Hosted by writer and speaker David Gornoski, A Neighbor’s Choice Radio Show examines the role of violence and religion in society. From victims of state violence against nonviolent behaviors to public figures and contrarian voices, the conversations that unfold create an illuminating and sometimes strange journey for listeners.
David Gornoski explores why politics is failing to contain our violence and animosity increasingly in AD 2020. We examine the anthropological forces at play as division grows in politics the longer cultures steep in the story and values of the crucified one.
In this episode, David Gornoski analyzes the Apollonius of Tyana mythologically-intermediate story of a miracle in Ephesus. The pagan miracle worker is often favorably compared with Jesus of Nazareth by moderns anxious to posture rebellion towards their parents’ Christian affinity. We then use this demystification process to deconstruct a modern news report on a pharmaceutical […]
David Gornoski explores how the story of Jonah, Susanna’s persecution, and Daniel’s imprisonment serve as evidence of early Christianity’s deeply anti-sacrificial meaning and aesthetic. These stories deal with averted sacrifice and mercy for the weak, misfits, and outsiders.
We talk about human sacrifice in history and our modern times. What binds us together? What is the psychological-social force that unites us out of our personas? We look at the earliest depiction of the Cross of Christ in history–a telling piece of street graffiti meant to deride the new concept of Christ followers that […]
Things Hidden host David Gornoski analyzes the movie ‘Joker’ while using its themes about culture, scapegoats, hierarchy, doubles, envy, and the breakdown of myth with the support of the Mimetic theory founded by Rene Girard. Saturnalia and other winter solstice carnival festivals preceding sacrifice, Cain and Abel, Romulus and Remus, Jesus and the Demoniac, and […]
Jesus’s persecution looks like the Saturnalia sacrificial festival of the Romans as well as the scapegoat ritual of Leviticus and the Greek pharmakos purge. This was a feature of Jesus’s plan in demonstrating the ugly reality of how humans make culture, order, and peace. Find out how this social mechanism Jesus uncovers operates in world […]