Readers of this blog know that a month ago, I spent two days with my son Justin in Denver, CO at Theology Beer Camp, a memorable gathering that we undoubtedly will do our best to attend next year as well. One of the memorable sessions we attended at Beer Camp was “The Interlocking Crises of Religion and Democracy,” a conversation between scholars Diana Butler Bass, Gary Dorrian, and Robert C. Jones, moderated by Aaron Stauffer. If you don’t know who those people are, keep reading. They are academic superstars.
Justin and I arrived about 5 minutes late from Saturday lunch and had to sit in the very back row of a packed (100+ people) small auditorium. The ensuing 75-minute conversation was riveting; Justin furiously took notes as we both soaked it in. We were particularly taken by Diana Butler Bass, who had been a central conversant in a panel discussion we had attended the previous day. After the conversation concluded, I asked Justin if he wanted to meet her–he immediately said “yes” and we headed up front to stand in the groupie line.
Before long it was our turn. I stood to the side as Justin asked Diana Butler Bass the pressing question that was on everyone’s mind that weekend: “What if Trump wins???” I appreciated that she did not respond with platitudes but rather with the truth: “I don’t know. But in the remaining three weeks we need to do everything we can to keep that from happening–we’ll deal with that if it unfortunately happens.” Justin and Diana then talked for a good 10 minutes about what he might be able to do in the bright red area of Colorado where he lives and didn’t even dare to put a Harris/Walz sign in his front yard. She talked to Justin with direct eye contact as if he was the only person in the room, even as the line behind us waiting to meet her grew longer and longer.
Well we all know that the unthinkable did indeed happen. Tripp Fuller, the main organizer of the Theology Beer Camp, put the audio of this conversation as an entry on his podcast “Homebrewed Christianity” yesterday–the link is below. I highly recommend that you listen to it to glean a great deal of wisdom and what will sound like marching orders for those of us still feeling stunned by the election. The link will take you to the “Homebrewed Christianity” podcast page; the link to the audio is at the bottom of the page. On the way to the bottom of the page, you will find brief bios of all of the participants. I’ll be interested to hear what you think of the conversation.
The interlocking crises of religion and democracy
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In