Religion and Justice

In this powerful discussion, hosts George Schmidt and Gabriella Lisi speak with John and Samuel Munayer about their new book, The Cross and the Olive Tree: Cultivating Palestinian Theology Amid Gaza.

The conversation delves into the indigeneity of Palestinian Christianity, the metaphor of the olive tree as a framework for theology, and the importance of staying in the "long silence" of Holy Saturday during times of genocide and suff...

Deep solidarity is not a warm sentiment or a “let’s all get along” slogan. It’s the kind of collective connection that makes the powerful nervous because it turns everyday shared pressure into organized power.

We sit down with Professor Joerg Rieger to unpack what he means by deep solidarity and why it emerged for him out of Occupy Wall Street and the claim “we are the 99%.” Along the way,...

Blaming “humanity” for climate collapse feels intuitive, but it hides the real drivers. We sit down with Prof. Joerg Rieger to unpack why Anthropocene flattens responsibility and how Capitalocene offers a sharper, more useful map—one that follows power, money, and relationships across extraction, production, and belief. From oil fields to boardrooms to pews, we trace how decisions at the top cascade into carbon, c...

George and I took a break this holiday season and gave the mic to another organization doing great work: BTS Center's Climate Changed 

Climate Changed is The BTS Center’s podcast. Well-crafted, warm, and invitational, Climate Changed explores some of the most pressing questions about faith, life, and climate change.

The hosts of Climate Changed explores honest climate grief, then move toward the work that remains: ...

In this episode, pastoral theologian and psychotherapist Dr. Bruce Rogers-Vaughn—pastoral theologian, clinician, and author of Caring for Souls in a Neoliberal Age—exposes how today’s mental-health system locates suffering in individual pathology while ignoring the social and economic forces producing widespread distress.

He explains how research funding, psychotherapy models, and the biomedical frame all shift att...

What if “reconciliation” lets the powerful off the hook? We sit with theologian and former United Church of Canada moderator Carmen Lansdowne to rethink repair from the ground up—centering Indigenous wisdom, circular time, and mission reimagined as solidarity. Carmen opens a candid window into her story of sobriety, Advent, and returning to a faith that saved her life, then presses the church to pair grace with re...

Benny Overton and Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger share their journey building the Southeast Center for Cooperative Development and explain how cooperative businesses create a democratic alternative to traditional capitalism.

• Origins in labor organizing and union work with UAW and AFL-CIO
• Different types of cooperatives including worker-owned, consumer, and producer co-ops
• Cooperatives address power imbalances structural...

This episode was recorded in May 2025. We'll have Fr. Bruce back on the pod to discuss our new pope in the coming months! 

What makes a pope "Marxist"? Is challenging capitalism equivalent to embracing communism? Father Bruce Morrill, Jesuit priest and theological scholar, joins us for a fascinating exploration of Pope Francis's complex legacy and the radical vision that defined his papacy.

We begin with the surprising h...

What happens when theology meets revolution?

In this episode of Religion and Justice, we sit down with Joshua Bartholomew, author of Black Theology and the Black Panthers, to explore the rich, radical relationship between Black Christian theology and one of the most influential political movements of the 20th century.

Bartholomew walks us through the theological foundations of the Black Panther Party, the spiritual imagination of fig...

What if justice — as we commonly understand it — isn’t enough? In this episode, theologians David True and Tom James, co-authors of The Transcendence of Desire: A Theology of Political Agency, join us to explore the limitations of liberal justice frameworks and the radical potential of love-as-desire.

We talk about the co-optation of justice under capitalism and how eros — not sacrifice — might be the g...

Recorded in January 24, 2025. 

Built upon four blog posts from Joerg, Aaron, Gabby, and George, this event will explore how faith and justice intersect to create pathways for collective liberation.

At the heart of this conversation is the belief that mourning, grief, and collective suffering can be powerful tools for social change. Rooted in the understanding that justice is not just a personal endeavor but a communal one, we wi...

In this episode of Religion and Justice, Gabby and George welcome Terra and Joerg, co-editors of Liberating People, Planet, and Religion: Intersections of Ecology, Economics, and Christianity. Their groundbreaking work explores how faith communities can confront ecological devastation and economic inequality, offering a powerful call to action for justice and sustainability.

Join us as we dive into the origins of their book, the pre...

Editor's Note: We originally uploaded this episode with audio for a Terra and Joerg episode. The corrected episode was uploaded shortly thereafter (~48 hours). The official Terra and Joerg episode will be released in mid-February. Stay tuned!

In this episode, Gabby and George talk with  Dr. Terra Schwerin Rowe, an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of North Texas. Dr. Rowe is a le...

In this special Christmas episode of Religion and Justice, we are joined by Dr. Joerg Rieger to unpack the profound and often overlooked realities of the nativity story. Far from the idyllic scenes of "Silent Night, Holy Night," Dr. Rieger presents the birth of Jesus as a story of drama, precarity, and resilience amidst imperial power and systemic injustice.

We explore how Jesus’s precarious beginnings—born in a stable, ...

In this special episode, George and Gabby take a backseat as we present a powerful conversation featuring Dr. Joerg Rieger, Dr. Elaine Nogueira-Godsey, and moderated by Dr. Jeremy Posadas. Together, they explore the intertwined exploitation of people and the planet, examining how Christianity has historically contributed to systemic injustices. But it’s not just about identifying the problems — it’s about seeking ...

In this special episode, we honor the life and legacy of Gustavo Gutiérrez, a towering figure in the realm of liberation theology. Gabby and George sit down with esteemed scholars Jung Mo Sung and Joerg Rieger, both of whom have been  influenced by Gustavo's teachings and friendship.

Through reflections and shared memories, our guests illuminate the transformative power of Gutiérrez’s work, exploring how his commitment to...

In this episode of Religion and Justice, we sit down with Dr. Tad DeLay to discuss his latest work, Future of Denial: Ideologies of Climate Change. As global temperatures rise and wildfires, droughts, and floods become more common, denialism continues to morph—from greenwashing corporate strategies to political distractions. Tad DeLay offers a deep dive into the psychology, history, and capitalist machinery that fuel climate ...

In this episode, Gabby and George dive into the connections between ecological exploitation, economic inequality, and religion with renowned theologian Joerg Rieger. As the founder of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice at Vanderbilt, Rieger shares insights on "deep solidarity," a concept that unites various forms of exploitation across class, race, gender, and environment to foster resilient alternatives.

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In this episode, we sit down with theologian Priscila Alves Gonçalves da Silva to explore how faith, solidarity, and human resilience intersect in times of socio-economic despair. Drawing on her personal experiences growing up in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and witnessing her mother’s struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic, Priscila delves deep into the feelings of helplessness caused by modern capitalist systems. She refle...