26. Antifascist Gardening Theology w/ Ciarra Jones

I first came across Ciarra Jones on TikTok as @thegardeningtheologian, and I was moved by her eloquent, queer, and plant-based antifascism. She grew up in the Assemblies of God Pentecostal Church, but through her studies at UC Berkeley and Harvard Divinity School she developed a public theology grounded embodiment. We talk about what public theologians actually do, how dying-to-the-flesh theology creates the conditions for fascist dehumanization, and why religion is a social determinant of health.

She walks me through her own deconstruction — from traveling youth minister preaching against queerness at sixteen to queer womanist theologian — and explains how her grandfather's garden in Sacramento became a ritual site. We talk about "the good enough" gardener, Charlie Kirk's debate style as Christian nationalist domination, and why the hardest God to believe in is one who is simply pleased with you.

https://ciarrajonesconsulting.com/

Sources:

Pamela Lightsey, Our Lives Matter: A Womanist Queer Theology (Pickwick Publications, 2015)

Kelly Brown Douglas, Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God (Orbis Books, 2015)

Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion (Simon & Schuster, 2010)

Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha (Bantam, 2003)

Kate Bowler, No Cure for Being Human: And Other Truths I Need to Hear (Random House, 2021)

Prentis Hemphill, The Embodiment Institute

SOCIALS

Bluesky: matthewremski.bsky.social
Instagram: @matthew_remski
YouTube: @antifascistdad
TikTok: [@antifascistdad]
Patreon: antifascistdadpodcast
Pre-order Antifascist Dad

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Anti-Fascist Gardening Theology with Ciara Jones
(00:06:51) - Public Theology
(00:15:12) - Public Theology and the Parable of the Sower
(00:24:46) - Exploring Queerness in the Church
(00:37:30) - The Garden of My Grandfather
(00:41:02) - Philosophy Bro: Charlie Kirk
(00:59:03) - Avi Lewis Win at the NDP National Federal Convention

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(86)

45: When Zionists Dominate Antisemitism Discourse w/ Daniel Sailofsky

Since October 7th, young people who have joined antifascist and anti-genocide organizing on campus have faced one of the most disorienting accusations available: that their solidarity with Palestinian...

23 Sep 1h

UNLOCK 43.1: Understanding Lebanon w/ Ayman Makarem Pt 2

Part two of my conversation with Ayman Makarem picks up where we left off: with Lebanon and Israel as co-developed colonial entities. We trace how the 1943 National Pact locked in a sectarian power-sh...

20 Sep 1h 5min

44. Psychic Militancy w/ Dr. Lara Sheehi

My guest today is militant Lebanese Arab clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, Dr. Lara Sheehi, here to unpack her book From the Clinic to the Streets: Psychoanalysis for Revolutionary Futures. Fol...

16 Sep 56min

43. Understanding Lebanon w/ Ayman Makarem

Lebanon is once again on the front line of Israel's regional war, and a lot of leftist coverage, where there is any, flattens a hundred years of colonial history into campist slogans. In this episode ...

9 Sep 56min

UNLOCK 42.1 Friendship (is not easy)

An excerpt from the audiobook of Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times — Chapter Eight, Friendship Is Not Easy. I'm putting this out as a companion to my interview w...

9 Aug 43min

UNLOCK: 41.1 The Anti-Vance Would Like a Word Pt 2 w/ Nathan Evans Fox

Part 2 of my convo with Nathan Evans Fox, going deeper into the psychological and theological architecture of what JD Vance is actually doing in his new memoir, and what it costs him and everyone else...

2 Aug 45min

42. Keep the Little Flame Alive w/ Carsie Blanton

I sit down with socialist singer-songwriter Carsie Blanton to explore how unstructured freedom — from schooling, the music industry, and institutional religion — became the soil for her political and ...

29 Juli 1h 1min

UNLOCK 40.1 Episodic and Thematic Thinking and Feeling

Picking up a on thread from my interview with Nora Loreto interview: a coda on the tension between zooming in on the daily news cycle and zooming out to a coherent analytical framework. I draw on Shan...

26 Juli 19min