Blessed Are the Binary Breakers
by Avery Arden
Avery Arden (they/ze, MDiv) joins with guests of various genders & religious backgrounds to break down every human binary — from male/female to light/dark, and from faith/doubt to sacred/profane. Between & beyond dualistic divides, what collective liberation can we imagine into being, together?While the show centers around transgender experiences of faith, it also explores neurodiversity & disability justice, intersectional solidarity, resisting Christian nationalism & supersessionism, and more.Find episode transcripts and further trans faith resources at blessedarethebinarybreakers.com.
Episodes
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A Queer Easter Vigil: resurrection after religious trauma
I offer up some reflections moving from Jesus's path to the cross into those twilit hours before he rose. I interweave my own story of deep trauma and hope of healing on the way. After church hurt and religious trauma, how do we rise to new spiritual life? Content warning: discussions of…
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Queer Theology & Embodiment — cross-posted from The Word in Black & Red
Avery and Micah offer a conversational primer in queer theology — from its origins in queer theory, to distinctions between queer and simply affirming theologies, to fabulously queer passages from scripture. This episode was originally published on The Word in Black and Red, a podcast moving...
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Imagining Futures into Being with AutScape
First Laura Sommer and then Rowan share their experiences at AutScape, an annual meeting of autistic folk of all ages in England. Both discuss how AutScape has given them glimpses of what it would be like to live in a world where autistic culture is celebrated, diverse communication styles and...
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Honest to God: From the spotlight, to the pulpit, to the wilderness
John Hamilton is a non-theist pastor whose lifelong search for transcendence has taken him from altar boy to rock-and-roll musician, from preaching with certainty into embracing the unknowable nature of God. In this episode, John and I discuss his upcoming memoir, Honest to God, which comes out...
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Holy Pride in disabled experiences and insights
How can we use this last week of Disability Pride Month to celebrate the unique insights into human and divine nature that disability can bring? For starters, we can learn from the wisdom of disabled activists and theologians, which is what you'll find in this episode. Click here for an episode...
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Kate Davoli is a Polyamorous Presbyterian
In 2017, Kate Davoli (they/them, MDiv) was dismissed from the ordination process for being polyamorous. In spite of this heartache, they have remained steadfastly part of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Listen — or read along in the transcript — as Kate recalls the events leading up to & following...
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Ash Wednesday, Saint Valentine & Amatonormativity, Isaiah 6
Listen or read along in the episode transcript for two reflections kicking off the Lenten season: Ash Wednesday coincides with Valentine's Day this year — what can Ash Wednesday + the story of Saint Valentine teach us about facing our own mortality and resisting the pressure to put romantic love…
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Poems for Palestine — Christmas joy must birth solidarity
Listen to — or read along in the episode transcript — Jewish, Christian, and Muslim poems by Palestinians and their supporters. Poetry empowers us to imagine liberation that we can then work towards, together. Some pieces explore the Nativity story through this lens: Christmas joy must break…
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Emma Cieslik's Queer and Catholic Oral History Project
I sit down with public historian Emma Cieslik (she/her) to hear all about her Queer and Catholic Oral History Project, supported by the Pacific School of Religion. For Emma, the word catholic is truly "universal" — she's interviewed Roman Catholics and folk Catholics, ex-Catholics and "it's...
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From rejection to radical welcome: Isaiah 56 through a trans lens
Isaiah 56:1-8 shares God's message of not only tolerance but radical welcome for the ultimate Others of the biblical world: eunuchs. How did Isaiah 56's author come to understand Divine affirmation for this denigrated group, when Deuteronomy 23's author had offered only rejection? And why does…
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Embodying Authenticity with Jayne X Praxis: Sex, Sigils, & Sacred Clowning
Jayne X Praxis (she/they) is many things — she’s Buddhist and a tantric witch; she’s an ordained minister and a Satanist; she’s a Sister of Perpetual Indulgence and a licensed therapist — but above all, Jayne is forever becoming more and more their authentic self, and they invite you to do the…
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Our Pride is Not a Sin — A Queer & Disabled Christian Lens
June was Queer Pride Month, July is Disability Pride Month, and that means it's the prime time of year for certain people to remind us that "pride is a sin, didn't you know?" So I called up my dear friend Laura, a fellow disabled trans Christian, to discuss how the kind of pride that marginalized...
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Queer Sermon on Matthew 25's Queer Christ, the Outcast King
Matthew 25:31-46 is sometimes misused to preach hellfire & brimstone, but its focus is on compassion & community, mutual aid in the here & now. In this sermon, minister Avery Arden explores how the Divine identification with the world's outcasts has empowered disenfranchised Christians to…
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Stopping Cop City: Água's Story
Água (they/them) shares the story of their lifelong relationship with Weelaunee Forest, whose leaves form the second half of the lungs that begin in Água's own body. After discussing the Stop Cop City movement's past and present, Água guides us through abolishing the cop in our own head;...
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Stopping Cop City: Shining Oak's Story
For Shining Oak (she/her), activism and queerness have been catalysts for reconnecting to her Jewish faith. Learn about Shining Oak's experiences with the movement to Stop Cop City, from organizing a kid-friendly event for a 2021 Week of Action to attending a powerful Shabbat service in Atlanta's...
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Stopping Cop City: Tov's Story
Learn about the Movement to Defend Atlanta's Forest through the stories of forest defenders for whom queerness and faith intertwine with activism. In this episode, Tov shares the dream that drew them to March's Week of Action, discusses Weelaunee's history and the environmental threat Cop City...
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Stopping Cop City: Coal's Story
Coal (he/they) is organizing a solidarity group in Springfield, Illinois, for the Movement to Defend Atlanta's Forest and Stop Cop City. He understands that what happens in Atlanta will have wide-reaching impacts — from environmental devastation to the way such a huge, hyper-militarized police...
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Stopping Cop City: Siihasin's Story
Learn about the Movement to Stop Cop City and Defend Atlanta's Forest through the stories of forest defenders for whom queerness and faith intertwine with activism. In this first episode, Siihasin describes their experiences as a Diné nádleehi, frontliner, and land defender. Siihasin was one of...
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Hoping against Hope: What keeps us going in troubled times
The world is a scary place right now — particularly for trans people. Our youth are being targeted. Our bodily autonomy is under threat. We are made into scapegoats by extremists who want to eradicate us. In these tumultuous times, where is the hope? In this special episode, you'll hear from…
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Uprooting Bitterness, Planting Trans Joy
In the anti-trans flood, I don't want my anger and hurt to wither into bitterness; I want to channel it into planting a garden of trans joy, queer rest, intersectional justice. Click here for the episode transcript. Content warning: anti-trans rhetoric & legislation, swearing. Talking points…
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Our Lady of Disgrace: a queer Christmas story
In saying yes to bearing God Themself outside of marriage, Mary said yes to disgrace in the eyes of the world — not unlike the rejection LGBTQA+ persons can face when we accept God's call to live into our full, beautiful, queer selves. In this short story from Squirrel House Publishing's 2021...
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Embracing “Messy” with K Kriesel — a chaplain & textile artist who blends Catholicism, Wicca, & queerness
K Kriesel (they/them or she/her) is not afraid of "messy," with a spiritual life that blends Catholicism and Wicca, and holds space for time adrift. K has broken away from a variety of groups that proved too limiting to uplift the most marginalized, including any feminism that prioritizes white,...
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"The Good Kind of Weird" — Ynza Morgan Star: Genderqueer, Pagan, & so much more!
After growing up Southern Baptist and pressured to conform to gender norms, it took time for Ynza Morgan Star (she/her & zey/zeir) to live fully into her genderqueer, agnostic, pagan, game designer self. In this episode, Ynza shares how neurodivergence and the power of story have shaped her...
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Joseph and the Amazing Original Neuroqueer Pride Flag (Crossposted)
This episode is a slightly abridged version of part 1 of the Neuroqueer Joseph series over on The Autistic Liberation Theology podcast. Be sure to visit Laura's podcast for parts 2 & 3 once you've finished this episode! My friend Laura and I explore all the queer + autistic elements of Joseph's...
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Refuting TERF/anti-trans rhetoric with Leslie Feinberg
Avery reads more passages from Leslie Feinberg's 1996 work Transgender Warriors — this time ones that respond to the same tired arguments people have been making against the trans community for decades now. How do you respond when someone insists that women's spaces shouldn't include trans women,...
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Leslie Feinberg on Trans Liberation & Solidarity
Avery reads excerpts from Leslie Feinberg's Transgender Warriors. Though the book was first published in 1996, the history it relates could not be more pertinent. In the shared passages, Feinberg emphasizes how we must not only demand and win but also defend our human rights. The fight isn’t over...
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"We’re in this for the liberation” — More from Rev. Krissy on transforming the Church
UCC pastor Rev. Krissy imagines a Body of Christ that moves beyond the institutional Church. We are called to confront corruption and power, and to unite in solidarity with all who work towards liberation. This is a bonus clip from a larger conversation; check out episode 54 — “Coming Back to…
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Marginalized Bodies as Spectacle & the Good News in Jesus's Disabling Wounds
In Jesus, God rose with wounds that would have impaired his mobility and fine motor skills. In John 20, Jesus allows his disciples to gaze at his impaired body, and even lets Thomas touch his wounds. Let's explore how this story connects to the complications of marginalized bodies being put on...
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Queering the Cross, Tomb, and Resurrection
Now are the days that God lies dead — the God who, in dying, expressed ultimate solidarity with all who have been unjustly killed across the ages. Let's explore how various queer theologians between 1993 & 2006 — plus some trans poets more recently — have connected Jesus's Passion, death &…
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Making Space for Gethsemane: two disabled & trans theologians discuss what people in pain actually need
For Holy Week, Avery joined Laura Sommer on their Autistic Liberation Theology Podcast to discuss two Gospel stories through a disability theology lens — with some trans theology sprinkled in: John 12's account of Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus; and Mark 14's telling of Jesus' Agony in the…
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What's in a Name Change? — How I became Avery Arden and made it through the legal process
Avery brings their wife on to reminisce about Avery's name journey — from picking out Avery several years ago, to choosing new middle & last names in time for the legal name change process. Why is that process so dang complicated and expensive? Why was "Banana" ever on the table for surname...
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O Beautiful Dust — Lenten Prayers & the Gospels’ genderqueer water bearer
In O Beautiful Dust, RW Walker explores what difference traditional, queer, and Christ-centred common prayer might make in a chaotic and divided world. Avery had the honor of narrating the audiobook put out by Squirrel House Publishing — and they're offering A FREE COPY of that audiobook to the...
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Coming Back to Life — Rev. Krissy is a politically queer UCC pastor
Like Lazarus resurrected by Jesus, Rev. Krissy has moved from a stifling tomb — a church where they could not be openly queer & politically active — into the abundant life of authentic self and fighting for the liberation of all. Krissy is a pastor and chaplain in the United Church of Christ who...
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Naming Faith — Eric Sharp is a Pluralist Agnostic & Systemic Therapist
I sit down with my fellow seminary grad Eric Sharp (degree in Marriage & Family Therapy) for the story of how he came to call himself a Pluralist Agnostic who draws from Womanism and Postmodernism. On the way, we also discuss: the power of swearing and of playfulness; appreciating many truths in...
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Revisiting Nativity: Was Jesus born in a barn or a house, and why does it matter?
Sometimes the stories we think we know by heart are the ones most worth revisiting, and examining from new angles. In this episode, Avery focuses on a version of the Nativity that will likely be new to many of you: one in which the Greek of Luke 2:7 is translated differently to imply that Jesus…
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The Binary Breaking Transness of Jesus — Clip from an interview with Joseph Peterson
I was honored to be invited onto Kings and Queens, a podcast hosted by Joseph & Nicole Peterson, to talk about Jesus through a trans lens! The full episode is over on their podcast and includes more of my own personal story as well. For more about the Petersons, visit www.thepetersons.cc. For a...
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Numinous Names: Stories of name changes across genders, cultures, and faiths
Let's hear some stories from various people — trans & cis, Jewish, Christian, & Sikh — about how gender, faith, and culture have played a role in the names they use. How do names isolate us, or connect us; harm us, or heal us? And what does religion teach us about honoring one another's chosen...
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"His Name Is John": magnAUtism & allyship in Luke 1
A clip from a full episode of Laura Sommer's Autistic Liberation Theology podcast in which Avery and Laura discuss John the Baptist and his parents, Elizabeth and Zechariah. The two friends connect John's joyful leaping in the womb to Laura's coined term "magnAUtism" — the way autistic persons…
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The Blending of Pagan & Christian Belief: Black Book's tour of nineteenth-century Russia
The spiritual landscape of nineteenth-century rural Russia blended native traditions and beliefs with Christianity; this is the world in which Black Book, an independent video game produced by Russian studio Morteshka, is set. In this episode, Avery shares some of what Black Book taught them…
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The Transcendent Tale of Brigid of Ireland: Celtic Goddess, Catholic Saint, and Voodoo Lwa
Brigid's intimate relationship with a fellow nun is not the only queer thing about her — her story also transcends any one religion, period, or place. How did a Celtic deity of forge and hearth transition into a fifth-century Catholic nun? How did devotion to Saint Brigid extend from Irish...
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Sex Work and Satanism with Azura Rose
Despite growing up in a heavily conservative Christian town, Azura Rose (they/she) was raised by parents who encouraged them to ask questions and explore religion on their own. They are now a Satanist in Toronto, as well as a cosplayer & sex worker. In this episode, Azura discusses the beliefs &...
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Manlike Babies, Cuckolded Joseph, & the Sex Worker Madonna — More from Neville on Morality in Renaissance Art
Neville and Avery talk about the weird Renaissance tendency to depict babies as small men; how stereotypes about cuckolded husbands influenced artists' depictions of Joseph; why the Church was so scandalized by Caravaggio's sex worker Madonnas AND the presence of dirty feet on Saints and…
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"I am God and not a man" - Exploring God's gender in the Book of Hosea with Liam Hooper & Peterson Toscano
This episode is a sharing of an episode that first aired on the Bible Bash Podcast on November 30, 2020. Check out more from Bible Bash at https://biblebashpodcast.com/. By taking on Hosea 11:9, Avery Smith cracks open a rich discussion with Bible Bash co-hosts Liam Hooper and Peterson Toscano....
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God Gets Vulnerable: A trans & autistic look at Elijah and the "still small voice"
Avery was delighted to be on their friend Laura's Autistic Liberation Theology podcast; this episode features a clip from a longer conversation on "Toxic Mask-ulinity" that you can listen to at anchor.fm/laura-sommer. In this clip, Laura introduces the concept of autistic masking — concealing…
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When a trans traveler and an autistic apostle cross paths: Reading Acts 8 in community
When we delve into any holy text together, we all come away the richer for it — just as Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch enriched one another during their odd desert encounter, each sharing what they found in the prophet Isaiah. In this episode, Avery shares a sermon they wrote on Acts 8:26-40…
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"God's love should not be tainted by the fear of earthly hatred" - April is a proud Catholic Latina trans woman
April Willow Castillo knows what it is to believe yourself to be the only queer person in all of Peru; to question your sexuality while in Catholic youth group in the US; and to finally grow into yourself at a university supportive of LGBT faculty and students. In this episode, April discusses…
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Goodness Embodied: An intersex, nonbinary first human and a disabled risen Christ
Avery shares their sermon from a recent worship service centered around the goodness of all bodies - particularly those the world labels broken or lesser. When so many of us are made to feel imprisoned by our own flesh, how do we embrace embodiment as something holy? Let's look to ancient...
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Combatting Antisemitism on Good Friday: An Alternative to the "Solemn Reproaches of the Cross"
The scriptures and liturgy that Christian communities read during Holy Week, the week we commemorate Jesus's arrest and crucifixion, have borne violent antisemitic fruit across the centuries. Particularly poisonous is the "Solemn Reproaches of the Cross," or Improperia, which pins the blame for...
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Finding the Power in Our Queerness and Rebellion in Our Love: Neville studies and creates queer Catholic art
Amy Neville (he, she, or they pronouns) is a 21-year-old Australian art historian & artist whose work celebrates being both Catholic & queer. In this episode, Avery and Neville discuss Neville's life and how they've learned to stand up for themself and other queer persons; the way women & queer...
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No end to transphobia without uprooting ableism: exploring embedded forms of oppression
In this first episode focusing on the interconnections between trans & disability communities & theologies, Avery draws from Mel Baggs' theory of embedded forms of oppression to describe how ableism is at the heart of many manifestations of transphobia, including pathologization and coerced...
About this show
Avery Arden (they/ze, MDiv) joins with guests of various genders & religious backgrounds to break down every human binary — from male/female to light/dark, and from faith/doubt to sacred/profane. Between & beyond dualistic divides, what collective liberation can we imagine into being, together?While the show centers around transgender experiences of faith, it also explores neurodiversity & disability justice, intersectional solidarity, resisting Christian nationalism & supersessionism, and more.Find episode transcripts and further trans faith resources at blessedarethebinarybreakers.com.
Hosted by
Avery Arden
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