The Sunday Interview: Fighting Spiritual Terrorism

About this episode

Brad Onishi interviews Rev. Alba Onofrio about the mechanisms of spiritual terrorism and its impact on communities.

In this episode, Brad Onishi sits down with Rev. Alba Onofrio, the Executive Director of Soulforce and author of Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena That Defile the Faith. Rev. Alba brings nearly two decades of global activism across four continents to a critical conversation about the exact mechanisms religious systems use to inflict deep psychological and physical harm. Moving past vague concepts of religious trauma, she provides a clear framework that categorizes spiritual harm along a spectrum—ranging from everyday theological microaggressions to full-scale "spiritual terrorism." By defining spiritual terrorism as a sustained, systemic deployment of fear designed to subjugate entire communities, Rev. Alba exposes how weaponized theology acts as an active tool of control rather than an accidental byproduct of faith. The discussion dives into how traditional religious imagery—such as framing God exclusively as a punishing "Father," "King," or "Judge"—subtly normalizes abusive and hierarchical dynamics in families, intimate relationships, and broader civic life. Rev. Alba and Brad unpack how white Christian supremacy shapes what the American context recognizes as violence…

People in this episode

Host: Brad Onishi

Guest: Rev. Alba Onofrio

Topics covered

• spiritual terrorism
• religious trauma
• psychological harm
• white Christian supremacy
• theological microaggressions
• activism
• religious violence

Keywords

• spiritual terrorism
• religious trauma
• psychological harm
• theological microaggressions
• white Christian supremacy
• activism
• religious violence
• Romans 13
• immigrant families
• weaponized theology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Soulforce

Books & works: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena That Defile the Faith

Places: U.S.

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