America (Almost Never) Reads the Bible

Data Over Dogma

Data Over Dogma Media, LLC

Society & Culture, History

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2026

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Brace yourself, because your favorite Bible scholarship show is going to talk politics. It's not that we're veering out of our lane, though. Unfortunately, the politics have come careening out of their lane, and smashed headlong into us. It's not our fault! So yes, we're going to talk about the recent giant Christian nationalist piety performance that was "America Reads the Bible". This was an event where dozens of prominent members of the Christian right took turns reading bits of the Bible until they had gotten through the whole thing. A week worth of saying words, but was there any comprehension? Then, it's a sensitive subject, but an important one: suicide. King Saul dies in the Bible by purposefully falling on his own sword. It was an act designed to rob his enemies of the satisfaction of killing him. But was it a sin? Certainly, Christian tradition has held the act of taking one's own life as a sin for centuries, but is this theology biblically supported, or a later innovation? Is it possible that the labeling of suicide as sinful is actually wrong? If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. You are not alone: -- In the US and Canada: Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org to reach the 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. (Veterans, press 1). -- In the UK: Call 111 (Non-emergency) or 999 (Emergency), or contact the Samaritans at 116 123. -- International: To find a helpline in your country, visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention at iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres or OpenCounseling's International Suicide Hotlines list at blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/ ---- For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/DataOverDogma⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on the various social media places: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/DataOverDogmaPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitter.com/data_over_dogma⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Have you ordered Dan McClellan's New York Times bestselling book ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Bible Says So⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ yet??? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Some follow the noise.
0:03.0	Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion-dollar swings.
0:08.9	There's a money-side to every story.
0:11.4	Get the money-side of the story.
0:13.5	Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com.
0:18.1	In January of 1915, Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance, became encased in the ice in the Weddle Sea.
0:25.3	Through determination, grit, and savvy, Shackleton would lead his men through a brutal winter,
0:29.8	then over hundreds of miles of Antarctic ice, followed by 800 miles across some of the roughest waters in the world.
0:36.1	It is one of the most extraordinary and inspirational journeys in the history of exploration. Find this story and many others at the
0:42.8	Explorers Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts or at Explorerspodcast.com.
0:49.8	If all going to church does is make you support ice and hate your neighbor, one, your church is doing it wrong, but also just the act of going to church or just the act of reading the Bible doesn't accomplish what you think it's going to accomplish precisely because it's just performative.
1:13.6	Hey, everybody, I'm Dan McClellan.
1:15.7	And I'm Dan Beecher.
1:16.9	And this is Data Over Dogmo, where we increase public access to the academic study of the Bible and religion, and we combat the spread of misinformation about the same.
1:26.8	How are things today, Dan?
1:28.0	Things are good. Things are good.
1:29.7	You and I just spent some lovely time out in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1:35.8	Yes.
1:36.9	Talking to some folks over at the Harvard Divinity School, and that was a barrel of laughs.
1:43.1	I got to have some Dunkin' Donuts, which was great.
1:48.0	I skipped it.
1:49.1	I shouldn't have, but I didn't have.
	...

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