In this episode, Joanna interviews Mary and Peter Sprunger-Froese. Since 1979, Peter and Mary Sprunger-Froese have been Mennonite peace activists with an ecumenical community in Colorado Springs. They work with homeless people, refugees, and nonviolence seekers. They find the Anabaptist story deeply sustaining in their Christianized military setting. This is a part of the Widening the Circle mini-series. To more deeply engage a commitment to undoing oppression with seasoned justice-seekers, the Iconocast is launching a mini-series, Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship. Editor Joanna Shenk and the co-hosts will interview chapter authors about their continuing journeys of discipleship, asking questions like: How has their thinking deepened around the themes they wrote about? What do they see happening in the discipleship community movement currently? What is taking shape in their community/organization? What have they let go? In the meantime, make sure to check out Widening the Circle, with stories including from Dr. Vincent Harding, Reba Place Fellowship, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Mark Van Steenwyk, Andrea Ferich, Anton Flores and Jesce Walz.
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In this episode, Joanna and Tim interview Noam Chomsky. Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, political critic, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. In addition to his work in linguistics, he has written on war, politics, and mass media, and is the author of over 100 books. In this episode, Mark interviews Jin Kim. Jin is the founding pastor of Church of All Nations. Born in Korea in 1968, he came to the US with his family at age 7, and grew up in Columbia, SC & Atlanta, GA in multiethnic environments. He holds degrees from Georgia Tech, Princeton Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Seminary. He serves on Minnesota Council of Churches’ board, and formerly served as Presbyterian Church USA delegate to the National Council of Churches, as US delegate to the 3rd Lausanne Congress, as Moderator/Council Chair of Presbytery of Twin Cities Area, and as President of Presbyterians For Renewal. Jin has a passion for the ministry of reconciliation and a vision for the visible unity of the global church. His household includes his wife, Soon Pac, children Claire Nicea and Austin Athanasius, and Jin’s parents. He is an avid golfer, enjoys volleyball, basketball, racquetball, table tennis & Monopoly, and will one day pick up ice fishing… In this episode, Joanna and Nekeisha interview Ashanti Alston Omowali. Ashanti is an anarchist activist, speaker, writer, and former member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army (BLA) and a former political prisoner. He was also the co-chair of the National Jericho Movement (to free U.S. political prisoners.) Ashanti came of age as the political action of the 1960′s was hitting its peak. He recalls struggling through Malcolm X’s biography as a teen and feeling awestruck at the 1967 rebellions that saw numerous American neighborhoods temporarily taken over by the people who lived there, including his home town of Plainfield, New Jersey. He joined the Black Panther Party while still in high school, starting a chapter in Plainfield, and later going underground with the Black Liberation Army. For a while, he straddled the above ground Panther work of selling newspapers and running breakfast programs with more aggressive underground tactics. In 1974 he was involved in a Connecticut “bank expropriation,” captured and imprisoned for 11 plus years. Today, Ashanti is active in the prison abolition movement (Critical Resistance and the Jericho Movement), in Anarchist People of Color organizing, and in efforts to connect organizers of colour in the north with the Zapatistas (Estacion Libre) in Mexico. He is also a loving father to his son Biko and partner to fellow change agent, Viviane Saleh-Hanna. In this episode, Mark and Sarah interview Shannon T.L. Kearns. Shannon writes as the anarchist reverend. He is a seminary graduate (M.Div 2009 from Union Theological Seminary in the city of New York) on the ordination path who also happens to be a transsexual man. Many of his theological musings are on the intersection of theology and being trans*. He also writes about Christian anarchism and his dreams for the future. He is the co-founder and co-director of Camp Osiris, a camp for young adults aged 18-23 to come together and talk about the intersections between their sexualities/gender identities and their various spiritualities. The camp is located in Minnesota and welcomes youth from all over the country. He is also the founder of House of the Transfiguration, a new church plant in Minneapolis. He is the winner of the 2008 Queertopia homoletics preaching competition and has preached numerous times in various churches. He has also provided churches and other groups with Transgender 101 workshops and discussions. The anarchist reverend resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 12/22/2011 Comments the Iconocast: Richard Beck (episode 40) In this interview, Mark and Sarah interview Richard Beck. Richard Beck is Professor and Department Chair of Psychology at Abilene Christian University. Richard is married to Jana and they have two sons, Brenden and Aidan. They also have a dog Bandit who keeps Richard company when he works away on his blog Experimental Theology. Richard’s area of interest is on the interface of Christian theology and psychology, with a particular focus on how existential issues affect Christian belief and practice. Richard’s published research covers topics as diverse as the psychology of profanity to why Christian bookstore art is so bad. He is the author of “Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality” 12/8/2011 Comments the Iconocast: Starhawk (episode 39) In this episode, Joanna and Sarah interview Starhawk–one of the most respected voices in modern earth-based spirituality. Starhawk is also well-known as a global justice activist and organizer, whose work and writings have inspired many to action. She is the author or coauthor of twelve books, including The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, long considered the essential text for the Neo-Pagan movement, and the now-classic ecotopian novel The Fifth Sacred Thing. Starhawk’s newest book is The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups, forthcoming in November 2011, from New Society Publishers. In this episode, Joanna and Mark interview Calenthia Dowdy. Calenthia Dowdy is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in urban youth culture(s) and Afro-Brazilian life. She teaches youth ministry and cultural anthropology at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. Calenthia was born, raised, and continues to reside in the city of Philadelphia. She’s a Philadelphia Mennonite affiliate and has a keen interest in intentional discipleship community living and various expressions of the emerging church movement. Since 2003, Calenthia has been an antiracism trainer with Damascus Road, an antiracism education and organizing program. Recently, she contributed a chapter to Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship, where she addresses issues of race in intentional communities. In this episode, Joanna and Mark interview Robert Ellsberg. Robert Ellsberg is the son of Carol Cummings and the American military analyst and whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg. At age 19, Robert dropped out of college, intending to spend a few months with the Catholic Worker Movement. He stayed to become the managing editor of The Catholic Worker for two years (1976-8), a job that would introduce him to Dorothy Day and consequently would allow him to work with Day for the last five years of her life. This life-changing experience prompted him to convert to Catholicism. In 1987 he began work as editor-in-chief of Orbis Books. He in theauthor of several books, including All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witness for Our Time, and the Saints’ Guide to Happiness. His book Blessed Among All Women tied a Catholic Press Association record by winning awards for Gender, Spirituality, and Popular Presentation of the Catholic Faith. He is the editor of the published diaries and letters of Dorothy Day. He currently resides in Ossining, New York with his wife and their three children. In this episode, Mark (with an impromptu question from Orrin) interviews Dr. Bruce Levine. Dr. Levine writes and speaks widely on how society, culture, politics and psychology intersect. His latest book is Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite A practicing clinical psychologist often at odds with the mainstream of his profession, he is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, CounterPunch, AlterNet, and Z Magazine. His articles and interviews have been published in Adbusters, Truthout, The Ecologist, High Times, and numerous other magazines. |
AboutThe Iconocast is a collective project of a handful of radical practitioners, separated by thousands of miles, each exploring the way of Jesus in the Empire. Usually, episodes follow an interview format. We don’t always interview Christians or anarchists. Rather, we interview those who we believe have some wisdom to share for those who are exploring the intersection of Christianity and anarchism. Archivesep. 74: L.M. Bogad
ep. 73: Sarah Pritchard & David Brazil ep. 72: Chude Allen, part 2 ep. 71: Chude Allen, part 1 ep. 70: Beth Roy ep: 69: Carol Lee & Sarah Lee ep.68: David Solnit ep. 67: Elaine Enns & Ched Myers on Audre Lorde ep. 66: Elaine Enns, Ched Myers and "Beyond Vietnam" ep. 65: Father Richard Smith ep. 64: Zephyr Elise ep. 63: Clayborne Carson ep. 62: Chris Carlsson ep. 61: Sara Miles ep. 60: Ellen Dahlke & Rick Ayers ep. 59: Dalit Baum ep. 58: Corrina Gould ep. 57: Kazu Haga ep. 56: Paul Kivel ep. 55: Lynice Pinkard & Nichola Torbett ep. 54: Joerg Rieger ep. 53: Bill Ayers ep. 52: Micky Jones ep. 51: Sandhya Rani Jha ep. 50: Willie Baptist ep. 49: Thomas Gokey ep. 48: Anthony Nocella ep. 47: Mark VanSteenwyk ep. 46: Vincent Harding ep. 45: Mary and Peter . . . ep. 44: Noam Chomsky ep. 43: Jin S. Kim ep. 42: Ashanti Alston . . . ep. 41: Shannon Kearns ep. 40: Richard Beck ep. 39: Starhawk ep. 38: Calenthia Dowdy ep. 37: Robert Ellsberg ep. 36: Bruce Levine ep. 35: Bob Ekblad (part 2) ep. 34: Bob Ekblad (part 1) ep. 33: Alexia Salvaterria ep. 32: Seth Donnovan ep. 31: Goshen and . . . ep. 30: James H. Cone ep. 29: Joyce Hollyday ep. 28: Jonathan Moyer ep. 27: Carolyn Griffeth . . . ep. 26: Eda Uca ep. 25: Ed Loring ep. 24: Murphy Davis ep. 23: Ragan Sutterfield ep. 22: An Hour on Power ep. 21: Fr. Richard Rohr ep. 20: Fr. John Dear S.J. ep. 19: Anton Flores ep. 18: Becky Garrison ep. 17: Stanley Hauerwas ep. 16: Rita Nakashima Brock ep. 15: Cornel West ep. 14: Onelilove Alston ep. 13: Carol Rose ep. 12: Seth Martin ep. 11: Gender, Sexism . . . ep. 10: Richard Horsely ep, 09: Brian McLaren ep. 08: Wes Howard-Brook ep. 07: Mary Jo Leddy ep. 06: Jim Douglass (part 2) ep. 05: Jim Douglass (part 1) ep. 04: Waziyatawin (part 2) ep. 03: Waziyatawin (part 1) ep. 02: Ched Myers ep. 01: Nekeisha Alexis |