Podcasts by Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray
Sermons from the Community Christian Church of Springfield, MO.
We are believers in Jesus Christ who accept all people without judgment and who desire to work and worship as a community striving for social justice.
Further podcasts by Dr. Roger Ray
Podcast on the topic Christentum
All episodes
“When the Darkness Stares Back” (the world on the brink of war) from 2023-12-03T14:30
The war in Ukraine shows no signs of coming to an end and now the war in Gaza is escalating to an unthinkable death toll and seems only to get worse daily. What are we to make of these tragic wa...
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No One Hears the Sound of a Wooden Bell from 2023-11-19T12:00
The United States has perpetuated compromises in our constitution which were originally written to give slave holding states assurances that the institution of slavery would not be immediately w...
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Is Justice Blind Or Just Crazy? from 2023-11-05T10:00
The familiar image of Lady Justice, blindfolded, holding up balanced scales in one hand and a sword in the other (a little frightening if she can’t see) suggests our desire that we will be a nat...
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Israel and Palestine (Migration, Immigration, Colonizing, Occupation) from 2023-10-22T10:00
Most of us have given an uncommon amount of time and energy to the news in the past weeks as Israel mounts a military response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks launched by Hamas. Just as the USA ...
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Why Support Ukraine’s War with Russia? from 2023-10-08T11:00
Does our support for Ukraine in their defensive war against Russia’s invasion qualify as a “just war?” Thomas Aquinas insisted that for a war to be just it must be conducted by a sovereign gover...
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Creating Spiritual Community in a Post-Pandemic World from 2023-09-24T10:00
Church attendance, especially among progressives is in decline, and financial support of these struggling congregations is going down even faster. Do we have a way of forming spiritual communiti...
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We Can’t All Be Above Average from 2023-09-10T16:49
More than a year away from the next presidential election, it appears that we may have the same candidates that we had in 2020, in spite of multiple criminal charges against Donald Trump that ra...
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(Still) Learning to Tell a Story from 2023-08-27T11:00
Today is my last sermon as co-pastor and so, this week, I’ve been looking back as a way of looking forward, thinking about and learning from the years we’ve spent together. I am grateful for all...
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The Limits of Shame from 2023-08-20T11:00
While shame and humiliation are part of the human experience, we should not promote them or build our communities and movements around them. Instead, let’s focus on becoming places where we lear...
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End of Life Issues from 2023-08-13T11:00
The suicide of a 40 year old scientist (and athlete and musician) raises two crucial issues with modern day America. 1) While we have possibly the most advanced medical science in the world, our...
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Facing the Facts of Moral Corruption in Government from 2023-08-06T10:00
The authors of America's Declaration of Independence acknowledged that people seem to be willing to suffer the abuses of their government until such time that the liberties the government gives ...
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“Our Humble Return”: Knowing our Capacities, Boundaries, and Aspirations from 2023-07-30T10:00
Anyone actively involved in trying to make the world a better place has felt the pressures to push past our limitations, abandon boundaries, and sacrifice our well-being and aspirations in the n...
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Listening is the first duty of Love from 2023-07-23T10:00
Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter, and our very cell phones themselves have shortened our attention span to the point that we hard know how to talk to one another anymore and even worse, it seems that...
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Empty Promises: From Consumerism to Community from 2023-07-16T10:00
We often reflect on how economic and social disparities are symptoms of an unhealthy society, associated with environmental degradation, poverty, violence, and oppression. However, we continue t...
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“Beyond Blaming and Agonizing”: Lovingkindness Practice in Ordinary Life from 2023-07-09T10:00
Following up on my reflections in June, I share some of the ways that lovingkindness meditation has been helpful in my own life, especially with transforming self-hatred and anger into understan...
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The Positive Value of Philanthropy from 2023-07-02T10:00
The most popular forms of philanthropy, in giving sandwiches and sleeping bags to the unhoused or sending goats to poor farmers in Central America are symbolic gestures. Handing out free meals i...
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When Philanthropy Goes Bad from 2023-06-25T10:00
This part 1 of a two-part series on philanthropy. Today we consider the ways that charitable foundations can be twisted into being tax loopholes for the super-rich while still allowing the wealt...
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On Accidentally Getting Old from 2023-06-18T10:00
We get lots of cultural signals that our personal worth goes down with each birthday. Many feel pressured to choose extreme measures to deny the reality of the passing of time, but rather than g...
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“As Wide as the World”: Cultivating Wisdom and Compassion in the face of Violence and Coercion from 2023-06-11T10:00
Week after week, we turn our attention to injustice, violence, and oppression, so that we can encourage one another to not stand idly by. But as we face all this suffering, there is also that na...
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“Nothing Humane”: A Lament and Plea for Rights-Respecting Border Policies from 2023-06-04T10:00
In May, the Biden Administration announced a new border plan, which turns out to be more of the same, including recycling failed and dangerous policies. Even Federal asylum officers have called ...
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As You Suspected, It Really is about Race from 2023-05-28T10:00
Our deeply divided nation will not become unified by learning to either deny or accept the racism and prejudice that is inherent in American culture. We should be kind and patient but we must no...
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“Abundance, Regeneration, and Healing”: Permaculture and Spiritual Practice from 2023-05-21T10:00
Humanity’s collective hubris has led us to the edge of catastrophe, as we have collectively ignored the reality of climate change and wreaked destruction on the environment for decades and centu...
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In Honor of Childless Mothers from 2023-05-14T09:00
t is Mother's Day but rather than deliver a solipsistic sermon in praise of mothers, I am going to talk about influential female mentors who never gave birth. This is a personal message, naming ...
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Quicker to Cut than to Care: The Urgency of Climate Justice from 2023-05-07T09:00
With the release of the final section of the IPCC’s sixth report last month, humans are without excuse. There is no time left to value short-term profits over long term health. It took billions ...
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Compassion is the Foundation of Faith and Civilization from 2023-04-30T09:00
Without absolutes, without a God given set of rules in holy writ or a supernatural theistic judge in the clouds, how do we determine right from wrong or even sensibly talk about what it means to...
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Who Wants to Be a Good Person? from 2023-04-23T11:00
In the ancient Persian slave ghetto, Zoroastrian religion evolved an expression of ethics and eternity that influenced what became modern Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Their succinct descrip...
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Missouri’s Anti-Trans Actions and Our Continued Resistance from 2023-04-21T09:00
This last week, trans folks in Missouri have been living in the thick of the intentional, ongoing attacks against transgender lives. On Thursday, April 13, 2023, Missouri’s Attorney General, And...
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Resurrecting Hope from 2022-04-17T11:00:44
Beyond the sentimental and supernatural retellings each Easter, the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus continues to resonate with us in very human and hopeful ways. Every year - in the...
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Demythologizing Religion: Earth-Based Spiritualities&Naturalistic Paganism from 2022-04-10T11:00:19
The numbers of people interested in and practicing earth-based spiritualities has soared over the last 30 years. This has been empowering and healing for many, especially for members of oppresse...
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Demythologizing Christianity from 2022-04-03T11:00:54
The Christian religion is the largest in the world and has been a part of the global culture for nearly two millennia. During that time, it has been used to justify wars and even genocides. Chri...
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Demythologizing Religion: Hinduism and the Possibility of Pluralism from 2022-03-27T11:00:43
Rabindranath Tagore once wrote to a friend: “Whatever we understand and enjoy in human products instantly becomes ours, wherever they might have their origin… Let me feel with unalloyed gladness...
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Demythologizing Religion: Buddhism&Nonattachment to Views from 2022-03-20T11:00:43
Buddhism has been subject to the same limitations as any other cultural or religious system, including fundamentalist violence. However, various Buddhist traditions also contain important insigh...
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Demythologizing Judaism from 2022-03-13T12:00:04
We too easily think of modern Judaism as being an ancient religion that hails from Abraham and Moses. The truth is that Judaism began as a polytheistic faith rooted in a priestly cult that practice...
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Demythologizing Religion from 2022-03-06T12:00:55
The world's major religions have roots in antiquity when historical literacy was not highly valued and when it was common to "personify" aspects of nature, turning the world into a place full of...
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Black History Month: Less About and More Through from 2022-02-27T12:00
If we want to understand the world, to be able to read current events with insight, we need to take the time to understand the history. This sounds so obvious, but it i...
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Reflections on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine by David Ketchum from 2022-02-26T21:58:55
As a pastor, I have worked with veterans who were still struggling with the cost of war decades after they were discharged. As a peace worker in Cambodia, I saw the trauma of war still living in...
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Love Your Enemies from 2022-02-20T12:00:55
Growing up, the way I learned Jesus’ teaching on loving my enemies was confusing and even harmful. Especially where abuse and oppression were concerned, rolling over and looking the other way co...
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A Wonderful Life Should Not Be Exceptional from 2022-02-13T12:00
Most of us have spent our lives in communities that made it more difficult for us to thrive and flourish as human beings. And it is very likely that we have picked up on those very habits, mistr...
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War Is Inconceivable from 2022-02-06T12:00:56
As the world waits to see if a ground war is about to start between Russia and Ukraine, it seems good to give some thought to how we got to this deadly threatening point. How has the spread of n...
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A Snake Doesn’t Have to Bite You to be a Snake from 2022-01-30T12:00:26
Jung suggests that the dragon, a mythological beast common to virtually all cultures, is unconsciously an archetype that reflects human potential. After all, a dragon is a snake that can fly! Spiri...
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“Trying to Create Safety”: Reflections on Restorative and Transformative Justice from 2022-01-23T12:00:47
Despite the insistence on being the “land of the free,” the United States is the global leader in both total number of prisoners and per capita rate of imprisonment. The prophetic vision of proclai...
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“Until Everyone is Safe”: Reimagining Social and Community Well-Being from 2022-01-16T12:00
The world as we know it has been shaped by an approach to development and success that has fueled terrible inequality, catastrophic climate change, and now, vaccine inequity. Thankfully, other a...
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Ten Commandments vs the Beatitudes from 2022-01-09T12:00
Fiction author, Kurt Voneggut, once pointed out the hypocrisy of many loud conservative Christians who demanded that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public buildings and court house lawns w...
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Sociopathy vs Spirituality from 2022-01-02T12:00
Jesus Seminar founding member, Marcus Borg, first described the message of Jesus as being “radical compassion.” Peer and fellow seminar member, Karen Armstrong, took that concept to an interfait...
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Dr. Roger Ray - Christmas Stories from 2021-12-26T12:00
Ten years ago, when I was still blond and clean shaven, I delivered this sermon in our former church building to try to give an honest and academic explanation of the birth narratives in Matthew...
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Guess Who Won’t Be At Christmas Dinner from 2021-12-19T12:00
In 1971, in the early days of the “War on Drugs,” then President Nixon appointed a commission to study marijuana and to release their results and policy suggestions. More than 80 people worked f...
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More Than Our Trauma: Healing-Centered Social Change from 2021-12-12T12:00
A familiar image from the Advent season is leveling the mountains so that all "may walk safely." One example of this process in our own times has been the increasing emphasis on healing trauma, ...
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Open Season on Protestors? (well, except for Jan. 6 rioters) from 2021-12-05T12:00
Stephen Colbert observed that, like most of us, not being a lawyer, it is hard to judge whether 17-year-old, Kyle Rittenhouse, broke any laws when he took a semi-automatic rifle to the demonstra...
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Giving Thanks in a Thankless World from 2021-11-28T12:00
Emiliana Simon-Thomas and Jeremy Adam Smith observed that, “Americans are very grateful and they think gratitude is important—they’re just not very good at expressing it.” In our world of consta...
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The Indigenous Peoples of the Americas from 2021-11-21T12:00
As we approach our national observance of Thanksgiving, we are being asked to also give respectful reflection to the Indigenous Nations who were here thousands of years before Europeans sailed a...
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"Almost All of the Land in the World is Claimed": The Enduring Violence of Borders from 2021-11-14T12:00
US borders are almost always in the news, ubiquitous even to the point of invisibility. But the abusive treatment of Haitian refugees last September, from administrative policies to violent bord...
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The Roots of Racism (Missing White Woman Syndrome) from 2021-11-07T12:00
While the disappearance of anyone is tragic, the way the media exhaustively covers the disappearance of beautiful, young, white women compared with the silence around the disappearance of tens o...
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Halloween, a Holiday of Acceptance and Possibility from 2021-10-31T11:00
This pandemic has taken a heavy toll, world wide, in lives, to be sure, but also it has closed businesses, terminated jobs, set millions of students back a year or two years in learning, while i...
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Crisis as Opportunity for Transformation – How A Pandemic Can Help Us from 2021-10-24T11:00
This pandemic has taken a heavy toll, world wide, in lives, to be sure, but also it has closed businesses, terminated jobs, set millions of students back a year or two years in learning, while i...
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Domestic Violence&Social Change - David Ketchum from 2021-10-17T11:00
October is Domestic Violence Awareness of Month and, unfortunately, it is as necessary as ever. A look at how domestic violence was normalized and accepted until relatively recently helps us und...
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"One Thing You Lack": The Moral Necessity of Economic Justice - David Ketchum from 2021-10-10T11:00
In one of my favorite stories in the gospels, Jesus disappoints a rich man. The encounter invites us to consider the tension between the rich man, who wants to be moral while also hoarding wealt...
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My Dietitian: Comedian Bill Maher - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-10-03T11:00
Ironically, though we have talked a lot about learning to be sensitive to matters of race, gender, sexual identity, and class, somehow, in most of society, "fat-shaming" is still allowed. Those ...
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Everything Is a Gift - David Ketchum from 2021-09-26T11:00
For most of us, our lives are dominated with messages that reduce our worth to productivity, exhaust us with constant comparisons and competitions, and trap us in a ruthless cycle of praise and ...
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Whistleblowers in Prison - because truth is treason in an empire of lies - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-09-19T11:00
Whistle blowers are modern prophets. You don’t have to be a minister or a famous politician to do the work of a prophet, you just have to be willing to speak truth to power. Just don’t expect to...
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Twenty (More) Years of Imperial Tragedies - David Ketchum from 2021-09-12T11:00
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the USA, and the violent response that has shaped so much of the world during the last twenty years. With outrage over the tragedies a...
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An Economic Wakeup Call (Labor Day) - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-09-05T11:00
The owners of Purdue Pharma have been released from any liability in the deaths of a half a million people in the opioid crisis because they were willing to give a fraction of their ill-gotten g...
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The Threat of Fascism is Real from 2021-08-29T11:00
Though most public school history classes are silent about it, there was a serious insurrection attempt made in 1932 to overthrow the administration of Franklin Roosevelt and install a fascist l...
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Gilgamesh: The problem with Enkidu - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-08-22T11:00
The oldest known written story is the Gilgamesh Epic, the four-thousand-year-old tale of an ancient king who becomes obsessed with finding the secret to eternal life. From the dawn of civilizati...
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Wonders and Horrors from 2021-08-15T11:00
As Dr. Ray turns 65, he and David Ketchum will begin to share the preaching load equally. On this special Sunday, Dr. Ray reflects back on his 43 years in the pulpit (so far) with some important...
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A Shattered Vision: Residential Schools, Forced Assimilation, and Shifting our Collective Consciousness - David "Katya" Ketchum from 2021-08-08T11:00
The history of forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples, such as residential schools, has often been hidden or excused in popular memory. By looking at the historical context that brought about...
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Shedding Light on Residential Schools, Pt 1 - David "Katya" Ketchum from 2021-08-01T11:00
The realities of residential schools and the tragedies of forced assimilation have filled the news this summer, to our grief, rage, and shame. So while we welcome Secretary Haaland's investigati...
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The Rise in Violent Crime, Gun Violence, and the importance of Police Reform - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-07-25T11:00
While many of us long for greater social equality, moving past the identity politics that emphasizes race, gender, and sexual orientation, often times at the expense of discussing ideas, budgets...
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Does Democracy + Capitalism have to = Corruption? - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-07-18T11:00
Capitalism is here to stay but that might not be a bad thing if we could put up the kind of guardrails that can harness the greed that drives it in a way that does not allow for the abuses it al...
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Is Our Minimum Wage Just Slavery Reimagined? - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-07-11T11:00
The way that we have settled into minimum wage laws is not simply an exploitation of the labor of the poor and, in fact, in many ways looks like a reconfiguring of slavery. Slave owners provided...
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“A True Civic Education”: 1619, 1776, and the Practice of Freedom - David “Katya” Ketchum from 2021-07-04T11:00
For many of us, July 4th is a time to forget about history and indulge in nostalgic and sentimental celebrations of freedom. But the holiday can provide us with more than just an opportunity for...
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Belief and Faith, Myth and Sacred Narrative from 2021-06-27T11:00
People often have passionate beliefs about things for which they have no evidence or, even worse, they believe in spite of contradictory evidence. In religion, such baseless convictions often ma...
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Living Beyond Religious Guilt, Fear, and Manipulation - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-06-20T11:00
Let’s be honest, most of the truth claims made by traditional forms of almost all religions are not just beyond anyone’s ability to prove, they are, by and large obvious absurd to any critical t...
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Seeing the World Through the Lens of Racial Awareness - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-06-13T20:35:35
Events of the past few years have brought the issue of race much more clearly into focus, especially for the dominant white culture that has been willing to learn about the ways in which race ha...
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Overcoming Religious Trauma - David “Katya” Ketchum from 2021-06-06T19:12:05
In addition to today’s sermon, we will be hosting an online event via Zoom on June 22 discussing “Overcoming Religious Trauma.” Despite our growing understanding of rel...
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The Lost Year or Our Year of Losses - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-05-30T20:20:03
This Memorial Day weekend we mark the passing of 600,000 Americans in the Covid-19 pandemic and we are similarly aware of the many ways in which millions of lives have been impacted in lost jobs...
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Tired of Childhood Poverty Yet? - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-05-23T19:46:09
Childhood poverty in many American communities now exceeds 50% of school aged children. A part of the proposed stimulus bill addresses this problem in the most direct way possible, offering a mo...
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Religion and Socialism - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-05-16T18:30:05
The word “socialism” has been, through media and political manipulation, turned into a term that means little more than “pure evil.” That’s just crazy. The belief that economic resources should ...
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Some Culture Needs to be Canceled - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-05-09T17:33:45
We often think of the great moral leaders of history as if they just fell from the sky in our hour of need. The truth is that people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and even Ruby Bridge...
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Our Whole Selves: May Day, Mutual Aid, and Community - David "Katya" Ketchum from 2021-05-02T20:30:23
One of the lessons we have continually been reminded of throughout the pandemic is how interconnected we are all, whether we like it or not. Similarly, both social and ecological justice issues ...
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A Progressive Colloquy from 2021-04-27T11:00
This live event is taking place on Monday evening, May 10, at 7 p.m. central. It will involve about 30 minutes of conversation between me and Jay Thomlinson (of Best of the Left fame) and then w...
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What have we learned? - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-04-25T15:00
The death of George Floyd at the hands of the police has finally resulted in a guilty verdict in the murder charges against the responsible officer(s). What have we learned from the highly publi...
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Black, White, and Blue - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-04-18T15:00
While many are uncomfortable with calling for defunding the police, there is no way around the need for massive reform of our nation’s police force (and military) to root out the systemic racism...
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I got vaccinated but I still want some of you to stay away - Dr. Roger Ray from 2021-04-11T15:00
As we emerge from our covid isolation into increasing social contact, we realize that during these months of spending too much time on social media and watching conflicting news reports, our str...
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Who Will Roll Away the Stone? Dismantling Supremacy, Claiming Liberation from 2021-04-04T15:00
The list of the suffering in this world could go on indefinitely, and this week has been no exception. From the courtroom where Derek Chauvin is being tried to the growing refugee crisis in Ethi...
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I Guess the Devil Did Go Down to Georgia from 2021-03-28T15:00
Events of the past week have revealed the weakness of our nation’s lax gun laws, the dangerous escalation of anti-Asian prejudice, the insidious racism behind a wave ...
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The Unforgivable Sin? from 2021-03-21T15:00
In most western nations, the penal system is designed to reform convicted criminals so that they can return to a productive life in society. In the USA, where we have two million people in priso...
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My Brother’s Keeper from 2021-03-14T15:00
The question that echoes from the primeval pages of Genesis demands a new answer in this era of a global pandemic, "Am I my brother's (sister's) keeper?" We all know that the right answer is "ye...
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A Whip of Cords: Casting Out Injustice and Creating Communities of Care from 2021-03-07T16:00
When injustice and oppression become normal in a society, it often requires persistent and even outrageous actions to unveil, resist, and ultimately transform it. Like Jesus turning over tables ...
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All Idols are Slated for Destruction - Feb 28 2021 from 2021-02-28T16:00
This year’s conservative Republican gathering, CPAC, included the surprising presence of a golden statue of Donald Trump. It is surprising that the gathering of largely Evangelical Christians di...
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Rebuilding America (after Trump) from 2021-02-21T16:00
This talk has been prepared for a group of progressive clergy in the United Kingdom who posed this question: What must be done to rebuild America after Trump. This message proposes 4 key respons...
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Love in the Time of Pandemic from 2021-02-14T15:30
In the novel, Love in the Time of Cholera, two young lovers are thwarted in their desire to be together, only to be given a second chance at love when they are old. Still, though about half of u...
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Beyond Toxic Propaganda: Education, Memory, and a Better Future from 2021-02-07T16:00
It's now common for us to hear false accusations that social justice movements are just "ideological poison" and honest treatments of the more difficult aspects of US history are just "toxic pro...
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Patriots or Traitors? from 2021-01-31T16:00
Though Gandhi and MLK are lauded as great social heroes in our day, during their lifetimes they were often put in jail and were regarded as enemies of the state. To be honest about some of the...
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Of Unicorns and Alternative Facts from 2021-01-24T16:00
The laudable stated goal of the new Biden administration to bring unity to the red and the blue factions of America is obviously necessary, but it is a steep hill to climb. For the most part, th...
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Everyone Counts from 2021-01-17T16:00
A Haitian proverb declares, "No one listens to the cry of the poor or the sound of a wooden bell." That seems like a sad resignation to the way that things are but what we realize about Martin L...
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After the Insurrection Failed from 2021-01-10T16:00
America is horrified and embarrassed but not many of us are shocked. The failed insurrection that took place on Wednesday, January 6th, was planned, orchestrated, inspired, and incited by our pr...
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Reasons for Hope (2021 and Beyond) from 2021-01-03T17:50:15
Changes are coming that give us reason for substantial hope. We will have a change in administrations in early 2021 and an amelioration of the pandemic later in the year followed by a huge econo...
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Mary’s Song from 2020-12-27T16:00
Mary’s song, the Magnificat, has been a favorite text from the Christian tradition for millennia. The exhilaration of hope and the certainty that “the arc of the moral universe” really does “ben...
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Hey, White People! from 2020-12-20T16:00
In her brilliant new book, Caste, Isabel Wilkerson speaks of racism in America as a caste system that is like the studs that form the frame of our house. We rarely see them or think of them, but...
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The Forest is Full of Socialists from 2020-12-13T16:00
I have two points to make today. The first is very practical and the second is deeply philosophical. The first is that by paying attention to science, especially in forest management, we can inc...
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Meet Me at the Corner of Compassion and You’re Not that Special from 2020-12-06T15:00
The late Marcus Borg is credited with describing the historical Jesus as being the teacher of radical compassion. In this time when it appears, as Paul Krugman has recently published, our cultur...
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When (If) We Gather from 2020-11-29T15:04:30
Economists are predicting that one in six restaurants will be permanently closed as a result of the pandemic. Sadly, when progressive congregations emerge from our current sabbatical or at least...
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Reuniting a Once Great People from 2020-11-22T16:00
How did wearing a mask to avoid spreading the Covid virus become a politically partisan issue? It has become apparent that one of the most difficult tasks ahead of the USA is learning again how ...
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Waging Peace from 2020-11-15T15:43:07
At the end of World War I, there was a hope that this had been the “war to end all wars.” Armistice Day was established to celebrate the agreements that they hoped would lead to an eternity of p...
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When the Voting Ends from 2020-11-08T16:00
Despite Tuesday’s election results, Donald Trump received widespread support across the USA, signaling a tolerance for, and, in many cases, a celebration of, Trump’s performative fascism and a g...
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Let Us Not Be Petty when Our Cause is so Great from 2020-11-01T16:00
President Kennedy’s speech he was set to deliver on the very day when he was tragically assassinated included this plea to the nation, “let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not...
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When the NRA is Too Liberal from 2020-10-25T15:00
The directors of the FBI and DHS have warned Congress that white supremacist, anarchist, and other armed militias pose a significant threat to American security. Our nation, unlike our peers in ...
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Power begets Power (the killing of Breonna Taylor) from 2020-10-18T15:10:04
Power begets power and institutions that are rife with power will increasingly resist change, reform, or moral responsibility. An excellent example of this is the perception that protesting poli...
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We're Not Dead Yet from 2020-10-16T22:06:20
We're not dead yet, but we need your help. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to sell our church building, but we are still online and plan to return to an in-person presence once it is safe to...
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In Search of a Better American Myth from 2020-10-11T15:16:02
A civilization’s shared myths account for why things are the way they are. They can bolster loyalty to a religion or a nation, and they can excuse class and race privilege. Ancient Hebrew script...
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Faith and Probability from 2020-10-04T15:34:03
Faith is typically based on “belief” and science is based on objective research and analysis. In this address, written for the Malvern (United Kingdom) Science and Faith conference, Dr. Ray disc...
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Ordinary people with Extraordinary Vision from 2020-09-27T14:44:17
The late Congressman John Lewis wrote what could be his own eulogy in the essay he wrote to be published posthumously in the New York Times. He called on “ordinary people” to be willing to get i...
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The Politics of Food from 2020-09-20T14:37:07
Politics and profit have tremendous influence over which foods we eat, especially the poor because almost all government agricultural subsidies go to beef, dairy, and grain production and less t...
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A Memorial for the Confederacy from 2020-09-13T14:58:08
While protests verge on becoming riots in our city streets in response to multiple murders of unarmed black men at the hands of our cities' police, we must focus on how to pull racism out of our...
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Labor Day: A Universal Basic Income from 2020-09-06T14:58:40
Labor Day is an American substitute for the International Workers Day, celebrated on May 1. Americans of the early 20th century associated organize labor with communism and sought to suppress un...
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“The Gift of the Church to the World” from 2020-08-30T14:55:32
Fear provokes prejudice and makes people willing to sacrifice their rights in favor of an authoritarian government that promises protection from the “others.” But shouldn’t faith offer some cure...
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Imagining a Post-Covid New and Improved World from 2020-08-23T15:34:54
170 Danish scholars from 5 universities came together to consider how the world needs to change post covid-19. They make five crucial suggestions: 1) Move away from ‘development’ focused on aggr...
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Against Human Sacrifice: Reclaiming Self&Community Care from 2020-08-16T15:09:16
Self-care has become a buzz phrase in recent years, and we’re (necessarily) hearing about it even more during this pandemic. In a healthy, functioning society, self and community care is integra...
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What Makes Us Human? from 2020-08-09T21:06:25
Anthropologist, Margaret Mead, said that the first sign of human civilization was the discovery of a 15,000 year old skeleton of a man who had a broken femur. She speculated that such an injury ...
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Fake News: Being informed in a time of propaganda from 2020-08-02T15:26:17
We really are not in the same boat but we surely are in the same storm. The pandemic is very inconvenient for the people who get to keep their jobs, income, health insurance, and home. But those...
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"A Silent Pandemic" from 2020-07-26T15:33:23
Opioid overdoses increased by 18% in March, 29% in April, and 42% in May making addiction and overdose deaths a silent pandemic within the viral pandemic. To respond to this crisis, today’s mess...
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“What is the Nature of the Mystery otherwise known as God?” from 2020-07-19T15:00:32
When we begin to give up the formal, creedal faith of our youth, accepting that no religion is entirely true and no sacred text was actually written by God, many people will abandon the journey ...
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"Could You Be A Sociopath?" from 2020-07-12T15:34:44
The anti-mask vs pro-mask divide in this stage of the global pandemic becomes an interesting litmus test for either an empathetic world view or a kind of apologetic for being something of a soci...
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“Just War, War Crimes, War is a Crime, War is a Racquet” from 2020-07-05T15:29:52
Far too often, patriotism is expressed as enthusiasm for wars as if the battlefield was the only way to become a hero or to find virtue when, in almost every case, the opposite is true. As Jimmy...
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Thievery from the Top Down from 2020-06-28T15:31:56
Our wisdom lesson offers us a view of the how things could be, through illustrations and words. It’s the kind of world that everyone could enjoy living in, because it would be organized around c...
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Progressive Faith and Practice from 2020-06-21T17:07:33
Covid-19 will also have a casualty count among congregations. Which churches will survive into the 21st century and, frankly, which ones really shouldn’t? If loneliness is the number one form of...
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Racism as a Public Health Crisis from 2020-06-14T19:46:30
While we are currently focused on racism as it appears to us in policing and in the pandemic, we know that the roots of racism are centuries old and expressed in every dimension of our culture. ...
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Every Barking Dog from 2020-06-07T15:30:08
Many progressive people, maybe even especially progressive clergy, are often so afraid of criticism that they keep their most passionate beliefs to themselves. This is especially true for those ...
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I Can’t Breathe (Racism in America) from 2020-05-31T18:42:52
“I can’t breathe.” Eric Garner’s last words were echoed this week by George Floyd as his life slipped away. The challenge for us is not to become inured by repetition. This time there was an arr...
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The Debt we Owe to the Truth from 2020-05-24T16:20:26
Every lie incurs a debt to the truth that must eventually be paid. This was initially said of Russian lies about the Chernobyl disaster but it certain applies to lies told about weapons of mass ...
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The Ten Commandments of Logic from 2020-05-17T15:25:10
Logic and faith should be partners! A healthy spirituality does not deny reality but rather interrogates and interprets reality. We are not seeking to escape this world to be transported into an...
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What Mom Really Wants: Equal Rights from 2020-05-10T15:45:55
We are taking a wide angle view of what it means to be a woman in the 21st century, from being relegated to carrying water and fire wood in the third world where female genital mutilation and se...
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A New Economy for a post-Covid world from 2020-05-03T15:23:21
May 1 is the international workers’ holiday but this year, in light of the pandemic, more consideration needs to be given to the very nature of the economy beyond the traditional rivalry between...
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The Talk Revisited from 2020-04-26T15:26:23
Prejudice is its own logic, or, at least, it is impervious to logic, evidence, or critical thinking. This week we'll consider the irrational beliefs behind many of our prejudices. We look at the...
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Dr. Kyler Sherman-Wilkins: On Reparations from 2020-04-19T15:28:01
"On Reparations" presented by Dr. Kyler Sherman-Wilkins, Missouri State University professor of Sociology
The subject of paying the descendants of African slaves some form of reparations ...
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The Resurrection of the Earth from 2020-04-12T15:23:20
The pandemic is almost all that is mentioned in the news and it certainly occupies much of our emotional and mental energy. Sadly, however, the Covid-19 virus might not be the most dangerous thi...
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Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong from 2020-04-05T15:45:40
As we try to learn the skills of staying home, maintaining distance, and the disciplines that prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, that means that some of us are very isolated, living alone...
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The End of the Status Quo from 2020-03-29T15:27:21
The world as we have known it no longer exists. This pandemic will end, realistically, however, the virus will remain and will be held at bay, largely by a vaccine that will have to be repeated ...
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Keep Calm and Carry On from 2020-03-22T18:36:48
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Will COVID-19 reveal our better angels or our fearful demons? from 2020-03-15T21:17:25
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Sinners and Saints from 2020-03-08T18:34:20
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Is Stupid Worse than Evil? from 2020-03-01T20:23:35
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Changing the World, Changing Me from 2020-02-23T20:39:59
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Listen to the Poet from 2020-02-16T19:27:47
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Renegotiating Love (evolution and symbiosis) from 2020-02-09T23:33
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Personal Faith and Public Policy from 2020-02-02T19:52:17
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A Preference for Facts from 2020-01-26T20:45:41
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The Price of Defending Whiteness from 2020-01-19T20:34:28
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The Macro View of Economics and Time from 2020-01-12T19:03:31
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The Emerging Church (from the ashes of the old church) from 2020-01-05T20:07:18
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Christmas Now and Then from 2019-12-22T20:59:47
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What I Learned from My Critics from 2019-12-15T20:34:34
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David Katya Ketchum: Imagining Other Possibilities from 2019-12-09T02:03:02
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After Black Friday from 2019-12-01T21:03:37
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(Dys)function and Family: Holiday Guilt Trips from 2019-11-24T19:52:55
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Incrementalism from 2019-11-17T21:44:14
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Life is a shipwreck, remember to sing in the lifeboats from 2019-11-10T21:20:09
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Mark Lenneville: Evangelism in the Progressive Church from 2019-11-03T20:34
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David Katya Ketchum: From White Supremacy To Collective Liberation from 2019-10-27T18:43:59
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Healthcare - America Taken Hostage from 2019-10-20T22:36:05
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Columbus Was A Jerk from 2019-10-13T18:39:33
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Drugs, Race, and Prisons from 2019-10-06T19:56:49
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When Our Emotions Become Our Prison from 2019-09-29T18:55:26
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Long Overdue Reform of Gun Control (Do Something!) from 2019-09-22T22:54:57
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Overwhelmed or Just a Short Attention Span? from 2019-09-15T18:59:02
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Jesus Never Laughed and Socrates Never Cried from 2019-09-08T19:10:51
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Capitalism v Socialism from 2019-09-01T17:47:55
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Jesus: Without Christmas or Easter from 2019-08-25T20:37:22
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Living Beyond Regret from 2019-08-18T20:14:23
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Devaluing Humans from 2019-08-12T18:56:38
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Evidence Based Faith: Haud Ignota Loquor from 2019-08-12T18:55:41
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The Demand for Gun Sanity from 2019-08-04T21:19:22
Two mass shooting events took place on Saturday morning, August 3, in Texas, and that night in Dayton, Ohio. In both incidents, the shooter was stopped, the first in 6 minutes, the second in les...
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We’re All Connected (but I got mine!) from 2019-07-28T19:38:05
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book release: Meditations from 2019-07-24T00:34:43
My newest book is a collection of the meditations (post-theistic "prayers") written originally for use in our Gathering services at the Emerging Church. We now how to share these liturgical reso...
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Give No Space to Racism or Fascism from 2019-07-24T00:33:03
The shocking North Carolina rally in which Trump led the crowds in a chant of "Send her back" was a bridge too far. This is no longer merely conservative blowing of dog whistles and being a bull...
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Greed and Dashed Hopes from 2019-07-21T18:27:26
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America's Diseases: Depression, Addiction, and Suicide from 2019-07-14T20:11:41
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Missed Connections - Faith communities in a post-theistic world from 2019-07-07T19:31:18
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We are Partners from 2019-07-01T19:00
This podcast is produced in a small independent congregation in Springfield, Missouri. The church is small and not close to being self supporting. This progressive material is made available to ...
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Against Giving Up from 2019-06-30T19:28:42
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Moderate Radicals from 2019-06-23T19:14:06
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State Mandated Sexual Assault from 2019-06-16T18:50:23
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David Katya Ketchum: Yes and No - Reflections on Love, Community, and Consent from 2019-06-09T19:20:47
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When AIDS Was Funny from 2019-06-02T19:07:51
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What Do We Do With Our Grief? from 2019-05-26T17:16:05
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Whitman on Orthopraxy from 2019-05-19T18:28:03
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Mother’s Day and Equal Rights from 2019-05-12T18:08:39
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Socialism for the Rich, Capitalism for the Poor from 2019-05-05T18:22:53
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The ‘is’ and ‘is not’ of the Green New Deal from 2019-04-28T20:57:56
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They Tried to Bury Us from 2019-04-21T22:36:17
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Rev. Mark Lenneville: Progressives or "Nones"? from 2019-04-14T20:52:19
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David Ketchum: Social Rejection and Social Change from 2019-04-07T21:20:16
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Would it Hurt You to Lighten Up a Bit? from 2019-03-31T20:32:54
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Sensible Gun Laws Save Lives from 2019-03-24T18:27:15
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Augustine, Scripture, and Science from 2019-03-17T19:53:37
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Roger Ray in SC in April, England in June from 2019-03-11T12:47:23
I will be speaking in South Carolina the first two weeks of April and in Exeter England on June 9. Please join me at the listed locations if possible. As always, we encourage our listeners to al...
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David Ketchum: Honesty and Hope from 2019-03-10T21:30:50
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Jesus - Teacher of Radical Compassion from 2019-02-24T22:39:49
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The Bible and Immigration from 2019-02-17T19:56:38
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Coffee and Poetry from 2019-02-10T19:01:09
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Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? from 2019-02-03T19:58:49
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The Horror All Around Us from 2019-01-28T00:13:19
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Freedom Through Defiance from 2019-01-20T18:40:16
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After the Patriarchy Falls from 2019-01-13T20:15:33
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America's Original Sin from 2019-01-06T21:37:30
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Going Where We've Never Been from 2018-12-30T22:24:50
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Family, Friends, Food, Credit Card Debt, Guilt, and Resentment from 2018-12-24T04:05:37
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Escaping the Fowler’s Snare from 2018-12-16T19:37:51
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Justifying the Inexcusable from 2018-12-09T22:01:14
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Three Deadly Sins of Public Discourse from 2018-12-02T21:00:32
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The End of Providence from 2018-11-25T19:02:49
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Making Family Joyful Again from 2018-11-18T18:51:20
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Haud Ignota Loquor from 2018-11-12T01:00:06
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God is too big for just one religion from 2018-11-04T19:33:08
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Cancers Grow from Within from 2018-10-28T17:31:27
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Exercising Empathy from 2018-10-21T18:24:04
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Please vote for our continued existence! from 2018-10-15T16:00
The mere existence of an entirely honest, progressive church is fiscally unlikely. We don't have enough support from our small Springfield, MO congregation to keep us afloat. We need the support...
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Demanding Answers from the Universe from 2018-10-14T18:52:22
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An Overdue Second Bill of Rights from 2018-10-07T22:25:39
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To Suffer is not Enough from 2018-09-30T18:34:04
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Faith Defined by Radical Compassion from 2018-09-23T18:21:42
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We’re All Mad Here from 2018-09-16T20:13:55
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The Free Press from 2018-09-09T20:12:56
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A Universal Basic Income from 2018-09-02T16:57:51
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Ego and Other Barriers to Community from 2018-08-26T20:05:59
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Sage Advice from 2018-08-19T19:42:48
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Getting Old or Getting Better? from 2018-08-12T18:50:01
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Why We're Still Here from 2018-08-05T18:13:39
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From Common Sense to an Age of Reason from 2018-07-29T19:09:48
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In This Life from 2018-07-15T20:24:47
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Escape from Suffering from 2018-07-08T20:14:36
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An American Creed from 2018-07-01T21:10:05
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Because We Are All Connected from 2018-06-24T21:57:25
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Monetizing the Earth from 2018-06-17T19:13:11
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The Trouble with Kings from 2018-06-10T21:27:08
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No Good Deed Goes Unpunished from 2018-06-03T18:30
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When Great Trees Fall from 2018-05-27T18:26:29
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The Last Temptation of Evangelicals from 2018-05-20T19:21:38
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David Ketchum: Starting with Ourselves from 2018-05-13T18:37:10
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David Ketchum: Access for All from 2018-05-06T18:21:56
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Truth Beyond Courtesy from 2018-04-29T18:42:53
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Beyond Belief from 2018-04-22T21:33:44
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I’m Not With Stupid Anymore from 2018-04-15T21:11:29
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The Ghost Community (the one everyone talks about, but no one has ever seen) from 2018-04-08T23:48:29
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Prophets and Martyrs from 2018-04-01T21:12:07
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The Brave New World from 2018-03-25T19:35:25
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Religious Myth and Faithful Reality (From Idols to Ideas) from 2018-03-18T20:11:52
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Rev. Mark Lenneville: Shine the Light from 2018-03-11T18:35:49
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Commandments or Helpful Guidelines? from 2018-03-04T22:42:04
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On Being Woke from 2018-02-26T00:45:21
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Internment in the Land of the Free from 2018-02-18T19:12:03
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Love is All You Need (Domestic Abuse Unplugged) from 2018-02-11T18:40:47
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Remembering and Reconciling (Why Can't We All Just Get Along?) from 2018-02-04T20:15:54
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Keeping a Progressive Voice online from 2018-01-31T23:44:13
Abortion's Place in Ethical Thinking from 2018-01-28T19:18:04
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We Are Not the Fragile Ones from 2018-01-21T20:39:26
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From Silence Breakers to Culture Changers: Power and Potential in the #MeToo Movement from 2018-01-07T19:36:43
Presented by Dr. Nicole Plyler Fisk on January 7, 2018.
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The Power Hidden in a Choice from 2017-12-31T20:46:27
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Christmas Stories from 2017-12-24T17:30
Christmas Eve message regarding the message of Luke's and Matthew's accounts of the birth of Jesus.
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Losing Faith in Humanity from 2017-12-17T18:17:15
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David Ketchum: Telling the Truth About the Afterlife from 2017-12-11T00:56:08
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David Ketchum - Equality: From Principle to Reality from 2017-12-03T22:14:05
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Thanksgiving as a Myth of Origin from 2017-11-26T22:19:04
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A Drug Solution from 2017-11-19T21:18:14
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The Profanity of 'Thoughts and Prayers' from 2017-11-12T22:01:49
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Preserving Democracy from 2017-11-05T17:50:03
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Spiritual but not Religious... from 2017-10-29T18:09:20
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Dedication to Reality and Balancing from 2017-10-22T18:25
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Living a Life Worth Living from 2017-10-15T19:06
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Long Overdue Reform of Gun Control from 2017-10-08T18:42:28
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Tribalism, Narcissism, Nationalism, and their Offspring from 2017-10-01T20:24:44
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September 24, 2017 from 2017-09-24T18:48:19
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Year End Donations from 2017-09-18T22:00
We are a hybrid church. We continue to exist only because we receive support both from our small seated church in Springfield and several of our Internet listeners. And more specifically, for th...
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The Challenge of Community from 2017-09-17T19:54:14
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Race, Drugs, and Prisons from 2017-09-10T20:01:11
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Meaningful Work AND Meaningful Salaries! from 2017-09-03T20:12:32
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It’s Probably about Sex from 2017-08-27T18:45:18
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Race in America from 2017-08-20T18:23
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Getting the Healthcare We Want from 2017-08-06T19:26:29
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Bob Fellner: Five Beliefs from 2017-07-30T20:02:05
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Part 2: David Ketchum - A Spiritual Reformation (and this time we really mean it) from 2017-07-23T20:29:49
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Part 1: A Spiritual Reformation (and this time we really mean it) from 2017-07-23T20:27:08
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The Honest Roots of Terrorism from 2017-07-16T19:55:32
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Income Disparity: The Lethal DisEase from 2017-07-09T19:47
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Your Support is needed and appreciated! from 2017-06-27T21:00
I hear from listeners who group our videos with the lectures of Spong, Borg, Crossan and Armstrong and while that is flattering, I know that I am not on the "A list" of progressive speakers (I c...
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A new Children's Book - America Will Be Great from 2017-06-27T02:40:44
We are proud to announce the release of Holly Ketchum's new children's book, America Will Be Great. This wonderful book is aimed at early elementary aged students and illustrates inclusion and a...
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The Dubious Luxury of Anger from 2017-06-25T18:14:52
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America Will Be Great When... from 2017-06-18T21:45:56
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War is a Racket from 2017-06-18T18:15:52
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Revenge or Reform - The Penal Challenge from 2017-06-11T18:53:52
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We're All Connected (Biologically, Chemically, Atomically) from 2017-06-04T18:48:26
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Dr. Charles Hedrick: "Why should anyone care about Jesus and the Jesus Tradition?" from 2017-05-28T22:05:49
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Speaking for the Unknown God from 2017-05-21T19:06:06
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The Peasants are Revolting from 2017-05-14T20:25:35
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David Ketchum: Towards a Sociology of Prayer from 2017-05-07T18:49:24
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Choosing the Right Rather than Choosing the Winner from 2017-04-30T22:09:35
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April 25, 2017 from 2017-04-26T22:39:53
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Would You Kindly Turn Your Head While I Swallow My Spit? from 2017-04-23T20:05:31
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Resurrection is not a reality but it is a potential from 2017-04-16T18:47:40
Featuring "Purpose in the Pain" by David Greathouse
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Cain and Able had some issues and choices to make from 2017-04-16T18:46:24
Featuring "The Sound that Love Makes" by David Greathouse
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The Line Between Good and Evil from 2017-04-16T18:44:41
Featuring "Black Snake" by David Greathouse
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Making Reality Bend to Our Beliefs from 2017-04-09T20:36:44
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Is Resurrection Possible? from 2017-04-02T19:17:09
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A Preference for Blindness from 2017-03-26T19:05:52
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Spirituality Beyond Theism from 2017-03-19T18:05:17
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People Don't Change Much... But They Can from 2017-03-12T18:39:14
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Nevertheless, She Persisted from 2017-03-05T19:22:50
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Eulogy or Easter for the EPA? from 2017-02-26T19:38:46
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Step out of the shadow of anonymity from 2017-02-20T17:00
Of the more than 15,000 viewers and listeners we have each month, fewer than 100 support us financially. Our continued existence is in question. Please become a regular contributor to keep this ...
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Enno Schmidt: "Universal Basic Income and Religion" from 2017-02-19T21:58:52
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A View of Romance from the Perspective of a Non-Combatant from 2017-02-12T19:17:29
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Just the Facts, Ma'am from 2017-02-05T22:04:32
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The Beatitudes Revisited from 2017-01-29T20:13:20
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David Ketchum: "Complicity, Simplicity, and the World We Are Creating" from 2017-01-22T20:16:30
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Time and Our Place in It from 2017-01-15T20:43
Reinhold Niebuhr said: Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; and he added, Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone. These important observations should inform peop...
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Fear is a Villain from 2017-01-08T19:39:56
Noam Chomsky offers two dire warnings following the election of Donald Trump: The first is an accelerated use of carbon based fuels that will bring the human race to extinction and the other is ...
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A Report from Standing Rock from 2017-01-01T23:11:06
The Standing Rock camps are still in operation. The DAPL construction equipment is still poised to return to drilling if the Trump administration reverses Obama's halt on the project. This impor...
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Deb Stover: "Why Did You Do It?" from 2017-01-01T22:40:14
This sermon was written and delivered by Rev. Mel Miller in 1963. The Millers had four children when they decided to adopt a black child and then a Native American child in the early days of the...
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The Real War on Christmas from 2016-12-24T14:00
Matthew and Luke tell completely different (and contradictory) accounts of the birth of Jesus. Neither are meant to be taken literally. They were writing a theological message (sermon) to intr...
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The Sermon Inside the Christmas Story from 2016-12-18T21:17:11
We cannot make America Great by exporting Hispanics, by closing our borders to Muslims, by taking away the rights of same sex couples, women, union laborers, and the differently abled. In fact, ...
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Character Education from 2016-12-11T22:19:17
Martin Luther King, Jr. insisted that education was failing on two fronts: we were failing to teach students to think critically, and we were failing to teach character. A shocking number of peo...
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The Economics of Externalities from 2016-12-04T22:45:36
Economics is not a hard science. Economists sometimes try to make us believe that it is and they do equip their textbooks and classroom lectures with impressive charts and graphs but an economis...
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How to Support the Standing Rock Sioux from 2016-11-28T00:59:32
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Thanksgiving from an Indian Perspective from 2016-11-27T20:04:22
For the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota, this Thanksgiving was a time for defending not only the Missouri River from pollution but also defending themselves from assault from Dakota Access P...
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The Peace That Starts in Your Mind from 2016-11-20T23:14:35
As progressives try to process the election of Donald Trump and we face the prospects of a ban on Muslim immigrants, the deportation of millions of undocumented Latinos, and appointments to the ...
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David Ketchum: A Fragile Whole from 2016-11-13T20:00:12
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The Face of the Modern Revolutionary from 2016-11-06T19:49:47
The Native Americans camped out in North Dakota in opposition to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline have hardly been mentioned in the news and much of what has been reported is eithe...
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Samhain, All Saints Day, Día de Muertos, and Grief from 2016-10-30T18:37:18
Grief is the price you pay for loving any living thing. The morality rate is, ultimately 100% and so do we deny our grief...
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Indigenous Peoples’ Day from 2016-10-23T20:00
People migrate, as refugees of war, famine, or poverty. These migrations are often the cause of the worst genocides and most violent clashes in history. In the modern era it is time for us to st...
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A Fearless and Searching Inventory from 2016-10-16T23:36:33
The ancient mythic account of Jacob's night wrestling in the wilderness with a man/demon/God made him a new person… with a limp. Coming to terms with ourselves, taking a fearless and searching m...
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Brother Can You Spare . . . about $25/month? from 2016-10-05T22:26:19
Many are surprised to find that their favorite source for progressive sermons is a tiny church in Springfield, MO, the reddest of red states. I can tell you that our survival is now dependent up...
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Our One A'Priori Choice from 2016-10-02T20:15:16
Progressive religious people have made a choice, not one necessarily based on evidence or critical thinking, but a vital choice between self service and service of others. For us, the spiritual ...
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A Religion of Life and Joy from 2016-09-25T22:06:13
Progressive communities of faith, if they are to survive the coming generation, must be willing to make some fundamental and fairly quick changes. Churches must be willing to embrace critical th...
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The Gulf Between What Is Legal and What Is Right from 2016-09-18T18:55:42
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” The prophet Amos was angry about how the poor were abused by merchants ...
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Stop Making New Terrorists from 2016-09-11T21:34:02
On this 15th anniversary of 9-11, we look back and ask ourselves if 15 years of war with more than 600,000 civilian casualties, have we defeated terrorism or have we just created new generations...
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On Wealth and Labor from 2016-09-04T17:17:51
Though our world has completely transformed in the span of a century, our attitude towards labor is still locked in the more primitive era of scarcity. The real modern world is still waiting to ...
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Rev. John Churcher: The Development of the Known CE God from 2016-08-30T22:00
Rev. John Churcher's 2nd lecture in the "Evolution of God" conference. This recording was made in the Unitarian Universalist Church in Columbia, SC
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Rev. John Churcher: The Unknown BCE God from 2016-08-29T22:00
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You Say You Want a Revolution? from 2016-08-29T00:51:23
The 600% increase in the price of a life saving Epi Pen was a purely capitalist decision because the corporation holding patent felt that the market would bear the higher price. That is the whol...
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The Value of a Good Education from 2016-08-23T01:18
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Panentheism and Humanism in Post-Theistic Views of God from 2016-08-21T18:33:43
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Rev. Bill Kennedy: August 14, 2016 from 2016-08-14T21:34:38
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Rev. John Churcher: Creating God in our Image? from 2016-08-07T19:30:30
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Freedom From Greed from 2016-08-01T15:34:42
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Conference Invitation from 2016-07-24T20:52:16
What do we mean when we say “GOD”?
A religious conference addressing the evolution of what people think about the nature and character of God.
Community Christian Church in Springfie...
Positive Spirituality from 2016-07-24T20:49:52
One of the great contributions of Abraham Maslow to the practice of psychology was a shift in emphasis from trying to focus on what was wrong in a person's life to trying to enhance personal str...
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The American Ideal and the American Real from 2016-07-17T19:49:37
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Because Black Lives Matter from 2016-07-10T21:39:56
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A Nation Under God? from 2016-07-03T20:54:50
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Flashes of Insight (Surprisingly from St. Paul) from 2016-06-26T23:16:59
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The Failed Reformation from 2016-06-19T20:37:30
Five years after Luther began the Reformation he was damning Anabaptists who did not agree with his Biblical interpretations. Within a generation the initially bold and dramatic reforms envision...
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The Intoxication of Power from 2016-06-12T20:33:48
"The Intoxication of Power"
(I Kings 21, the story of King Ahab and Naboth’s vineyard)
There is a very distinct anti-government thread that runs through the Torah, the Prophets, and ...
Who Did it This Time? Maybe, a Little Bit, it Was All of Us from 2016-06-12T19:33:11
In this epsiode I am reading an article that I wrote in immediate response to the shootings at Pulse in Orlando. You can read the text on the Daily Kos at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/6/12...
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Dr. Paul Thomlinson: Addiction, Mental Illness, and Treatment from 2016-06-07T15:02:44
Dr. Paul Thomlinson, chief researcher for Burrell Mental Health speaks to current social aspects of the stigma of mental illness and how the failure to receive treatment relates to addiction.
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Addiction: A Spiritual Disease from 2016-06-05T19:44:28
Addiction is back in the news, largely because opiod and heroin addiction is reaching into the mainstream of middle and upper class. This message addresses the assumption that, as Jung suggested...
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Please donate now! from 2016-05-31T23:14:38
Of the more than 10,000 listeners we have each month, fewer than 80 support us financially. Our continued existence is in question. Please visit www.spfccc.org Listen
God vs God from 2016-05-29T19:26:28
US General Boykin described our war in Iraq as a battle between our God and their God. This unfortunate prejudice is also visible in the battle described in I Kings between Elijah and the prophe...
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Beyond Romance to Spiritual Love (try giving a damn) from 2016-05-22T21:01:17
Progressives often seem to feel a kind of compassion fatigue from being asked to be concerned about so many different issues of injustice. Perhaps the issue is that we give ourselves permission ...
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Can Religion Still Be Useful? from 2016-05-15T23:22:42
Early 20th century theologians as well as many poets, journalists, essayists, and philosophers were urging the public to embrace a progressive approach to faith that was concerned with behavior ...
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What if Time Has No Beginning and No End? from 2016-05-08T19:41:18
Accepting that the world has a beginning and an end leads to a dismissive view of poverty, pollution, warfare, and social classes. While everyone certainly has a right to their personal beliefs ...
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A May Day Sermon: Profit vs Environment from 2016-05-02T00:12:58
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Beyond Tolerance from 2016-04-24T20:56:53
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I’m More Victimized than You Are Competition from 2016-04-17T21:18:54
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David Ketchum: Learning to Tell a Story from 2016-04-10T21:56:53
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Accepting Not Being Accepted from 2016-04-03T19:26:02
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Faith in the Face of Terrorism from 2016-03-27T21:40:25
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The Secret to Reconciliation. . . And Why It Almost Never Happens from 2016-03-20T21:25:22
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Stoning the Prophets from 2016-03-13T20:04:30
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A Man Had Two Sons (One Was Addicted to Heroin) from 2016-03-06T19:44:38
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Life in a Capricious Universe from 2016-02-28T20:52:10
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Drunk Priests and Childish Prophets from 2016-02-21T20:30:07
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Honest Questioning and Uninformed Certainty from 2016-02-07T20:06:10
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What Do We Mean When We Say 'God'? from 2016-01-31T18:49:26
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Can Progressives Form a United Community? from 2016-01-24T21:21:44
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Who generates progressive content? from 2016-01-18T00:51
Once every month we remind our listeners that our presence on the web, our continued existence as a church is predicated entirely upon people being willing to make donations to support the churc...
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When the Wine Never Fails from 2016-01-17T22:39:12
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The Hardest Connection to Make from 2016-01-10T22:20:24
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Freedom of Speech vs Freedom of Thought from 2016-01-03T23:22:17
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The Two-Faced God from 2015-12-27T19:56:55
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Mary's Only Sermon from 2015-12-20T21:10:39
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Practical Theology (Because who wants impractical theology?) from 2015-12-14T00:14:29
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Dr. David Trobisch: Would the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? from 2015-12-06T23:39:07
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Is Love worth It? from 2015-11-30T01:57:55
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Living with Gratitude in an Imperfect World from 2015-11-22T20:27:14
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Spiritual Reflections in an Age of Terrorism from 2015-11-15T22:01:31
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The Rise of Religious Consciousness from 2015-11-08T22:21:36
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Thank You for Your Help from 2015-11-08T22:18:25
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Discovering a Progressive Bible from 2015-11-02T00:38:22
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Bob Fellner: Respect from 2015-10-25T19:30:20
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Redemptive Suffering from 2015-10-18T21:47:25
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Where Art Thou? from 2015-10-11T19:22:28
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The Yen and Yang of Friendship from 2015-10-04T20:42:26
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We Need Your Help from 2015-09-27T21:51:07
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What If This Is As Good As It Gets? from 2015-09-27T21:43:51
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The First Casualty in Any War is the Truth from 2015-09-21T16:21:21
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The Illuminative Way from 2015-09-13T20:46:16
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Justice for Workers from 2015-09-06T20:55:47
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Right Speech from 2015-08-30T20:46:39
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Who is a Terrorist Today? from 2015-08-23T22:09:35
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The Moral Vacuum of Insatiable Greed from 2015-08-17T02:45:30
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This Must Be Said from 2015-08-09T18:23:42
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Believing What Is True from 2015-08-02T21:02:48
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Spirituality, Sexuality, Propagation and Pleasure from 2015-07-30T03:02:04
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Bishop John Shelby Spong: Joseph, A Literary Invention from 2015-07-19T20:58:32
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Bishop John Shelby Spong: Why Atonement Theology will Kill Christianity from 2015-07-19T20:52:45
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Dealing with Facts from 2015-07-12T20:45:46
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Bob Fellner: Faith from 2015-07-05T20:02:30
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Thinking about Another War from 2015-06-28T18:54:53
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In the Wake of the Emanuel AME Church Murders from 2015-06-21T20:17:31
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American Exceptionalism Revisited from 2015-06-14T21:09:54
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Bob Fellner: Healing from 2015-06-07T19:16:05
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Being Prophetic in the Land of Unclean Lips from 2015-05-31T19:41:10
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The Journey of Faith from Exclusive to Inclusive from 2015-05-24T18:57:14
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Are We the Most Evil of Creatures? from 2015-05-17T20:07:17
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Are We Your Church? from 2015-05-10T19:28:03
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Faith in the 21st Century from 2015-05-10T19:26:56
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Love is my Religion from 2015-05-03T21:09:24
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In Reply to a Painfully Disillusioned Mormon Father of a Gay Son from 2015-04-26T19:29:55
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Wounded Healer from 2015-04-19T20:12:17
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Reverse Rip Van Winkle in the 21st Century from 2015-04-12T23:19:24
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The Passion Story We Live from 2015-04-05T22:41:16
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Loving without Owning from 2015-03-29T22:09:54
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Letting in the Greeks (and Mexicans, Haitians and Muslims) from 2015-03-22T19:49:30
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Coming to the Light from 2015-03-15T21:02:32
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Dr. Jimmy Watson: Turning the Tables on Theism from 2015-03-08T19:46:21
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What is So? So What? So? from 2015-03-07T21:32:12
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Drunken Priests and Baby Talking Prophets from 2015-03-01T22:39:31
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