Shameless Theology: Queer Feminist Latine Decolonial Faith

Soulforce - Rev. Alba Onofrio
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Spirituality
  • Updated Weekly

Are you navigating faith, family, sexuality, and identity as an LGBTQIA+ person at the intersections of feminism, spirituality and queerness? Are you an ally tired of religious distortions of hate and exclusion? This is your invitation to pull up a chair and join us at the kitchen table. On Mondays, we host deep, liberating conversations with theologians, elders, and everyday saints about sacred resistance, gender justice, and decolonial faith. On Wednesdays, we offer Love Letters from Rev. Sex, a Southern Queer feminist and Latine pastor with an activist's heart and a theologian's mind. On select Fridays, we offer our special feature, Sounds Like Soulforce, which invites you into the mosaic of our organization's people, our passions, and our projects, sharing dispatches from across the Americas about how to recognize and resist white Christian Supremacy. Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), this podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful. It’s a space for exploration as we seek to create change while sharing the experience, wisdom, and connections Soulforce has built as a social justice nonprofit organization over the last 30 years.  The current feature on our channel is Shameless Theology, or Teología Sin Vergüenza (TSV), a unique podcast that amplifies ferocious Queer-Trans, feminist, academically-trained Latine theologians who are living examples of counter-narratives and theological resistance to the political and religious threats our people face. This season forefronts our newly released book: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith. This timely resource identifies and examines the consequences of white Christian Supremacy through historical context and case studies, centering lived experiences of marginalized people, and offers critical analysis and practical tools for healing and resistance.      This media project is the first of its kind: a woman-led and queer-centered conversation space where Latine faith activists and theologians convene digitally across the Americas to discuss the alternatives to death-dealing theologies of Christian fundamentalisms that kill our spirits and impede our progress to equal rights and human dignity — all from an unapologetically politicized faith perspective. Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation. https://soulforce.org/donate/ FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/ Find episode transcripts at https://soulforce.org/podcast/

  1. Love Letters From Reverend Sex S2:06 Courage and Solidarity: Stories From the Global South

    1d ago

    Love Letters From Reverend Sex S2:06 Courage and Solidarity: Stories From the Global South

    In this week’s Love Letter, Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio) invites us into a night sky in eastern North Carolina and into a story of breathtaking bravery from Soulforce’s global community. Drawing from Soulforce’s seed‑grant program, Reverend Sex shares how liberatory theological resources are translated into local languages so communities can resist Spiritual Violence on their own terms. But in one Global South country, where “promoting homosexuality” carries a 20‑year prison sentence, translation becomes an act of underground resistance. You’ll hear how local Queer women and allies organized a covert operation to bring these resources to life. Their courage becomes a blessing, a mirror, and a reminder: we are part of a global movement of people who risk everything for liberation. Reverend Sex closes with a prayer for boldness, solidarity, and the holy work of interrupting white Christian Supremacy wherever we are, with whatever we have. 01:41 Night Sky Courage 03:36 Soulforce Seed Grants 06:24 Translation Language Dilemmas 09:46 Illegal Files  11:52 Underground Printing Story 16:40 Courage Takeaways 18:59 Prayer for Boldness 21:33 Closing and Next Steps  Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), Love Letters from Reverend Sex is confession and revelation, intimate and inspirational. This weekly message from an ordained pastor, spiritual healer, and bruja troublemaker will empower you to reject practices of spiritual violence and eradicate shame and fear in your life. This is the spiritual home you’ve been looking for. The entire Shameless Theology podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful. It’s a space for exploration--un/learning and re/membering our spiritual journeys through sharing the experience, wisdom, and connections Soulforce has built as an international LGBTQIA+ social justice nonprofit organization over the last 30 years. Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation. https://soulforce.org/donate/ FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: https://soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/ Find episode transcripts at https://soulforce.org/podcast/

    23 min
  2. Shameless Theology S2:06 How the Rhetoric of Religious Racism Sanctions Violence w/ Dr. Danielle Boaz & Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerqueira Pt.2

    3d ago

    Shameless Theology S2:06 How the Rhetoric of Religious Racism Sanctions Violence w/ Dr. Danielle Boaz & Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerqueira Pt.2

    When food and water are denied in the aftermath of an earthquake on the basis of religious affiliation, white Christian Supremacy is laid bare. In part two of our conversation with Dr. Danielle Boaz and Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerqueira, Danielle offers a sweeping historical and political analysis of Haiti—from the Haitian Revolution to the 2010 earthquake and cholera outbreak—showing how anti‑Blackness, colonial mythology, and the demonization of African Diaspora religions converge to justify discrimination, vigilante violence, and even the denial of humanitarian aid. Their research documents how U.S.‑funded Christian NGOs and local churches have participated in this harm, revealing the mechanics of white Christian Supremacy in moments of profound crisis. We will also discuss the political and academic challenges of naming Spiritual Terrorism directly, and why research and precise language matter for communities resisting violence, for students seeking frameworks that match their lived experience, and for international advocacy efforts that require clarity rather than euphemism. Dr. Danielle N. Boaz is Professor of Africana Studies and Interim Director of Legal Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research focuses on discrimination and violence against African diaspora religious communities from the nineteenth to the present. Dr. Boaz is the author of Banning Black Gods: Law and Religions of the African Diaspora (Penn State University Press 2021) and Voodoo: The History of a Racial Slur (Oxford University Press 2023);she is co-author of Silencing the Drum: Religious Racism and Afro-Brazilian Sacred Music (Amherst College Press 2024).  Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerqueira: Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerqueira is the Babalorixá of Ilê Axé Omi Ogun siwajú and an artist of performance and presence working as an actor, director, and playwright. He serves as Vice President of the International Commission to Combat Religious Racism (ICCRR), a global initiative dedicated to studying and confronting religious racism through research, advocacy, and international collaboration. His work bridges scholarship and activism, addressing discrimination against African and African diaspora religions worldwide. Dr. Melo Cerqueira holds a Ph.D. in African and African Diaspora Studies and an M.A. in Arts from the University of Texas at Austin, and is an Adjunct Professor of Theater Education at UNIRIO. He has published widely in theater, performance, and religious studies, and is co-founder of Pele Negra – Escola de Teatro(s) Preto(s). Find more about their work at www.religiousracism.org Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), this podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful, while centering dialogue on Queer, Trans, and feminist theology. Shameless Theology seeks to decolonize faith, mixing theological education with real-life experiences to support human rights and life abundant for all of Creation. Initially launched in Spanish as Teología Sin Vergüenza, this show addresses the monopolization of religious discourse by the extreme Right. Here, we gather people of diverse faith backgrounds and Christian denominations--pastors, activists, and scholars--to discuss gender identity, the erotic, and real life in the context of a radically inclusive faith, aiming to heal the wounds of colonizing religion and create a welcoming space for topics often considered taboo in religious spaces. This season forefronts our new book: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith. This timely resource identifies and examines the consequences of white Christian Supremacy through historical context and case studies, centering lived experiences of marginalized people, and offers critical analysis and practical tools for healing and resistance. Each week, we’ll share engaging conversations with brilliant guests familiar with the work, as we explore the concepts and lived experiences of Spiritual Violence. The podcast is not a repetition of the book but an expansion of conversation adding new voices: experts in their fields who share their experience with our community. Even if you haven’t read the book yet, these are engaging conversations relevant to the here and how, and we invite you to join us and continue the conversation in your own communities.  FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/     Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation. https://soulforce.org/donate/

    40 min
  3. Love Letters From Reverend Sex S2:05 The Weaponization of Forgiveness

    Jun 3

    Love Letters From Reverend Sex S2:05 The Weaponization of Forgiveness

    Forgiveness is often preached as holy, but in abusive systems it becomes a tool of control that protects institutions and silences survivors. Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio) reflects on the weaponization of Christian forgiveness, sharing a story of an 18-year-old in Costa Rica shamed as “impure” and barred from church dance after giving birth at 12 due to abuse by a church elder the community protected. Reverend Sex critiques forgiveness lessons that use Scripture to shift the burden onto victims, erase anger and grief, and replace accountability and restitution with private repentance to God.  00:00 Welcome Back Beloved 01:45 Late Night In Mexico 02:12 Costa Rica Story 05:43 Forgiveness Weaponized 09:27 God As Aggrieved 12:49 Healing Versus Performance 14:06 Focus On Family Rules 17:40 White Supremacy Lens 20:35 Jesus Cross Reframe 22:17 Prayer For Tenderness 24:33 Outro And Resources  Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), Love Letters from Reverend Sex is confession and revelation, intimate and inspirational. This weekly message from an ordained pastor, spiritual healer, and bruja troublemaker will empower you to reject practices of spiritual violence and eradicate shame and fear in your life. This is the spiritual home you’ve been looking for. The entire Shameless Theology podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful. It’s a space for exploration--un/learning and re/membering our spiritual journeys through sharing the experience, wisdom, and connections Soulforce has built as an international LGBTQIA+ social justice nonprofit organization over the last 30 years. Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation. https://soulforce.org/donate/ FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: https://soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/ Find episode transcripts at https://soulforce.org/podcast/

    26 min
  4. Shameless Theology S2:05 Christian Perpetrators of Violence: Documenting Religious Racism w/Dr. Danielle Boaz & Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerqueira Pt. 1

    Jun 1

    Shameless Theology S2:05 Christian Perpetrators of Violence: Documenting Religious Racism w/Dr. Danielle Boaz & Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerqueira Pt. 1

    Spiritual Terrorism does not require intention to do harm when social, political, and cultural structures are established to facilitate harm. Today, Rev. Alba Onofrio introduces two scholars who have worked together for almost a decade to expose these structures and document incidents of Religious Racism in Brazil. Dr. Danielle Boaz and Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerquiera have built a bilingual database of 500+ documented incidents of religious intolerance against Afro-Brazilian faiths. In cases where perpetrators were identified, every single one was Christian—most often Neo‑Pentecostal—revealing a pattern of organized hostility that shapes daily life and public safety. In part one of this two part conversation, we learn how Danielle and Gustavo came to this work, and how the project started as a cry for help and a fight for survival. We’ll consider how their lived experience and research into the prohibition & persecution of African diaspora religions across the Americas relates to the concepts presented in Soulforce’s new book Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith and discuss the ways religion colludes with power to produce harm.  Dr. Danielle N. Boaz is Professor of Africana Studies and Interim Director of Legal Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research focuses on discrimination and violence against African diaspora religious communities from the nineteenth to the present. Dr. Boaz is the author of Banning Black Gods: Law and Religions of the African Diaspora (Penn State University Press 2021) and Voodoo: The History of a Racial Slur (Oxford University Press 2023);she is co-author of Silencing the Drum:Religious Racism and Afro-Brazilian Sacred Music (Amherst College Press 2024).  Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerqueira: Dr. Gustavo Melo Cerqueira is the Babalorixá of Ilê Axé Omi Ogun siwajú and an artist of performance and presence working as an actor, director, and playwright. He serves as Vice President of the International Commission to Combat Religious Racism (ICCRR), a global initiative dedicated to studying and confronting religious racism through research, advocacy, and international collaboration. His work bridges scholarship and activism, addressing discrimination against African and African diaspora religions worldwide. Dr. Melo Cerqueira holds a Ph.D. in African and African Diaspora Studies and an M.A. in Arts from the University of Texas at Austin and is an Adjunct Professor of Theater Education at UNIRIO. He has published widely in theater, performance, and religious studies, and is co-founder of Pele Negra – Escola de Teatro(s) Preto(s). Find more about their work at www.religiousracism.org Americans’ Double Standard on Religious Violence - PRRI  Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), this podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful, while centering dialogue on Queer, Trans, and feminist theology. Shameless Theology seeks to decolonize faith, mixing theological education with real-life experiences to support human rights and life abundant for all of Creation. Initially launched in Spanish as Teología Sin Vergüenza, this show addresses the monopolization of religious discourse by the extreme Right. Here, we gather people of diverse faith backgrounds and Christian denominations--pastors, activists, and scholars--to discuss gender identity, the erotic, and real life in the context of a radically inclusive faith, aiming to heal the wounds of colonizing religion and create a welcoming space for topics often considered taboo in religious spaces. This season forefronts our new book: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith. This timely resource identifies and examines the consequences of white Christian Supremacy through historical context and case studies, centering lived experiences of marginalized people, and offers critical analysis and practical tools for healing and resistance. Each week, we’ll share engaging conversations with brilliant guests familiar with the work, as we explore the concepts and lived experiences of Spiritual Violence. The podcast is not a repetition of the book but an expansion of conversation adding new voices: experts in their fields who share their experience with our community. Even if you haven’t read the book yet, these are engaging conversations relevant to the here and how, and we invite you to join us and continue the conversation in your own communities.  FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/     Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation. https://soulforce.org/donate/

    52 min
  5. Love Letters From Reverend Sex S2:04 What is a Queer Christian?

    May 27

    Love Letters From Reverend Sex S2:04 What is a Queer Christian?

    What if your queerness isn’t just who you love—but the lens that teaches you to question everything?  Reflecting on a rainy night at home and a recent visit to United Lutheran Seminary, Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio) answers a seminarian’s brave question: “What is a Queer Christian?” They unpack how identity-shaping adjectives matter, and how “Queer” differs from “gay” as a politicized, countercultural refusal to conform to broken systems.  Through examples like chosen family, bodies and sexuality, and gendered language for God, they describe Queerness as a power analysis that challenges authority, including how biblical canon was formed. Seeing Jesus as anti-imperialist and resisting unjust power, they frame queer Christianity as hope-filled sacred resistance, then close with a prayer for courage to ask hard questions and build community. 00:00 Welcome Back Beloveds 01:45 The Seminary Question 03:16 Identity Words Matter 05:47 Queer As A Lens 06:35 Gay Does Not Equal Queer 09:28 Chosen Family And Bodies 12:12 Power And Authority 14:37 Jesus The Rebel 17:07 Hope And Liberation 19:45 Prayer For Holy Trouble 22:04 Closing and Resources Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), Love Letters from Reverend Sex is confession and revelation, intimate and inspirational. This weekly message from an ordained pastor, spiritual healer, and bruja troublemaker will empower you to reject practices of spiritual violence and eradicate shame and fear in your life. This is the spiritual home you’ve been looking for. The entire Shameless Theology podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful. It’s a space for exploration--un/learning and re/membering our spiritual journeys through sharing the experience, wisdom, and connections Soulforce has built as an international LGBTQIA+ social justice nonprofit organization over the last 30 years. Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation. https://soulforce.org/donate/ FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: https://soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/ Find episode transcripts at https://soulforce.org/podcast/

    23 min
  6. Shameless Theology S2:04 Faith as Costly Love w/Rev. Rhina Ramos

    May 25

    Shameless Theology S2:04 Faith as Costly Love w/Rev. Rhina Ramos

    What do you do when you can’t find a spiritual home? You build one. In pursuit of a faith that could withstand questioning and a community that embraced freedom and dignity, guest Rev. Rhina Ramos worked to create the spiritual home she’d been searching for. In today’s episode, Rev. Alba Onofrio invites Rhina to share her journey from a punitive Catholic upbringing in El Salvador, through migration to the U.S., and a decade in a Salvadoran Baptist church to the rupture of coming out as a lesbian, divorcing, and trusting God’s grace amid rejection. Today, as the co-founder and pastor of the country’s only Spanish‑speaking, queer‑led UCC congregation, she and the Ministerio Latino community offer both material support for newly arrived immigrants and a healing, affirming space where Queer and Trans people can be fully seen. With more than 25 years of experience as an activist and advocate, Rhina has seen the effects of Spiritual Violence up close in our communities. In today’s conversation, Rev. Alba and Rhina reflect on those stories, the spiritual trauma carried by Queer immigrants and Trans people, our responsibility to costly love as an expression of faith, and the practices that sustain us: community care, rest, and drawing strength from revolutionary ancestors. Rev. Rhina Ramos is an ordained United Church of Christ minister leading Ministerio Latino, a Spanish speaking open and affirming congregation for LGTBQI Latinx immigrants founded as her call in 2011. Rhina was born in El Salvador and emigrated to the United States at age 14 in 1983. As an immigrant undocumented during the first 3 years in the United States, Rhina knows first hand the fear and pain of belonging to an invisible community. She graduated from Hofstra University Law School in 1995 and was a labor attorney for five years recouping thousands of dollars in unpaid wages for immigrant workers. In 2003, she obtained a Masters in Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. Pastor Rhina has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 25 years as an activist, community organizer and manager. In November 2024, she published her first book In My Heart, A Volcano in Spanish about her family and memories of growing up in El Salvador during the 80’s and her journey north as undocumented immigrant. Find Rev. Rhina at ministeriolatino.org or on Facebook & Instagram Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), this podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful, while centering dialogue on Queer, Trans, and feminist theology. Shameless Theology seeks to decolonize faith, mixing theological education with real-life experiences to support human rights and life abundant for all of Creation. Initially launched in Spanish as Teología Sin Vergüenza, this show addresses the monopolization of religious discourse by the extreme Right. Here, we gather people of diverse faith backgrounds and Christian denominations--pastors, activists, and scholars--to discuss gender identity, the erotic, and real life in the context of a radically inclusive faith, aiming to heal the wounds of colonizing religion and create a welcoming space for topics often considered taboo in religious spaces. This season forefronts our new book: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith. This timely resource identifies and examines the consequences of white Christian Supremacy through historical context and case studies, centering lived experiences of marginalized people, and offers critical analysis and practical tools for healing and resistance. Each week, we’ll share engaging conversations with brilliant guests familiar with the work, as we explore the concepts and lived experiences of Spiritual Violence. The podcast is not a repetition of the book but an expansion of conversation adding new voices: experts in their fields who share their experience with our community. Even if you haven’t read the book yet, these are engaging conversations relevant to the here and how, and we invite you to join us and continue the conversation in your own communities.  FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/     Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation. https://soulforce.org/donate/

    55 min
  7. Love Letters From Reverend Sex S2:03 Dirty Words, Holy Resistance

    May 20

    Love Letters From Reverend Sex S2:03 Dirty Words, Holy Resistance

    Profane or impolite? How do the words we choose relate to the faith we practice? Honoring a rebellious heart and faithful spirit Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio) explores why profanity unsettles many Christians but can be a political and spiritual practice rooted in activism where survival leaves little room for polite society. Drawing on the Battle of Hastings and the class divide between Old English and French-derived “educated” language, they show how “cuss words” became labeled vulgar. They distinguish swearing, cursing, and cussing, and invite a redefinition of “profane” as that which causes harm.  00:00 Welcome Back Beloveds 01:45 Why This Love Letter 03:49 Activism And Real Talk 05:41 Unbecoming Of A Lady 06:23 Medieval Swearing Origins 07:40 Battle Of Hastings 09:18 Class And Language Split 12:47 Profanity Word Examples 15:11 Swearing Cursing Cussing 17:21 Redefining The Profane 17:57 Prayer For Holy Speech 20:10 Closing And More Shows Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), Love Letters from Reverend Sex is confession and revelation, intimate and inspirational. This weekly message from an ordained pastor, spiritual healer, and bruja troublemaker will empower you to reject practices of spiritual violence and eradicate shame and fear in your life. This is the spiritual home you’ve been looking for. The entire Shameless Theology podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful. It’s a space for exploration--un/learning and re/membering our spiritual journeys through sharing the experience, wisdom, and connections Soulforce has built as an international LGBTQIA+ social justice nonprofit organization over the last 30 years. Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation. https://soulforce.org/donate/ FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: https://soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/ Find episode transcripts at https://soulforce.org/podcast/

    22 min
  8. Shameless Theology S2:03 Their Calling, My Body: A Pastor's Kid Story w/Yolanda Santiago-Correa Pt. 2

    May 18

    Shameless Theology S2:03 Their Calling, My Body: A Pastor's Kid Story w/Yolanda Santiago-Correa Pt. 2

    When purity is preached as protection but feels like surveillance, pastor’s kids can become extensions of the pulpit under constant scrutiny.  In part two of a conversation with Yolanda Santiago-Correa,, the story turns personal. Yolanda describes how her parents—shaped by their own religious trauma—protected her through honest, nuanced dialogue rather than censorship. Even so, she navigated policing of her body, social isolation, pressure to represent her family, and the constant fear that any misstep could jeopardize her parents’ employment.   Together, Rev. Alba (Reverend Sex) and Yolanda examine how white Christian Supremacist purity culture and rigid binaries create conditions for Spiritual Terrorism. They explore the tension between embodied Puerto Rican culture and church repression, and why Pentecostalism’s intimate, physical spirituality can feel grounding amid disenfranchisement.  The episode invites listeners to take responsibility for their own faith—naming harm honestly while seeking ways to protect what is sacred without reproducing violence. Yolanda M. Santiago Correa is a doctoral candidate in Religion and Culture. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico and an M.Div. from Duke Divinity School. Her research explores the intersection of Puerto Rican racial imagination and Christian practice, centering Black Boricua experiences to challenge colonial frameworks and reimagine religious life in the archipelago and diaspora. She currently serves as Program Coordinator for the Hispanic House of Studies at Duke Divinity School and as the inaugural Director of the AfroLatine Theology Project. Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), this podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful, while centering dialogue on Queer, Trans, and feminist theology. Shameless Theology seeks to decolonize faith, mixing theological education with real-life experiences to support human rights and life abundant for all of Creation. Initially launched in Spanish as Teología Sin Vergüenza, this show addresses the monopolization of religious discourse by the extreme Right. Here, we gather people of diverse faith backgrounds and Christian denominations--pastors, activists, and scholars--to discuss gender identity, the erotic, and real life in the context of a radically inclusive faith, aiming to heal the wounds of colonizing religion and create a welcoming space for topics often considered taboo in religious spaces. This season forefronts our new book: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith. This timely resource identifies and examines the consequences of white Christian Supremacy through historical context and case studies, centering lived experiences of marginalized people, and offers critical analysis and practical tools for healing and resistance. Each week, we’ll share engaging conversations with brilliant guests familiar with the work, as we explore the concepts and lived experiences of Spiritual Violence. The podcast is not a repetition of the book but an expansion of conversation adding new voices: experts in their fields who share their experience with our community. Even if you haven’t read the book yet, these are engaging conversations relevant to the here and how, and we invite you to join us and continue the conversation in your own communities.  FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/     Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation. https://soulforce.org/donate/

    36 min
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About

Are you navigating faith, family, sexuality, and identity as an LGBTQIA+ person at the intersections of feminism, spirituality and queerness? Are you an ally tired of religious distortions of hate and exclusion? This is your invitation to pull up a chair and join us at the kitchen table. On Mondays, we host deep, liberating conversations with theologians, elders, and everyday saints about sacred resistance, gender justice, and decolonial faith. On Wednesdays, we offer Love Letters from Rev. Sex, a Southern Queer feminist and Latine pastor with an activist's heart and a theologian's mind. On select Fridays, we offer our special feature, Sounds Like Soulforce, which invites you into the mosaic of our organization's people, our passions, and our projects, sharing dispatches from across the Americas about how to recognize and resist white Christian Supremacy. Hosted by Reverend Sex (Rev. Alba Onofrio - Executive Director of Soulforce), this podcast channel offers connection, reflection, and community for anyone feeling spiritually marginalized or exiled but still resiliently faithful. It’s a space for exploration as we seek to create change while sharing the experience, wisdom, and connections Soulforce has built as a social justice nonprofit organization over the last 30 years.  The current feature on our channel is Shameless Theology, or Teología Sin Vergüenza (TSV), a unique podcast that amplifies ferocious Queer-Trans, feminist, academically-trained Latine theologians who are living examples of counter-narratives and theological resistance to the political and religious threats our people face. This season forefronts our newly released book: Spiritual Violence: Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith. This timely resource identifies and examines the consequences of white Christian Supremacy through historical context and case studies, centering lived experiences of marginalized people, and offers critical analysis and practical tools for healing and resistance.      This media project is the first of its kind: a woman-led and queer-centered conversation space where Latine faith activists and theologians convene digitally across the Americas to discuss the alternatives to death-dealing theologies of Christian fundamentalisms that kill our spirits and impede our progress to equal rights and human dignity — all from an unapologetically politicized faith perspective. Join in our community of Sinvergüenzas by visiting our Shameless Theology homepage or our Spanish WhatsApp Lista de Difusión. If you’d like to support this cutting-edge movement of ferocious Latine power building, please make a donation. https://soulforce.org/donate/ FREE PREVIEW: Spiritual Violence and Religious Phenomena that Defile the Faith: soulforce.org/download/spiritual-violence/ Find episode transcripts at https://soulforce.org/podcast/

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