Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 21 hours ago
Just this week, Trump and his administration have shrugged off the brutal 2018 murder of a Washington Post Journalist and welcomed the person the CIA identified as its mastermind to the White House, called for the death penalty and hanging for six democratic sitting members of Congress, and—over at the Coast Guard under the Department of Homeland Security--downgraded nooses and swastikas from hate symbols to “potentially divisive” objects. We talk about the positive correlations between this increasingly violent rhetoric and Christian nationalism, and the inexplicable tendency of some prominent journalists to refuse to acknowledge the reality of this movement or the scholarship supporting its existence and its threat to democracy. We close with an off-beat segment on the rise of AI-powered chatbots that purport to let Christians text with Jesus. But which Jesus has AI trained itself to emulate? All is not what it seems here.
Check out Jemar's new podcast: The Justice Briefing - podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-justice-briefing-with-dr-jemar-tisby/id1460240056
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Follow on Substack:
The Convocation- convocation.substack.com
Robert P. Jones- whitetoolong.net
Diana Butler Bass- dianabutlerbass.substack.com
Kristin Du Mez- kristindumez.substack.com
Jemar Tisby- JemarTisby.Substack.com
Just this week, Trump and his administration have shrugged off the brutal 2018 murder of a Washington Post Journalist and welcomed the person the CIA identified as its mastermind to the White House, called for the death penalty and hanging for six democratic sitting members of Congress, and—over at the Coast Guard under the Department of Homeland Security--downgraded nooses and swastikas from hate symbols to “potentially divisive” objects. We talk about the positive correlations between this increasingly violent rhetoric and Christian nationalism, and the inexplicable tendency of some prominent journalists to refuse to acknowledge the reality of this movement or the scholarship supporting its existence and its threat to democracy. We close with an off-beat segment on the rise of AI-powered chatbots that purport to let Christians text with Jesus. But which Jesus has AI trained itself to emulate? All is not what it seems here.
Check out Jemar's new podcast: The Justice Briefing - podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-justice-briefing-with-dr-jemar-tisby/id1460240056
Follow on BlueSky:
https://bsky.app/profile/jemartisby.b...
https://bsky.app/profile/kkdumez.bsky...
https://bsky.app/profile/dianabutlerb...
https://bsky.app/profile/robertpjones...
Follow on Substack:
The Convocation- convocation.substack.com
Robert P. Jones- 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?
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
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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)




