Since WWII, the United States has been actively engaged in foreign aid as part of its strategic foreign policy, and Christians of all theological and political views have broadly supported this effort. In the first month of the Trump administration, however, Christians on the far right have suddenly turned against international aid. What’s behind this change and are there parallels on the religious left? And what does it mean when MAGA Catholics are arguing directly with Pope Francis about immigrants, refugees, and the poor? Author and journalist, Katherine Stewart, has investigated the religious nationalist movement for 15 years. She says there’s a major disconnect between the super-rich funding the movement (many aren’t even Christians), and the average white evangelicals caught up in its conspiracy theories and events. She talks with Skye about her new book, “Money, Lies, and God.” Also this week—Phil looks at larvae and sees the face of God.
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0:00 - Show Starts
2:28 - Theme Song
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5:32 - News of the Termite-Faced Butts!
12:03 - Space Force Skye
19:20 - Is Humanitarian Aid Biblical?
24:32 - Romans 13
37:35 - Are Anti-Foreign Aid Arguments Consistent?
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53:44 - Interview
57:03 - Information Bubbles
1:03:33 - Is this All a Grift?
1:10:11 - The Inconsistencies of MAGA
1:20:17 - Red Caesar
1:25:52 - End Credits
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Money, Lies and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart: https://a.co/d/b85D6UN
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I have to push back on something Skye said. He compared the push to get rid of foreign aid in right-wing Christian spaces as a diametrically opposed to clear Christian teaching to the push in left-wing Christian spaces as the same. I call foul. That is a poor comparison, because the impulse on the left is born out of clear Christian teachins of compassion, love, inclusion, and empathy. The right wing anti-foreign aid crowd is abjectly lacking compassion, love, inclusion, and empathy. Be careful what you use as anlogies.
I feel like there’s a metaphor in the face butts… maggot/maga grifters… related to the infiltration of another species/group for a hostile takeover, hmmm? Fits the episode theme is all I’m sayin’.
https://www.bbc.com/newsround/articles/c75zpy1609vo
I haven’t finished listening yet, but this was the absolute best News of the Butt ever! I’m a science educator so all of the news of the butt spots are interesting to me, but this one along with the banter made it to #1 on my list!
The quesiton over what a nation's biblical resonsibilities in relation to aid are, struck me as a wonderful example of the ways our modern reference book way of reading the bible misshapes our engagement with the world. Asking if the US giving aid to other nations is biblical just struck a strange chord; what is meant by biblical? Especially as the question switched from theological to prudential considerations consistently. I appreciated both Skye and Kaitlyn's answer (especially the push back on the idea that the Government is someone beside us), but thought the answer to this sort of reading I had heard expressed by Tim Mackie earlier in the day (on Practicing the Way's podcast series on Scripture) may hav…
mis-pronunciation may lead to misunderstanding. At 1h19:25 Skye says "inter-Nicene" where I think he meant "internecine" (2nd "e" rhymes with "egg") (fighting in a tribe between factions in the tribe) visiting pedant leaves the stage to spirit warr'yors. ... 俳句 I have peeps in these spheres, thanks Katherine for this clear presentation.