Let’s Talk About It!: Recent Episodes
Sammy Ortiz
Welcome to Let's Talk About It! An ongoing conversation about faith, justice, racism, conciliation, reconciliation, and anything else that comes to mind, hosted by Sammy Ortiz and co-hosted by Dave Saville. Ultimately we want to see how the gospel shapes everything in our lives as it pertains to these topics.
The New Jersey Department of Corrections has banned “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander. The book chronicles how people of color are not just locked up, but locked out of civic life. Let’s see how this plays out…
I see a shift happening in 2018 amongst churches that would’ve been classified as “cessationists” begin to place more emphasis on the leading of the Holy Spirit in their services and daily life. Watch for it.
We interrupt the discussion about what the church should be like to bring your attention to the blatantly racist comments made about immigrants. You can’t make this stuff up!
Here’s my take on what church should be like. Less spectators and more participants. Less fog machines and real Shekinah. Ideally what is described in 1 Corinthians 14:26 onward till the end of the chapter.
Yesterday as I was sitting at church, I said to myself, there has to be more to church than this. My longing for true spiritual community is gnawing at me. I want to be a part of a true spiritual community.
Dave and I sit down with Pastor Drew Tucker and wrestle about the frustration amongst white evangelical leaders concerning the “talk” about racism in the church.
Wanted y’all to hear from my new co-host Dave Saville and our plans for the future of this podcast.
I’m so glad that Roy Moore lost last night. I believe that him joining forces with Donald Trump to “Make America Great Again” would have taken us back 50 - 60 years.
I asked another total stranger named Nikki what she thought about the current racial climate. Very insightful!
Back in September, Roy Moore was asked by a black member in the audience at a campaign rally when he thought the last time America was great. Moore answered, “I think it was great at the times when families were united - even though we had slavery - they cared for each other. Our families were strong, our country had direction.”
I asked Mannette, a total stranger how she felt about the current racial climate. I really like her perspective.
Starting this Thursday we will no longer be a monologue podcast with some interviews on the side. My friend Dave Saville will be joining me and bringing a new element to the show. I’m also looking for someone of Asian and African descent to add to the conversation.
Due to the passing of the GOP Tax Bill, public schools may get defunded. The bill creates a tax break for private schools but ends the break for public schools. In effect, the GOP is defunding public schools to fund private schools. This will tremendously impact the poor and marginalized.
I don’t know why it is, but racism is a hard topic that is avoided like the plague. Today I saw a video of John Piper addressing “racial brokenness”. To my knowledge, he’s the only one addressing this issue. Regardless of how difficult it is, we need to deal with this. We will never have reconciliation until we have conciliation.
I got to interview Pastor Darryl Williamson and ask about his experience with implicit racial bias, what justice looks like, and how to pursue reconciliation. He gave great insight as he defines “implicit” and tells stories of what he has gone through.
There is something about the holidays that help reveal our inconsistencies and areas where we lack maturity. That what this past Thanksgiving revealed to me. Maybe you don’t deal with the things that I deal with, but I learned that I’m in serious denial about my maturity.
My wife and I speak about what it’s like being an interracial couple and the struggles we’ve gone through. While it’s more acceptable now, 29 years ago we would get mean looks and nasty comments.
My dear friend Clark Pfaff talks about our journey as friends and when he first noticed that implicit racial bias exists even amongst Christians. Listen as he tells about a social experience that opened his eyes to what happens to people of color continuously.
I sat down at Starbucks with Dave Saville and spoke about his journey in confronting racism. This was fire as he tells stories about why conciliation and reconciliation matters to him.
People are losing their minds over the fact that GQ Magazine selected Colin Kaepernick as Citizen of the Year. This is what happens when a person of color is vilified for standing up for what they believe.