Culture, Faith and Politics with Pat Kahnke

What's Wrong with Franklin Graham's Gospel Message in Belarus? (with Tihomir Kukolja)

Franklin Graham's May 2026 visit to Belarus wasn't just an evangelistic crusade — it was a diplomatic mission for Donald Trump. Lukashenko, Europe's last dictator and Putin's key ally in the northern invasion of Ukraine, used Graham's visit to send "warm greetings to President Trump." That's not gospel. That's Christian nationalism with a passport. Tihomir Kukolja, former Executive Director of the Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation, was born in the former Yugoslavia, where Billy Graham preached to 10,000 people in a steady rain in 1967 — braving communist power to reach ordinary people with nothing to offer him politically. He watched that legacy get dismantled in real time when Franklin Graham sat across from Lukashenko and called it an honor. In this conversation, Tihomir — a Croatian theologian, reconciliation leader, and eyewitness to both legacies — walks through exactly what happened in Minsk, what it reveals about Franklin Graham's double gospel, and why a message that poses no threat to authoritarian power is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the Belarus dictator story American evangelicals aren't talking about. It should be.

LIVE, Episode 27: Bill Pulte is a dangerous choice | Trump's Freedom 250 Ego Party

The Freedom 250 celebration fair is rapidly turning into a rally from the one man at the center of his own universe - Donald Trump. Pat Kahnke discusses all this and more on Culture, Faith, and Politics live!

ESSAY: Eric Metaxas Shows What Happens When You Choose Trump Over Jesus

This is the first in a short series, which will be a theological autopsy of how one of Christianity's most respected communicators became MAGA's most dangerous court prophet — and what his collapse tells us about the spiritual crisis inside American evangelicalism.

 

We'll examine Metaxas's two recent speeches at the Rededicate 250 event and Sean Feucht's Christian nationalist rally — what he said, why it matters, and why it qualifies as false prophecy. We trace his full arc: from the Access Hollywood tape to the January 6th insurrection to his claim that Trump's election was "an outrageous gift from God." We also expose the deepest irony: Metaxas literally wrote the definitive biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer — the theologian who died resisting exactly the kind of regime Metaxas now enables. In October 2024, 86 of Bonhoeffer's own descendants signed a public statement condemning Metaxas by name for misrepresenting their ancestor to serve a far-right Christian nationalist agenda. This is what a false prophet looks like. This is what Christian nationalism does to a man's conscience. And this is why it matters for every believer trying to hold the line.

Rethinking Masculinity: The Case Against the "Man Box" (with Mark Greene and Adam Swenson)

Mark Greene at "Remaking Manhood" and "Walking Talking Men" joins Pat Kahnke and Adam Swenson to talk about healthy masculinity vs. "Man Box" culture in this Thursday morning LIVE episode.

ESSAY: Why Do Evangelicals Keep Choosing Trump's Corrupt Lackeys?

Ken Paxton — impeached, credibly accused of bribery, and caught lying to federal investigators — just became the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas. And MAGA Christians helped make it happen. In this episode, I break down why MAGA Christians keep voting for Donald Trump's most corrupt lackeys, what it reveals about the debasement of the Christian conscience, and why "normie" Republicans are just as complicit. This isn't virtue signaling. It's VICE signaling — and the data from the 2024 primaries makes it impossible to ignore.

LIVE, Episode 26: Mark Driscoll, Al Mohler, and the Men who Fear Women

Mark Driscoll, Al Mohler, and a host of religious leaders share one common trait: they are men who fear women. Pat Kahnke discusses all this and more on Culture, Faith, and Politics live!

ESSAY: MAGA Christians Are to Blame for Trump's Corrupt "Weaponization Fund"

Trump's $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" has been framed as a truth and justice initiative — but a careful theological examination reveals it as something far more dangerous: a corruption architecture designed to reward political violence and insulate power from accountability. In this episode, I analyze the fund through the lens of biblical justice — specifically the Hebrew concepts of mishpat (legal justice) and tzedek (moral righteousness) — and demonstrate how Donald Trump's proposal inverts both. This is not a policy debate. This is a character audit. And the fruit does not lie. We also examine how evangelical Christianity's 80% bloc vote for Trump made this moment possible — and why conservative Christian voters now bear direct moral responsibility for the pardoning of January 6th rioters, including those convicted of assaulting Capitol Police officers.

The MAGA Hydra: How Three Rival Theologies Built One Christian Nationalist Movement (with Mark Ramm)

Journalist and Substack writer Mark Ramm joins Pat Kahnke to break down the architecture of the new Christian right: Catholic integralism, Reformed evangelical dominionism, and the Pentecostal New Apostolic Reformation -- three theologies that can't agree on baptism, eschatology, or church structure, but have built a shared infrastructure of funding, influence, and political power that is reshaping America.

After the Crisis: What Faith Looks Like On the Other Side (with Adam Swenson)

Adam Swenson and Pat Kahnke continue their series of discussions on deconstruction - of both religious and political faith. Using Brian McLaren's four stages of faith as a jumping off point, this conversation focuses on the final stage: Harmony. Desmond Tutu is an example we'll talk about today.

LIVE: Episode 25, Is this the Last Stand of the MAGA Cult?

Donald Trump now has a $1.776 billion settlement he plans to use to fund revenge for his political party. MAGA evangelicals held a MAGA cult worship service called Rededicate 250. Pat Kahnke discusses all this and more on Culture, Faith, and Politics live!