Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
FULL EPISODE: youtu.be/wo0lTqZvOFw
Secretary of Defense (not calling it "War" unless Congress changes it) called a meeting of the U.S. military's top generals from around the world. In it, he spoke of what he called the "warrior ethos." Far from building on the military's vaunted traditions of honor and service, Hegseth harped on how the military became "woke" and how he didn't want any more "beardos" (men with beards) in the military. He had a lot to say about the size of people's waists and physical fitness.
As usual, the hosts--Diana, Kristin, and Jemar--find historical and religious connections. We talk about the creation of the white evangelical vision of masculinity, the reversal of the mythology of Robert E. Lee as the "reluctant warrior," and Christian masculinity in pop culture.
We also talk about the latest mass shooting at a Church of Latter-Day Saints congregation in Michigan.
Lot's of bad news, but also some reasons to celebrate that we talk about to round out the show.
FULL EPISODE: youtu.be/wo0lTqZvOFw
Secretary of Defense (not calling it "War" unless Congress changes it) called a meeting of the U.S. military's top generals from around the world. In it, he spoke of what he called the "warrior ethos." Far from building on the military's vaunted traditions of honor and service, Hegseth harped on how the military became "woke" and how he didn't want any more "beardos" (men with beards) in the military. He had a lot to say about the size of people's waists and physical fitness.
As usual, the hosts--Diana, Kristin, and Jemar--find historical and religious connections. We talk about the creation of the white evangelical vision of masculinity, the reversal of the mythology of Robert E. Lee as the "reluctant warrior," and Christian masculinity in pop culture.
We also talk about the latest mass shooting at a Church of Latter-Day Saints congregation in Michigan.
Lot's of bad news, but also some reasons to celebrate that we talk about to round out the show.







![Stuck in the Cycle of Doom and Gloom?
We love your comments. In fact, we led off our discussion by sharing our reflections on one particular comment.
Robby shared,
[This person was] finding themselves feeling a little jaded by the constant, “You wont believe what just happened now.”
And same thing, day after day, after day—kind of a Groundhog Day experience, and worried about getting caught up in the negativity, not being able to think about: What do we do?
How can we manage the chaos?
How can we manage our own responses to it, and try to get to do something productive in the meantime?
So we each shared how we approach our obligation to tell the truth—which necessarily involves a lot of “doom and gloom”—with the equally urgent call to hope and resilience.
We do these live episodes once a month, and the best part for us as hosts is interacting with you in real time.
So we devote about half the episode to answering your questions.
We’re curious: How do you resist feeling jaded when there’s so much bad news? How are you cultivating hope and resilience? Let us know in the comments.
A Live Q & A Session with The Convocation Unscripted
Follow on BlueSky:
https://bsky.app/profile/jemartisby.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/kkdumez.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/dianabutlerbass.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/robertpjones.bsky.social
Follow on Substack:
The Convocation- convocation.substack.com
Robert P. Jones- www.whitetoolong.net
Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com
Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com
Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com Stuck in the Cycle of Doom and Gloom?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KU7vIdyo31Q/mqdefault.jpg)


