Home-Sick for a Place That Doesn't Exist Anymore: Spiritual Formation Scholar & Christian Curious Radio Host Dr. Halee Gray Scott, Ph.D. (Ep. 75)
Home-Sick for a Place That Doesn't Exist Anymore: Spiritual Formation Scholar & Christian Curious Radio Host Dr. Halee Gray Scott, Ph.D. (Ep. 75)  
Podcast: The Republican Professor
Published On: Sat Aug 06 2022
Description: "Halee, what happened to you was rape. And if you don't call it that, you're never going to get better," Halee’s co-worker said to Halee when she finally told someone the true story 4 months later. Our guest today is the Christian spiritual formation and leadership scholar Dr. Halee Gray Scott, Ph.D. She speaks with a slight, charming Texas drawl. "I grew up in serious country," Texas-native Dr. Halee Gray Scott, Ph.D., begins her story by saying. "I swam in crocodile-infested waters" exploring the nooks and crannies of the East-Texas wilderness. Her childhood was at the same time idyllic for an insatiably curious contrarian kid such as herself, and at the same time quite frightening. There were tornadoes coming down from the uncontrollable, unpredictable and angry giant Texas sky. Later, her adventurous spirit directed her curiosity to scholarship into stable truths about Leadership and the Christian faith, about how young people's attitudes are being shaped by forces we didn't have when we were kids. Whereas the threat of a tornado kept her up at night, now it's the kids. It's the church, and what they're dealing with. It's what the churches and seminaries are or are not doing about it. Maybe they don't know what to do about it, or how to be. Halee's heart is as follows: she hopes to help others to get trained to fill the gap between the challenges facing Leadership and the training they receive. She first got on the radio at 15 years old. Now, she has a Ph.D., is a syndicated radio host, and author of Dare Mighty Things: Mapping the Challenges of Leadership for Christian Women. Her latest book is Not a Hopeless Case: 6 Vital Questions from Young Adults for a Church in Crisis, available April 2023. Check out Christian Curious Radio Program here: https://www.christiancurious.com/ In this wide-ranging discussion, we talk touch on the Kingdom of God and the ethics of eating meat, and naturally from that to hunting. I take the American Indian perspective, for the most part, on the uses of the animal. We camp out on Indian-stuff for a while, what it must have been like for the settlers. We touch on the role of women in ministry. This is a huge part of her professional research. We talk about her Washington Post article where she reported having been raped by her pastor in Texas when she was a young woman, how how she has and is dealing with that. You can find the article titled "#MeToo: I was Raped by my Pastor" published October 16, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/10/16/metoo-i-was-raped-by-my-pastor/ It ran in the print edition of the Post. She had come to college there at UNT, Denton an atheist, and at the time of the rape, had only been a true Christian for 3 months. Does Halee still believe that there is a good God as revealed in the Bible ? Yes, she does. But it's been a journey, and continues to be. Her passion involves protecting the possibility of that belief in the soil of other vulnerable souls, as well. It's what motivates her research and directs her professional steps. It took her 4 months to tell anyone about it, and when she did, her co-worked used the appropriate term "rape." But it took her 15 years to come to terms with that word for what happened. And she had panic attacks for years every-time she went inside a church. But she's healing. We do not rush through this conversation. There is no rush. We take our time. We just enjoy the company and the conversation, and hope you do, too. The Republican Professor is a pro-coming-to-terms, pro-reminiscing-of-idyllic-childhood-conditions, pro-take-your-shoes-off-and-stay-awhile, pro-theological-discussion, pro-wrestling-with-the-problem-of-evil, pro-let's-help-not-screw-the-kids-up-and-keep-the-leadership-appropriately-trained-up-and-accountable podcast. Therefore, welcome Dr. Halee Gray Scott, Ph.D., Curious Christian The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.