Accidental Tomatoes Joe Webb

Fresh off the 2024 Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in West Virginia, Heather and Joe take a look at two resolutions that signal a renewed focus on social justice for the denomination in the Mountain State and beyond.Show links:Hope for McDowell: https://hopeinthemountains.com/donate/ (please specify “Hope for McDowell” on the donation page)From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/629075958675198[Cover image courtesy of From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice]

In one of the historically poorest communities in America, thousands of people are going without clean tap water in their homes. And while cities like Flint, MI, and Jackson, MS, deservedly grab national headlines for their water issues, the Southern West Virginia Coalfields are now decades into a water crisis with few answers on the horizon. In this episode, Brad Davis and Caitlin Ware join Heather and Joe to talk about the West Virginia water crisis, the complex issues surrounding it, and the ways coalfield communities are banding together to create contextual solutions where government and industry have failed. They also talk about the role of faith communities in helping to organize local residents and support local problem-solving efforts. If you’d like to get involved, below are links to some of the coalitions and organizations mentioned in the podcast:
From Below Coalition: https://www.facebook.com/groups/629075958675198
WVUMC Clean Water Initiative: https://www.wvumc.org/clean-water-in-southern-district/
WV Faith Collective: https://wvfaith.org/
WV Water Distribution: https://gofund.me/f55125a7
 

We don't often think about tourism as a justice issue, but the displacement of families and communities to provide a more favorable user experience in tourist locations is a very real concern in places like Appalachia, where connection to the land runs deep and where infrastructure to support a tourist economy lags significantly behind. In this episode, Heather and Joe sit down with Caitlin Ware, who discusses her recent article on our blog, "Curating the View: Tourism & Exploitation in Appalachia."

How is spiritual deconstruction like a lasagna? Is reconstruction a necessary result of deconstruction? Heather Moore and Joe Webb unpack these questions and more in Heather's debut as our new co-host!

What does grief look like in the midst of spiritual/religious deconstruction? When your beliefs change, what do you hold on in the midst of loss? In the first episode of our 5th season, Joe talks openly about how old constructs no longer work for him following the death of his father, and how therapy and community are filling the void.

Is salvation merely about life after death? Or is there a more immediate, more holistic way of seeing salvation through the lens of liberation? In this episode, Joe riffs on how understanding salvation as liberation is more true to the way of Jesus than your typical Christian fire insurance policy.