Avoiding Babylon

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!Everything feels louder than it should, and somehow less real at the same time. That’s the tension we sit with as Dr. Haugen (Dr. Deep State) joins us to talk about spectacle, propaganda, and the slow spiritual cost of living inside an attention economy that never stops asking for your fear, your outrage, and your loyalty.We dig into the core idea behind his new book, Saints of the Apocalypse: the apocalypse can look like distraction, not just disaster. From political theater and mass persuasion to the way online narratives “train” desire, we ask what discernment looks like when the world feels scripted. We also connect this to Catholic theology and typology, including St. Stephen, the Church’s historical memory, and how different readings of Romans 9–11 shape conversations about ecumenism and modern religious identity.From there, we turn to the interior battle: hypocrisy as religious performance without divine content, the temptation to trade truth for comfort, and the urgent need to learn how to suffer well. We close by touching big themes Dr. Haugen explores elsewhere, including AI, the metaverse as a modern Tower of Babel, and Fatima as a warning against confusion that masquerades as peace.If this conversation helps you see the spectacle more clearly, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it. What part of modern life feels most like “theater” to you right now?Support the showNeed seafood for Lent? Check out https://shoplobster.com/ and use code AB10 to get 10% from Maine's ONLY Catholic lobster company.Check out our new sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise:  https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps:  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!A single rumor from Rome can light the fuse again: is Pope Leo quietly trying to de-escalate the fight over the Traditional Latin Mass and stop turning Catholic liturgy into a battlefield? We start with the latest chatter around easing hostility toward TLM communities after Traditionis Custodes, then zoom out to the deeper question: what does fidelity look like when Church politics, social media, and constant scandals train us to pick teams instead of pursuing holiness?We also get honest about how online Catholic drama warps the soul. The temptation is to draw hard lines, label people, and turn “calling out” leaders into a sport. We push back on that impulse and talk about why cohesion matters, especially if the cultural weather keeps shifting toward real hostility. The point isn’t to pretend everything is fine. The point is to stay in the Church, stay near the sacraments, and refuse to let rage replace judgment.From there we dig into Scripture and history, including Genesis 3:15 and the theme of spiritual conflict, plus why the liturgy itself keeps forcing these questions back onto the table especially as we head into Holy Week and the Triduum. We react to a clip about a young adult stumbling into a reverent Mass and realizing, “This is what I’ve been missing,” and we ask what that says about worship, culture, and the future of Catholic life.If this kind of deep Catholic commentary helps you think clearly, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review. And if you want the extra segments and early access to upcoming guest conversations, join us on Locals.Support the showNeed seafood for Lent? Check out https://shoplobster.com/ and use code AB10 to get 10% from Maine's ONLY Catholic lobster company.Check out our new sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise:  https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps:  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!Holy Week hits different when you stop treating it like a reenactment and start treating it like formation. We sit down with Father Mawdsley to talk about the older Catholic instincts that the liturgy can rebuild: steady trust under pressure, clarity about what the Church is doing at the altar, and the quiet courage to refuse performative participation when something feels spiritually off.We get specific about the Good Friday liturgy, the solemn intercessions, and the practical question many people ask every year: when do you genuflect, and when do you remain standing? From there we move to Palm Sunday and the Passion reading, and why speaking certain crowd lines as a congregation can confuse contrition with participation. Along the way we keep coming back to the Traditional Latin Mass, pre-1955 Holy Week, and the claim that the rites don’t merely reflect Catholic belief, they shape Catholic reflexes.The conversation widens into bigger questions about propaganda, war reporting, and how Christians hold moral lines when everything feels like spectacle. We also take a listener question on usury and modern finances, including retirement accounts and how to detach from systems you didn’t build without letting money rule your life.If this helped you think more clearly about Catholic Holy Week, the Good Friday prayers, and the role of tradition in spiritual life, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest Holy Week question.Support the showNeed seafood for Lent? Check out https://shoplobster.com/ and use code AB10 to get 10% from Maine's ONLY Catholic lobster company.Check out our new sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise:  https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps:  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!A husband posts that his wife “was formerly promiscuous” and he “was a virgin,” and somehow we’re all expected to nod along like it’s spiritual content. That moment opens a bigger problem we can’t ignore: testimony culture is starting to look like confession-as-branding, where past sin becomes a credential and conversion becomes a content strategy.We dig into what this does to the moral imagination, especially for younger Christians who grew up trying to live faithfully. When dramatic stories get rewarded, it quietly teaches that holiness is boring and that wreckage is a prerequisite for meaning. We talk about repentance versus performance, the temptation toward antinomian thinking, and why public scandal isn’t erased by a quick “sorry” when real harm was done.Then we pivot to the political-theology fight blowing up online: Catholic integralism, natural law, religious liberty, and why figures like Scott Hahn are suddenly getting name-dropped as threats on mainstream shows. We react to the Eric Metaxas clip with James Lindsay and John Zmirak, clarify what integralism actually claims about the relationship between temporal power and spiritual authority, and challenge the “we don’t impose morality” line that collapses the moment you remember that every law encodes a moral vision.We also connect the dots to the convert boom narrative, Zionism pressure, Gaza framing, and the way “anti-Semitism” gets used as a debate-ending weapon. We read and respond to public statements in the Carrie Prejean Boller controversy and Bishop Robert Barron’s response, emphasizing the need to condemn real racism while refusing to treat all criticism of Israel, Judaism, or public behavior as hatred. If you want clearer categories, sharper definitions, and less propaganda in Christian discourse, this one is for you. Subscribe, share the show, and leave a review, then tell us what you think: where should Christians draw the line in public speech?Support the showNeed seafood for Lent? Check out https://shoplobster.com/ and use code AB10 to get 10% from Maine's ONLY Catholic lobster company.Check out our new sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise:  https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps:  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!One bad Mass can haunt you for years. So can one truly reverent one that finally makes the Catholic faith click.We sit down with Catholic Esquire to trace the path a lot of serious Catholics have quietly taken: from lukewarm Novus Ordo parish life, to apologetics and “doing all the programs,” to the shock of realizing how much the liturgy forms what we believe about sin, sacrifice, and the Eucharist. We talk about the Traditional Latin Mass not as nostalgia, but as a place where the prayers and posture teach the faith with force and clarity.COVID comes up as the accelerant. When parishes shut down Mass and delayed sacraments, many people stopped trusting the idea that everything was fine and started seeking a community that would protect a sacramental life. From drive-through confessions to Communion policies that felt irreverent, we unpack why 2020 pushed people “full trad” and why even defenders of the status quo still end up parish-shopping for reverence.Then we go big: Vatican II, religious liberty, ecumenism, and the social kingship of Christ. We explore why these debates connect to the current Catholic crisis, why sedevacantism arguments keep growing, why the SSPX question won’t go away, and how online “trad wars” can destroy charity if we let them. If you’re trying to raise a family, keep the faith, and think clearly about authority, this conversation is for you.Subscribe for more conversations like this, share it with a friend who’s wrestling with the same questions, and leave a review with the biggest point you disagreed with.Support the showNeed seafood for Lent? Check out https://shoplobster.com/ and use code AB10 to get 10% from Maine's ONLY Catholic lobster company.Check out our new sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise:  https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps:  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!Christian Zionism sounds “Bible based” until you actually follow the Bible’s own rules for reading the Bible. We start with the claim that many Christians were taught: God still has a separate covenant with Israel, modern return to the land fulfills prophecy, and end times can’t happen without it. Then we put that claim under the light of the New Testament and the result is uncomfortable but clarifying: Christ is the fulfillment of the law and prophets, not a footnote to them.We walk through the covenant story in detail, from the split of the northern kingdom and the lost tribes to Paul’s argument in Romans 9–11 about God’s promises and the ingrafting of the nations. From there we dig into one of the most fascinating “hidden in plain sight” connections in Scripture: Hosea 2’s betrothal promise, 2 Kings 17’s five nations, and Jesus at the well in John 4. The point isn’t trivia. It’s a blueprint for how fulfillment works in Christ, right now, through the New Covenant.We also open Isaiah 42 and Isaiah 49 to show the Servant as a light to the Gentiles, given as a covenant, with the coastlands waiting for his Torah, not a continued reliance on Mosaic categories as the final word. Along the way we challenge the fixation on earthly Jerusalem using Galatians 4 and Revelation’s stark language, then land the plane in Matthew’s vineyard parable and Jesus’ warnings about covenant judgment. Whether you’re Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, if you care about biblical theology, Israel and the Church, end times claims, and how to interpret prophecy without forcing modern politics into the text, you’ll get a lot out of this conversation.If this helped you rethink a long held assumption, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s confident about “Israel prophecy,” and leave a review with the verse you think matters most.Support the showNeed seafood for Lent? Check out https://shoplobster.com/ and use code AB10 to get 10% from Maine's ONLY Catholic lobster company.Check out our new sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise:  https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps:  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!Something feels different lately, and we can’t be the only ones noticing it. When Joe Rogan starts talking about church, praising the teachings of Jesus, and asking out loud “who was Jesus Christ?”, that’s not just another trending clip. It’s a signal that the old certainty of the new atheist era is cracking, and millions of people are suddenly willing to take Christianity seriously again.We play and react to the Rogan clips, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and Isaiah angle, and we talk about why seekers often start with “I like Jesus’ morals” before they can say “I believe.” We connect that to Tolkien and C S Lewis on myth, to the idea that every culture carries echoes of the Gospel, and to why a post-Christian society never stays neutral. If you don’t worship the true God, you will worship something else, and the substitutes showing up in mainstream culture are getting darker and weirder by the day.But there’s a tension here: is this a path toward real conversion, or a sanitized public version of Christianity that avoids the hard claims, the hard teachings, and the hard questions? We also get into Catholic media dynamics, the Daily Wire conversation, and what happens when Catholicism gets translated for a mass political audience.On the practical side, we rally our community around two concrete wins: supporting Enoch’s album fundraiser and backing Samuel’s new Matins lectionary (pre-1955 readings from the traditional Roman Breviary) so serious prayer is more accessible in one durable hardcover. If you enjoyed the conversation, subscribe, share this with a friend who’s been feeling that cultural shift, and leave a review so more people can find us.Support the showNeed seafood for Lent? Check out https://shoplobster.com/ and use code AB10 to get 10% from Maine's ONLY Catholic lobster company.Check out our new sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise:  https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps:  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!A strange AI intro sets the tone for a conversation about power, myth, and the cracks running through our civilization. We start with Tucker’s claim that some believers try to force God’s hand, and that secular boosters dream of a tech-ruled future. From there we pull the lens wider: the Bretton Woods order is threadbare, NATO expectations are stale, and a managerial class that once kept the peace now leans on slogans no one believes. Whether you see him as a disruptor or a danger, Trump becomes a prism for realism—treating Europe’s security habits, Ukraine’s symbolism, and great-power hedging as signs the old narrative no longer binds.Then we enter the thicket of AI. Not sci-fi hype, but concrete pressures: law firms cutting junior roles, back-office “email jobs” vanishing, and a narrow set of labs racing for an advantage that could snowball. We weigh the fear of a winner-take-all “singleton” against the possibility of AI fragility, closed-loop error, and a financial bubble built on scarce chips and shaky energy. Either way, the labor shock seems real, and the blow will land hardest on Gen Z and Gen Alpha. That lands us in the heart of the meaning crisis: social media frays trust, the dating market corrodes goodwill, and the institutions that once turned information into wisdom—churches, schools, civic bodies—feel absent when we need them most.We don’t retreat into mysticism or denial. Instead, we argue for recovering thick stories and practices that hold under stress: moral limits, local bonds, real sacrifice, and the courage to say no when power dresses up as destiny. We also warn about importing religious wars we barely understand; others see sacred stakes even when we insist it’s just policy. If this is the end of a world, not the world, then our task is to stand upright in truth, steward what’s still good, and build the scaffolding for what comes next.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review—your support helps more curious listeners find these conversations.Support the showNeed seafood for Lent? Check out https://shoplobster.com/ and use code AB10 to get 10% from Maine's ONLY Catholic lobster company.Check out our new sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise:  https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps:  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!Headlines, threats, and a thumbnail dust-up cracked open a bigger story: who decides what Catholics are allowed to hear? We walk through a sponsor-driven cancellation, the temptation to water down truth for access, and why the better answer is to build a new, open ecosystem where courage—not clout—sets the tone.We get specific about the “woman question,” patriarchy, and the way language like “mutual submission” often blurs real responsibility. For us, patriarchy means sacrificial fatherhood ordered to salvation: a husband guards the perimeter so his wife and children can live in peace. When men lead in prayer, penance, and practice—Mass, confession, daily order—wives feel unburdened and homes become small churches. We draw on Scripture, the Fathers, and a Marian model of docility and humility to show why this isn’t a culture-war bit—it’s perennial Catholicism aimed at sanctity now.Then we flip the conference playbook. Instead of marathon lectures and cocktail hours, we outline a format built for formation: 20–30 minute talks, long blocks of conversation, affordable tickets, and real access for smaller creators. Put it near a major airport, keep costs low, and let substance drive community. Along the way, we connect fortitude in public to the interior life: fasting against gluttony, penance against sloth, and daily prayer that sharpens the will. Beige Catholicism fades when men accept difficult duties and live them with joy.If you’re tired of gatekeeping and hungry for clarity, this one’s for you. Listen, share your city suggestions for our launch, and tell us what would make a conference worth your time. Subscribe, leave a review, and send this to a friend who’s ready to build something braver.Support the showNeed seafood for Lent? Check out https://shoplobster.com/ and use code AB10 to get 10% from Maine's ONLY Catholic lobster company.Check out our new sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise:  https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps:  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!If you could summarize the end times in three words, here’s our pick: Restrain. Release. Return. We open Scripture with the Fathers and track Revelation 20 as a map of history—Satan bound so the nations can be evangelized, the saints reigning as the apostolic Church governs, and a brief release that surrounds the camp of the saints before the Lord returns. That lens turns the chaos of our moment into something legible. The fall of paganism once silenced oracles and broke magic; the reverse image explains why occultism resurges, sanctuaries close, and temporal power shrugs at anything higher than itself.We connect the dragon’s binding with Jesus’ “strong man” parable and Paul’s “restrainer” in 2 Thessalonians 2—what the Fathers often saw, in part, as the Roman order transfigured by the Gospel, a Christendom that held the line until it didn’t. From there we take up the hard anchors: the Fathers are unanimous that Antichrist will halt public sacrifice, that he will be received by the Jews as a false messiah, and that the Jews will later convert. On the Temple, the tradition isn’t unanimous—some read “temple of God” as the Church itself, others expect a rebuilt sanctuary—but either path exposes the same deception. Along the way we revisit Athanasius on the oracles going mute, Augustine and Bede on Ticonius’s anti-church growing inside the Church, and why an apostate civilization can be worse than a pagan one.Then the lines get bolder through live caller questions: Is COVID’s global suspension of public worship a rehearsal for the prophesied ban? How should we weigh claims about Trump, a rebuilt Temple, or a “great monarch”? What’s the right way to compare the TLM and the Novus Ordo without dodging reverence? Where does patriotism fit when you feel no pride? And how do men carry real ambition without pride—working hard, staying ready, and letting God choose the moment?If you’re hungry for clarity without hype, this conversation gives you a sturdy frame, a reading list to get started with the Fathers, and practical steps for holiness in confusing times. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s asking the same questions, and leave a review to help more listeners find the show.Support the showNeed seafood for Lent? Check out https://shoplobster.com/ and use code AB10 to get 10% from Maine's ONLY Catholic lobster company.Check out our new sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!********************************************************Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1https://www.avoidingbabylon.comMerchandise:  https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.comLocals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.comFull Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribeRSS Feed for Podcast Apps:  https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss