Kwok ’n’ Roll

Faithful Provocations Ep 3: Christian Nationalism vs Real Christianity

In this episode of Faithful Provocations, Kwok Pui Lan and Mary E. Hunt dissect the DOJ's new report on "Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias" — and reveal what it's really doing: imposing white Christian values on everyone.

They discuss:

• The DOJ report's three chilling next steps — Christian sermons at the Pentagon, faith-based housing discrimination against LGBTQ people, and churches endorsing political candidates

• How mainline denominations (Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans) have already ordained queer people — the majority of Christians don't support this discrimination

• Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Parker's landmark book Saving Paradise — how Christianity traded love of the world for crucifixion and empire

• Why the cross became the normative Christian symbol only at the time of the Crusades — and what early Christians actually depicted (fish, bread, people sharing a meal)

• Mary Hunt's argument: "The cross is not glory, but failure" — and what should replace it

• How atonement theology was weaponized during colonization — Filipino theologians exposed how suffering was used to justify brutal colonial policies •

Marco Rubio's Vatican visit to patch tensions between Pope Leo and Trump — and why it won't work

Elections have consequences. The same people who brought you a war in Iran now want to sell you a new Christian crusade. Feminist and postcolonial scholars are pointing out what's going on — and we won't stop.

Is Liberation Theology Still Radical? Nicolás Panotto on the Second Generation

#LiberationTheology #LatinAmericanTheology #PostcolonialTheology #DecolonialFaith #Theology #Christianity #SocialJustice #ChristianThought Is liberation theology still a radical force — or has it been domesticated? Nicolás Panotto, theologian, human rights activist, and director of the civil society organization Otros Cruces, argues that the real gift of liberation theology isn't a set of doctrines but a methodology — and that the second generation has taken that methodology into new territory: queer theology, intersectionality, decolonial epistemology, and the spirituality of social movements.

In this conversation, Kwok Pui Lan and Panotto explore:

• The transition from the first to the second generation of Latin American liberation theology

• Decolonial vs. postcolonial theory — and why the difference matters for theology

• The groundbreaking (and underread) legacy of Marcella Althaus-Reid

• How civil rights organizing shaped Panotto's theological method

• What theologians must do in a time of rising authoritarianism and dehumanization

Dr. Nicolás Panotto is a professor at the University of Oldenburg (Germany) and director of Otros Crucos, a Latin American organization working at the intersection of theology, human rights, and social movements. He is based in Chile.

Dr. Panotto is the coeditor of Decolonizing Liberation Theologies.

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Faithful Provocations Ep 2: Gun Violence and the White House Correspondents' Dinner

What happens when the people who preach peace practice violence? From the Washington Hilton assassination attempt to the hidden abuses of celebrated religious leaders, Kwok Pui Lan and Mary Hunt ask the hard questions faith communities don't want to face.

In this episode of Faithful Provocations, Kwok Pui Lan and Mary Hunt begin with the moral shock of gun violence at the White House Correspondents' Dinner — 2,600 people crouching under tables at the Washington Hilton — and ask what faith demands in response.

Was Jesus truly nonviolent? What can the Catonsville Nine, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. teach us now? And what do we do when celebrated religious leaders and activist — John Howard Yoder, Jean Vanier, César Chávez — are credibly accused of abusing women? Mary Hunt names it directly: the "veneer of virtue." If violence is a feminist issue, churches and religious communities must reckon with what she calls "spiritual domestic violence" — harm done in our own spiritual homes. 

New episode next Friday.

The African Theologian Who Became General Secretary of the YWCA

What does it mean to be the first non-White General Secretary of the world YWCA? How does an African woman break the glass ceiling — not just once, but repeatedly — to lead global organizations and reshape the landscape of Christian theology?

Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro from Kenya is one of those rare leaders. She served as the founding coordinator of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, championing African women's voices in theology and driving their work into publication and global recognition.

In this conversation, Dr. Kanyoro unpacks what makes African women's theology distinctive: it is contextual, rooted in lived experience, and always addressing the urgent needs of the moment — from women's leadership and HIV/AIDS to the COVID pandemic and now the vital relationship between religion and the environment.

She also shares her work in women and philanthropy, channeling resources through foundations that fund innovative solutions to female education, the lack of opportunities, and gender-based violence. Her vision is clear: the older generation of women must hold the ladder steady so the younger generation can climb to new heights — breaking gender inequity and transforming their communities.

Faithfaith Provocations Ep 1: Is Peace Feminist: Women Theologians Respond to War

Is peace a feminist issue? In the first episode of Faithful Provocations, theologians Kwok Pui Lan and Mary E. Hunt challenge the assumption that men — popes or presidents — speak for all of us on war and peace. As Pope Leo XIV and Donald Trump clash over the Iran war, and the first female Archbishop of Canterbury prepares to visit the Vatican, two feminist theologians ask the questions the headlines aren't asking: What does women's leadership mean for a theology of nonviolence? Should women be drafted? And can the church credibly champion peace when it can't agree on gender equality inside its own walls? In this episode:

• Why feminist theology reframes war as a question of faith — not just politics

• Women-led Catholic peace movements: Sisters of Mercy, Pax Christi, and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious

• The automatic draft registration coming in December — and whether women will be included

• Women in the military vs. women's ordination: two kinds of equality, two very different outcomes

• Can Roman Catholic and Anglican leaders agree on peace when they disagree on gender?

Faithful Provocations is a weekly Friday series hosted by Kwok Pui Lan (Episcopal postcolonial theologian) and Mary E. Hunt (Catholic feminist theologian), exploring urgent questions at the intersection of faith, gender, and justice.

🔔 New episodes every Friday. Subscribe so you don't miss the next provocation.

Why the Iran War Fails Every Just War Theory Test?

Is there such a thing as a "just war"? For centuries, Christian theology said yes. Today, the Church isn't so sure.

In this conversation, Dr. Kwok Pui Lan discusses with Dr. Kyle Lambelet one of the most urgent questions in Christian ethics: has Just War Theory run its course? Drawing on Catholic teaching from Augustine to Pope Leo XIV, and the growing movement toward nonviolence within the Church, this video unpacks why the framework that once justified military force is now being challenged from within Christianity itself — and what pacifism offers as an alternative.

With political leaders invoking Just War Theory to justify military action in 2025-2026, this debate has never been more urgent. What does Christian faith actually say about war? What does it demand?

Dr. Kyle Lambelet is a professor of ethics and Director of the St. Nicholas Center for Faith and Justice at Virginia Theological Seminary and the author of ¡Presente!: Nonviolent Politics and the Resurrection of the Dead

What Catholic Feminists Are Saying about the Pope vs Trump Debate

The debate between Pope Leo XIV and Trump over the Iran conflict has put American Catholics in a difficult position. Many back the Pope's call for peace — but does that mean we should defer to him on all moral issues?

Is Pope Leo XIV progressive on war and peace, yet conservative on gender? And what do we make of JD Vance warning the Pope to "be careful" when speaking on morality?

Dr. Kwok Pui Lan speaks with Dr. Mary Hunt — co-director of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Rituals and a longtime Catholic feminist activist — to explore the reactions of American Catholics that aren't making it into the mainstream media. Mary articulates feminist concerns about the Pope's positions rarely heard in public discourse.

They also discuss Mary's reaction to Archbishop Sarah Mullally's installation as the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion — and her upcoming meeting with the Pope to pray for peace.

 

Catholics Respond to Trump's Criticism of Pope Leo XIV

President Trump's criticism of Pope Leo XIV as  “weak on crime" and too liberal has ignited a firestorm — and Catholics are fighting back.

Trump's Truth Social post drew sharp rebukes from Catholic leaders across the country, including three American Cardinals, who called his remarks deeply disrespectful of the Pope — the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. Meanwhile, Catholic members of Trump's own cabinet — Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — were pressed to respond to the clash between the President and the pontiff.

Adding fuel to the fire: Trump posted an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ, drawing even wider condemnation.

To make sense of this moment, Dr. Kwok Pui Lan sits down with Dr. Peter C. Phan, Professor of Catholic Social Teaching at Georgetown University. Together they explore:

• Why Pope Leo XIV — an Augustinian — spoke out against war
• Augustine's just war theory and its relevance today
• Why conservative evangelicals see Trump as a messianic figure
• How some believe the war in Iran is hastening the Second Coming of Jesus