The Convocation Unscripted

Twenty-Five Years Later, the Fear Is Still Running the Country
The twin towers fell twenty-five years ago, but the outrage that moment spurred is still shaping life in the U.S. and beyond.
Kristin Du Mez, Diana Butler Bass, and Robert P. Jones sit with the anniversary and ask: What became of this country that morning?
You’ll hear where each of them was, including Kristin standing in a blood donation line that evening that turned out to be unnecessary, because there were almost no survivors.
Then, Robbie brings PRRI’s tracking of American attitudes toward Islam, where the country as a whole has barely moved while the two parties have pulled further and further apart.
Diana argues the goodwill drained the moment the president stood on the rubble and chose revenge over imagination. Robbie points to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. And the fact that the first community ICE went after was Somali refugees who were Black and Muslim.
As we often do, we end with small signs of hope.
Earlier in the hour you’ll get Wild Goose, book launch season, and the books that changed their lives.
If you have wondered how we ended up in the country we are living in, this conversation is a large part of the answer.
Listen, then send it to someone who still can’t trace the line from the past to the present.

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Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com

This week, TCU came to you live across multiple platforms--via the Convocation Unscripted substack plus our own individual substack platforms. In this episode, we talk about a recent interview given by J.D. Vance in which he discusses his views of the Antichrist and th end times, echoing themes from his tech bro benefactor Peter Thiel. The actual theology is internally inconsistent and somewhat incoherent, but it does reveal a disturbing world of limitless power for the few chosen ones who literally image the possibility of escaping human finitude and even death through wealth and technology. By contrast, we talk about deep biblical stories that warn against such hubris and callous disregard for the impacts of such elite aspirations on the vast majority of the rest of us. We also discussed the new books coming out from Robby (BACKSLIDE) and Kristin (LIVE LAUGH LOVE). And we took questions from the hundreds of you who joined us live, on climate change and extreme weather, the midterm elections in the US, and what these times demand for all of us.

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Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com
Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com
Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com

In this TCU+LIVE episode, the Convocation Unscripted team talked about the challenges of finding rest amid the ongoing assaults on our democracy and American decency--from the $100 billion spent on the unjust and unnecessary war in Iran to $20 million for new "shock gloves" that will be issued to ICE agents across the country, which are exactly what they sound like. Diana reminded everyone of the power of beauty and poetry, even--and especially--when they feel dissonant against the destructive background noise. Thanks to all the live subscribers who joined us with insightful questions, which lead us to wrap the conversation about the importance of building local community and connections in these critical months ahead of the challenging midterm elections.

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Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com
Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com

Did you miss Steven Miller’s chilling speech at a recent counter-terrorism conference with European officials in Washington, where he evokes Nazi tropes abt the deformed physical appearance of his political enemies? The Convocation Unscripted team unpacks the dehumanizing rhetoric and the Nazi echoes we’re hearing from Trump and the MAGA movement. This is not new--Kristin and Robby each point to this dangerous rhetoric in their forthcoming books (LIVE LAUGH LOVE and BACKSLIDE)--but this rhetoric is getting louder and becoming more central to MAGA messaging. Miller's speech should be a warning bell. It's time for all of us to get beyond denial, get involved, and project a more inclusive view of the good, the true, and the beautiful that is rooted in an ethic of love rather than demonization.

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Follow on Substack:
The Convocation- convocation.substack.com
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Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com
Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com