The Convocation Unscripted [S1E4]: The Last Presidential Debate in America
Our Take on the Significance of the First Presidential Debate
Welcome to the new episode of The Convocation Unscripted.
Late on the evening of June 27, 2024, we came together to discuss the first 2024 presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. In this episode, Jemar Tisby, Kristin Du Mez, and Robert P. Jones talk about this train wreck of a debate (Diana Butler Bass is on vacation). While Biden clearly lost the debate, the real loser was democracy and the America people as Trump filled the airwaves with unchecked lies and hateful rhetoric dehumanizing immigrants. We may have just witnessed the last presidential debate in modern American politics.
Click below to watch our conversation.
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Thanks so much to the nearly 5,000 of you who have joined The Convocation since our launch just two weeks ago. As a reminder, here’s our Thursday publishing rhythm. One week (this week!), we’ll publish The Convocation Digest, which brings into one place a collection of the best writing from each of our Substack newsletters (and occasional guest posts fr…
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Many of us grew up singing the old time hymn "May the Circle Be Unbroken,"** a song about connection and continuity. But today many denominations seem to be preoccupied with shrinking the circle. In these increasingly narrow places, curiosity is extinguished, complexity is anathema, and dissent from orthodoxy is suppressed.
Kristin wrote a really lovely piece a few weeks ago about how Christians should approach victories and defeats. I hold her words very close these days. And yes, I clicked the video the second the email came in. Really really appreciate you all getting together and offering your thoughts tonight.
Thank you all for staying up late to convocate!