Iconocast Episode 28: Jonathan Moyer

the Iconocast Collective : May 12, 2011 5:04 pm : Iconocast

In this episode, Joanna and Mark interview Jonathan Moyer, co-founder of the Groupee.

The Groupee system is an alternative medium of exchange created by a community of Mennonites in Denver, Colorado for the broader church. The Groupee is a wooden token that is exchangeable for the time, labor and materials of other members of the community to facilitate mutual support. The Groupee system creates space for members of the Groupee Community to ask for and receive help. It embeds a piece of community productivity in an alternative to standard society and state-based mediums of exchange that have roots in violence and often promote the misappropriation of surplus value. The Groupee is rooted in an Anabaptist understanding of stewardship, community, social-justice and peacemaking.

Jonathan Moyer is a dissertation level PhD candidate at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. His research focus is on the future of interstate relations, and emphasizes both domestic and dyadic conflict. His dissertation explores future trends and pressures on international conflict (global power transition, climate change, demographic shifts, state failure and peak oil). Jonathan also retains an interest in event data models of instability, and co-created the news aggregating site BuzzChurn.com

If you’d like to explore starting something like the Groupee in your community, you can contact Jonathan at jonathanmoyer [at] gmail.com

For more information about the Groupee, visit theGroupee.com or check them out on Facebook.

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Intro and bumper music for season two is “Blink” by Blue Scholars.

Iconocast Episode 27: Carolyn Griffeth and Teka Childress

the Iconocast Collective : March 31, 2011 1:00 am : Iconocast

In this episode, Mark talks with Teka Childress and Carolyn Griffeth.

Teka has been a member of the Karen House Catholic Worker community for over thirty years. Carolyn Griffeth (with her husband Tery) are the founders of Carl Kabat House Catholic Worker community. Both houses are part of the vibrant catholic worker expression in St. Louis, creating a new society in the shell of the old. Listen in as they talk about community life, the challenges of founding communities, and the changing shape of the Catholic Worker movement.

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Intro and bumper music for season two is “Blink” by Blue Scholars.

Iconocast Episode 26: Eda Uca-Dorn

the Iconocast Collective : March 18, 2011 3:27 pm : Iconocast

In this episode, Mark and Joanna interview Eda Uca-Dorn. Eda is director ofHosanna! People’s Seminary. A first generation American of Turkish and Arab descent, she has participated in intentional communities and movements of the Catholic Left/anti-war variety. Eda is currently editing an anthology of Catholic Worker writing for Rose Hill Books. Her great theological passions are in the realm of anti-racism/anti-oppression work as it relates to what she calls “mission in the round”. She currently lives in New York with her husband and best friend Mike.

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Intro and bumper music for season two is “Blink” by Blue Scholars.

Iconocast Episode 25: Ed Loring

the Iconocast Collective : March 3, 2011 3:05 pm : Iconocast

This is the Iconocast, episode 25, March 3rd, 2011 “Murphy and Ed on the Road, part 2.”

This is the second of a two part interivew with Murphy Davis and Ed Loring. In part two, Joanna and Mark interview Eduard Loring. Ed, along with his wife Murphy Davis, have protested the death penalty, worked for housing the homeless, spoken out against racial injustice, sought justice for the poor, and fought against war. They are founding partners of the Open Door Community–a diverse residential Christian community in downtown Atlanta. For over 30 years, they have lived in community with the homeless poor, former prisoners, and others who have come to join the struggle for justice in the midst of a death-dealing culture.

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This concludes season one of the Iconocast. Thanks to all of our guests, co-hosts, and listeners who have made the Iconocast worthwhile. The Iconocast Season 1 is produced by Mark Van Steenwyk, co-produced and audio-engineered by Orrin Pratt. The hosts for season one included Sarah Lynne Anderson, Eliacin Rosario Cruz, Jarrod McKenna, Joanna Shenk, and Mark Van Steenwyk. Intro and bumper music for season one is “Politik Kills” by Manu Chao.

Iconocast Episode 24: Murphy Davis

the Iconocast Collective : February 18, 2011 5:06 pm : Iconocast

This is the Iconocast, episode 24: “Murphy and Ed on the Road, part 1.”

This is the first of a two part interivew with Murphy Davis and Ed Loring. In part one, Joanna and Mark interview Murphy Davis. Murphy Davis, with her husband, Ed Loring, have protested the death penalty, worked for housing the homeless, spoken out against racial injustice, sought justice for the poor, and fought against war. Davis and Loring are founding partners of the Open Door Community–a diverse residential Christian community in downtown Atlanta. For over 30 years, they have lived in community with the homeless poor, former prisoners, and others who have come to join the struggle for justice in the midst of a death-dealing culture.

Picture by Robert Shetterly.

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Iconocast Episode 23: Ragan Sutterfield

the Iconocast Collective : February 3, 2011 11:23 am : Iconocast

In this episode, Sarah and Mark interview Ragan Sutterfield.

Ragan is a writer, teacher, and farmer in Little Rock, Arkansas. He has written on food, the environment, and culture for a variety of publications including Plenty, Gourmet, Men’s Journal,Paste, Books & Culture, Fast Company, and Spin. He is also the author of Farming as a Spiritual Discipline. Ragan has eight years of sustainable farming experience and is one of the founders and operators of a farm at Felder Academy, a public charter school for troubled youth.

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Icononcast Episode 22: An Hour on Power

the Iconocast Collective : January 6, 2011 5:59 pm : Iconocast

In this episode, Joanna and Mark have a conversation about power, leadership, and decision-making in communities.

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Iconocast Episode 21: Fr. Richard Rohr

the Iconocast Collective : December 21, 2010 12:01 am : Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Mark interview Father Richard Rohr. Listen in as they talk about the Enneagram, the relationship between spirituality and activism, the relationship between movements and institutions, and more.

Father Rohr is a Franciscan priest. He founded the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1971, and the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1986, where he presently serves as Founding Director.

Through writing and speaking, Father Rohr explores issues such as Scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and social justice issues, male spirituality, the  Enneagram, and eco-spirituality.

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Iconocast Episode 20: Fr. John Dear, S.J.

the Iconocast Collective : December 2, 2010 10:47 am : Iconocast

In this interview, Jarrod and Mark interview Father John Dear. Dear is a Jesuit priest, peace activist, lecturer, and writer of twenty books on nonviolence.

He has been arrested many times in the course of his activist career. His longest period of incarceration lasted eight months, plus nine months of house arrest, following his participation in a Plowshares Movement disarmament action.

Father John Dear received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award in September 2009 for his solidarity and leadership in nonviolent resistance, vegetarian life style and Gospel living. He was chosen for the 2010 Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award, a peace award granted annually in the U.S. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Desmond Tutu.

In this interview, Jarrod and Mark interview Father John Dear. Dear is a Jesuit priest, peace activist, lecturer, and writer of nearly twenty books on nonviolence.

He has been arrested more than 75 times in the course of his activist career. His longest period of incarceration lasted eight months, plus nine months of house arrest, following his participation in aPlowshares Movement disarmament action.

Father John Dear received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award in September 2009 for his solidarity and leadership in nonviolent resistance, vegetarian life style and Gospel living. He was chosen for the 2010 Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Desmond Tutu.

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Iconocast Episode 19: Anton Flores

the Iconocast Collective : November 18, 2010 1:15 pm : Iconocast

In this interview, Joanna and Jason interview Anton Flores.

Anton Flores is one of the founders of the Alterna Community. Alterna is a Christian missional community comprised of U.S. citizens and Latin American immigrants devoted to the ancient practices of accompaniment, advocacy and hospitality.

Find out more at www.alternacommunity.com.

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Iconocast Episode 18: Becky Garrison

the Iconocast Collective : November 11, 2010 10:00 am : Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Mark and Sarah interview Becky Garrison. Becky is a religious satirist and freelance writer. She is author of Jesus Died for This?: A Satirist Searches for the Risen Christ, The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail,Rising from the Ashes: Rethinking Church, and Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church. She is a regularly contributes to Sojourners, Killing the Buddha, Religion Dispatches, and Geez magazine.

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Iconocast Episode 17: Stanley Hauerwas

the Iconocast Collective : October 28, 2010 2:51 pm : Iconocast, interview

In this episode, co-hosts Mark and Jarrod interview Stanley Hauerwas. Dr. Hauerwas is a Christian theologian and ethicist. He has taught at the University of Notre Dame and is currently the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Law.

Among his many books are Resident Aliens, Living Gently in a Violent World, The Peaceable Kingdom, and Hannah’s Child: A Theologian’s Memoir.

Click here to download this episode.

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Iconocast Episode 16: Rita Nakashima Brock

the Iconocast Collective : October 14, 2010 4:46 pm : Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Jarrod interview Rita Nakashima Brock. Dr. Brock is Founding Co-Director of Faith Voices for the Common Good, an organization dedicated to educating the public about the values and concerns of religious leaders and organizations. She also works with The New Press in New York as Senior Editor in Religion.

She is the author or co-author of a number of books including: Journeys By Heart: A Christology of Erotic Power, Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, & the Search for What Saves Us, and, most recently, Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire.

You can download the episode here.

Iconocast Episode 15: Cornel West

the Iconocast Collective : October 7, 2010 1:00 pm : Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Eliacin and Mark speak with one of America’s most celebrated and controversial public intellectuals: Dr. Cornel West.

Dr. West is an African American philosopher, theologian, author, critic, actor, and civil rights activist. West currently serves as the Class of 1943 University Professor at Princeton University, where he teaches in the Center for African American Studies and in the department of Religion. He is the author of a number of books including: Prophesy Deliverance! An Africo-American Revolutionary Christianity, Race Matters, The Future of Race, Democracy Matters, and Hope on a Tightrope.

In the interview, we talk to Dr. West about being disinvited as a keynote to the CCDA conference, his relationship with Barack Obama, the rarity of social movements, the power of love, the difference between charity and justice, and much, much more.

Special thanks to Jarrod McKenna…who stayed up all night in Perth, Australia to be a part of this interview but (due to upsetting technical difficulties with Skype) was unable to participate (listen to the end of the podcast–at around 56:45) to find out more…

Click here to download this episode to your computer.

Iconocast Episode 14: Onleilove Alston

the Iconocast Collective : October 2, 2010 2:27 pm : Iconocast

Iconocast Episode 13: Carol Rose

the Iconocast Collective : September 21, 2010 2:14 pm : Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Jarrod interview Carol Rose, Co-Director of theChristian Peacemaker Teams. Christian Peacemaker Teams is a living answer to the question, “what would happen if Christians devoted the same discipline and self-sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war?” Carol has served with CPT in Colombia, Iraq, Palestine, Arizona and Kenora. She has been an active peacemaker since the late 1970?s.

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The Iconocast Episode 12: Seth Martin (and the Menders)

the Iconocast Collective : August 4, 2010 9:38 pm : Iconocast

In this episode, Mark sits down with Seth Martin and the Menders for a few songs, a few laughs, and a conversation about folk music, prophets, and revolution.

Seth is a folk singer who brings together the deep spirit of American folk, anarchist thought (in the vein of Ammon Hennacy), a love for creation, and Quaker spirituality. He has travelled all over the country (when his car is working) to share his music (often on the fringe). He’s also spent time in Palestine with the Christian Peacemaker Teams. When he isn’t on the road, he lives in the Portland area.

Click here to download the podcast.

The Iconocast Episode 11: Gender, Sexism, and Community

the Iconocast Collective : July 22, 2010 5:25 pm : Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna, Mark, and Sarah discuss gender, sexism, and community. For most of its history, the church has NOT been a safe place for women to develop as whole and healthy people. As a result, men also struggle to know what it means to be healthy males.

The conversation explores:

The way women and men both lose out in a sexist society.

The importance of community in finding a better way to think about gender.

The fact that “Rocky 3? is, perhaps, the most “manly” movie ever made.

Sexism in film.

Cookies.

And much, much, more.

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Iconocast Episode 10: An Interview with Richard Horsley

the Iconocast Collective : July 8, 2010 5:21 pm : Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Mark interview Richard Horsley.

Richard Horsley is Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and the Study of Religion at the University of Massachusetts. He is a prolific author with twenty New Testament studies to his credit. He has edited or authored such words as In the Shadow of Empire: Reclaiming the Bible as a History of Faithful Resistance, Jesus and Empire: The Kingdom of God and the New World Disorder, and most recently,Covenant Economics: A Biblical Vision of Justice for All.

The Iconocast Episode 9: Interview with Brian McLaren

the Iconocast Collective : June 25, 2010 9:38 am : article, Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Sarah, Mark, and Jarrod interview Brian McLaren. Listen in as they explore the nonviolence of God, the state of the world, and our relationship to Empire.

Brian is an internationally known (and controversial) evangelical pastor, speaker, and activist. He is the author of numerous books, including his latest book, “a new kind of Christianity.”

For more information about Brian, visit www.brianmclaren.net/archives/about-brian/

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The Iconocast Episode 8: Interview with Wes Howard-Brook

the Iconocast Collective : June 10, 2010 6:16 pm : essay, Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Mark interview Wes Howard-Brook.

Their conversation covers, among other things: the “argument” within Scripture between advocates of the “religion of Empire” and the “religion of Creation,” the ethic of love (rather than nonviolence in the New Testament) and the anarchic impulses within Scripture.

Wes is adult educator, writer, and co-founder of Abide in Me Ministries. His book  ‘Come Out, My People!’: God’s Call Out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond, is now scheduled for Fall 2010 for publication by Orbis Books. His other books include John’s Gospel and the Renewal of the Church, Becoming Children of God,The Church Before Christianity, and Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now (co-written by Anthony Gwyther).

Wes will be presenting at this year’s Jesus Radicals conference on August 6-7 in Portland. For more information, go here.

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The Iconocast Episode 7: Interview with Mary Jo Leddy

the Iconocast Collective : May 27, 2010 11:41 am : Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna and Mark interview Mary Jo Leddy–Canadian writer, speaker, theologian and social activist. Leddy works alongside refugees at Romero House in Toronto.

She is the author of such books as Say to the Darkness We Beg to Differ, Reweaving Religious Life: Beyond the Liberal Model, At the Border Called Hope: Where Refugees are Neighbors and Radical Gratitude.

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The Iconocast Episode 6: Interview with Jim Douglass (part 2)

the Iconocast Collective : May 13, 2010 9:02 pm : Iconocast

This is part two of a two part interview with Jim Douglass. Recently, Mark spent time in Birmingham Alabama, where he sat down with Jim, an activist, and noted author on nonviolence and Christian theology.

He and his wife, Shelley Douglass, founded the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington, and Mary’s House, a Catholic Worker house in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1997 the Douglasses received the Pacem in Terris Award.

Douglass’ latest book, JFK and the Unspeakable, explores how JFK was martyred as a peacemaker by forces within the Government. He is also the author of such books as The Non-Violent Cross and The Non-Violent Coming of God.

Click here to download this episode.

The Iconocast Episode 5: Interview with Jim Douglass (part 1)

the Iconocast Collective : April 29, 2010 11:24 pm : Iconocast

Recently, Mark spent time in Birmingham Alabama, where he sat down with Jim Douglass, an activist, and noted author on nonviolence and Christian theology.

He and his wife, Shelley Douglass, founded the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington, and Mary’s House, a Catholic Worker house in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1997 the Douglasses received the Pacem in Terris Award.

Douglass’ latest book, JFK and the Unspeakable, explores how JFK was martyred as a peacemaker by forces within the Government. He is also the author of such books as The Non-Violent Cross and The Non-Violent Coming of God.

Click here to download this episode.

The Iconocast Episode 4: Interview with Waziyatawin (part 2)

the Iconocast Collective : April 15, 2010 3:00 pm : essay, Iconocast

In this episode, we (Sarah Lynne Anderson and Mark Van Steenwyk) continue our interview Dakota scholar Waziyatawin. Be sure to check out part one. In this part of the interview, we continue to grapple with how Christianity needs to come to terms with its imperial history. We need to repent with more than just words. Our ecclesial bodies (especially denominations with land holdings) may want to ask themselves “what does justice look like?”

We know that, until this podcast, most of you have never heard of Waziyatawin…but this interview raises more questions (in a starkly eloquent way) than any interview with a high-profile Christian provocateur. Please take the time to listen–we promise that it will mess with your head in amazing ways.

You might be interested in a series that has developed as a response to the challenges Waz issues to Christians in the interview: Christianity is Empire. That series will engage the imperial nature of historic Christianity and seek, we hope, to offer a chastened, faithful, alternative.

Waziyatawin is a Wahpetunwan Dakota from the Pezihutazizi Otunwe (Yellow Medicine Village) in southwestern Minnesota.

Waz currently holds the Indigenous Peoples Research Chair in the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria (British Columbia). Her interests include projects centering on Indigenous decolonization strategies such as truth-telling and reparative justice, Indigenous women and resistance, the recovery of Indigenous knowledge, and the development of liberation ideology in Indigenous communities.

She is the author or editor of: Remember This!: Dakota Decolonization and the Eli Taylor Narratives,Indigenizing the Academy: Transforming Scholarship and Empowering Communities, For Indigenous Eyes Only: A Decolonization Handbook, In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors: The Dakota Commemorative Marches of the 21st Century, and What Does Justice Look Like? The Struggle for Liberation in Dakota Homeland.

Click here to download this episode.

The Iconocast Episode 3: Waziyatawin (part 1)

the Iconocast Collective : April 1, 2010 12:01 pm : Iconocast

In this episode, we (Sarah Lynne Anderson and Mark Van Steenwyk) interview Dakota scholar Waziyatawin.

This is an intensely challenging two part interview (part two will air in two weeks); we discuss how Christianity is intrinsically unjust, how justice requires the entire dismantling of civilization, and how denominations, if they are sincere in their apologies to Indigenous peoples, should take the first step of handing over unused lands to the tribe upon whose land they occupy. You’ll definitely want to forward that to your denominational headquarters.

Waziyatawin is a Wahpetunwan Dakota from the Pezihutazizi Otunwe (Yellow Medicine Village) in southwestern Minnesota.

Waz currently holds the Indigenous Peoples Research Chair in the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria (British Columbia). Her interests include projects centering on Indigenous decolonization strategies such as truth-telling and reparative justice, Indigenous women and resistance, the recovery of Indigenous knowledge, and the development of liberation ideology in Indigenous communities.

She is the author or editor of: Remember This!: Dakota Decolonization and the Eli Taylor Narratives,Indigenizing the Academy: Transforming Scholarship and Empowering Communities, For Indigenous Eyes Only: A Decolonization Handbook, In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors: The Dakota Commemorative Marches of the 21st Century, and What Does Justice Look Like? The Struggle for Liberation in Dakota Homeland.

Click here to download this episode.

The Iconocast Episode 2: Ched Myers

the Iconocast Collective : March 18, 2010 1:10 am : Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Sarah Lynne Anderson and Eliacin Rosario-Cruz interview Ched Myers, activist, educator, and the author of a number of books–inclucing “Binding the Strongman”.

Ched, a fifth generation Californian, lives in a small intentional community in Oak View, CA, an hour and a half north of Los Angeles. Over the past three decades he has worked with many peace and justice organizations and movements, including the American Friends Service Committee, the Pacific Concerns Resource Center and the Pacific Life Community. Today with Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries he focuses on building capacity for biblical literacy, church renewal and faith-based witness for justice.

Click here to download this episode.

The Iconocast Episode 1: Nekeisha Alexis-Baker

the Iconocast Collective : March 4, 2010 3:08 pm : Iconocast

In this episode, co-hosts Joanna Shenk and Mark Van Steenwyk interview Nekeisha Alexis-Baker (founder of JesusRadicals.com, activist, organizer, and thinker). Note: this interview was recorded months before the Iconocast became a part of JesusRadicals.com

When Christians engage with the political arrangements of the world, be it communism, socialism, capitalist republics, they have often claimed that their political option is the Christian one, and demonized other arrangements. This is the nature of politics, to divide and conquer. Beyond this, when Christians engage in politics they often sell out the Gospels, particularly on the issue of violence. They claim that Jesus did not mean for politicians to love their enemies, only the average person, and even the average person does not have to do so under some circumstances. We believe this approach to politics gives too much to the nation-state and is not distinctively Christian. Following Jesus is not a vocation or something one does in one’s spare time. It is a total life commitment. If we are to engage in politics, we must do so as Christians, but without baptizing the political order or trying to make it Christian.

This is where anarchism may come in for Christians. Without claiming that anarchism is Christian or that one has to be an anarchist to be Christian, we claim that if Christians are to engage with the world, the best available option is anarchism because it opens up space for Christians to engage without selling out their primary allegiances and core commitments, especially to peacemaking and nonviolence. Yet violence is not the only issue at stake in politics. All governments operate on a model of ruling over people. But the Gospels claim that Christians should model Jesus’ suffering servanthood. These are fundamentally incompatible outlooks. Anarchism, at its best, is a commitment to systematically critiquing all structures that place one person or group in a position to dominate others or creation. So anarchism, as a political philosophy holds some promise for Christians because the two share a commitment to critiquing the power structures and working towards a more level playing field.