Bad Faith Media

Three comedians with religious trauma suffer through the worst faith-based content they can find.

#68 - Michael 02/19/2024

#68 - Michael John Travolta is an angel who swears and smokes cigarettes and eats a lot of sugar and is the desire of every woman on the planet except for Andie MacDowell, who is too busy hiding her shameful secret about how she babysits dogs. This is a super weird, super goofy movie from the 90s that was much, much easier to watch than any movie Ryan has ever picked for us. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/30007903

#67 - The Late Great Planet Earth 01/22/2024

#67 - The Late Great Planet Earth In a sense, this is the Citizen Kane of bad Christian movies. Also the world is going to end about forty years ago. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/29587473

#66 - Pickleball Princess 01/02/2024

#66 - Pickleball Princess What better way to start the new year off than with the latest and greatest from Donald James Parker? This week we watched Pickleball Princess, which turned out not to be a religious movie, except in the sense that pickkeball seems to be Donald's new religion. Pickleball is basically the Messiah in this movie. It can cure racism and build bridges, but it also has a deadly side. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/29299628

#65 - The Encounter: Paradise Lost 11/27/2023

#65 - The Encounter: Paradise Lost Jesus' diner has closed for business, so now he's vacationing in Thailand and making new friends. You know what that means - it's the hit sequel to The Encounter, only this time, Jesus is taken hostage. David A. R. White is here too, as the world's worst policeman, but he's tied to a chair for most of the movie. Thankfully, Jesus can break the tension by revealing everyone's deepest darkest secrets without their permission. He's also going to explain why tsunamis happen. There's a few gunfights in this movie, but Jesus doesn't participate in those. It's not like he can stop bullets... OR CAN HE? Maybe, but either way he won't. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/28797673

#64 - Divine Influencer 11/20/2023

#64 - Divine Influencer Kids these days, they're 29 and have major social media followings, am I right? Thankfully some parents out there still know how to raise their kids right, by waiting until their birthday, leaving the country, cutting them off, and forcing them into a life of poverty and homelessness until they can learn how to put God first. Dan, Alexa, and Ryan learn that what really matters in life is not money or fame, but networking. Featuring a special guest appearance by Stanley the Snake. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/28715818

Minisode #14 - Harry Potter and the School of Prayer and Miracles - ch. 3 11/15/2023

Minisode #14 - Harry Potter and the School of Prayer and Miracles - ch. 3 In which Ryan continues the saga of Harry Potter, very continuingly. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/28614078

#63 - C Me Dance 11/13/2023

#63 - C Me Dance It's all very simple: Satan drives a semi-trailer truck, which he uses to kill a lady so that her infant daughter Sheri can someday grow up and be diagnosed with a terminal illness that leads her to become a Pentecostal superhero. With her newfound powers, Sheri stops middle-aged high school bullies, hypnotizes TV executives, and shuts down whole movie productions. And Satan hates it! So he sniffs her and her dad a lot, and watches her dance. Then, in a climactic showdown, Sheri tells a church not to watch scary movies. Satan just sort of disappears after that, we're not really sure why. But then, in a major plot twist, the real villain turns out to be God all along. Folks, it's the Christian classic C Me Dance. The C is for "chaos." /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/28610373

#62 - The Ravine 11/10/2023

#62 - The Ravine A faith-based movie with F bombs! And murder! And angels that seem to be slacking off on their job of stopping terrible things from happening. This week, Dan, Alexa, and Ryan watch their first R-rated faith-based film, which comes with an important lesson about forgiveness. Or something. There's also a murder mystery that goes nowhere, a detective who does nothing, and a woman who knows everything that happens in heaven but still can't clearly explain anything. Don't worry though: behind this inspirational message about faith and grief, there's an underlying message about how to get rich. Because you were born rich, and you have the power within to unlock your sales potential and form better client relationships. Even Jesus couldn't have seen that coming. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/28579638

#61 - The Story Keepers: Catacomb Rescue 11/06/2023

#61 - The Story Keepers: Catacomb Rescue Imagine an episode of Pinky and the Brain where Brain feeds Pinky to a cat, and you have a basic idea of what this Christian cartoon is like. Nero is killing all the Christians in Rome, and that means it's time for some hilarious antics where four probably-orphans have to run for their lives to avoid being sold into slavery. And it's all very wacky and zany! This was a listener request! If there's any faith-based media that you'd like us to watch, please let us know, we'd love to share your trauma! /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/28525163

#60 - The Encounter 10/16/2023

#60 - The Encounter Ever wondered what it would be like if Jesus made you a cheeseburger? What if it was the most delicious cheeseburger you'd ever had? And what if Jesus ruined it by saying weird things about genocide? There's all this and more in this week's movie, The Encounter, in which Jesus fulfills his lifelong dream of becoming a small business owner. Unfortunately, the local law enforcement is giving him trouble, while a successful Republican doesn't want to listen to anything he has to say. Dan, Alexa, and Ryan dive into yet another David A. R. White joint and try in vain to make sense of it all. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/28323221

#59 - Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed 09/20/2023

#59 - Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed How did life begin? It's a question no scientist has ever thought about. What are scientists hiding? And do they have what it takes to win $5000 of Ben Stein's money? I might be mixing some things up. In any case, this week we watched Stein's 2008 propaganda-fest, which boldly defends the right of scientists everywhere to advocate for a vaguely defined theory without even bothering to tell us what it actually consists of. That's right, it's the Intelligent Design movement, baby! It's not religion, but also it represents religion's last stand against communism, or Nazis. Those are basically the same thing I guess. Intelligent Design tells us that God created life, but it's not really about God, but it is about fighting against atheism, but you should have the freedom to believe whatever you want. Watch as Ben asks the tough questions, gets the answers, ignores the answers, then bravely asks the tough questions AGAIN. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/28090466

#58 - Unidentified 09/11/2023

#58 - Unidentified One's a skeptic, the other's a lapsed Christian. Now they have to work together to get to the bottom of a mystery about UFOs. Sounds like a recipe for hijinks! But we'll never know, because the movie skips all that. Instead we have to spend endless hours in their magazine's office listening to people drone on about apple juice and the rapture. Why do we ever let Ryan pick the movie for the week? Why is Rebecca St James in this? When will death finally come? /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27995526

#57 - God's Not Dead: We the People 09/05/2023

#57 - God's Not Dead: We the People God's Not Dead is back, and this time, he's out for vengeance. Reverend Dave has to face his deadliest foe yet: Common Core. It's all very simple: The government wants you to think that its founding documents were written by rich old white slaveowning men, so that you'll be disgusted with them, reject our founding documents, and agree to let the government take away your freedom. But the truth, according to those Christians who care to know it, is that our founding documents were written by literal children, and therefore, it is wrong to hold homeschooling families to any sort of educational standards. It's... it's a weird movie. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27942702

#56 - The Case for Christ 08/28/2023

#56 - The Case for Christ What happens when a tough-minded skeptic sets out to disprove Christianity? And what if that story is told by evangelicals who don't seem to know how tough-minded skeptics actually think? And what if it's based on a true story? That's right, it's the personal account of author Lee Strobel's journey from atheism to Christianity, although calling the character in this film "tough-minded" seems a bit generous. Marvel as he travels far and wide to seek out experts on various topics related to Jesus' resurrection, asking a handful of superficially interesting questions, and then quickly moving on to other things. Will Christianity stand up to scrutiny? Let's put it this way: 60% of the time, the skeptic converts every time. Also: Dan, Ryan, and Alexa consider the case for Christ, but then they make their own case for remaking this movie with the Muppets and Tim Curry. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27864771

#55 - The Mark 08/14/2023

#55 - The Mark Die Hard on a plane, but with the rapture! If there's one thing we can't get enough of, it's movies about the rapture that are set mostly on an airplane where the central premise of the film is treated as a surprise plot twist near the end. Sadly, this movie does not feature Nicolas Cage, but it does have Eric Roberts, who is almost as good! Basically, some guy named Chad gets the mark of the beast injected into him. It's less of a "mark" than it is a "poorly explained plot device." All Chad needs to do is take an airplane ride, but it turns out to be more complicated than he realizes. Will he ever make it to Berlin? Will he be able to save the plane? Will the plane be able to land? Will he be able to disarm the bomb? Will he be able to stop the bad guys from setting off the other bomb? Will he be able to escape the fury of Eric Roberts? Will he be able to get into the plane's cockpit? Will he put his faith in Jesus? Will his brother be able to hail a cab without dying the most embarrassing death possible? The movie will answer some of these questions. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27741549

#54 - Time Changer 08/07/2023

#54 - Time Changer This week we're going back to the year 1890, when podcasts were more godly, and all people cared about was their unpublished manuscripts. Dr. Russell Carlisle wants to teach people to follow Jesus' morals without mentioning Jesus' name every two seconds, but his baldest colleague is so outraged at this idea that he sends Dr. Carlisle over a hundred years into the future, to the dystopian hellscape known as 2002. That'll teach Carlisle to have his own opinions about things! Now trapped in the future, Carlisle must do his best to survive by using his wits and screaming at children, storeowners, and movie theater cashiers. Meanwhile Dan, Ryan, and Alexa learn an important lesson, which is that the Devil loves when people do good things, and that's why he's so evil. It's... admittedly confusing. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27676800

#53 - The Homeschool Awakening 08/01/2023

#53 - The Homeschool Awakening Try as we might, we just can't seem to escape the Kirk Cameron vortex. Why do we do this to ourselves? Do we enjoy the suffering? Is there something wrong with our brains? Perhaps if the three of us had received an education directly from our parents, this never would have happened. We'd all be outside, tearing up the countryside in our four-wheelers, flying gliders, running businesses, and sharing a single mattress in the back of an RV. Were we socialized poorly? Did we not learn how to relate to people five decades older than us? Are we just suckers for reactionary Christian propaganda? (Definitely the last one.) /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27619002

#52 - Fireproof 07/25/2023

#52 - Fireproof He's already saved Christmas. Now he has to save his own marriage. No, we're not talking about Ernest P. Worrell, we're talking about someone with far less dignity than him. That's right, we're back with another Kirk Cameron movie. This week we watched the 2008 Christian film Fireproof, about a fireman whose marriage is failing due to the fact that he is sort of a horrible person to live with. Fireproof tells a dramatic, somewhat unsettling story with weird moments of screwball comedy scattered throughout. Dan, Alexa, and Ryan learn a lot about the evils of divorce and the importance of remaining faithful and committed to your fellow firefighters. Parents, please be advised that this film contains many gratuitous images of boats. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27545235

#51 - Gramps Goes to College (PART 2) 07/20/2023

#51 - Gramps Goes to College (PART 2) Gramps is still at college! And now people are dying! /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27516549

#50 - Gramps Goes to College (PART 1) 07/17/2023

#50 - Gramps Goes to College (PART 1) It's the 50th episode of Bad Faith Media, and it seemed like as good a time as any to finally watch the highly anticipated Gramps Goes to College, starring the one and only Donald James Parker. This time, DJP is taking on the liberal education system. More specifically, he's about to drop some creationist truth bombs on a bunch of alcoholic atheists by using out-of-context quotes from people who were definitely okay with evolutionary theory. And sure, you may be thinking that one old computer programmer couldn't possibly take down the evolution professor while also running an intramural college sports team AND dominating the youths at basketball, cross country, and chess. But maybe you're underestimating the wisest, smartest, handsomest [citation needed] old guy in South Dakota. There was so much to say about this movie that we literally had to break it up into two episodes. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion, you can't possibly guess what happens when Gramps gets loose! /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27482853

#49 - God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness 07/10/2023

#49 - God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness You loved when Kevin Sorbo got run over at the end of God's Not Dead. You were thrilled when Judge Ernie Hudson "allowed it" in God's Not Dead 2: God's Not Deader. Now, it's time for Dan, Ryan, and Alexa to take on the third installment in the GND franchise: God's Not Dead with a Vengeance, better known as God's Not Dead 3, officially known as God's Not Dead: A Light in the Darkness. Everyone's favorite cool pastor Dave is back, but this time, it is HE who must struggle with doubt as he mourns the loss of his friend. It's a darker, grittier God's Not Dead movie (the deaths are only tragic when it happens to the Christian characters we love). The movie veers away from engaging in direct debate about God's existence or the historical reliability of the gospels, and instead asks the question... why is everyone so mad? Being released in 2018, you might think that there were VERY OBVIOUS EXPLANATIONS for why people might be feeling angry with each other, but this movie isn't here to actually answer the questions it raises. In fact, just stop getting so worked up about it, take this unity candle, and SHUT UP already! And remember to love each other. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27413919

#48 - Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 07/03/2023

#48 - Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 This one's for all the haters who said we'd never watch a Christian movie where Satan explodes violently out of a human body! That's right, we're watching MEGIDDO, the smash hit sequel to The Omega Code. It's the Godfather II of Antichrist movies, and not only that, but it's a bold sequel that dares to retcon just about everything that happened in the first film. Let's just be clear: We love this movie. It's totally bonkers. It's super violent, accidentally progressive, and completely absurd. Here at Bad Faith Media, we would like nothing more than to see ten more Omega Code films. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27352266

#47 - The Lock In 06/26/2023

#47 - The Lock In What if the Blair Witch became obsessed with evangelical purity culture? In that case, you'd probably wind up with our movie for this week. It's our first found-footage Christian horror film. It's called The Lock In, and it's quite bad. Imagine Paranormal Activity, only all the activity is caused by a porno magazine. Not only that, but the "activity" is mostly limited to inexplicable growling and church baptismals filling with water for no reason. Dan, Alexa, and Ryan try their best to make sense out of this one, but without much success. The main thing to remember is that if you look at a porno magazine, you'll almost certainly see ghosts wandering around your house. Alexa's toolkit regarding the proposed flag ban in Anne Arundel County Public Schools: /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27264153

#46 - The Tongue Does All the Work: Stand-Up Comedy on Pure Flix 06/05/2023

#46 - The Tongue Does All the Work: Stand-Up Comedy on Pure Flix This week the gang takes on the world of Christian stand-up comedy, sort of. We watched an episode from a Pure Flix series called "Pure Comedy" that focuses on ventriloquist/comedian Kevin Johnson. Is it actually faith-based comedy? It's hard to say. All we know for sure is that it's not Kevin's fault when he bombs. In fact, it's probably your fault. People on cruise ships like his comedy, so why don't you? Maybe you just didn't get it. Or maybe Kevin should go back to doing non-comedy ventriloquism. Also, we owe Ryan's friends a huge apology, we did not know he was going to make them all watch this episode on their vacation, which sounds like it was going very well up until that point. You're the real heroes! /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/27041541

#45 - VeggieTales 05/29/2023

#45 - VeggieTales This week we're finally talking about everybody's favorite faith-based produce. We're joined by comedian Jake Leizear to explore the world of VeggieTales. We ponder its confusing title, its main characters with old-gay-married-couple vibes, and its unfortunate destiny to become a soulless piece of corporate media garbage, courtesy of its new owners. Just wait until you see what they've done with Yakko and Dot Warner. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/26974635

#44 - The Omega Code 05/22/2023

#44 - The Omega Code After making some big announcements regarding our recent week off, the podcast crew gets back to doing what they do best: suffering through bad movies about the apocalypse. If you took the story of Left Behind and removed all the rapture stuff, the end result would be this week's offering, The Omega Code. It's the story of how one man devotes his whole life to saving the earth, only to suddenly grow a pair of lizard eyes and develop a thirst for EVIL. Our hero in this one is a scholar who abandons his family to focus on acting like Tom Cruise in his Oprah-guest-spot era. Only he can stand up to the Antichrist by... getting run over by an eighteen-wheeler. It's a confusing movie, but don't worry - the ending will knock the devil right out of you! /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/26908581

#43 - Pamela's Prayer 05/08/2023

#43 - Pamela's Prayer We were still feeling weird about our Gary-Busey-in-a-leash-and-dog-kennel movie from last week, so we decided to purify our hearts by learning about the evils of kissing. Have you ever heard about a woman getting married at the age of 22 and asked yourself, "I wonder what her story is?" Well that's exactly the story our movie this week sets out to tell, and OH MAN is it boring. Pamela's Prayer is about the difficult situations young people find themselves in today, situations like deciding not to go to college in order to work full-time as a specialist for obsolete technology, all because you're trying to impress a man whose daughter you hope to kiss someday, if he gives you permission. Dan, Ryan, and Alexa are joined by returning guest and comedian John Nagle, and together they learn that everyone's first kiss should be legally binding, life altering, and done in the presence of the creepiest old people in the world. If all else fails, you can always take your beloved to the rock formation. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/26772072

#42 - God Turns Gary Busey Into a Dog 05/01/2023

#42 - God Turns Gary Busey Into a Dog Ryan has gone too far this time. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/26700807

#41 - R.I.O.T.: The Movie 04/26/2023

#41 - R.I.O.T.: The Movie Remember that minisode we did where Carman beat the crap out of the devil? Or that other minisode we did where Carman beat the crap out of the devil? Well buckle in, because Carman is back! This week, we're watching something that can loosely be called a movie starring a man who can loosely be called an actor. Carman plays a Chicago cop in his very own film based on his very own album, sort of. Dan, Ryan, and Alexa treat themselves to R.I.O.T.: The Movie, which has nothing to do with riots. Also Carman doesn't beat the crap out of the devil in this one, but he DOES beat the crap out of a 17 year old, in true Chicago cop fashion. So how does the movie relate to the album? Well it has the same title, and also at random points we get to watch music videos that have nothing to do with the story. There's gangs, monsters, satanists, and most importantly (cue the music) THERE IS A GOD, THERE IS A CHILDREN, THERE IS A ONE WHO MAKES A BRIGHTER DAY SO LET'S START GIVING... There's also a rapper named T-Bone playing a man named T-Rex. And there may or may not be mole people. Vice Kings, assemble! /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/26658750

#40 - 7th Heaven's Weed Episode 04/24/2023

#40 - 7th Heaven's Weed Episode It's time to get out your party plate and head over to Jonny D's house, because this episode is guaranteed to knock you on your butt! This is how teenagers talk, right? To properly celebrate 4/20, the group decides to watch the infamous weed episode of 7th Heaven, a sitcom from the 90s about a Christian family with no communication or problem-solving skills. Dan, Ryan, and Alexa learn not only that smoking pot is basically the same as committing murder, but also that you can never trust a dog named Happy. /episode/index/show/4b4be84d-bd04-4150-9430-94eb48a3a9d7/id/26626227

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