Send us Fan Mail

NEW EPISODE - I'm so pleased to welcome back my friend Peter Wehner — political thinker, former White House speechwriter, regular contributor to The Atlantic and The New York Times, and one of the most thoughtful Christian voices speaking into America’s moral and political turmoil.

Peter joins me to discuss four remarkable recent *essays that confront some of the darkest and most urgent questions facing our nation right now. Together, we explore the rise of militant Christian nationalism, the theology and rhetoric surrounding Pete Hegseth, and the dangerous fusion of political grievance, religious certainty, and the language of holy war.

Peter examines how biblical texts — especially the imprecatory Psalms — are being weaponized to justify aggression, vengeance, and even bloodlust in modern political life. We talk about the influence of figures like Douglas Wilson, the appeal to “King David” spirituality, and why many respected biblical scholars insist that the conquest ethic of the Old Testament cannot be used as a model for Christian political action today. As Peter argues, the Sermon on the Mount stands as a direct repudiation of that worldview.

We also step back from the headlines to reflect on our deeply fractured culture — our polarization, loneliness, loss of community, and longing for what the Hebrew Scriptures call shalom. Along the way, we draw wisdom from voices like Desmond Tutu, Rowan Williams, and David Bentley Hart.

This is an honest, sobering, and ultimately hopeful conversation about faith, power, truth, and the soul of America. I hope you’ll join us.

*See SHOW NOTES for Pete’s four recent essays.

Support the show

Become a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you!

Ken’s Substack Page

The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

Send us Fan Mail

Live Event - We're Talkin' 2021!

Podcasters Brad Onishi (Straight White American Jesus), Ken Fong (Asian America - The Ken Fong Podcast) and Ken Kemp (The Beached White Male) join forces on Wednesday, February 10, 2021. A good group gathered to join us for a conversation about the New Year that brought serious crises: an insurrection, the denial of an election result, a failed presidency, an historic inauguration, and a pandemic in full bloom. They talk about their experience as pastors and podcasters, Christian Nationalism, deconstruction, the Super Bowl, racism and whiteness, Trumpism, and conservatism. Live questions from the group added a timely dimension to the conversation.

Check out our SHOW NOTES for much more.

Originally Aired: February 2021

Support the show

Become a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you!

Ken’s Substack Page

The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

Send us Fan Mail

This episode is something special. Imagine reconnecting with two young men from your youth group… fifty years later. That’s exactly what happened when Brad Thompson and Rick Axtell and I found our way back into each other’s lives after five decades apart, tracing a shared journey that none of us could have predicted.

Back in the early 1970s in Deerfield, Illinois, we were shaped by the same evangelical world at a thriving church on the north side of Chicago. Life, of course, took us in very different directions. Brad Thompson went on to pastoral ministry after graduating from St. Olaf College and earning his M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School—the same seminary I attended. Along the way, he also invested deeply in the lives of underserved young adults through YouthBuild, helping provide education, job training, and hope for a better future. Even in retirement, Brad continues to serve as an interim pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church—and he was the catalyst behind our remarkable reunion.

Rick Axtell’s journey led him into academia and service. He became a distinguished professor of religion and college chaplain at Centre College in Kentucky, earning multiple teaching awards and national recognition, including being named one of The Princeton Review’s top professors. Rick has also devoted himself to addressing hunger and homelessness, helping lead initiatives like Louisville United Against Hunger and founding a soup kitchen in Natchez, Mississippi.

Together, we reflect on our shared past and ask the deeper questions: What happened to us? Where has our faith evolved—or unraveled? What do we still hold in common?

If you grew up in fundamentalist or evangelical spaces and now find yourself wrestling with what to keep, what to leave behind, and what comes next—you’ll hear your own story echoing in ours.

Listen in on this remarkable reunion. SHOW NOTES

Ken's Substack Page

Support the show

Become a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you!

Ken’s Substack Page

The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com