Stanley Hauerwas on Glenn Beck and More

What do Cornel West, Rita Nakashima Brock, Carol Rose, and Onleilove Alston have in common? They are all our recent guests on Iconocast, a podcast "exploring the anti-imperial implications of Jesus' teachings within our modern imperial context." Our latest guest Stanley Hauerwas covered topics like September 11, the Muslim community center at ground zero, his critiques of Mennonites, the problem with many intentional communities, racism, sexism, the national anthem being played at Goshen, Marxism, and pacifism.

Here are some quotes from our most recent interview with Stanley Hauerwas and Cornel West.

Stanley Hauerwas:

"[Glenn] Beck-like Christianity is idolatrous ... and God will punish them. That sounds terribly harsh but, that they can claim to represent, or come close to representing Christianity, it seems to me to be a terrible judgment on the development of Christianity in America."

"Christian language has been stolen by this kind of generalized civil religion that Beck and these people represent should be condemned."

"The great enemy of Christianity in America is not atheism, it's sentimentality."

Cornel West:

"There is a difference though between the flame of charity and the fire of justice."

?"People would rather see a sermon than hear a sermon."

"The only way that churches can play a role is by becoming massive examples."

"Our churches are too cowardly. Too well adjusted to injustice. Too well adapted to indifference at the suffering of others."

?"If you don't have joy, you don't have love."

Jarrod McKenna is seeking to live God's love in a world where business as usual is costing us the earth (at the expense of the poor). He is the national advisor for youth, faith, and activism for World Vision Australia, a co-founder of the Peace Tree Community serving with the marginalised in one of the poorest of areas in his city, and is the founder and creative director of Empowering Peacemakers (EPYC), for which he has received an Australian peace award in his work in empowering a generation of "eco-evangelists" and "peace prophets." If you'd like to hear more, including from people like Jim Douglass, Ched Myers, Brian McLaren, Wes Howard-Brook, Mary Jo Leddy and others, you can subscribe on iTunes here.