipient of the 2005 National Magazine Award, the magazine industry’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. His many Brookings publications include the 2021 book The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, as well as the 2015 ebook Political Realism: How Hacks, Machines, Big Money, and Back-Room Deals Can Strengthen American Democracy. Other books include The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better after 50 (2018) and Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America (2004). He has also authored research on political parties, marijuana legalization, LGBT rights and religious liberty, and more.I love hearing back from my audience. Did you agree with us in this conversation? Disagree? Let us know in the comments section for this post. If your comment is excellent, I might feature it in an upcoming post. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sacredtension.substack.comTimothy and I discuss the new Daily Wire movie Lady Ballers, which is about a men’s basketball team who decide to become trans women to compete in women’s sports. It is obviously terrible and unfunny, but there are deeper issues worth discussing.Become a paying subscriber to listen to the whole episode and support my work.Sacred Tension is a reader-supp…

Become a subscriber on substack: https://sacredtension.substack.com/This episode of Sacred Tension is a cross-over with The Deep Dive podcast with Shawn C. Fettig. Shawn interviews me about my experience growing up as a deeply religious gay person, my thoughts on group solidarity vs. individual autonomy, and whether religion offers anything positive to society.Subscribe to the Deep Dive Podcast.Read my piece in Persuasion Magazine.I love hearing back from my audience. Did you agree with us in this conversation? Disagree? Let us know in the comments. If your comment is excellent, I might feature it in an upcoming post. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sacredtension.substack.comTake advantage of my Black Friday Sale! You will get 40% off a 12-month subscription and join a growing community of like-minded and curious people. You will also get access to the rest of this podcast, as well as a ton of other paid content. Use this link to get the discount. It expires on Sunday 25th. https://sacredtension.substack.com/2023blackfridayIn this episode of House of Heretics, Timothy and I…

In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by philosophers Subrena Smith and David Livingstone Smith to discuss the challenge and necessity of abolishing race. Subrena tells her story of moving from Jamaica to the deeply racialized culture of the USA and explains why she is Race Queer instead of Black. We discuss the many ways the ideology of race obscures actual human diversity, the difference between race and ethnicity, the similarities between race and witchcraft, and much more. Sacred Tension is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Subrena E. Smith is associate professor of philosophy at the University of New Hampshire. Her research is focused on philosophy of biology, in particular how biological thinking is misappropriated both in science and in popular culture.David Livingstone Smith is a professor of philosophy who has been studying dehumanization for almost twenty years. He has written three books on this subject. The first, Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others (St. Martin’s Press, 2011), received the Anisfield-Wolf award for non-fiction. It was followed by On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It (Oxford University Press, 2020), and Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization (Harvard University Press, 2021).They both write at Dehumanization Matters on Substack: Read their article The Trouble With Race and Its Many Shades of Deceit in New Lines Magazine.Email David at [email protected] and Subrena at [email protected] love hearing back from my audience. Did you agree with us in this conversation? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below. If your comment is excellent, I might feature it in an upcoming post. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sacredtension.substack.comSubscribe on Substack: https://sacredtension.substack.com/Timothy and I discuss my recent interview with David Gushee and his book Defending Democracy From Its Christian Enemies. We talk about the deep resentment over culture war losses in conservative Christianity and the concept of “thin democracy.”

Become a paying subscriber: https://sacredtension.substack.com/In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by ethicist and Christian dissident David Gushee to discuss his new book Defending Democracy From Its Christian Enemies. We discuss why some Christians are turning on liberal democracy, and why we should all defend democracy despite its flaws. We also discuss “thin democracy” and why it is not sufficient for a cohesive society.Find David Gushee on Substack.Read Defending Democracy From its Christian Enemies.I love hearing back from my audience. Did you agree with us in this conversation? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below. If your comment is excellent, I might feature it in an upcoming post. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sacredtension.substack.comBecome a paying subscriber to get full access: https://sacredtension.substack.com/Timothy is out this week, so my sister Elizabeth Schultz joins me to discuss how I may or may not be getting radicalized by the (admittedly not unanimous) leftist response to the Hamas terror attack. We also discuss the importance of thinking slowly, waiting for more evidence, Orwell’s analysis of words that obscure atrocities, and more.

Please subscribe on Substack! https://sacredtension.substack.com/In this episode of Sacred Tension, I'm joined by author, musician, occultist, and professional weirdo Logan Albright to talk about his new book Libertarian Paganism. We discuss what drew him to the pagan path, the cross-over between Paganism and Libertarianism, the role that meditation plays in his life, the problems with utopianism, and much more.Find Logan Albright at https://loganalbright.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sacredtension.substack.comIn this episode of House of Heretics, Timothy and I discuss the recent Atlantic article about the schisms in The Satanic Temple, whether Satanists have orgies, and why I found the article so mortifying.Become a paid subscriber and get access to this full episode: https://sacredtension.substack.com/

Subscribe on Substack: https://sacredtension.substack.com/In this episode of Sacred Tension, I’m joined by Yascha Mounk to discuss his new book The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time. We discuss why the progressive fixation on identity categories undermines the goals of progressive movements, my own experience as a gay man, the dangers of binary political thinking, and much more.Yascha Mounk is an expert on the crisis of liberal democracy and the rise of populism. The author of five books that have been translated into over ten languages, he is a Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a Moynihan Public Scholar at City College. He is the Founder of Persuasion, the host of "The Good Fight" podcast and serves as a publisher (Herausgeber) of Die Zeit.Read The Identity Trap: https://a.co/d/3Oc9guH This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredtension.substack.com/subscribe