The Chaplains Corps: Faith, Power, and the Cost of Service

In this episode, Ray explores how a simple stretch of desert can turn into a place that asks bigger questions. He examines the pull of solitude, the way the land tests you, and the strange moment when the ground itself seems to rise up and remind you who you are. It’s a grounded, inviting story of heat, grit, and a man moving through his own thoughts. It’s how the mud becomes an unexpected place where everything slows down just enough for clarity to surface.For more on Ray, visit drraychristian.com.

An exploration of voting as a lived experience rather than a political act. Through personal stories, community memory, and historical context, this episode looks at how ordinary people understand the moment they step into a voting booth. From first-time voters to elders who’ve seen decades of elections, the episode traces how choice, identity, and responsibility intersect in one quiet act. It’s not about candidates  it’s about the people who carry democracy forward in their own hands.For more in Ray, visit drraychristian.com.

The Chaplains Corps was created to offer comfort, guidance, and moral clarity to soldiers in the hardest moments of their lives. But chaplains also serve inside a system that demands obedience, violence, and silence. In this episode, Ray examines the long arc of the Corps — from its early entanglement with American wars to the modern pressures reshaping its mission today. Drawing on interviews, archival history, and his own years in uniform, Ray asks a deeper question: What does it mean to be a spiritual witness inside an institution that can break the very people it claims to protect? This is a story about faith, duty, and the quiet human cost that rarely makes it into the official record.For more on Ray visit drraychristian.com.

Ray and Chaplain Shabazz turn toward the future — what must change, what leadership should look like, and how the Chaplain Corps can evolve to meet the moral challenges of a new generation. Drawing on lived experience and institutional insight, Shabazz lays out a vision for a Corps rooted in justice, empathy, and real accountability. A closing conversation about courage, reform, and the work of building an institution worthy of the people it serves.For more on Chaplain Colonel Shabazz, find him on Facebook or TikTok, and visit Ray at drraychristian.com.

In the heart of the series, Ray and Chaplain Colonel Shabazz confront the moments that tested him — morally, spiritually, and institutionally. They explore the conflicts he witnessed, the burdens he carried, and the realities of being a Black Muslim officer in a system that often misunderstands both. This is where the quiet truths come out: the cost of service, the weight of conscience, and the thin line between obedience and survival. A powerful look at what happens when faith meets the machinery of war.For more on Chaplain Colonel Shabazz, find him on Facebook or TikTok, and visit Ray at drraychristian.com.

In this three-part series, Ray sits down with Chaplain Colonel Khallid Shabazz — a Muslim chaplain, a combat-tested officer, and a man who has spent his career navigating faith, duty, and the contradictions of military life. Through candid conversation and hard-earned truth, Ray explores what it means to serve a country that doesn’t always serve you back, and how a Black Muslim officer carries moral authority inside an institution built on hierarchy, obedience, and tradition.This series digs into the personal cost of leadership, the ethical weight of orders, and the quiet courage required to speak truth inside a system that often prefers silence. It’s a story about faith under pressure, conscience in uniform, and the long shadow of American history — told through the life of a man who has lived all three.Visit Ray at https://drraychristian.com.

This week, we're sharing an episode of the acclaimed podcast Articles of Interest, a show that explores the hidden history and surprising cultural power of what we wear. Ray talks with the show's creator, Avery Trufelman, as part of AOI's "Gear" series, which looks at the military and outdoor clothing we wear in our daily lives — from uniforms to specialized apparel — and how those design choices ripple outward into society, identity, and future fashion trends. For more on Articles of Interest, visit https://www.articlesofinterest.co/podcast, and for more on Ray, visit drraychristian.com.

In this episode Ray breaks down how obedience, loyalty, and survival collide in America — in the military, in politics, and in Black life. From lawful orders to the legacy of Black resistance, he explores why conscience, not compliance, has always been the real engine of American progress. A sharp look at power, duty, and the courage it takes to say “no” when it matters most.

In this episode, Ray takes another look at tropes, specifically euphemism, stories that follow the path of misunderstanding by substituting words and phrases to deflect or minimize the impact of negativity. He's joined again by Kory Thomas May, and Tiffany Christian. For more on Ray, visit drraychristian.com and support the show!

We want to share with you this special episode of Death, Sex & Money, a Slate podcast. Ray joins host Anna Sale to share why he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1978, what it was like serving in the years between major conflicts, and the challenges he faced leaving military life behind. He reflects on the trauma he carried, his time as a paratrooper and drill sergeant, and how he eventually found his way into academia and storytelling. The conversation continues what Anna does best: exploring the hard questions and hidden struggles that shape our lives. You can find Death, Sex and Money wherever you get your podcasts.