Undeceptions with John Dickson

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**Undeceptions with John Dickson**

Every week on Undeceptions we’ll explore some aspect of life, faith, history, culture, or ethics that is either much misunderstood or mostly forgotten. With the help of people who know what they’re talking about, we’ll be trying to ‘undeceive ourselves’ and let the truth ‘out’.

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40. Religious Freedom May 17, 2021

Show notes

LINKS

Get to know our guest Professor Robert Wilken
This episode is sponsored by Zondervan's new book, The Problem of Jesus by Mark Clark
Read Robert Wilken's latest book Liberty in the Things of God: The Christian Origins of Religious Freedom
More on the Edict of Milan, in which Constantine declared: “Freedom and full liberty has been granted in accordance with the peace of our times to exercise free choice in worshipping as each one has seen fit. This has been done by us so that nothing may seem to be taken away from anyone’s honour or from any religion whatsoever.”
More on Roger Williams
Find out more about Thomas Jefferson and religious freedom.
Our 'Phone a Friend' guest this episode was Tim Wilson, an Australian Liberal MP and former Human Rights Commissioner. Watch a talk Tim gave on religious freedom to the Centre For Independent Studies here.

39. Guilty Conscience May 10, 2021

Show notes

Guilt is a big topic - there is so much to say. Like the feeling of guilt itself, it is layered.

We deal with guilt on an individual level and on a societal one.

“Guilt is a religious problem which interests theologians, a social problem which interests sociologists and a psychological problem which interests psychologists,” wrote psychotherapist and theologian, Paul Tournier, in his book Guilt and Grace.

People sometimes speak of ‘religious guilt’ or ‘Catholic guilt’ and it’s almost always used negatively. The assumption is that if you are religious, you are dealing with much more guilt than the regular person, and certainly more than is healthy!

But maybe guilt is actually good?

And maybe religion - Christianity in particular - is the maestro of listening to, directing, and silencing the guilt we experience in our lives.

LINKS

About that record... the first was already dead: angler -- read more about Clive White's trout confession.
This episode is brought to you by Zondervan's new book Bullies and Saints: An honest look at the good and evil of Christian history by John Dickson.
Meet our guest, Dr Rob Waller.
Meet our guest, Professor Wilfred McClay
Here's Rob's book, The Guilt Book
Here's Bill's essay from The Hedgehog Review, The Strange Persistence of Guilt(behind a paywall, sorry!)
The scene from Daredevil on Netflix was from Season 2, Episode 4. Though, we're not really saying you should watch it.
This one's specifically for John, actually: More on 30 Rock, the American satirical comedy created by Tina Fey. (PS. It won 16 Emmy awards and is regarded as one of the best sitcoms of all time).
Here's the atheist bus campaign that Bill talks about.
You can learn more about Neitzsche's theory on the genealogy of guilt here.
Here's Sigmund Freud's Civilisation and its Discontents, where he declared guilt to be “the most important problem in the development of civilization.” He said “the price we pay for our advance in civilization is a loss of happiness through the heightening of the sense of guilt.”
Here we are again, with a link for the Netflix series The Good Place.(So great that we keep quoting it. Dear John, you should definitely keep watching. Love Kaley and Mark)
There's a lot of views about whether or not to destroy Confederate statues. Here's a few interesting reads from different perspectives:
- A Solution to the Confederate-Monument Problem: Destroying the statues won’t erase the past. Why not let them deteriorate in a public space instead? from The Atlantic
- We need to move, not destroy, Confederate monuments from The New York Times
- Nearly 100 Confederate monuments removed in 2020, says report. Over 700 remain. from NPR (America's National Public Radio)
- The battle over Confederate statues, explained: Confederate statues have always been about white supremacy. That’s why they’re coming down, by Vox
- And, here's Undeceptions own Laurel Moffatt giving her thoughts during an Undeceptions single last year.
Read the research by sociologists Bradley and Manning on victimhood: The Rise of Victimhood Culture, in which they write:

"A culture of victimhood is one characterized by concern with status and sensitivity to slight combined with a heavy reliance on third parties. People are intolerant of insults, even if unintentional, and react by bringing them to the attention of authorities or to the public at large. People increasingly demand help from others, and advertise their oppression as evidence that they deserve respect and assistance. This only increases the incentive to publicize grievances, and it means aggrieved parties are especially likely to highlight their identity as victims, emphasizing their own suffering and innocence."

It's Jiminy Cricket!
Read more on Professor Tyler Vander Weele's research on whether forgiveness is a public health issue.

38. Mental Health May 03, 2021

Show notes

Perhaps you’ve heard it before - religion is bad for your mental health. It triggers feelings of guilt, self-loathing and bigotry.

But, actually, there are many ways in which the opposite is true. Karen Pang's story is testament to that, which you'll hear in this episode.

There’s also a growing body of research - authoritative, real-life, peer-reviewed research - that reports a significant benefit to wellbeing if you are religious.

That’s right. You are more healthy if you are religious.

Do you need help?

LINKS

This episode is brought to you by Zondervan Academic's book, Three Views on Chrisitanity and Sciencewith contributions from Alister McGrath, Bruce L Gordon and Michael Ruse.
Meet our guest, Karen Pang
Meet our guest, Professor Tyler VanderWeele
Meet out guest, Lyn Worsley
Listen to the full interview with Buff and John Dickson on ABC's The Spirit of Things
Watch the full Playschool series on feelings, How do you feel today?
Read the full data on the risk of suicide for people with bipolar, from SANE Australia
Read the biblical accounts of the deaths of Saul and Judas.
Read St Augustine's City of God
Check out Tyler VanderWeele's research on deaths of despair and religious service attendance. Full paper here.
Tyler's research on mental and physical health and the effects of religious service attendance (also check out his full list of research papers in his profile above!)
Watch Tyler VanderWeele consider whether the results of his research that concluded religious service attendance had a significant positive impact on mental health might be reverse causation.
Get the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Health
See for yourself the strong evidence of an association between attending religious services and happiness and life satisfaction.
Need help to pray? Try the Book of Common Prayer, which Buff Dickson talks about praying through when she just couldn't find the words on her own. Here's an example, the prayer for Sunday 2 May 2021:

Almighty God,
who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ
have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:
grant that, as by your grace going before us
you put into our minds good desires,
so by your continual help
we may bring them to good effect;
through Jesus Christ our risen Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Unknown Soldier Single Apr 26, 2021

Show notes

It is the day after ANZAC Day, that occasion when Australians and New Zealanders commemorate those who died in the defence of our country.

At a time like this, it is worth considering the inscription bourne by many military tombstones across the world - 'Unknown Soldier - Known Unto God'.

This is not just a way of saying, "We don't know who he is; I guess God does." It has a profound meaning about the peculiar way in which God knows His creatures.

The Troubles Single Apr 19, 2021

Show notes

Critics of Christianity have often pointed to The Troubles in Northern Ireland as proof that, "Religion ruins everything."

But how accurate is the statement? How accurate is it to even label The Troubles a religious conflict?

John Dickson shares a chapter of his upcoming book, Bullies And Saints, on how the Troubles got started and how Christianity helped to bring them to an end.

Click here to order a copy of John Dickson's Bullies and Saints.

Western Fundamentalism Single Apr 12, 2021

Show notes

Gordon Menzies advised the federal government on the deregulation of the Australian dollar, underlining his credentials when it came to liberalism.

However, his new book titled 'Western Fundamentalism' suggests a more conservative way of seeing the world.

He tells John Dickson, though, that a Christian is capable of rejecting definitions of both left and right to forge a distinctly different path.

American Soul Single Apr 05, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Laurel Moffatt rejoins the Undeceptions team to consider the state of the American soul.

Researchers have revealed that this nation of the bold and the free is now united more by the things that its citizens hate than those they love.

Is there any way out of this emotional and moral quagmire? Dr. Moffatt thinks so.

Still Cancer Single Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

How do you face the rapidly approaching end of a battle with cancer?

In Series 2, Episode 13 of Undeceptions, John Dickson met up with his friend Ben Shaw to discuss his recent diagnosis of that dreaded disease.

The It's Cancer episode raised serious questions about what place pain has in a world created by a good God.

Now, in the run-up to Easter, John returns to ask Ben if the call to face cancer has brought on new spiritual insights.

37. Racist Church Jan 11, 2021

Show notes

Some would argue that Christianity itself is racist. Given the sweep of history, this is a charge that has to be confronted.

So we’re going to speak to a couple of people who, despite all the things the church has done wrong -- and continues to do wrong -- and despite all the things the church should be doing but just isn’t - still see Christ as Lord. They are still part of the church. They still think Christianity is beautiful, even if parts of the church are not.

You as listeners - whether you believe or not - are going to have to be the judges here.

This is not an episode in which I feel competent to lecture anyone.

I don’t know what it’s like to be a minority. That’s why we’re speaking to people today who do know.

LINKS

Meet our guest, Jemar Tisby
- Read his latest book, How to fight racism
- Read Jemar’s other book The Colour of Compromise: the truth about the American Church’s complicity in racism
- Check out The Witness
Get to know Brooke Prentis
- Find out more about Common Grace
Watch Brenda Salter McNeil’s full talk on her ‘response to racism’
This episode is supported by Zondervan Academic’s book Evangelical Theology by Michael Bird
Full CNN report on the global protests sparked by the death of George Floyd
Read more about the Black Lives Matter movement in this series from The New Yorker
Divided by Faith: Evangelical religion and the problem of race in America, Michael Emerson and Christian Smith
Listen to Tim Keller’s full speech on Racism and Corporate Evil
Also read Tim Keller’s series on justice and race in the Gospel In Life Magazine
Read more about the Southern Baptists and Critical Race Theory
And a little more about Critical Race Theory more generally: Are all white people racist? Why Critical Race Theory has us rattled, Sydney Morning Herald

More on Australia’s Aboriginal history

Mapping the massacres of Australia’s colonial frontier, The University of Newcastle
More on the Aboriginal reserves and stations
Close the Gap 2020: The annual report of Parliament on progress in Closing the Gap and achieving equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in health and life expectancy
Bringing Them Home Report 1997 - A Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children From Their Families.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says “Sorry” on behalf of the Australian Government in 2008
Watch Australia’s National Aboriginal Bishop in the Anglican Church, Chris McLeod’s full interview on Black Lives Matter and the Church
Brooke Prentis gave us three pieces of content she believes all Australians should consume to learn more about the true history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia:
- Dark Emu, by Bruce Pascoe
- Talking to My Country, by Stan Grant
- First Australians documentary, SBS

Here's the alternate view on racism in America

Candace Owens is a conservative US commentator who has a very different take on the Black Lives Matter movement and how she thinks her country should be dealing with racism.
- On what she believes is the real goal of the Black Lives Matter movement
- On White Guilt
Ben Shapiro is one of the most popular conservative commentators in the US. He disagrees with the idea of systemic racism. More here.

Undeceptions T-Shirts are here! Click here to get yours now.

36. 100 Pages Jan 04, 2021

Show notes

Perhaps you’re sceptical, perhaps you’re just undecided - our challenge for you for 2021 is: read at least 100 pages of the Bible.

This book has shaped much of our world. It would be great to think that you’ve got your head around at least 100 pages, as an adult, with all your grownup questions activated.

Yes, the Bible is weird. It’s got wars, bizarre laws, talking snakes, perhaps even a unicorn or two, slavery, misogyny, and much more. But there is way to read this stuff, and there’s a way not to.

And we reckon today’s guest can help us with both, and make 2021 TO ETOS TES BIBLOU, the year of the Bible.

This episode is brought to you by Zondervan Academic’s new book How to Fight Racism by Jemar Tisby.

LINKS

Meet our guest Dan Kimball
- And get his new book How NOT to read the Bible: Making Sense of the Anti-Women, Anti-Science, Pro-Violence, Pro-Slavery and Other Crazy Sounding Parts of Scripture
Read more of the Finder survey that explored how many Americans make NY resolutions.
And that Forbes Magazine article about how many will actually accomplish those resolutions.
Here’s the full list of the most common NY resolutions according to “Polly” the artificial intelligence operated by the market research firm Advanced Symbolics Inc.
Read the study that found that for around a half of adults today and two-thirds of under-25s, the Bible has absolutely no significance in their personal lives.
Here's why might you want to read the Bible, even if you’re not a Christian. Dr Meredith Lake from the ABC wrote this piece for The Conversation in 2017 about why our decline in biblical literacy matters:

"Among Australian creatives, too, literary lights such as Patrick White, Elizabeth Jolley, Tim Winton, Helen Garner and Christos Tsiolkas all make powerful use of biblical narratives and imagery. Songwriters from Nick Cave to the late Yolngu star Gurrumul have drawn on the scriptures in their lyrics.

"Biblical stories and symbols have also inspired visual artists such as Grace Cossington Smith, Arthur Boyd and Margaret Preston. Reg Mombassa’s popular creation, “Australian Jesus”, offers a subversive take on the gospels.

"Each of these Australians has found the Bible an enlarging influence on the imagination. Audiences can easily miss key elements of their work without a degree of biblical literacy."

Or check out this book by John Dickson’s friend, and co-founder of The Centre for Public Christianity Dr Greg Clarke, The Great Bible Swindle, written especially for those who feel that they should know something about the world's most influential text, but may have been afraid to ask.
Watch The West Wing scene about the Old Testament in modern times.
Were footballs ever made of pigskins?
Meet our 5 Minute Jesus author this episode, Laurel Moffatt.
Christopher Hitchens speaking to Vanity Fair on the Ten Commandments

Undeceptions Single series on slavery:

Swing low: The campaign against slavery was a shining jewel in the collection of social changes that swept the 19th century. However history shows us it was clearly not a secular viewpoint that set people free.

First Abolitionist: Gregory of Nyssa could have been the man who changed history, if history had listened to his theory on slavery.

Freeing Slaves: The early church adopted many approaches to rescuing people from the scourge of slavery and, when legal means failed, its members were ready to risk themselves on slave raids.

Medieval Manumission:What would you be prepared to give in order to set a slave free? How much would it be worth to you? One medieval man gave everything he had, right down to the shirt off his back.

Indigenous slaves: Was Australia built on slavery, or wasn't it? It depends very much on who you ask.

Make 2021 TO ETOS TES BIBLOU, ‘The Year of the Bible’

Take up John Dickson’s challenge of reading at least 100 pages of the Bible this year. Here’s his Top Ten Old and New Testament Bible passages to get you started.

Here’s some links to translations John Dickson recommends:

Learn more about Greg Koukl’s Never Read a Bible Verse which he says is his attempt to His “rescue believers from a superstitious way of reading their Bibles that causes silliness, confusion, and sometimes even disaster.”

Here’s an overview of the storyline of the Bible.

The visual was created by a church here in Sydney, based on a book by friend of the podcast, Vaughan Roberts, titled God’s Big Picture.

Undeceptions T-Shirts are coming really soon!
We've got top quality Ts in medium, large and x-large that will help you promote the show and do your own bit of undeceiving. Head to undeceptions.com later this week - they'll be ready for purchase soon.

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