We love your comments. In fact, we led off our discussion by sharing our reflections on one particular comment.

Robby shared,

[This person was] finding themselves feeling a little jaded by the constant, “You won't believe what just happened now.”

And same thing, day after day, after day—kind of a Groundhog Day experience, and worried about getting caught up in the negativity, not being able to think about: What do we do?

How can we manage the chaos?

How can we manage our own responses to it, and try to get to do something productive in the meantime?

So we each shared how we approach our obligation to tell the truth—which necessarily involves a lot of “doom and gloom”—with the equally urgent call to hope and resilience.

We do these live episodes once a month, and the best part for us as hosts is interacting with you in real time.

So we devote about half the episode to answering your questions.

We’re curious: How do you resist feeling jaded when there’s so much bad news? How are you cultivating hope and resilience? Let us know in the comments.

A Live Q & A Session with The Convocation Unscripted

Follow on BlueSky:

https://bsky.app/profile/jemartisby.bsky.social

https://bsky.app/profile/kkdumez.bsky.social

https://bsky.app/profile/dianabutlerbass.bsky.social

https://bsky.app/profile/robertpjones.bsky.social

Follow on Substack:

The Convocation- convocation.substack.com

Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net

Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com

Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com

Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com

Follow on BlueSky:

https://bsky.app/profile/jemartisby.bsky.social

https://bsky.app/profile/kkdumez.bsky.social

https://bsky.app/profile/dianabutlerbass.bsky.social

https://bsky.app/profile/robertpjones.bsky.social

Follow on Substack:

The Convocation- convocation.substack.com

Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net

Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com

Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com

Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com

We start this discussion this week with the tragic news of yet another mass school shooting, this time at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, which killed two children and injured 18 others. In this case, the violence broke out while students were gathered for mass. We discuss the trauma that such events create for children and families, when safe spaces like schools and sacred places like churches are targeted. And we lament the way this shooting is already being exploited by those on the political right, given that the shooter was a transgender woman, even though most mass shootings and acts of domestic terrorism have been perpetrated by straight white men. We also discussed the continued march toward authoritarianism with the firing of the CDC director, Susan Monarez, over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s insistence on restricting COVID-19 vaccines. Finally, we talk about President Trump’s recent preoccupation with “getting into heaven.” As with everything Trump, his musings betray a transactional view of heaven, a far cry from the doctrines of repentance and grace in the Protestant Christian faith he claims to have. We note the significance of a lack of concern by any evangelical leaders over Trump’s crass, heretical comments about salvation.

Follow on BlueSky:

https://bsky.app/profile/jemartisby.bsky.social

https://bsky.app/profile/kkdumez.bsky.social

https://bsky.app/profile/dianabutlerbass.bsky.social

https://bsky.app/profile/robertpjones.bsky.social

Follow on Substack:

The Convocation- convocation.substack.com

Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net

Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com

Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com

Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com

In this episode, we discuss the influence of James Dobson, who died this week, on evangelical Christianity and the Christian Right political movement. Dobson's writings, particularly his parenting guide Dare to Discipline, promoted harsh punishment of children and patriarchal norms. Dobson’s vision of strict discipline and hierarchical authority, popularized through is massive Focus on the Family media empire, laid the groundwork for the current white evangelical movement and the MAGA worldview. Diana shared her personal experience of being targeted by Dobson in a FOF newsletter, which led to death threats. We also discussed the unprecedented deployment of military troops in Washington, D.C., where both Diana and Robby live, which Trump falsely claimed was necessary due to high crime rates, despite actual crime being at a 30-year low. This occupation of our nation’s capital—and its justification with the invocation of a fake emergency based on lies—are straight out of the dictator's playbook. We close with the need to keep resisting and speaking out.

Follow on BlueSky:

https://bsky.app/profile/jemartisby.b...

https://bsky.app/profile/kkdumez.bsky...

https://bsky.app/profile/dianabutlerb...

https://bsky.app/profile/robertpjones...

Follow on Substack:

The Convocation- convocation.substack.com

Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net

Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com

Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com

Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com