Rightfully Miffed

Show open and banter

The show opens from the Pathway Studios in Johnston, Iowa. The hosts trade quick banter about a missing screwdriver and a set of wrenches left in a green van obtained from Boova. A host previews the night: a planned interview with Vanessa McNeil about her documentary on sex trafficking in Iowa fell through due to weather, so the main discussion will instead center on the Larry Nassar trial and a Christianity Today interview with survivor Rachel Denhollander.

Rachel Denhollander interview framed

• What can the church do to be a place where sexual abuse survivors actually find help?

A host introduces a Christianity Today interview with Rachel Denhollander, headlined that her testimony went viral but there is more to the gospel than forgiveness. She was reportedly miffed that Christian media covered only the forgiveness part of her impact statement and not her calls for God's justice and repentance, and she says her advocacy cost her her church. A host also flags a two-part article by Matthew Loftus on the church's reaction to sexual abuse and sexualized culture, posted on the show's website, deferring full discussion until part two appears.

Teaching the book of Job in youth group

A host shares that teaching through the book of Job in youth group recently helped him personally. After a stretch where plans fell apart and he felt he had misunderstood what he was doing, the study of Job felt clarifying even if the students may not have gotten much from it. The topic connects to the night's broader theme of suffering and God's justice.

Snake-handler YouTube comment and response

• Is refusing medical treatment after a snakebite a legitimate sign of faith?
• Is handling snakes a sign to unbelievers or a testing of God?

The hosts read a lengthy comment from Dean Bowling, a serpent handler who found a 02/21/2014 clip and objected to their take. He argued Mark 16 is about Paul (the hosts meant Acts), that refusal of medical treatment is not a test of faith, that God did not create medicine (citing Jeremiah 30:13), and that snake handling is a sign to unbelievers rather than a test of God (citing James 1). A host reads his own written reply: he concedes the Acts correction, argues Jeremiah 30:13 is lifted out of context, notes Deuteronomy 6 (quoted in Luke 4 and Matthew 4) forbids testing God, and holds that scripture gives hope for healing from a snakebite in faith without endorsing intentionally handling snakes as a demonstration of faith.

Secular vs. Solomon YouTube comment exchange

• Does the Secular vs. Solomon game cherry-pick secularism and the Bible to suit a foregone conclusion?

The hosts read a comment accusing their Secular vs. Solomon game of cherry-picking both secularism and the Bible to fit a foregone conclusion, and holding up Christopher Hitchens as a clearer, faster voice on the topic. A host reads his reply asking for specifics, and the commenter's follow-up defines the secularism subscribed to by most secularists; the host's final response explains the game's title was chosen for alliteration, the game simply contrasts biblical Proverbs (occasionally Ecclesiastes) with wisdom sayings from other countries, and concedes the game falls short of serious theology or a rigorous definition of secularism.

Caps for Sale views and channel history

The hosts note they are approaching one million total YouTube views, with about 770,000 of those from their 2010 read-aloud of the children's book Caps for Sale, and read through funny and critical comments on it. They reminisce about the Des Moines Amplified days, running a prayer room at an atheist convention in Des Moines, and a past show on Harold Camping's end-of-the-world prediction featuring a Family Radio supporter named David Brooks who had paid for a billboard in Ames. They reflect that the show mostly gets no reaction at all, and critics tend to swing at low-hanging fruit.

Reading the Denhollander interview

• Can God's call to forgive be misapplied or weaponized against abuse survivors?
• How should the church respond when sexual abuse happens inside its own community rather than outside it?

A host reads through the Christianity Today Q&A with Rachel Denhollander. She describes wrestling with God's perspective on abuse, her conviction that Christians gloss over the devastation of sexual assault with misapplied platitudes like Romans 8:28 and God's sovereignty, and how her advocacy against abuse enabled within the evangelical community, specifically the Sovereign Grace Ministries scandal under C. J. Mahaney, cost her her church when her own status as a victim was wielded against her. The hosts discuss why churches cover up abuse: elevating the institution above following Jesus, and the temptation to protect God's name instead of dealing with sin the way scripture prescribes.

Forgiveness weaponized and the gospel's protection

• What does a person actually do when someone discloses sexual abuse to them?

The hosts continue with Denhollander's answers: forgiveness can be misapplied, Christian coverage focused only on her forgiveness while ignoring her pursuit of justice, and her closing charges that the gospel of Jesus Christ does not need the church's protection but its obedience, and that obedience costs. They wrestle with practical responses: one host admits he may counsel forgiveness too quickly, another walks through what he would tell an abuse survivor, a host uses a marriage-reconciliation analogy to argue the church should be radically transparent, and they reject holding the whole church accountable for what must be worked out person to person. The Matthew Loftus second article is tabled for a future show.

Dear LFTP: the 64-year-old who will not cook

• Should a 64-year-old woman who will not cook be upfront with the man she is dating about it?

Mike reads a listener letter from a 64-year-old divorced woman who likes a man she calls Ronnie but does not want to take on wife duties like cooking and wonders what to do. The hosts advise her to be upfront about it rather than walking away over one obstacle, noting both are in their sixties and set in their ways. The Secular answer agrees that healthy relationships need honest communication and suggests he might even like to cook. A host mentions having just bought a quarter cow and the savings versus eating out.

Dear LFTP: seated four rows back at the funeral

• Was a wife wrong to feel hurt after her husband asked her to sit four rows back at his brother's funeral?

Mike reads a listener letter from a woman married sixteen years whose husband, devastated by his brother's sudden death, asked her to sit four rows back at the funeral because the front row was for immediate family. The hosts lean toward it being grief making people act in ways that do not make sense, possibly a family tradition, and one host recounts his own grief behavior: insisting on an open-casket funeral for his mother against everyone's wishes. The Secular answer says she should only feel hurt if she alone was singled out; the hosts add that it may not be worth investing in even if true.

Dear LFTP: dad dating a much younger woman

• Is it wrong to feel uncomfortable about a father's age-gap relationship and excessive public affection?

Mike reads a listener letter from an adult who never had a good relationship with an abusive, controlling father, who is now dating a woman the writer's own age, is excessively touchy-feely around the writer, and reportedly began the relationship before the woman was 18. The hosts are unanimous that the writer is not wrong to feel uncomfortable, frame the father's angry reaction to a polite request for restraint as pride and continued abusiveness, and advise the writer to set a boundary and stop going out with him if he will not change. The Secular answer suggests seeing the father one-on-one without the girlfriend.

Close and next week

The hosts close the show, hoping to connect next week with Vanessa McNeil about her film and with Matthew Loftus once his article's second part is published. They sign off for the Monday evening show.