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In this episode of Axis Live, Brad Onishi and Matt Taylor are joined by PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman to unpack Vice President JD Vance’s new book Communion and the theological vision animating it. The conversation focuses on Vance’s turn toward a form of Christianity oriented less around the person and teachings of Christ than toward a broader project of Christendom and civilizational restoration. Rather than centering the lived realities of individuals or communities, Vance’s framework is read as prioritizing the preservation and defense of “Western civilization,” raising questions about how political theology can displace core Christian ethical commitments in favor of cultural and national projects. The episode then turns to the underexplored Christian dimensions of the terror plot targeting the White House UFC event, situating it within broader patterns of religiously inflected political violence. The discussion concludes with Melissa Deckman presenting new PRRI data on American religion, emphasizing that claims of a widespread religious revival in the United States are not supported by current evidence. Instead, the data points to continued complexity, fragmentation, and stability in national religious trends rather than a clear resurgence. https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/⁠ Listen to the Axis Daily Brief: Axis Daily Brief on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494⁠⁠⁠⁠ Axis Daily Brief on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/033zp4MbwXJvxp6MoDkmtj?si=a758e87169e74ede⁠⁠⁠⁠ Axis Daily Brief RSS Feed: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1145852/s/400220.rss⁠⁠⁠ Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Support independent religion and politics journalism:⁠⁠⁠https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/⁠⁠⁠ Donate today: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.axismundi.us/fundraise?hsCtaAttrib=215444059319 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's Weekly Roundup, Brad Onishi and Dan Miller unpack the fallout from the Trump administration's Iran deal, the growing fractures within the MAGA coalition, and why Vice President JD Vance appears to be carrying the political burden for a foreign policy debacle. They examine the deal's similarities to the Obama-era agreement Republicans once condemned, the tensions between America First isolationists and pro-Israel conservatives, and what Vance's comments reveal about the future of the Republican Party. Along the way, they explore how ideas about masculinity, leadership, power, and political performance shape Trump's approach to governing—and why those approaches are increasingly running into reality. Brad and Dan also discuss the symbolism of Trump's algae-filled Reflecting Pool, the contrast between spectacle and civic leadership, the opening of the Obama Presidential Center, and Zohran Mamdani's appearance at the Knicks championship celebration. What do these competing public rituals tell us about the kind of country Americans want to build? Plus: updates on the launch of Axis Mundi's new daily analysis platform, the Axis Daily Brief, and how you can support independent journalism and public scholarship at the intersection of religion and politics. Subscribe to Axis Mundi on Substack:Axis Mundi Media Listen to the Axis Daily Brief: Axis Daily Brief on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/axis-daily-brief/id1896931494⁠ Axis Daily Brief on Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/033zp4MbwXJvxp6MoDkmtj?si=a758e87169e74ede⁠ Axis Daily Brief RSS Feed: ⁠https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1145852/s/400220.rss Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Support independent religion and politics journalism:https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/ Donate today: https://www.axismundi.us/fundraise?hsCtaAttrib=215444059319 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Brad Onishi and Matthew D. Taylor break down three major stories shaping the American political and religious landscape: 🔹 The Southern Baptist Convention’s hard-right turn The SBC elected a new president, Willie Rice, and moved to further restrict women in church leadership. What do these developments reveal about the growing influence of Christian nationalist and reconstructionist movements within America’s largest Protestant denomination? 🔹 Trump’s little-known domestic terrorism framework (NSPM-7) A largely overlooked presidential memorandum could dramatically expand the government’s ability to target protesters, activists, and political opponents. Brad and Matt explain what NSPM-7 is, why civil liberties advocates are alarmed, and how it could reshape political dissent in America. 🔹 Exclusive: Gareth Gore on Opus Dei and Pope Leo Investigative journalist Gareth Gore, author of Opus, joins the show to discuss his extraordinary private meeting with Pope Leo, the future of Opus Dei, and what may be a major turning point in the Catholic Church’s relationship with one of its most controversial organizations. 📚 Gareth Gore's book: Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church 📖 Subscribe to the Axis Daily Brief: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com/ 🎙️ Support Axis Mundi Media: https://axismundinetwork.substack.com... ❤️ Make a tax-deductible donation: https://www.irmce.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if one of the most important political symbols in American evangelicalism isn't a campaign slogan, a policy platform, or a charismatic preacher, but a worship song? In this episode of the Straight White American Jesus Sunday Interview, host Leah Payne speaks with Religion News Service journalist Bob Smietana about his reporting on the unexpected political life of Chris Tomlin's worship anthem "How Great Is Our God." Over the past several years, the song has appeared everywhere from the Capitol Riots to ReAwaken America rallies and Sean Feucht events, to the memorial service for Charlie Kirk. Yet unlike overtly political songs such as "God Bless the USA," "How Great Is Our God" contains no explicit political message at all. So why has it become such a powerful soundtrack for conservative Christian activism? Drawing on his reporting for NPR’s All Things Considered, and Payne’s God Gave Rock and Roll to You: a History of Contemporary Christian Music, Smietana and Payne discuss the rise of “Christian Nashville-ism," the fusion of the worship music industry, suburban evangelical culture, celebrity influence, and political identity. Nashville's Christian music machine has produced a soundtrack so ubiquitous that it now functions as a kind of sacred common language across American Christianity. In an era of political polarization, worship songs provide emotional resonance, spiritual legitimacy, and a sense of collective identity that can easily travel into political spaces. Together, Payne and Smietana explore how contemporary worship music became one of the most influential forms of religious formation in American life. They discuss the rise of Chris Tomlin and the Passion movement, the mainstreaming of charismatic worship practices, the growing overlap between worship culture and conservative politics, and the role of suburban megachurches in shaping modern evangelical identity. The conversation also examines how Christian nationalism often operates less through overt ideology than through atmosphere, familiarity, nostalgia, and music. Why do songs matter so much in political movements? What happens when worship becomes a form of cultural power? And why has a seemingly apolitical worship song become one of the defining sounds of conservative evangelical America? In this episode: Why "How Great Is Our God" has become a fixture at conservative political events The relationship between worship music and conservative activism Nashville's role as a center of evangelical cultural power Chris Tomlin, the Passion movement, and the mainstreaming of charismatic worship How worship music became the dominant language of American Protestantism Charlie Kirk, Sean Feucht, and the politics of sacred music The rise of suburban megachurch culture and its political influence Why contemporary worship songs often succeed where political slogans fail "Comfort food Christian nationalism" and the power of familiarity The overlap between MAGA politics, evangelical identity, and worship culture Links: Bob Smietana's NPR article: “Why an Apolitical Worship Song Has Become Popular With Conservative Activists” Adam Perez: ““It’s Your Breath in Our Lungs”: Sean Feucht’s Praise and Worship Music Protests and the Theological Problem of Pandemic Response in the U.S.” Worship Leader Research Leah Payne’s God Gave Rock and Roll to You: a History of Contemporary Christian Music Bob Smietana Official Website Bob Smietana at Religion News Service Bob Smietana's book, Reorganized Religion: The Reshaping of the American Church and Why It Matters: Axis Mundi is becoming more than a podcast network. We are building the essential newsroom for understanding religion, democracy, extremism, and power in America today. And with your support, we can build it together. Direct support: ⁠⁠https://axismundi.supercast.com/donations/new⁠⁠ Tax-deductible donations through our partnering 501c3: ⁠⁠https://www.irmce.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the premiere episode of season five of Our Seven Neighbors: Religion and Resistance in America, host Reza Aslan joins historian and Smithsonian curator Peter Manseau for a sweeping conversation about the real history of religious freedom in the United States. Together, they dismantle the comforting myth that America was founded as a uniformly Christian nation devoted to liberty for all, revealing instead a far more contested and complicated story. From Puritan theocracy and the execution of Quakers to the struggles of Jews, Muslims, Native peoples, and enslaved Africans for recognition and belonging, the episode explores how pluralism in America was not gifted from above, but forged through centuries of conflict, resistance, and negotiation. Drawing on Manseau’s landmark work One Nation, Under Gods, the discussion reframes American religious history as a living, unfinished struggle over who counts, whose beliefs matter, and what freedom truly means in a diverse democracy. Aslan and Manseau examine the enduring power of myths like the “city on a hill,” the dangers of Christian nationalism, and the ongoing fight to widen the circle of belonging in American life. At a moment when religious diversity and democratic pluralism are once again under pressure, this episode offers a powerful reminder that the American experiment has always depended on people willing to challenge exclusion and insist that the story is bigger than any one faith, nation, or identity. Subscribe to O7N: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/our-7-neighbors-religion-and-resistance-in-america/id1511771313 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices