And the 2026 Award for Worst 'Bothsides' in Religion goes to... "Both Senate candidates have been criticized for falling short of being an authentic or true Christian-Talarico for his progressive Christian message, and Paxton for 2 alleged extramarital affairs." religionnews.com/2026/08/13/p...

Paxton, Talarico tap contrary versions of God and Christianity in appeal to Texas voters

AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) — In a state where two-thirds of the adult population identifies as Christian and 45% say religion is 'very important' in their life, the candidates are asking voters to choose bet...

religionnews.com

This might take longer to get resolved than the Iran War.

Every year, just about now, I get a strange urge to buy pencils, folders, and notebooks. And plaid skirts.

Media is like “Peggy Flanagan, a PROGRESSIVE, wins in MN.” (Fits the narrative of Dem divide they’ve created for this cycle.) I’m like, “Peggy Flanagan, an Ojibwe woman, the first Native woman to wins in MN.” If Flanagan wins the general, she’ll be the first Native woman to serve as a senator.

Oh jeez. NYT changed their original headline (left) to the less interesting one (right)

The universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects. -Thomas Berry, Evening Thoughts: Reflecting on Earth as Sacred Community, p. 17

by @dianabutlerbass.bsky.social 1/2 “Blessings are not pious rewards for good behavior. Blessings are the boost bestowed on us by systems, structures, families, and other benefactors who assist us on our way. “Headwinds: barriers. Tailwinds: blessings. Headwinds make us say, ‘I earned this..’

Sunday Musings

Just turn the boat around

dianabutlerbass.substack.com

That’s what the fight is all about. Historians do matter, and the historiographies of slavery and the Revolution formed in the final decades of the 20th century& the beginning of the 21st have shaped current-day understandings about so much.

Kevin M. Levin@civilwarmemory.bsky.social · 6d ago

Historians may have played a decisive role last week in a judge's ruling that overturning a school board's decision to change the names of public school honoring Confederate generals ignored its impact on Black students. Historians matter. #CivilWarMemory 🗃️ kevinmlevin.substack.com/p/what-the-h...

John McCain = HERO Bill Cassidy = ZERO

…and they’ll know you are Christians by your love, by your love/and they’ll know you are by your love…” 🎶 🎶 religionnews.com/2026/08/04/p... Updates

'They're not real pastors': As clergy run as Democrats, Republicans question their faith

(RNS) — 'It's a sign that they are really scared they're gonna lose this seat,' the Rev. Sarah Trone Garriott, a Lutheran pastor running for Congress in Iowa, said. She is part of a wave of religious ...

religionnews.com

As the UN Secy General says, the Euro wildfires are just an opening act to the El Nino bearing down on planet earth. It's time for smart politicians to stop climate hushing and start getting ahead of the heat. open.substack.com/pub/billmcki...

High Heat, High Drama

Europe is starting to provide some answers about the next step in the climate fight

open.substack.com

Date night at the bird buddy.

by @dianabutlerbass.bsky.social 1/2 “It isn’t scary or threatening to center the story of slavery as it was. Or the stories of women’s rights. Or the resilience of the LGBTQ people and communities. These stories open the doors of our minds and hearts a little wider; they invite us into..

History and Slavery

The stories we tell create possibilities for the future

open.substack.com

Bordeaux, France, has now recorded more days above 40°C in 2026 alone than during the entire 105-year period from 1920 (when observations began) to 2025. This is deeply shocking.

Trump's administration began by slashing money for health-killing people overseas, moved on to killing immigrants, then turned to the poor and those dependent on federally-supported health care. Who's next? Seniors-all of them. Being forced off of Medicare on to a 2nd rate private program.

These days, I often think about "when they go low, we go high." If there's one thing I've learned since Tr*mp 2.0, it is "when he goes low, I go deeper." Because that's been it for me. In recent months, I'm finding deeper insight, wisdom, passion, and commitment for things that matter.

The news seems worse than usual today.

This seems bad www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

by @dianabutlerbass.bsky.social 1/2 “We human beings may have thought a kingdom to be a golden palace. But not Jesus. The “kingdom” instead is like ordinary things, found in everyday experience, shared longings and simple hopes. “The seeds become a safe haven for birds. A place to nest..

Sunday Musings

It's a Parabalooza!

open.substack.com

The Second Naivete of a Nation: Diana Butler Bass on America 250, Anger, and Believing Again

The Second Naivete of a Nation: Diana Butler Bass on America 250, Anger, and Believing Again

Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community.

homebrewedchristianty.com

I think these nice folks are on a rather different Ireland pilgrimage than I have been…

Seen in an herb garden on a walk yesterday in Kildare, Ireland.

Tip for a wonderful European vacation: Say to every taxi driver, wait person, clerk, tour operator, bus driver, etc: "Yes, I live in Washington, DC and no I didn't vote for him." They will love you. I promise.

Happy Feast Day of Mary Magdalene! To celebrate, I'm sharing big news from @libbiesp.bsky.social about MM and the Gospel of John!

On rocks and hope. Sunday Musings open.substack.com/pub/dianabut...

Sunday Musings

A meditation on rocks and hope

open.substack.com

yeah we’re gonna have to ban prediction markets

People are making wildfire bets on prediction markets. Experts say it could lead to disaster | CNN

As the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires raged last year, people placed bets on how how many acres the fires would consume, which locations they would reach and when they would be contained.

cnn.com

When journalists asked me "where we will see the effects of DOGE on outcomes?" one of my responses was "during crises...as long as media connect the dots." Well, dots connected: www.wired.com/story/cdc-cy...

The CDC Has a Cyclospora Lab. DOGE Downsized It Last Year

“Based on simple math, these outbreak responses—which require rapid, timely responses—are going to be greatly diminished,” the former CDC lab director tells WIRED.

wired.com

Friday night change ringing at Christ Church Cathedral Dublin.

My friends @trippfuller.bsky.social and @dianabutlerbass.bsky.social have teamed up to offer something braver: an online summit called Unsettled Ground: Faith & the American Story at 250.

Evening view, Dublin skyline.