The Tim & April Show – Episode 55

Timeline Cleanse: Hopeful Stories and Good People Standing Up to Harm
Date: October 17, 2025
Podcast: The New Evangelicals
Hosts: Tim Whitaker & April Ahjoy

Overview

In this special “Timeline Cleanse” episode, Tim and April shift away from their usual critiques of Christian nationalism, doom-scrolling news, and unsettling trends in faith and politics. Instead, they center hopeful stories, community resistance, and examples of people—especially Christians—standing up to harm, advocating justice, and embodying a liberating faith. This change is designed to encourage listeners that, despite the barrage of discouraging news, there is good being done—and to inspire more of it.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Halloween Traditions in Evangelical Upbringings

[02:23–05:36]

• Tim and April swap childhood stories about “Hallelujah Nights,” trunk-or-treats, and the limitations placed on costumes due to evangelical fears about witchcraft and the occult.
• They discuss “hell houses” (church-run haunted houses depicting the consequences of sin), their traumatizing impact, and how these experiences were meant to scare children into salvation rather than foster real faith.

“Hell houses are these haunted houses put on by churches during Halloween...they bring people through these horrible scenarios, hoping that at the end of it, they get saved.”
– Tim [04:10]

Tone: Playful, self-deprecating, and critical of past fear-based faith tactics.

2. Why a “Good News” Episode?

[05:37–07:08]

• With so much heaviness in their usual news coverage, Tim and April explicitly aim to “lighten the load” and spotlight recent examples where ordinary people resist injustice and live out hopeful values.

“We thought it might be good this week for today's episode ... to do a lot of good news and think about some of the positives that are out there...people that are resisting the Christian authoritarian nightmare that we find ourselves in.”
– Tim [05:37]

3. Community Resisting ICE – Chicago Viral Video

[07:19–13:35]

• Tim and April break down a viral video from Chicago: plainclothes ICE agents (or impersonators) attempt to apprehend a man in daylight, but community members step in physically, record, and refuse to allow the abduction.
• They narrate the clip, noting the lack of identification or Miranda rights from agents, and the way bystanders—especially white allies—use their privilege and presence to disrupt the attempt.
• The ICE agents ultimately give up and flee, thanks to a peaceful yet forceful crowd response.

“This video is a great instruction manual for what you do...they use their voices, their numbers, to surround and to advocate for the man who was literally being kidnapped.”
– Tim [12:24]

“It's important for white people to use our privilege in a protest situation or in a situation like that, to put your body between the cop or the ICE agent and the ...person of color.”
– April [13:35]

Memorable Moment: The hosts celebrate “power in numbers” and encourage listeners to act with courage if ever witnessing such events in their own communities.

4. University of Washington: Students Run Off a Neo-Nazi

[15:05–20:39]

• April recaps a recent incident from a psychology class where a self-identified neo-Nazi barged in, performed Nazi salutes, and hurled slurs.
• The entire class—over 150 students and the professor—chased the offender off campus and surrounded him for police to arrest.
• The host and news clip highlight how the crowd’s nonviolent response expressed a healthy public shaming of hate and fascism.

“We really should bring back the shame of being a Nazi...You should be chased down and swarmed...notice that they didn't beat him up, they just swarmed him.”
– April [20:18]

“You can't give it an inch. You cannot give fascism and this kind of stuff an inch. And frankly...I'm all done coddling this stuff.”
– Tim [22:43]

Tone: Exultant, energized, resolute in refusing tolerance for intolerance.

5. Highlighting Christian Resistant Voices

[23:05–51:16]

a. Reverend Otis Moss III: Faith Over Fear, Real Christian Resistance

[24:34–33:36]

• Tim plays a clip from a sermon by Otis Moss III, leader in the Black liberation church tradition and President Obama’s former pastor.
• Moss denounces the “Confederate apologists and antebellum fanboys” who enable current ICE raids and family separations, likening today’s injustices to America’s racist past.
• Moss declares the faith community’s refusal to stay silent, affirms “faith over fear," and reclaims Christian rhetoric for justice and collective liberation.

“Salt always melts ICE and light always drives out darkness...we are joining faith communities across Illinois ... declaring that our faith is stronger than fear...we resist the rise of white Christian nationalism.”
– Rev. Otis Moss III [27:25–29:44]

“No child should ever be zip tied...”
– Rev. Otis Moss III [32:00]

• April reflects on the significance of Black faith leaders championing others, not just their own group.
• The hosts clarify the difference between Christian resistance to oppression and Christian nationalism.

“Christian nationalism is when you are promoting the already powerful and marginalized people pay the price. It is not Christian nationalism to use your faith to stand up for marginalized people.”
– April [36:13]

b. James Talarico: The Gospel in Politics

[42:55–46:28]

• Tim shares a viral clip from Texas politician James Talarico, a Christian who regularly rebukes injustice in legislative debates.
• Talarico invokes Matthew 25, equating Christ with the vulnerable in modern society, and imagines what Jesus would say to lawmakers who cut aid and abuse power.

“Christ is the immigrant, deported without due process. Christ is the senior deprived of their Social Security...Christ is the protester kidnapped in an unmarked vehicle by plainclothes officers...”
– James Talarico [43:21]

• Tim and April stress the importance of Christians using “the same book” to fight Christian nationalism and embody liberation.

c. Ryann Geurin-Henry: The Cross and the Lynching Tree

[48:40–51:10]

• April introduces minister and content creator Ryann Geurin-Henry, who elucidates how, historically, lynchings of Black men were often ruled suicides unjustly.
• Ryann reads from James Cone’s “The Cross and the Lynching Tree,” connecting Jesus’ death to the suffering of Black victims, emphasizing Christianity’s identification with the oppressed.

“Jesus died like a lynched black man or a common criminal...It was a cruel, agonizing and contemptible death. This is what we need to be talking about.”
– Ryann Geurin-Henry (paraphrasing Cone) [49:40]

• The hosts underscore the necessity of listening to diverse Christian traditions, especially those rooted in Black resistance.

6. Encouragement & Local Action

[52:07–53:40]

• Both hosts urge listeners to reject despair by getting involved locally—advocating for neighbors, building justice-oriented communities, and raising empathetic children.

“Get involved in your schools. Raise empathetic and loving kids who are justice-centered...get involved...How can we protect the people that our government is targeting? This is an all hands on deck situation...”
– Tim [52:53]

7. Fun Clip: “Sandra Bullock and Reba McEntire Will Go to Prison”

[53:53–57:45]

• For comic relief, Tim and April share a bizarre Instagram Reel of a man predicting “Sandra Bullock and Reba McEntire will go to prison in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
• Both hosts struggle to find any explanation or reason for the pronouncement, noting the video is not satire but has thousands of likes.
• April parodies the format:

“Donald Trump and Stephen Miller will go to prison. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” [57:24]

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• “This will be real unless you repent...This is your fate.”
  – April & Tim on hell houses, [05:25–05:36]

• “Salt always melts ICE and light always drives out darkness.”
  – Rev. Otis Moss III [29:35]

• “There are certain beliefs, like being a Nazi, that are not deserving of tolerance.”
  – April [23:05]

• “May it be so, right for the crimes they’re committing...Not for just no reason. I don't know what Reba and Sandra did...”
  – April [57:33]

Episode Structure & Timestamps

| Segment | Time | |--------------------------------------------|-----------| | Halloween & Hell House Memories | 02:23–06:44| | Why Good News? | 06:44–07:08| | Chicago Community Resists ICE | 07:19–13:35| | University of Washington Students vs. Nazi | 15:05–20:39| | Christian Resistance: Otis Moss III | 24:34–36:27| | James Talarico Clip | 42:55–46:28| | Ryann Geurin-Henry, Lynching & the Cross | 48:40–51:10| | Encouragement for Action | 52:07–53:40| | Sandra Bullock/Reba McEntire Meme | 53:53–57:45|

Episode Takeaways

• There is real and active resistance—often led by marginalized communities and progressive Christians—against authoritarianism, white Christian nationalism, and systems of harm.
• Liberation theology and faith-inspired justice work offer a sharp alternative to the weaponized religion of Christian nationalism.
• Public shaming of fascism and anti-democratic movements is both historically grounded and necessary.
• Local action, recording abuses, standing in solidarity, and reclaiming faith language are all important tools for listeners to consider.
• Even amid challenging times, hope is sustained by persistent, courageous acts of love and justice—extend this in your neighbor's direction.

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