Beyond Religion

Finally! The episode I've anticipated since the start of Beyond Religion: things get *weird* as Oteil Burbridge talks magic, mythology, and mystery. From professional wrestling to Icelandic elves, we cover a lot of ground. Dive in!

ABOUT OTEIL:

Oteil Burbridge is a Grammy award winning, American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band from 1997 through 2014, and as a founding member of the band Dead & Company. Burbridge was also a founding member of The Aquarium Rescue Unit and Tedeschi Trucks Band, with whom his brother (the late) Kofi Burbridge was the keyboardist and flautist. He has worked with other musicians including Bruce Hampton, Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Bill Kreutzmann, and Derek Trucks. So if you’ve made your way to Beyond Religion today because you’re a fan of Oteil and his music, welcome to my humble podcast.

OTEIL'S NEW ALBUM: Lonely View of Heaven

Karrie Gaspard-Hogewood is a PhD candidate studying Christian Nationalism as part of her doctoral work on the Sociology track of the City, Culture, and Community program at Tulane University. A Louisiana native and a graduate of LSU, Karrie began her professional career as a high school teacher where she taught Biology and Integrated Physics and Chemistry. Wishing to affect change in the larger educational system led Karrie to pursue graduate degrees in both Behavioral Science/Sociology and Social Work (she is also a licensed social worker) where she developed greater interest in the impact of social institutions on inequality and social change. 

During her time in the CCC program, Karrie’s interests have evolved to include the interaction of religious and political institutions, along with the policy implications of this interaction. Her research focuses on religion, social movements, religiopolitical violence, and the varying expressions of Christian Nationalism within the United States. 

Karrie has served as a consultant to the Center for Peace Diplomacy on U.S. electoral violence and has been an invited speaker, providing education to both religious groups and clergy on the threat of Christian Nationalism, as well as the goals and tactics of these groups. Karrie also teaches two of the required courses for the Social Policy & Practice Coordinate major at Tulane and serves as a Teaching Assistant for Social Statistics. She lives in New Orleans with her husband, Jay, and two rescue dogs, Otis and Mila. 

Research Interests: Social movements, Religion, Religious Violence, Spiritual Warfare, Christian Nationalism, Charismatic movements 

We've reached the end of season one. How did it go? What was the plan? And where are we going next?

References and quotes from this episode include: 

Rev. Alyssa Aldape was kind enough to join me as we talk about this alleged “Great Clergy Resignation” and what is going on among our colleagues at this particular cultural moment. Alyssa is, like almost half of my season one guests, a graduate of Samford University. She went on to receive a Master of Divinity from Mercer’s McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta. 

In this weekend's episode, we talk about the hard stuff and the power of truth telling. As Muriel Rukeyser asks, “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? / The world would split open.” We talk addiction, recovery, leaving church, and the power of rebirth. It's a doozy! Get ready to dive in.

If today's episode sparks some new thoughts on sobriety for you or asks you to consider if this might be a pivot point in your relationship with alcohol, here are some resources to explore:

My friend, my colleague, my brother: the Rev. Dr. Jake Hall. We've known each other for over 25 years, and that's enough time in life to say we've been through some stuff. Make some space this week for the full episode as Jake talks about a post-church life he never expected. It's raw, it's vulnerable, it's truth-telling, and I am honored to be a friend who can share this story in the light.

You can hear more from Jake each Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. eastern on 101.9 The Creek. Gospel Gothic explores faith through the preachers, writers, and musicians that have shaped the Southern lexicon and imagination. Explore the crossroads of faith, music, and meaning in the Christ-haunted South with host Jake Hall Sundays at 9:30am on 100.9 The Creek: https://thecreekfm.com/show/gospel-gothic/

The Wendell Berry quote comes from this brilliant poem:

How to Be a Poet (to remind myself)

i   
Make a place to sit down.   
Sit down. Be quiet.   
You must depend upon   
affection, reading, knowledge,   
skill—more of each   
than you have—inspiration,   
work, growing older, patience,   
for patience joins time   
to eternity. Any readers   
who like your poems,   
doubt their judgment.   
ii   
Breathe with unconditional breath   
the unconditioned air.   
Shun electric wire.   
Communicate slowly. Live   
a three-dimensioned life;   
stay away from screens.   
Stay away from anything   
that obscures the place it is in.   
There are no unsacred places;   
there are only sacred places   
and desecrated places.   
iii   
Accept what comes from silence.   
Make the best you can of it.   
Of the little words that come   
out of the silence, like prayers   
prayed back to the one who prays,   
make a poem that does not disturb   
the silence from which it came.

Today’s episode of Beyond Religion is a little different from the first three. For those of us moving toward expansive spirituality and away from restrictive religion, part of that process involves acknowledging where religion has caused harm. And not only that, but where the wounds are on and in our bodies. One of the worst offenders is purity culture within the Christian church.

The common messaging from evangelical teaching was that salvation had to earned by goodness, by purity, by struggle and suffering. You, O mortal, are too wretched for God to encounter and know without a whole lot of earning blessing and fighting to keep it. And when you grow up hearing that from all kinds of sources, it’s gonna mess you up in ways you’ll still be figuring out in your 40s and 50s.

Jay Hogewood and Elizabeth Lott candidly discuss sexuality, evangelicalism, and growing up in a purity cult. It's the church/bible nerdiest of all the episodes and also the one with the most cursing. Go figure.

The Rev. Dr. Jay Hogewood. Jay is the senior pastor of Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church in New Orleans, and prior to moving to New Orleans in 2017, he served as pastor of several churches in Baton Rouge, La.

Jay received his B.A. in English and history from Samford University in Birmingham (this is where we have a lot of overlap and will settle for a little while in our conversation today). He completed his M.Div. at Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University. His Ph.D. is in Hebrew Bible/Theological Hermeneutics from Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University.

In this episode we reference: