Religion Unplugged

Earlier this year, Pew Research published the results of a study on religious diversity around the world. While the U.S. didn’t even break the top 10 for most religiously diverse when all nations studied were taken into account, it ranked #1 in religious diversity out of the most populous countries.The United States certainly has a Christian tilt and a sizable population of nones. But, go to any major U.S. city and you’ll spot kippahs, hijabs, turbans, and houses of worship for every major belief system on the planet.Despite the American ability to live alongside people who believe vastly different things than us, the U.S. has a horrid past with religious oppression—think of the KKK’s treatment of Jewish people or the wipeout of indigenous people and their forced conversion to Christianity or the attacks on Muslims and Sikhs directly following 9/11.And while many prejudices take decades to extract the mainstream, a quick study of our history reveals that there is a clear pattern of America’s ability to eventually accept religious differences.Over a century ago, the Catholics pouring in from, first, Ireland and, later, Italy, were near the bottom of the social hierarchy—pushed down by the majority protestant community who had been there much longer. Today, 6 of our 9 Supreme Court Justices are Catholic—only 2 are protestants, and one is Jewish. Pathways to success at the highest level are available to all in the U.S., even to those who, not very long ago, were seen as inferior.The U.S. has a long way to go in terms of equality and in the acceptance of all religions. But, if history repeats itself, it seems possible that even the faiths that are most discriminated against today, could also find great success here.The United States had its 250th birthday last week. And, in the last few episodes we have tried to understand the role of Christianity in America’s founding. But what kinds of Christians were the first Americans? And what role did Catholics, Jews and Atheists play in the Revolution? Were there Muslims or Hindus on U.S. soil in 1776?To answer all of these questions and better understand the nature of religion at the time of America’s founding I spoke with Katherine Carté. Carté is a History Professor at Southern Methodist University and wrote the book “Religion in The American Revolution: An Imperial History.”

George Washington is a man of a mythological stature. A stalwart man of war, 6’2” with animal teeth and a seemingly endless supply of stories where he cheated death, Washington’s role is so much more than just a founding father or first president. From the $1 bill to the capital to the busiest motor vehicle bridge in the world, Washington’s name and image are everywhere in the USA.Washington is famously remembered as “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” and, this sentiment still largely rings true. And 250 years after the nation’s founding, Washington is still remembered as a great leader and a great man.But was he a good man? Did he understand morality? Did he have a relationship with divine goodness or submit to a higher power?Washington’s embrace of slavery as a means to growing his wealth, his collaboration with deists and just the general historical distance we have from when he lived, have all caused historians to call into question Washington’s relationship with Christianity.As American Independence Day approaches, on this week’s episode, culture critic Joseph Holmes investigates the faith of our foremost founding father in two separate conversations. In the first part of the episode, he interviews Peter Lillback about his national bestselling book, “George Washington’s Sacred Fire,” in which Lillback makes a strong argument for the case that Washington was in fact a committed Christian. In the second part of the episode, Joseph speaks with Diederik Hoogstraten, screenwriter of “Young Washington,” which comes out this Friday.Religion Unplugged's reporting and analysis is brought to you by real people — like me! Not AI. If you appreciate the work we do here at Religion Unplugged, and want to keep this show ad-free, please consider making a donation. Now is a particularly good time to give, since from now through August 17 your gift will be doubled. You can donate here: https://religionunplugged.com/donate

In recent years, “Christian Nationalism” has become a ubiquitous term in American political discussion.It is said by many with fear and loathing, and by others with great excitement and conviction.Among the enthusiasts include Doug Wilson, who is the pastor of Pete Hegseth, the United States’ Secretary of War. And it’s not just Hegseth who has ties to the ideology, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has also been described as a Christian Nationalist. And many members of Trump’s administration and the pro-Trump media have flirted with the idea that Christians and, maybe more accurately, the Bible, ought to be the guiding force behind the government’s actions.Last month, Trump hosted Rededicate 250, an event which sought to, in the administration’s own words, “rededicate America as One Nation under God.”But as much as Christian Nationalism has become an emotional buzz word, the belief system it describes has varied over time—and the current MAGA-adjacent evangelical iteration is only a small piece of the story of how Christianity and American society have pushed and pulled on each other for centuries.As we recognize the U.S.’s 250th birthday, the question of whether or not America is a Christian nation or whether or not it was intended to be one, continues to show its face in social media feeds, newspapers, podcasts, pulpits and schoolrooms. So, to sort through the complicated relationship between Jesus and Uncle Sam, Joseph Holmes sat down with three American Christian professors: Matthew Parks, Joseph Loconte and David Corbin. The group discusses whether or not the U.S. is a Christian country, whether that’s even possible and to what extent Christian beliefs ought to influence political decisions.If you’d like to hear more from our guests today, you can listen to the Democracy in America Today podcast, which is hosted by David Corbin and Matt Parks. Joseph Loconte has written several books, but he is most well known for his writings on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, the most recent of which was 2025’s “The War For Middle Earth.”

Religion and death, for many of us, go hand in hand.It is our faith that often shapes what we believe happens when we die and, perhaps just as importantly, what we ought to do while we still live.In fact, if a belief system does not ask us to consider our death and what it means for us—if it avoids the subject and keeps mortality at arm’s length, it is almost certainly not a religion at all.The Bible is many things, and among them, it is a ledger of death and dying. And, while the Bible has far less to say about the afterlife than our cultural imagination likes to impose upon it, the reality of death rings loudly through every book in the collection.Death is the curse brought on in Genesis. It fills the following books through wars, plagues, and punishments. It operates as the enemy defeated by Jesus through resurrection. And it awaits many of his followers as they seek to spread his teachings.Today, Christians continue to grapple with their mortality—with where exactly they are going and how exactly they might get there. And, while all of us know life will end, for those Christians who know that the end is imminent, faith can take on a whole new meaning.To understand what it’s like to be a Christian while approaching death, Culture Critic Joseph Holmes spoke with actor and writer Victoria Jackson. Jackson was an SNL cast member back in the 80’s and has had a long career in film and television—including work in many faith-based films. Jackson suffers from terminal breast cancer, and, with the knowledge that her life is going to end, she recently wrote “Not Dead Yet,” which tells the story of her life, her faith, and how she is dealing with dying.As with all of our podcasts, Religion Unplugged believes in a diversity of opinions. The viewpoints presented in this episode do not necessarily represent those of Religion Unplugged, its staff and contributors. 

According to Pew Research Center, nearly 75% of Black Americans identify as Christian.It’s well known that many of the first African American Christians were first exposed to Christianity in the midst of enslavement. This exposure could have been used as a tactic for control by enslavers or as a genuine attempt to lead individuals to salvation by missionaries. But, whether conversion happened out of fear or joy, the African religious practices that the enslaved people would have practiced back home, all but disappeared during American enslavement.But, when emancipation occurred in the 1860’s, the newfound freedoms of the formerly enslaved included not only an autonomy of body and identity, but an autonomy, at least in theory, of what they believed, and how they worshipped. For many, this materialized in a continued commitment to Christianity. But for many others, there was now the freedom to begin engaging with their traditional African beliefs, which often looked very different than Christianity. And even formerly enslaved Christians may have begun practicing a form of Christianity that, while still committed to the gospel, had visible distinctions and different emphases from the white men who first evangelized to them. But, while African Americans technically had the right to religious freedom, practitioners of African religion still faced persecution, especially during the era of Jim Crow, where legally free black Americans were still oppressed by their white governments for nearly a century. Even today stigma around Voodoo and similar practices has made African religion a taboo in many communities.Harvard Professor Ahmad Greene-Hayes recently wrote a book called “Underworld Work,” which explores the nuances of African American religious practice in the era between emancipation and the Civil Rights Movement. I spoke with Greene-Hayes about the complexities of Black religion during Jim Crow and the ways many Americans misunderstand African Spiritualism.