Michael J. Frost

Focus on The Family Flightless Bird · Episode

For a deeper dive on all of this, you can also listen to the David’s Flightless Bird pod this week. open.spotify.com/episode/1wKK...

Check out todays Webworm by @davidfarrier.bsky.social
to hear my friend Shane & I discuss the impact of James Dobson and Focus on the Family. On one level it’s about Evangelical approaches to parenting, but on another level it has a lot to do with compliance & subservience to authoritarian leaders!

Thanks Joy!

This disruptive moment In the Shift · Episode

First In the Shift episode of the year is out -> What is going on in the world right now, what angers are being inflamed, what vulnerabilities are being exploited, how is this connected to particular religious beliefs … and where do we go from here?
open.spotify.com/episode/1CA6...

“I'm sure Seymour knows his Orwell and the value of a forever war to focus the population. That seems to have been his plan from the beginning. Opposition to Three Waters, Co-Governance, Nanaia Mahuta, or respecting the intent of the Treaty. Promoting false narratives that are repeated until people accept them at face value without stopping to question whether Mãori actually hold a privileged position in this country or whether that is, in fact, laughable. Unfortunately, the way the Herald and One News are reporting on the Bill at present seems to encourage this. They are furthering the myth that this is an important debate for our nation and not merely dog-whistle politics on behalf of the ACT party, with the goal of building support based on fear and lies.” - Nick Rockel

#nzpol

open.substack.com/pub/nickrock...

Nespresso is all George Clooney marketing and that’s it. Nothing else good about it imo. I usually drink pour over… but I’d rather have instant than waste money on Nespresso.

Just welcoming in the new year by spending my days writing an academic paper on the abuse of power within the kind of religious communities of which I used to be a part and of whom I recognise far too many of the people involved.

Exactly. Regardless of the arguments for and against types of free speech, I wish the absolutists would admit that they’re not actually absolutists. We’re actually always in negotiation about what speech we think should be allowed or not.

It’s amazing how the concept of free speech can be so easily manipulated and weaponised to stifle alternative voices. The irony in Nth America of right wing free speech advocates burning and/or banning books that contain stories or characters they don’t like.

Untethered | Shane Meyer-Holt | Substack A Hopeful Exploration of Connection, Care, and Community in Late Capitalism. Click to read Untethered, by Shane Meyer-Holt, a Substack publication.

My friend Shane has a Substack tackling the intersections of care, friendship, community, freedom, the feeling of disconnection so many experience, the pervasive social imaginary of neoliberalism. It's really good stuff. Check it out. theuntethereddilemma.substack.com

"Free speech is very important and everyone must be given room to say whatever they're thinking, but in order for everyone to be able to say whatever they're thinking, we have to make sure certain people aren't allowed say what they think in case it stops other people from saying what they think."

Even though we might not always feel in control, or even “safe”, a God of love, compassion, witness and solidarity can at least feel authentic, comforting and grounding in the midst of this experience of being human.

We then find ourselves having to justify God to ourselves and to each other. I eventually tired of having to keep that logic loop working and have had to find new ways of making sense of God and the world.

We can tell ourselves that if a God is in control, then ultimately everything will be ok, which is a very understandable impulse. But for many of us, at some point we realise this means that God’s “plan” seems to involve a lot of indiscriminate pain and suffering.

In my recent convo with Tom Oord for the In the Shift pod we talked about the problems that come with seeing God as "all powerful". There is often an instinctive resistance to letting go of omnipotence but I think it's partly because we subconsciously use God as a cover for our sense of fragility.

It’s such an incredible privilege to co-host the @bloodybiblepodcast.bsky.social with my dear friend and co-conspirator, Caroline Blyth. Check it out if you haven’t already. There are currently two seasons… and a book is in the works

imagine a country so furious about drag performers that it voted for polio

I'd like to report a murder.

(Ellison in today's Listener)

God After Deconstruction - with Thomas Jay Oord In the Shift · Episode

Last pod episode for the year featuring a convo with @thomasjayoord.bsky.social talking about his book with @trippfuller.bsky.social - “God after Deconstruction”. We chat about the existence of God, and the kind of God that might be worth believing in. Listen here open.spotify.com/episode/5HTa...

Age yourself with a movie you saw in the theatre as a kid

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim - Exclusive Extended Scene - IGN Watch eight minutes of New Line Cinema’s original anime feature The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which returns audiences to the epic world brought to life in The Lord of the Rings Trilo...

Here is 8 minutes of footage of #TheWaroftheRohirrim ! #lotr

www.ign.com/videos/the-l...

Just circling back to say I went last night and loved it! Thanks so much for the recommendation :) the music and musicianship was amazing. Galadriel was so good, the balrog scene was awesome too. So much goodness!

But sameness is the religion of empire and deeply dehumanising, stifling the voices of those who don’t have the power to decide who belongs and who does not. Belonging only truly becomes meaningful when it is connected to acceptance as we are, rather than reliant on our conforming.

Contemporary church growth strategies often rely on cultivating "sameness". Get people speaking "with one language", united behind "one vision", following the spoken and unspoken rules for belonging. This is the thing that keeps people in their place and the system efficient and growing.

I remember an “inspirational” talk from a 30 yr old man with no kids who spoke to a room full of parents about how he’d discovered the importance of getting away for 7 day solitude retreats to recharge. He suggested that everyone should do something like this regularly. It did not go down well.

I think this thread perfectly encapsulates Seymour’s goal/plan.

I aspire to be this eloquent. #toitūtetiriti

Look, I’m not saying these gangs are great or anything - but is this approach going to lead to anything other than a massively clogged court system while people are prosecuted for sweatshirts and caps?