transcript
Speaker 1:
[00:11] Hello, and welcome to a very special episode of Faith Adjacent. I'm your host, resident Bible scholar, Erin Moon, and joining me today, forever, putting the killer's lyrics over images of Judas kissing Jesus, it's Evan Dodson. And today, we're diving into your aunt's Facebook account to debunk and expose Christian meme heresy.
Speaker 2:
[00:29] But before we get started, now, if there's anything that could fit into this episode, it's a classic Christian tee. You know the ones I'm talking about. Looks like an Abercrombie and Fitch tee shirt, but it says a breadcrumb and fish. Well, we have the opposite of that over at the Faith Adjacent shop. This is awesome merch that can help you proclaim your love of your favorite podcast. We have classy embroidered tees, hats and sweatshirts saying things like, in conclusion, no one knows. And we have some truly breathtaking shirts showing how empathetic you are. You can also prep for our nation's 250th birthday by stocking up on some anti-Christian nationalism shirts. All this and more is available at the Faith Adjacent shop at faithadjacent.shop or you can just click the link in the show notes.
Speaker 1:
[01:13] There is no knockoff Reeses logo with Jesus is King. There's none of that to be found, unfortunately.
Speaker 2:
[01:23] But honestly, maybe I think it's a missed opportunity on our part.
Speaker 1:
[01:26] As I'm saying it out loud, I kind of agree with you. I'm not sure.
Speaker 2:
[01:29] So in the comments for this episode post, let us know what modern day recreations you would like to see with the Faith Adjacent logo on them.
Speaker 1:
[01:37] Yes, and we'll make it happen for sure.
Speaker 2:
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Speaker 3:
[02:57] Aloha, I'm Gina Ryan, host of the Anxiety Coaches Podcast. Each week, I share calming conversations and simple tools to help you ease anxiety, find peace, and reconnect with your natural calm. If you're ready to step out of worry mode and feel more centered and free, this show is for you. You can find the Anxiety Coaches Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Join us and let's bring a little more peace into your day.
Speaker 1:
[03:28] This is one of my favorite episode series that we do because everybody just comes out of the woodwork with the most unhinged things I've had. Because I have done a pretty good job of curating my feeds. First of all, don't get on Facebook ever.
Speaker 2:
[03:46] Yeah, exactly. Yes, I do not touch that unless I have to log in for something from high school.
Speaker 1:
[03:51] The only thing I do on Facebook is like the neighborhood mom's group. So I can learn, make sure that my kid's not speeding and make sure that someone's grumpy uncle is paying attention to all the scooters in the neighborhood.
Speaker 2:
[04:08] Of course, you got to keep track of those things.
Speaker 1:
[04:10] But I mute a lot of people, especially people who I want to continue to love outside of their social media.
Speaker 2:
[04:19] The mute button is a blessing. It is a gift from God for our social media. I'm convinced of it.
Speaker 1:
[04:26] I don't ever see any of the stuff that we get sent until we prep for the episode. I'm just like, I cannot believe that somebody intentionally created this. In some way, they either talked to Claude or they went to the meme maker, and they were like, I'm putting it out there, I'm doing it. I'm very excited about. What's your vibe? Do you see a lot of this stuff? Does it come across your feed?
Speaker 2:
[04:53] Well, the reason I see a lot of this is because I am the one who runs our Faith Adjacent Instagram. I get this sent to us regularly, and I will tell you all, our Faith Adjacent Explorer tab for you, Page, whatever it's called, it is a situation because we have all the Christian content on there. We get the memes and everything like that. So sometimes I do find myself just scrolling in that Explorer tab, because it's very different than what I have on my personal one.
Speaker 1:
[05:27] You're in a bad place, and you need to like, yeah.
Speaker 2:
[05:28] Yes. But the reason I like this episode so much, this is our second time doing it, it's because oftentimes when we're dissecting our aunt's Facebook posts or whatever on the Facebook, we don't have an outlet for that, you know? Like you can't repost it even in a ridiculous way because then how do you survive things?
Speaker 1:
[05:50] Right.
Speaker 2:
[05:50] You know, you can't do that. So this is the safe space, this is the share circle, the processing space, the gift that I think we get to offer.
Speaker 1:
[05:57] It's a little bit of group therapy, honestly.
Speaker 2:
[06:00] I think it really is, you know, so you're welcome, everyone, you're welcome.
Speaker 1:
[06:03] Just to people who are definitely not therapists telling you about therapy, so.
Speaker 2:
[06:09] But we have a podcast, so we're qualified to say anything we want.
Speaker 1:
[06:12] And we do go to therapy, so there is that for us.
Speaker 2:
[06:15] Yeah, we do. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:
[06:17] Okay, so how this is going to work is sometimes we just got like, someone would just send like, or they would raw dog a meme to us with no context. Yes, sometimes we got context provided. And so what we'll do is we'll read the comment if we have it, we will verbally explain the meme, which is the worst way to do this. But in the show notes, we will have everything linked so you can follow along.
Speaker 2:
[06:41] Absolutely. But I think this is our time to be theatrical, to use our, you know, to use your theater degree. This, you were made for a moment of that, like this, for such a time as this Bible.
Speaker 1:
[06:51] This is Esther, really, what's happening here. Okay, so our first meme is from Kelsey Porter 92. I was once in charge of sending Facebook reminders about our upcoming Bible study lessons. I enjoyed including fun memes until a Theo Bro came at me for sending this one comparing God to the Hulk. He thought it was distasteful and an inaccurate representation of God. I thought nothing of the sort, just that it was funny. It started quite the spirited debate in the comments between him and my friends backing me up in my meme choice. I'm an Enneagram 9, so of course I gave up my meme posting responsibilities after this run-in. Is this meme problematic? Was I in the wrong? Okay, so here's the meme. It says, this week we are discussing numbers 26 through 31. See you all at the church tomorrow at seven in the kitchen. And then underneath that is a two-panel meme, okay? The first one is captioned, God during the Old Testament. And it's a picture of Hulk hulking out. And then on the other side, it's a picture of regular Hulk, like cute Hulk with his little slutty little glasses.
Speaker 2:
[07:59] Smart Hulk is his official title.
Speaker 1:
[08:01] Thank you so much. Smart Hulk, although I think it should be changed to slutty little glasses Hulk.
Speaker 2:
[08:07] That's probably better.
Speaker 1:
[08:08] And then it's captioned, God during the New Testament. So Evan, do you think that Kelsey was being blasphemous with her meet? Was she being inappropriate? Was she being, was this Theo bro have been offended?
Speaker 2:
[08:25] I wanna support Kelsey here in this because I think sometimes whenever you're trying to promote an event, you do what you gotta do.
Speaker 1:
[08:33] You gotta get the people in the door.
Speaker 2:
[08:34] I think absolutely. And I do think if this peaks your curiosity, if it may be enraged something in you, if it made you thoughtful, did it get you there? Is this, did this meme serve its purpose? I think it did.
Speaker 1:
[08:49] See, that's my thing. The point of a meme is to oversimplify a concept to the point of ridiculous humor. It's not to give a doctorate of divinity to anyone who understands it. So, is-
Speaker 2:
[09:02] Yes, we're not exegeting with this.
Speaker 1:
[09:05] No, we're not. Is this meme theologically accurate? Not exactly.
Speaker 2:
[09:11] Not really.
Speaker 1:
[09:12] It's not not not theologically accurate.
Speaker 2:
[09:14] Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1:
[09:15] Is it distasteful? No, it's a joke, Brad.
Speaker 2:
[09:19] Exactly. I think it's funny. Can I, I actually did, I went to what the study in question was going to be discussing.
Speaker 1:
[09:27] Yeah, deep dive this.
Speaker 2:
[09:27] To figure out how, what do I think of the theological implications of this meme here? Because we actually really did get a lot to work with with this meme. We got the meme, we got the context, we got everything like that.
Speaker 1:
[09:38] We got the whole shebang.
Speaker 2:
[09:40] So the table, which actually I didn't notice this until you read it out loud, they're meeting in the kitchen. Do you think that's a literal kitchen or a metaphorical kitchen?
Speaker 1:
[09:48] I do have questions. And you know, I did wonder this and I think it's just the kitchen because it's not like capitalized, like the casual corner or the library. It's just the kitchen. I have a lot of questions about why we're having Bible study in the kitchen.
Speaker 2:
[10:04] Well, because the event is called the table. So I didn't know if it was a play on like, we're cooking with our theological ingredients and I'll serve you at the table, you know?
Speaker 1:
[10:13] But then I feel like the kitchen should have been capitalized.
Speaker 2:
[10:17] You're right. You're right.
Speaker 1:
[10:18] And I feel like Kelsey would have that attention to detail.
Speaker 2:
[10:21] Exactly. Because I think she has been very thoughtful in this. So I think we're asking good questions here. Like I don't think we're being too nitty gritty here. But anyway, I'm about to be too nitty gritty, all right?
Speaker 1:
[10:31] Okay.
Speaker 2:
[10:31] So what they're discussing in the kitchen at the table is numbers 26 through 31. And in this section of scripture, it is all about various laws, tribe distributions, offering instructions, et cetera. So if I were to put on my Theo Bro hat for a second, I actually think Sletty Little Glasses Hulk would be more applicable to what is being discussed exclusively here in this section of numbers though.
Speaker 1:
[11:06] That's actually a valid point. And I appreciate you bringing some integrity to this. That's important. I think, I mean, I get the, like, here's the thing. Memes are vibes, right?
Speaker 2:
[11:17] Of course.
Speaker 1:
[11:17] They're vibes.
Speaker 2:
[11:18] Yes.
Speaker 1:
[11:18] They are meant to elicit a response. Does the meme give a one-dimensional interpretation of the theology of Hebrew Bible slash New Testament characteristics of God? Yes, it does. But it's not distasteful.
Speaker 2:
[11:32] No.
Speaker 1:
[11:33] Like, we get it. Like, God mad in Hebrew Bible, God chill in New Testament. Like, you're not, I think, I think the offense here, I think, I think Brad, the Theo bro.
Speaker 2:
[11:45] Yeah.
Speaker 1:
[11:46] I think it's time for, for him to hang up his Facebook account for just a couple of days. Take a break.
Speaker 2:
[11:51] Yes. Because you're, Read the room.
Speaker 1:
[11:54] Kelsey's not posting AI pictures of herself as Jesus.
Speaker 2:
[11:57] No, absolutely not. I think this was great. And I do think one last thing that I want to point out on this.
Speaker 1:
[12:03] Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[12:04] The date from this event, the date from this posting is March 4th, 2020. And we were just different people. That is a on the cusp of a pandemic situation. And so it is impossible to compare the memeification that we see with our eyes now to a pre-lockdown 2020 experience.
Speaker 1:
[12:29] That's right. You're exactly right. So that's a relic from another time.
Speaker 2:
[12:34] Exactly. And I think it's the same whenever we're dissecting ancient cultures. You know, we don't have all the information. We're not part of that culture anymore, so it's tough to understand.
Speaker 1:
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Speaker 2:
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Speaker 1:
[15:29] Okay. All right. So our next one is from Susan Needler. I love Susan's comment because it just says, but why? She linked a video for us. I'm going to describe this video to you. I also will link on the show notes. So this is from a Instagram user called Shuggy Addict. Okay.
Speaker 2:
[15:52] So I hate it. I hate it already.
Speaker 1:
[15:55] So much. So Shuggy Addict, she is-
Speaker 2:
[15:58] Wait. You missed an underscore in there. We respect underscores in this company.
Speaker 1:
[16:03] You're exactly right.
Speaker 2:
[16:04] Yeah, Shuggy Underscore Addict.
Speaker 1:
[16:07] Yes. Okay. So this is a video of Shuggy Underscore Addict. She is in what appears to be maybe a kitchen or a dining room. And she is wearing a long white skirt, a crop top. I believe this was an Easter post.
Speaker 2:
[16:27] Yes, this was on Easter Sunday. Yeah.
Speaker 1:
[16:29] Yeah. She is doing one-legged squats in her free bird boots and her altered state Easter dress. This woman is so jacked. I can't even begin to tell you how jacked she is.
Speaker 2:
[16:47] It's unreal.
Speaker 1:
[16:48] For me, Michelle Obama has the most iconic arm muscles. I'll never forget Michelle Obama's arm definition as long as I live.
Speaker 2:
[16:58] Who could? Who could forget?
Speaker 1:
[17:00] Frankly, it belongs in the Smithsonian.
Speaker 2:
[17:02] Amen.
Speaker 1:
[17:04] This woman is so jacked. I think she could put her fist through someone's actual face.
Speaker 2:
[17:12] I think she could punch through the screen and get me right now. I think she could do it. She's that strong.
Speaker 1:
[17:17] Yeah. So I did a little deep. Okay, so she's, but also she's doing one-legged squats in her Easter dress to Carrie Underwood's rendition of Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.
Speaker 2:
[17:30] But it's got a honky tonk flair to it. I think we need to emphasize, like there's a vibe to this happening here.
Speaker 1:
[17:36] There's a little bit of a hoedown vibe happening.
Speaker 2:
[17:39] Exactly. It does feel like she could go into hoedown throwdown seamlessly from this.
Speaker 1:
[17:44] The caption of this is, because of him, where there is darkness, we can always find light. He is risen. Let us rejoice. So I did a little deep dive on Shuggy underscore addict. Actually, Shuggy underscore addict is pretty good at keeping her real name off the internet.
Speaker 2:
[18:03] Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:
[18:04] Your girl thinks she found it. Now, this is alleged. I don't know if this is true.
Speaker 2:
[18:08] Of course.
Speaker 1:
[18:09] Guys, I'm just here with a Google account. We're just humble podcasters. Okay? But Shuggy addict, underscore addict, is potentially a woman named Morgan Rasmussen.
Speaker 2:
[18:21] Rasmussen?
Speaker 1:
[18:22] Rasmussen, yes. She is, we got big fitness energy. In fact, the majority of her posts are protein recipes. She does a lot of flexing.
Speaker 2:
[18:33] Protein brownies, yes.
Speaker 1:
[18:34] A lot of that. She does a lot like, when she does, she'll do like a recipe and she'll walk you through the recipe, but she flexes her arms in every video. And then she makes a mess on purpose, which I learned.
Speaker 2:
[18:46] Oh, I didn't see that. I don't like that.
Speaker 1:
[18:48] Okay, so I learned from Jamie, this is actually an influencer tactic.
Speaker 2:
[18:52] Really?
Speaker 1:
[18:53] That they will do things to piss people off or to elicit a response for engagement.
Speaker 2:
[18:59] For engagement purposes.
Speaker 1:
[19:01] Yeah, so she like, when she's making her protein brownies, she's just like slopping the stuff in there and it's getting everywhere. And the majority of her comments on TikTok are, why does it have to be so messy?
Speaker 2:
[19:13] Yeah, exactly. Like a million comments on it.
Speaker 1:
[19:16] I know. So Shuggy Addict, she has got, she's got a lot of followers, like over 600,000.
Speaker 2:
[19:23] Yes.
Speaker 1:
[19:25] And I just, I don't, I don't know.
Speaker 2:
[19:28] And she's following one person. She's only following one. Oh, I don't even know. Let's find out though.
Speaker 1:
[19:34] Let's find out.
Speaker 2:
[19:35] Let's see who she's following. One follower, it is good underscore culture, which is good for you, good for the cows, good for the planet. It is, oh, it's, it's cottage cheese.
Speaker 1:
[19:47] Oh, it's cottage cheese.
Speaker 2:
[19:48] It's cottage cheese. Okay, this is- Because her bio literally just says, health plus fitness plus cottage cheese.
Speaker 1:
[19:57] Okay. This is so fascinating because I went into the Gymsnark Reddit and she has a, she obviously has a thread in the Gymsnark and people are commenting in that, that they live near her and she is constantly buying up all of the good brand cottage cheese.
Speaker 2:
[20:17] So no one else can get it?
Speaker 1:
[20:18] So no one else can get it.
Speaker 2:
[20:20] Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1:
[20:20] What's that about?
Speaker 2:
[20:21] Well, that's interesting. So, cause at first my thought was, well, is she sponsored by them or is it, if she, if she has to, she has to be too, but like, why can't she get a pallet just shipped to her house then?
Speaker 1:
[20:33] Because I think it's hard to ship cottage cheese.
Speaker 2:
[20:36] Yeah, I guess so.
Speaker 1:
[20:37] You know what I mean?
Speaker 2:
[20:38] Yeah, that makes sense. I hate cottage cheese. I would never even take a bite of it.
Speaker 1:
[20:41] Oh, I love cottage cheese. Okay, but I do have a question. Okay, I think we're getting away from the true essence of this. So, do you think God is honored in one-legged squats in our Easter dress to the tune of Carrie Underwood's Nothing but the Blood?
Speaker 2:
[21:00] Here's the deal. Whenever you first started asking this question, my immediate impulse was no. Of course. I don't think so. But as there is such a focus, determination, a poise, a balancing act, a gracefulness.
Speaker 1:
[21:18] Literally and metaphorically.
Speaker 2:
[21:19] Absolutely. While it's not for me, I don't care for this and I snickered a lot through it. But I'm like, I don't think God's not honored in it.
Speaker 1:
[21:33] Listen, I think we all have different ways to worship.
Speaker 2:
[21:37] I think so too.
Speaker 1:
[21:38] And if Shuggy Unders... Now, my preferred way is not a one-legged squat in my Easter dress to the tune of Carrie Underwood's Nothing But the Blood. But a lot of people seem to like it on her account.
Speaker 2:
[21:50] And the comments weren't bad?
Speaker 1:
[21:50] I don't see anything inherently problematic about it. My Reddit threat, my Reddit detective skills also revealed that she is potentially LDS.
Speaker 2:
[21:59] Okay.
Speaker 1:
[22:00] And she's also potentially LGBTQ.
Speaker 2:
[22:03] Okay.
Speaker 1:
[22:04] So it's an interesting thing.
Speaker 2:
[22:05] I think-
Speaker 1:
[22:06] It's an interesting thing.
Speaker 2:
[22:07] I'm not gonna follow her. I don't care about this, but I think, oh sure.
Speaker 1:
[22:13] You know what? You do your one-legged squats in your Easter dress.
Speaker 2:
[22:16] You do it.
Speaker 1:
[22:17] To the tune of Carrie Underwood's Nothing But the Blood.
Speaker 2:
[22:20] I'm curious about the protein brownie recipe. I'm not gonna lie about that.
Speaker 1:
[22:23] It had, listen, it had pumpkin in it as I watched the whole thing. And I just feel like that's a specific vibe. So, you know, you're for pumpkin.
Speaker 2:
[22:30] It does provide a lot of flavor. Yeah.
Speaker 1:
[22:32] Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[22:33] Okay.
Speaker 1:
[22:33] I mean, I went out, yeah. So, that's, we kind of agree with you, Susan, but also, you know, let Shuggy Adac do her one-legged squats.
Speaker 2:
[22:43] No one's hurt from this, I don't think.
Speaker 1:
[22:45] For the love of the Lord, you know?
Speaker 2:
[22:47] But I would meet her. I would still meet her.
Speaker 1:
[22:49] Oh, she's not, I'm not following her. We all know moms aren't just moms, right? Of course, our moms know the kind of vegetables we hate. They're still mad at that one boy who broke our heart in high school and they inherently know where everything is. But moms are also so much more. They are women with histories, passions, talents, and whole hidden worlds inside them. You know her, you love her, but maybe it's time to get to know all of her, who she was before she was your mom, and who she is beyond the name mom. And that's why I love StoryWorth, because most Mother's Day gifts are about one moment, but StoryWorth is about her whole story. Each week, StoryWorth sends your mom a question about her life. She can respond however she wants, such as writing, recording her voice, or even doing a guided phone call. There's no apps, no logins, no text stress. It's simple and meaningful. You can even choose the questions yourselves, or let StoryWorth create them. And here's the part that got me, you get to read her stories as she writes them. Some of my favorite questions from StoryWorth are, who has been the kindest to you in your life? And what are some common misconceptions about getting older? At the end of the year, StoryWorth turns all of those memories into a beautiful hardcover book. Her words, her photos, her life. This year, give mom a gift that helps her reflect on her life with fresh perspective, and gives your whole family the gift of her stories. Mother's Day is Sunday, May 10th. Order right now and save up to $20 at storyworth.com/faith. That's storyworth.com/faith.
Speaker 2:
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Speaker 1:
[25:47] Okay, this is from Anonymous. I had to go a long way back for this one. This is the head of the school my kid used to go to. I also worked there. We both got out when the Christian nationalism took over. This is the same megachurch with the flying drummer, elves, Santa at Christmas. This is an image of Kristen Stewart, known as Bella from Twilight. This is her in a Snow White costume from when she played Snow White.
Speaker 2:
[26:20] Yes.
Speaker 1:
[26:21] Over this image of her.
Speaker 2:
[26:22] Helpful to say warrior Snow White, though. This is not like Disney Snow White. This is Snow White in The Huntsman. I'm going to battle Snow White.
Speaker 1:
[26:32] I have a shield. I have a sword. I have a full breastplate, epaulettes, the whole thing. And the caption over it is, sit with God's warriors. The conversation is different. There is a Brandon Lake song attached to this particular screenshot that we got. So I would like some more context for this. Like what conversation are we trying to have with Kristen Stewart?
Speaker 2:
[27:02] Right.
Speaker 1:
[27:03] Like how is the conversation different? What does it mean?
Speaker 2:
[27:07] Here's the deal. I think this is a completely accurate meme. You know, because I do think you sit there. I think if you were to sit with God's warriors, I think the conversation might be different than what we're getting in other places. You know, I did a deep dive of the Instagram account that this came from. And it is all extremely similar things to this. Okay. Like I went on a very deep journey. It's a lot of memes. This is classic, your uncle, dad, whatever, who's just posting meme after meme after meme after meme, you know?
Speaker 1:
[27:43] And so nothing about their life, nothing about anything. Just I'm here to preach to you.
Speaker 2:
[27:48] Exactly. I will say in this one, this one actually is really important. I found another meme that was on his page, and then we can go back to the Kristen Stewart situation here. But it ties into, it bookends, it makes a full circle moment for this episode right here. And it's this fella here, and he is wearing a Hulk shirt with Hulk smash hands that he's got like the big foam situations on there. And this is his St. Patrick's Day post, all right? And here's the deal. So he has a whole post about St. Patrick. It's actually a lovely post. So I had a great time with it, no issues with it. And so he's talking about, let's be festive today. There's a lot to celebrate as we honor St. Patrick, whatever. He says, step into your calling, speak life, live with purpose, go out and smash the day for his glory. And I think that's what our original meme was missing about the Hulk earlier was a pun, was a Hulk pun.
Speaker 1:
[28:54] Well, one, I think you're correct, always. Two, I think where I get frustrated with meme culture, specifically Christian meme culture, is that everybody's just saying a lot of things that doesn't mean anything.
Speaker 2:
[29:11] Okay.
Speaker 1:
[29:11] Okay. So he's posted this, sit with God's warriors, the conversation is different. And then the only caption we have is Ephesians 6, 11 through 13, which is put on the whole armor of God, which I see the connection, my God.
Speaker 2:
[29:25] Of course.
Speaker 1:
[29:26] I really do.
Speaker 2:
[29:26] Yeah. She's wearing the armor of God right there.
Speaker 1:
[29:28] So like, yes, visual to text. Yes. It makes a lot of sense. But like, can you expound on what you mean? Because this, are you, like, I think some of this is like really self-involved of like, it's the idea of like, I am God's warrior.
Speaker 2:
[29:49] Yes.
Speaker 1:
[29:49] And when you sit with me, the conversation is different.
Speaker 2:
[29:52] You'll learn what's different.
Speaker 1:
[29:54] You'll learn what you need to know when you do that. So it's just like, what was it? What was it like? Speak love, you know, do, you know, do, what is, what do you mean?
Speaker 2:
[30:04] What does it mean? Here's what this reminds me of, like the sit with God's warriors, the conversation is different. It's like whenever you're talking to someone and they're talking about what's going on in their lives or whatever, or something profound maybe is happening, and they look at you with a knowing look and say, you know, God's up to something right now. I don't know what it is, but he's up to something, you know? And I'm like, sure. Yeah. I mean, yeah, probably.
Speaker 1:
[30:30] But I don't know.
Speaker 2:
[30:31] More than likely. Yeah, exactly. He usually is, you know? But I don't know.
Speaker 1:
[30:35] That's one of his deals.
Speaker 2:
[30:36] Right. But I just, this felt very similar to the Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan as Jesus sort of meme, where like, I'm like, do you, my guy, do you know, this is Kristen Stewart? Do you, do you care? You for sure don't. You for sure don't know.
Speaker 1:
[30:54] When that guy finds out that Kristen Stewart is a lesbian, I know he's going to be really upset.
Speaker 2:
[31:00] I know. Is he going to enjoy the conversation at that table? We don't know him. So maybe, I don't know. Exactly. Right.
Speaker 1:
[31:07] Let's go to the kitchen and have that conversation.
Speaker 2:
[31:09] Yes.
Speaker 1:
[31:10] Okay. So this is our final one. And this is kind of a combo deal. This is from Jane Face. Liz, these are unhinged Christian posts that fall under the motherhood category. I just had a baby a couple of months ago and was surprised how many people are looking to marry for sleep protocol or comparing themselves to Christ. Okay. So the first one that she sent is a TikTok. And this is a lot. So this is a video of what I assume is Natalie's child. And, oh, no, I'm sorry, Natalia, Natalia's child. And it is a video of her child breastfeeding. And then like she tilts that camera just a little bit. We're getting some boob. Okay. But there's no boob. But the child is obviously breastfeeding. And then the caption over it is, this is my body broken for you. Go take and eat. No. Okay. So that's the first one. The second one is a Twitter or X, I guess, post. And it is from someone named Hannah Mandarino. And Hannah says, as a strong believer in co-sleeping, because I believe it's the most natural and healthy option for a number of reasons, I'm always puzzled when I hear about Mary putting Christ in the manger. Like, why wasn't he in the bed beside her? So Evan, moms are unhinged on the internet. Let's talk about it. How do you feel about these two posts?
Speaker 2:
[32:50] Okay. I want to go back to that first one, just for a second, because as I'm sifting through all these videos and things like that, and getting all this, you know, I've got a lot of memes. I've got a lot of TikToks, things that I'm going through. And this one, pulled it up and I'm watching it, and I was waiting for something to happen. You know, like a jump square, something like that. I don't know what it was.
Speaker 1:
[33:10] You were ready for it, looking for a boob slip or something.
Speaker 2:
[33:15] But I just see, I think it's important, I need everyone to go super duper on this one, pull up this video, because I just see a baby, kind of looks like sleeping, eating or whatever at first, but then I went, oh, oh, oh man. That was the, if someone could have been watching me do that, that was the train of thought, because I just think like we are so close to like a nip slip happening on this video here. That was kind of alarming. And then, but then the caption that like just the text that's over this was really upsetting to me. I also, my next thought then about our Hannah Mandarino was one, I am angry at the number of comments and the amount of time I spent reading this. I spent a lot of time on Hannah's.
Speaker 1:
[34:08] What was the vibe? Because I have deactivated my former Twitter account, so it won't let me see. So what is the vibe?
Speaker 2:
[34:16] That's good. It is a lot of, I mean, this is actually the best summary statement of her entire Instagram. So she's a trad wife. Once again, my word's not hers. This is my synthesis of this. She has, I think, five kids or something like that. They live in Middle Tennessee and kind of out, I think, maybe they're farmers, but very living with the land situation there. And so, in a lot like, but she's confident in what she believes and what she stands for and who she is and how she's gonna be responding to people. The energy of giving feedback to Mary is strong, I think.
Speaker 1:
[35:01] It is strong, it's a strong vibe.
Speaker 2:
[35:03] It is, that's a move to say, no, no, no, I know better than you, Mary. I just have some questions about what's happening here.
Speaker 1:
[35:12] I want to remind her that like, they were in a barn, so there wasn't a bed that particular evening.
Speaker 2:
[35:21] Well, no, she's got an answer for that. She has an answer for that. They had to lay down somewhere. They had to lay, Mary and Joseph had to lay down somewhere. So why couldn't you have just put Jesus with you in there?
Speaker 1:
[35:31] I like, I just, I just appreciate the literal interpretation of the text. I appreciate the, like the mental gymnastics it takes to really go harden the pain on that.
Speaker 2:
[35:41] Can I tell you where they landed, where Hannah landed on like feeling okay with what Mary did here? Someone else commented on there and they said, okay, well, Mary, maybe there's a lot going on in this little, in the barn stables, whatever it might be. So Mary needed to do something with her hands for a minute. And so she found the clean hay, the only place that would have been the clean place to lay down Jesus. So while she was doing other things, she set Jesus down. And then Hannah was like-
Speaker 1:
[36:10] After she just gave birth, yeah.
Speaker 2:
[36:11] Exactly. So she's like tidying up doing her duties or whatever, probably making a cow, I don't know.
Speaker 1:
[36:17] Here's the thing, away in the manger just doesn't hit the same with away in our co-sleeping arrangement.
Speaker 2:
[36:24] No, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:
[36:26] Just, no, that doesn't work. And I just, I wanna go like, you don't even get fixated on this portion of scripture. Like you don't need to do that. You can still co-sleep. Do I think you should be co-sleeping? Not particularly, not for me. But if you believe in it, you believe in it very strongly, as you said, I think it can be okay.
Speaker 2:
[36:49] Can I ask you, as the mother here, can you tell me about like, are there, did you ever find comfort in being like, I am looking to the Bible for-
Speaker 1:
[37:01] I am Jesus Christ to my children.
Speaker 2:
[37:03] Exactly, I am Jesus Christ to my children. Just like, I am providing an open forum, fill that how you want.
Speaker 1:
[37:10] Yeah, so listen, it is insane to be a new mother, okay?
Speaker 2:
[37:15] Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:
[37:16] Like, my brain broke, and I know that's not true for everyone else, but like, my mom walked in on me, like four days after coming home from the hospital, and I was completely de-shirted, and laying on my child's rug, balling, because I was 100% convinced that wolves were going to come through the window, steal my child, and raise her as their own. So like, we're not okay in some of those moments. Like, our brains just kind of go haywire.
Speaker 2:
[37:53] For sure, for sure.
Speaker 1:
[37:54] I know that's not everyone's experience. It was my experience. But that's your experience.
Speaker 2:
[37:58] There we go, yeah.
Speaker 1:
[37:59] I think, I have a lot to say about this breastfeeding video.
Speaker 2:
[38:04] Yeah, let's hear it.
Speaker 1:
[38:05] Because, and I'm going to potentially make you slightly uncomfortable, and I do apologize for that. But here's the thing. You cannot imagine the pressure that mothers are under to breastfeed.
Speaker 2:
[38:19] Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:
[38:20] It is so shaming. It is so aggressive. You are seen as lesser than or malfunctioning. Oh boy. Or you did something wrong if you cannot work out breastfeeding. It is like, there's like a morality to it almost. It's like, if you don't do this, you're not sacrificing your body for your child. You're not doing everything you can for your child. Which is bulls**t, okay? I want to just say that to a lot of the commenters of this TikTok, because there are so many who are like, oh my gosh, yes, like this is such a beautiful revelation, like what an honor to sacrifice myself so much to give to my children, all this stuff. Yes, all of those things are true. It's true, like I, but it is so martyr complex masturbatory to like engage in this idea that you are being Jesus Christ to your children when you breastfeed. And like however you feed your child, you have fed your child, congratulations. And that there is nothing wrong with you. You are not malfunctioning in any way. You are not defective in any way. You are doing the best job that you can do for your child. And that is enough. And so I just, I just want to be like, we don't, we don't have to make, there's a woman in these comments that's about to give up breastfeeding because she has complex mastitis. And she's like, this just, this just like pulled me, this like pulled me through, baby, no, like you, it's okay.
Speaker 2:
[40:17] Listen to your doctor.
Speaker 1:
[40:18] Listen to your doctor. And please don't listen to influencers about like medical advice. And like if you, you don't have, you don't have to completely deflate your own self in order to be a good mom, a good Christian mom even. And listen, do I think like I get a lot of really valuable examples of God's love for us through my parenting? Yes, I do. And but that's, that's not inaccessible to people who aren't parents.
Speaker 2:
[40:53] Oh, for sure.
Speaker 1:
[40:54] You know what I mean?
Speaker 2:
[40:55] You, God, you, you will, you can meet and experience God in whatever the space you're in, you know? So if you're a parent, obviously you're going to lean into that space. In my singleness, in my crafting, my quilting, I'll lean into that space, you know, or whatever, you know?
Speaker 1:
[41:09] Yes, you're exactly right. So I just, I think it just, it's just this elitist idea that there are echelons to how we can understand God. And if you are a parent, you understand God better and you are closer to God. That's not true. There are really bad parents out there and they aren't anything like Jesus. And let me tell you who doesn't think that you're Jesus to them, your children. You're just annoying to them. So yeah, I would like for Natalia to maybe not, and there's nothing overtly shaming in this, but it carries weight if you're a woman who cannot breastfeed.
Speaker 2:
[41:52] But comparing it to communion, that was grim for me.
Speaker 1:
[41:57] That's a bridge too far. That feels a little bit like using AI to turn you into Jesus, which we are talking about in our Patreon episode, this matter of national security that has come about. So that is going to do it for this episode of Faith Adjacent this week on Patreon. We're going spicy. So these were just the chill ones. I know that's insane.
Speaker 2:
[42:20] Yeah, right.
Speaker 1:
[42:22] But we were going spicy memes, and that's gonna be exciting. Also as a bonus, I did ask Evan to discuss Trump turning himself into Jesus Christ and then saying he was actually the great physician. So we will be talking about that. If you'd like to hear that episode, you can purchase it as a standalone, or you can join us on Patreon at Faith Adjacent Seminary, home of the most fearfully and wonderfully weird seminarians the internet has to offer. Come start a free seven day trial at patreon.com/faithadjacent.
Speaker 2:
[42:51] And before you go, just a reminder that you can flaunt your Faith Adjacent pride by checking out all of our merch over at the Faith Adjacent shop. Head over to faithadjacent.shop or click the link in the show notes. I'm Evan Dodson. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok and I'm Erin Moon.
Speaker 1:
[43:04] You can find me on the interwebs at Erin H. Moon. Don't forget to follow Faith Adjacent at Faith Adjacent. Thank you for listening and we will see you next time.
Speaker 2:
[43:10] Bye, y'all.