In the first hour we get into spiritual narcissism, not as an abstract idea but as something that shapes real communities and does real damage. We talk about MAGA as a kind of cult identity, Trump as a case study in personality-driven power, and how prosperity gospel culture helped prepare the ground for all of it. We also get into religious trauma and why, at least for me, institutional Christianity isn’t something that can be fixed from the inside. And we don’t let progressive spaces off the hook either. The same patterns show up there too, just with different language.

In the second hour we stop diagnosing and start asking what now. Becky talks about why she’s still hopeful in spite of everything, and we get into the limits of satire in a culture that already feels like parody. We talk about the collapse of celebrity-driven leadership, the exhaustion people feel with national politics, and why real change may be happening in smaller, local, less visible ways. It’s less about movements and more about relationships. Less about influence and more about staying human.

LINKS

Gaslighting For God

I have had the pleasure of talking to some of the leading authors, artists, activists, and change-makers of our time on this podcast, and I want to personally thank you for subscribing, listening, and sharing 100-plus episodes over 100,000 times.

Please subscribe to this Podcast, In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer, on your favorite platform, and to my Substack, It Has to Be Said.

Thanks!

Every subscription helps create, build, sustain and put voice to this movement for truth.

Subscribe to It Has to Be Said.

The Gospel of Zip will be released in print and on Amazon Kindle, and as a full video on YouTube and Substack that you can watch or listen to for free.

Support the show

_____
In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer is a production of the George Bailey Morality in Public Life Fellowship. It is hosted by Frank Schaeffer, author of The Gospel of Zip.

Learn more at https://www.thegospelofzip.com/

Follow Frank on Substack, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.

https://frankschaeffer.substack.com
https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16
https://twitter.com/Frank_Schaeffer
https://www.instagram.com/frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.threads.net/@frank_schaeffer_art
https://www.tiktok.com/@frank_schaeffer
https://www.youtube.com/c/FrankSchaefferYouTube

In Conversation… with Frank Schaeffer Podcast

God's Politics

Mentioned by

Mentioned in 0 episodes

The AI-powered Podcast Player