207 - Jason Boyett

In this episode of Crossing Faiths, John Pinna interviews Jason Boyett to explore the deep cross-cultural and personal complexities of navigating different structural beliefs, focusing on how individuals form, question, and expand their understandings of faith. Boyette shares his journey from growing up in a conservative Southern Baptist tradition to writing 12 Major World Religions, emphasizing how taking an "outsider's perspective" can reveal logical inconsistencies within one's own background and foster genuine interfaith understanding. The two dissect the tribalism that exists not only between different religions but also as sectarian divisions within the same faith traditions, using specific examples from both Islam and Christianity. Additionally, they discuss the civic necessity of religious literacy in modern society and the evolving landscape of media, noting how platforms like Substack and short-form video on TikTok can be leveraged to deliver nuanced, objective religious journalism to younger audiences.

Jason Boyett is a journalist and writer who has authored several books about religion and religious history. His writing has appeared in a variety of publications, from The Guardian to American Cowboy. He writes The Religiverse newsletter on Substack and is the cofounder of Brick & Elm, a regional magazine in the Texas Panhandle.