In this episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Jason and Christian revisit WWII and debate whether saving one Jew was worth killing 250,000 Japs (Christian seems to think so), leading us into a discussion about whether someone can be a noble soldier serving an ignoble national agenda (during which Jason accidentally compares the U.S. to Nazi Germany). The subject of racism emerges again, forcing us to rate just how racist Southerners are on a scale of 4 – 10 (there simply aren’t any numbers lower than 4 on this scale), after which we tackle the topic of parents virally video-shaming their kids. Jason’s bieber involves prohibiting white people from naming streets, while Christian is biebered by radio stations in the summer. Also, get in line, … [Read more...]
Podcast #49: It’s Racism, Stupid
In this episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Jason and Christian receive some much-deserved props for some past wisdom given, and then dispense even more by settling a dispute involving a caller, his girlfriend, and a lottery ticket. We weigh in on the Charleston shooting and revisit the McKinney pool party, after which we tackle the issue of Rachel Dolezal, the black white crusader for black rights. Is there a difference between her and Caitlyn Jenner, between being a white girl identifying as black and a man identifying as a woman? Is it racist to make a movie called White Men Can’t Jump? Can a guy be in the KKK if he’s black, but blind and doesn’t know it? Christian is biebered by Hollywood’s laziness, while Jason’s bieber involves feeling like … [Read more...]
Podcast #41: Rage Against the Machine
In this episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Christian opens up and shares with us good saintly folks what it’s like to be a vilified, persecuted agnostic (and if he thinks God’s going to help him out with this problem, he can frickin think again). He then amuses Jason with his slurred speech, which must be contagious since by episode’s end Jason sounds like he is speaking in slow motion. The issue of the Baltimore riots gives way to a discussion of such systemic issues as wage slavery, sweatshop labor, and the crime of Driving-While-Black (geez, some people always find a reason to complain, right?). A listener’s call opens up the matter of marriage equality, causing the DXPs to discuss whether the church or the state should have any say in … [Read more...]
Podcast #26: Mythical Christianity, Racial Stereotypes, and Handling Change
In this episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Christian and Jason start off with a voicemail from a listener who describes an unsuccessful attempt at introducing a friend to the podcast which ends with that friend thinking they’re racist. A question about Christian’s agnosticism leads to a discussion about whether or not the Bible is reliable and if Jesus could be who the Bible claims he is. Another caller, not realizing that Jason and Christian have been labeled as racist, brings up the issue of racial stereotypes. Alcohol encourages them to go ahead and take on the topic. A couple of other callers ask questions about how Christian’s and Jason’s personal lives were affected by their change in beliefs, which Christian is happy to answer. Jason … [Read more...]
Podcast #18: Referees, Rioting, and the Right to Die
In this episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors (emphasis on “drunk” for Christian), Jason puts down the whiskey and drinks beer to assuage the wrath of the Lutherans. Christian claims that referees only get in the way of good sportsmanship in much the same way that the police get in the way of polite looting. After acknowledging that nothing gets accomplished without a good riot, they answer listener voicemails which eventually lead them to whether or not a terminally ill patient should have the right to die on their own terms before God is done tormenting them with a brain tumor. Jason is then biebered by genre-less radio stations and Christian is biebered by the defiling of his favorite holiday. Also, Jason falls asleep while Christian is … [Read more...]
Racism: For Whites Only?
In podcast #8 (available for streaming and download below), one of the topics we discuss is racism. Jason brings up a quote from the first season of MTV’sThe Real World where Kevin Powell (a black cast member) is accused of racism and in response says, “Black people cannot be racist. We don’t have the power to control. . . .” At first hearing, I dismissed Kevin’s statement as ignorant. After all, racism, to me (a white male), means considering someone to be inferior in some way simply because of their race. While this is a valid definition of racism, it’s not the only definition of racism and not even the main definition. A quick search through the various definitions of racism will show that racism also has to do with the exercise … [Read more...]
Podcast #8: Offensive Words, Passive Seduction, and Selfies
In this episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Christian gives Jason a very special gift (hint: it's small, sings like a little Canadian boy, and you put it in your mouth); we take feedback from a female listener who is frustrated by her former time in the church when all her "sisters in Christ" thought she wanted to steal their husbands; we delve into the issue of language and labels, focusing on whether and when it's OK to use "the N-word" as well as whether jokingly labeling stuff "gay" or "retarded" is a retarded, gay thing to do; Jason bitches about his culinary needs never being met, while we hoist a poignant shot which Christian saved for the very end of the show. … [Read more...]
Just a Bunch of Random Crap
OK, a few random points. . . . This evening your humble Drunk Ex-Pastors will record our fourth podcast. We have gotten suggestions from a handful of you about topics you’d like to hear us address, but there’s always room for more (and if we don’t get to your question or issue this week, we will eventually, I promise). Just go over to the podcast page and click the link beneath the main image and submit an audio recording telling us what’s on your mind). Have you ever noticed that when girls hang out together in a group, they always choose friends with a similar body-type? Seriously, you never see a super athletic-looking girl cruising around with an overweight or a skin-and-bones girl. It’s like some unwritten code, where if one of … [Read more...]
Extremism, Flowers, and the Powers that Be
If you take a strong position on some issue, or on cultural/political matters in general, it is easy to label those on the other side as “extremists” or “reactionaries” (while failing to see that they might be passing the exact same judgment on you). For example, I remember when the O.J. Simpson verdict was about to be read, the police in Los Angeles were out in full force, decked out in riot gear, ready for the worst. But when the jury decided to acquit, the cops breathed a sigh of relief, packed up their tear gas and rubber bullets, and went home. Being very evangelical and somewhat racist at the time, I said, “Hey, wait! Why aren’t the police going to stay out and deal with the inevitable white-people riots and looting and … [Read more...]
Police and Wannabe Soldiers
Piggybacking on our latest podcast, I thought I’d post this clip from John Oliver’s HBO show, Last Week Tonight. In it he addresses the shooting of Michael Brown and chides the Ferguson Police Department and mayor’s office both for their deplorable handling of the situation, but also for ridiculous weapon-envy: “The police are troublingly dressed like they’re about to launch an assault on Fallujah. . . . The police are NOT soldiers, so why, in. . . Ferguson, are they wearing f***ing camo? They are northwest of St. Louis, not northwest of the Amazon! If they want to blend in with their surroundings, they should be dressed as a Dollar Store.” You can stream the podcast below. … [Read more...]