Ep. 7: Loving Your Enemies with Dr. Russell Johnson
Show Notes
Episode Summary
What does it look like to actually love our enemies? We sit down with Dr. Russell Johnson, a professor at the University of Chicago, to talk about his personal faith journey, as well as what he’s learned through his studies about dualism, the “us vs. them” mindset, disagreement, and how to truly love our enemies.
Please excuse the audio in this episode. We had some technical difficulties.
Bio
Russell Johnson is a Divinity School Teaching Fellow in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. He studies religious ethics and the philosophy of communication. His research focuses on disagreement, antagonism, and how groups imagine and treat their enemies. His work is interdisciplinary and draws on resources from rhetorical theory, Christian theology, peace and conflict studies, and dialogical philosophy to explore how the "good guys versus bad guys" mindset distorts people's perceptions of themselves and their opponents.
His teaching includes courses on nonviolent direct action, argumentation and epistemology, and religion and film. Current and upcoming courses include "Prophetic Speech: From Babylon to Birmingham" and "Star Wars and Religion."
Quotables
“I realized that Christianity is a good message for everyone, rather than good for us but not for them.” (tweet this)
“I think the allure of ‘us vs. them’ is it’s the easiest way to form an ‘us.’” (tweet this)
“An essential part of the Gospel message is a rejection of all ‘us vs. them’ ways of thinking, speaking, and acting, and replacing them instead with ‘us FOR them’ and ‘God FOR us all.’” (tweet this)
“Christian non-violence is rooted in enemy love. So not just ‘don’t kill your enemy’ but actively love your enemy.” (tweet this)
“Nonviolence, among the many others things it does, is it reveals something. It testifies to something.” (tweet this)
“What gives me hope is that the Good News does not depend on humanity.” (tweet this)
Key Topics with Timestamps
[03:15]—Dr. Johnson’s brief faith history
[07:30]—Some of the benefits Dr. Johnson gained from his apologetics training
[08:40]—Some reasons why he moved away from an apologetics mindset
[11:00]—Discussion of the “us vs. them” mindset
[15:01]—What happens when we divide the world into “good guys” and “bad guys”
[20:04]—Stanley Hauerwas, pacifism, and how loving our enemies is at the center of the Christian faith
[25:14]—Debunking misunderstandings of pacifism
[28:19]—Ubuntu
[30:30]—What truth, Gandhi, and nonviolent direct action have to do with the U.S. Capitol siege on January 6, 2021
[33:30]—What gives Dr. Johnson hope when looking at the future of faith
[36:28]—Rapid Fire questions
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Credits
This episode was produced by The Sophia Society. Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.
