Church and Main

Wiederaufbau

Dennis decides to keep sharing German words this week as he talks about what it means to rebuild or reconstruct the fabric of American life, including how all us can take part. The podcast concludes with some thoughts on this first Juneteenth as a national holiday and what it means for all Americans.Show notes:This Is Why Your Holiday Travel Is Awful Why we can’t build How To Revive A “Dead” Church Can Catholic social teaching redeem a post-Trump, pro-labor Republican Party? The case for wooden pews How Did Americans Lose Faith in Everything? Be sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: denminn@gmail.com.  website: enroutepodcast.org Twitter Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Support this podcast by leaving a tip  Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

Götterdämmerung

Is America facing a coming collapse? Is it facing a coup? There is talk and fear about our democracy. Donald Trump ‘s hold on the GOP is tighter than ever and he plans to run again for President in 2024. Moves by Trump and the Republican Party aim to delegitimize American democracy. Is this inevitable? Is it a tempest in a teapot? Dennis opines about the future of America and how our cloudy political future is tied to the complacency of American Society.Ross Douthat’s ArticleArticle from Dispatch on AZMona Charen Article in BulwarkFor All Mankind ArticleThreats to Election WorkersThe GOP base is the problem by David FrenchGOP and political violence by David FrenchWill Saletan ArticleIt’s Time To Build by Marc AndreesenBe sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: denminn@gmail.com.  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Support this podcast by leaving a tip Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

La Vie En Route

Big changes are happening to the podcast. Dennis talks about why the changes are happening (again) and the direction of the podcast moving forward.Be sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: denminn@gmail.com.  Twitter Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Support Spheres of Influence by leaving a tip Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

The Price of Power: Napp Nazworth on Evangelicalism and Trump

The steadfastness of the white evangelical vote for former President Donald Trump is old news by now. However it still leaves people scratching their heads: how does someone who has been married three times, a serial adulterer, race-baiting, misogynist win the GOP nomination and then the Presidency? How does he win white evangelicals by such wide margins?Today, I talk to Napp Nazworth, who made headlines in late 2019 for leaving the Christian Post over its support of Trump. Nazworth provides an insight to American evangelicalism, where its headed and what this all means for its present and future.We will also talk about the leaked detailing Russell Moore’s struggle with the Southern Baptist Convention and the changing environment in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination when it comes to race.Russell Moore Letter to the SBC Executive CommitteeChristianity Will Have Power-New York TimesHow the Christian Post Sold Its Soul to Trump- By Napp NazworthTo Those Who Say, “These Aren’t Christians - by Napp NazworthNapp Nazworth’s websiteProtestant & Politics PodcastBe sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: denminn@gmail.com.  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Support Spheres of Influence by leaving a tip  Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

Doing Time on the Mainline

Dennis looks back at 30 years as part of Mainline Protestantism, what bugs him, why he stays, and why this part of Christianity matters.Jonathan Edwards vs. Charles Finney The Post-Anxiety Church Mainline Faith, With Passion The Un-churching of America Why I Can't Give Up on the Mainline As Churches Close, A Way of Life Fades Revisioning the Future of Oldline Protestantism Be sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: denminn@gmail.com.  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter: @CompanyPolite  Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Make a Donation to Spheres of Influence (Buy me a coffee!) Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

The Thing With Feathers

Hope is something that is missing from American politics. It was not found in the campaign and presidency of Donald Trump and oddly it isn't found among his detractors. In this commentary, Dennis argues that if Trump and Trumpism is to be defeated, his enemies must have hope.Show notes:Theologies of Hope Why politics needs hope (but no longer inspires it) The world to come: A new politics of hope A Political Hope Why ‘thoughts and prayers’ is starting to sound so profane Be sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: denminn@gmail.com.  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter: @CompanyPolite  Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Make a Donation to Spheres of Influence (Buy me a coffee!) Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

The Republican Underpants Gnome Theory

Picking up where the interview with Reed Howard left off, how important is it to create a faction in the GOP? People say there isn't a civil war in the GOP and that the Trumpists won, but was it ever even tried? We talk about the hard work of politics, easy answers and magical moderates.The Future is Faction  The Future Really Is Faction Forking the GOP A New Center-Right Party Won't Work Be sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: denminn@gmail.com.  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter: @CompanyPolite  Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Make a Donation to Spheres of Influence (Buy me a coffee!)Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

The Future Is Faction: An Interview with Reed Howard on the GOP

Everyone is talking about the future of the Republican Party these days. Some think its too late to save the party, while others think there's a chance. Reed Howard thinks there could be one last chance to save the GOP from Trumpism. He was part of a groups of NeverTrump and Trump-critical Republicans who signed A Call for American Renewal, a statement calling on the party to change its ways or face the prospect of a new third party. Dennis and Reed talk about American Renewal and its prospects, the future of the GOP and why white evangelicals took a more authoritarian turn.A Call for American Renewal The Future is Faction  The Future Really Is Faction Be sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: denminn@gmail.com.  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter: @CompanyPolite  Facebook Page  YouTube Channel Make a Donation to Spheres of Influence  Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

Potpourri : Liz, NeverTrump, Unemployment, Israel-Palestine

In this episode, Dennis does a potpourri of events from Liz Cheney to the Israeli Palestinian conflict.  Why the Republican Party Won’t Die Already:Life for those in GazaIs this Anti-Trump group ready to fight Trump? Does Never Trump have a chance?A Call for American RenewalThe Free Market Welfare StateThe Party of Free Enterprise High Tory America?Simplistic Narratives About Israel/Palestine #1Simplistic Narratives About Israel/Palestine #2Secular QuebecBe sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: denminn@gmail.com.  website: spheresofinfluence.org Twitter: @CompanyPolite  Facebook Page  YouTube Channel  Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe

Democracy in the Golden Age of Bulls***t

We like to think that b**********g is a mostly harmless gesture, but it can do great harm to institutions. Dennis looks at how b**********g from the boardroom to the White House can threaten democracy.Sears, Trump and the Age of Bull, by Dennis Sanders Eddie Lampert Interview, Chicago Sun-Times Donald Trump Is BS, Says Expert in BS by Harry Frankfurt Why BS is More Dangerous Than A Lie by John PetrocelliBe sure to rate us and leave a review.  Share the podcast with others!  Questions? Send an email: denminn@gmail.com.  website: spheresofinfluence.orgTwitter: @CompanyPolite Facebook: YouTube Channel Get full access to Church and Main at churchandmain.substack.com/subscribe