David W. Congdon
@dwcongdon.com
Senior Editor, University Press of Kansas | Lecturer, KU | Who Is a New Christian? (Cambridge, 2024) | Bylines: Christian Century, Sojourners, Presby Outlook, Revealer
Many of us have been saying… Refusing to write with/by AI is absolutely a necessary “act of resistance against an ever-dumber world” (not to mention against the tech companies and powers that want to make us pliable, unthinking slaves)
Opinion | I’m Begging You: Never Write With A.I. (Gift Article)
It’s bad for your brain and worse for democracy.
nytimes.com
Despite repeated efforts by conservatives, Kansas continues to be one of the most consistent in supporting abortion rights. Amendment 1 was the latest attempt to circumvent the will of the people—and it has failed spectacularly.
In addition to having no experience in immigration, their website shows Ilya Shapiro (!) and disgraced former law prof Joshua Wright (!) as Senior Counsel. I don't think this massive contract was awarded to give immigrant children effective, zealous advocacy. burkegroup.law/our-team/
Our Team - BURKE LAW GROUP, PLLC
Our Team
burkegroup.law
Politico@politico.com · 18h ago26-employee Texas law firm gets $150M to represent 24,000 children in immigration court
It really is remarkable how fully 1/2 of US history can be narrated as a story of anticommunism.
Yashar Ali 🐘@yasharali.bsky.social · 18h agoPresident Trump promotes the book of notorious POS Alan Dershowitz.
This is where I live. I swear if a polling location forced me to use a Republican ballot I would literally explode into flames.
A moral atrocity that should be seared on our collective conscience.
Allison Gill@muellershewrote.com · 2d agoBREAKING: EXCLUSIVE: Five months ago, we learned that ICE seized drawings and letters from children in the Dilley ICE concentration camp. I sued under the Freedom of Information Act. Today, I got responsive documents. www.muellershewrote.com/p/breaking-e...
"Ecclesial worldview thinking uses pluralism to give itself a seat at the table, which it then uses to burn the table." @dwcongdon.com in Who Is a True Christian?, p. 172
This is a great response to my thread today.
David W. Congdon@dwcongdon.com · 3d ago1. Scholar of religion and theology here. I teach a course on Christian nationalism and American politics every year at KU. While I appreciate this thread, I would argue that America *is* a Christian nation—but specifically for the reasons identified by Matthew Avery Sutton in his new book.
This is an excellent way to frame things. The hypocrisy and inconsistencies among Christians in America matter less than the real world policy they implement that favors churches, especially protestant ones, over other faiths and traditions.
David W. Congdon@dwcongdon.com · 3d ago9. Instead, historians like Sutton in his book CHOSEN LAND shift the line of inquiry. Instead of trying to measure who is or who isn't Christian, he asks a different question: "Do the social norms and political systems favor Christianity over other religions?" The answer, he demonstrates, is yes.
This is a fantastic thread. We are held back as a society by a very superficial understanding of religion in general and the role of religion in history (plug for my field, natch). I’m not just talking the general public- pundits, politicians, journalists, scholars in other fields - do better.
David W. Congdon@dwcongdon.com · 3d ago1. Scholar of religion and theology here. I teach a course on Christian nationalism and American politics every year at KU. While I appreciate this thread, I would argue that America *is* a Christian nation—but specifically for the reasons identified by Matthew Avery Sutton in his new book.
1. Scholar of religion and theology here. I teach a course on Christian nationalism and American politics every year at KU. While I appreciate this thread, I would argue that America *is* a Christian nation—but specifically for the reasons identified by Matthew Avery Sutton in his new book.
The Editorial Board@editorialboard.bsky.social · 3d ago1. America is not a Christian nation. Yes, I know what they say. But we're not, and it's not because history and the Constitution say so.
I wrote about a common defense strategy used by those trying to protect evangelicalism, or evangelical institutions, and how those same strategies are deployed to protect other conservative or postliberal organizations and figures—and why we should reject it. open.substack.com/pub/dwcongdo...
On the Elusive Quest for Innocence
My response to an all-too-common defense of conservative and postliberal figures and institutions
open.substack.com
It is funny that this person thinks “immigrants defended the union while native born whites sought to destroy it in the name of slavery” is an argument against immigrants being Americans. This is precisely the point, nothing about being born here makes you better bsky.app/profile/aphc...
Alexander Clarkson@aphclarkson.bsky.social · 4d agoAnother datapoint for the fascist radicalisation of institutional pillars of much of the American Right
Lest we forget: there was mass nativist Germanophobia in the late 19th and early 20th c.—including the suppression of German language and culture and forced assimilation—that is a direct precursor to current events.
Alexander Clarkson@aphclarkson.bsky.social · 4d agoAlexander is right, so presumably MAGA's next step will be the mass deportation of members of the Irish- and German-American diaspora
Grand to have embarrassing authoritarian shit like this exist alongside people spraining their own elbows patting themselves on the back at the Mark Twain Prize evening for “not being afraid to piss people off” or what have you.
Florida Professor Fired for Assigning a Profane Story, Lawsuit Says
South Florida State College fired an English professor after she assigned a story about a teacher who talks about sex with her students. Now the professor is suing.
nytimes.com
Trump is going to be to corruption what Cal Ripken was to durability. It's impossible for me to imagine anyone else topping either one in my lifetime.
Brad Reed@bwreed.bsky.social · 6d agoI almost have to admire this level of corruption. No president will ever top it.
literally impeach him just for this
Murshed Zaheed@murshedz.bsky.social · 7d ago“Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Right now people in blue states are basically paying federal taxes as if they’re colonized territories of red states. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference. Yep, they used generative AI…
US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference
State department ‘takes full responsibility’ for erroneous, widely shared chart displayed at Aids conference in Brazil
theguardian.com
I’ve just been watching Glen Hansard performances all evening and soaking them in. What a gift he was. I’m gutted.
Andrew Stout@thomasacstout.bsky.social · 7d agoMy favorite Glen Hansard performance was at Shane MacGowan's funeral. I hope Glen receives an equally fitting a tribute. RIP to a true artist youtu.be/ptayWtW1So8?...
Glen Hansard: “And all are welcome.” R.I.P., fair troubadour.
Tonight I watched Once and remembered the life of Glen Hansard. Seeing him and Marketa in concert is one of my favorite experiences. I probably hadn’t seen Once in 15 years, but it hits as hard as ever—and more so in light of the tragic news. What a terrible loss. RIP.
Agree with @jamellebouie.net that it's pretty clear Elon Musk wanted to eviscerate USAID *for the purpose of killing as many African people as possible.* Mass death wasn't an accidental byproduct of his "deep state" paranoia; it was a key mission of DOGE. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/o...
I actually learned this lesson as a student of Karl Barth’s theology in seminary. Barth—or at least Bruce McCormack channeling Barth—criticized negative and natural theologies for simply negating humanity and calling that “God.” The theologian, I was taught, has to start with a positive vision.
Anthony Moser@anthonymoser.com · 11mo agoi would again like to remind everyone that NEGATING A FRAME REINFORCES IT "he's not really targeting criminals" makes it an argument about criminality "this is a fascist attack" states what is actually happening START WITH WHAT IT IS not what it isn't
For those who haven’t read William Stell’s excellent new book, this is a great little teaser—the stunning revelation that Elisabeth Elliott likely had a couple romantic relationships with women, including with a young Virginia Mollenkott. arcmag.org/a-rickety-cl...
A Rickety Closet | ARC: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera
I did not know that Virginia Mollenkott would die several months later. But I imagine that she suspected it. And that’s why she told me. I was interviewing Mollenkott for a new history of evangelicali...
arcmag.org
It's insane he wasn't immediately fired on January 6 after writing this.
Happy “No More Douthat NYT Columns” Day to those who celebrate!
Every one of these stories should, in a just world, generate enough rage to provoke mass revolt. This one is especially gutting. As always, abolish ICE. www.stlpr.org/law-order/20...
Overland couple shot dead in Guatemala after local ICE stop led to deportations
The couple’s 14-month-old daughter was found crying beside her mother’s body in a sugarcane field last week, according to Guatemalan authorities and media.
stlpr.org
