My university became shockingly corporatized over the past five years, so our faculty organized and, today, won a union. In an era when democracy is under attack, our faculty fought to bring democracy into the workplace. www.pennstatefacultyalliance.org/news/2026/05...

We Won!!!

Thousands of Penn State Faculty Vote to Join SEIU Local 668.

pennstatefacultyalliance.org

Tonight! I'll be talking about Catholics in government. We're on Zoom....details below if you'd like to join.

Institute for Religion, Culture and Societal Futures@ircsf.bsky.social · 6mo ago

We're partnering with @stjeromesuni.bsky.social for this upcoming webinar titled "How Local Government Officials Manage Interaction between Religion and State" with Gary Adler on Thursday Feb 26 @ 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM EST. Register here to attend the Zoom webinar for free: ticketfi.com/event/6841/l...

Research + teaching + student = great partnership. Also why I love my job @pennstateuniv.bsky.social Keep an eye on @ienesatac.bsky.social! It was a fun weekend at @sssreligion.bsky.social

Enes Ataç@ienesatac.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Thrilled to share that our paper (w/ @garyadler.bsky.social) in Social Forces, “Religious Rebound, Political Backlash, and the Youngest Cohort: Understanding Religious Change in Turkey,” received the Distinguished Article Award from @sssreligion.bsky.social!

Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino took the extraordinary step of formally excusing parishioners in his diocese from the obligation of attending mass weekly - because of the possibility immigration officers would seize people coming to or from church.

A Religious Rebellion Against Mass Deportation

American Christians are showing increasing discomfort with Trump’s signature policy.

thebulwark.com

Big news on the "Johnson Amendment" (!, ?) A collapse of the wall between church and state? A new plank in the floor of religious liberty? Observations from a sociologist of religion.... I.R.S. Says Churches Can Endorse Candidates From the Pulpit www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/u...

I.R.S. Says Churches Can Endorse Candidates From the Pulpit

nytimes.com

One cool trick to increasing trust in elections and government: make everyone a public official. Okay, maybe not, but still our new paper shows that local officials trust elections more. Why? Partly because they have a lot of social trust. dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Confidence in elections among U.S. local officials: Effects of social trust, partisanship and political ambition

The U.S. public’s confidence in elections is intensively studied in the last decade but little is known about election confidence among locally elected officials, whose roles and community status may ...

dx.plos.org

Read the piece to learn about how: · USCCB fracturing over advocacy is a big deal, signaling just how much Trump/GOP's policies have pushed bishops · It's a slow-burn result of Francis-aligned clerics finding a voice outside the USCCB · It all adds to widespread religious opposition to Trump

Jack Jenkins@jackjenkins.me · last yr.

NEW from @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social and myself: In an unusual public display of disagreement within the U.S. Catholic bishops conference, prelates signed dueling letters Thursday criticizing the GOP budget bill. Religious criticism of the bill continues to grow. religionnews.com/2025/06/27/i...

Deep dive into Pope Leo's immigrant roots and racial identity. The type of story that is being purposefully erased in the US today. Pope Leo XIV’s link to Haiti is part of a broader American story of race, citizenship and migration theconversation.com/pope-leo-xiv...

Pope Leo XIV’s link to Haiti is part of a broader American story of race, citizenship and migration

Repelled by American racism, thousands of free people of color bounced between New Orleans and Haiti in the 19th century.

theconversation.com

Want to know why being the name Leo 14 is such a big deal? Look was Leo 13 was up to.... www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

ICE agents are lawless, sociopathic shitbirds. Treat every one you encounter accordingly.

Ian Carrillo@iansociologo.bsky.social · last yr.

Please highlight this story. ICE stormed into the wrong house, trashed the place, and made women/girls stand outside in the rain in their underwear. ICE also stole phones, laptops, and cash savings from the family, who moved to OKC two weeks ago. kfor.com/news/local/w...

Dugan, the judge recently arrested by the FBI on allegations of helping an undocumented immigrant avoid ICE arrest, is also a former executive director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. www.jsonline.com/story/news/c...

What to know about Hannah Dugan, the Milwaukee judge at center of ICE arrest investigation

Dugan spent a large swath of her career working for the poor, first with legal aid organizations and then as executive director of Catholic Charities.

jsonline.com

Rest in peace, Pope Francis, master of symbolism... -First "Francis" pope: rebuilder of the Church -First words as Pope: "I am a sinner..." -Eschewed papal apartment for Vatican's "guest house" -Favorite metaphor: The church as field hospital

An incredible final message from Pope Francis: "to run like Mary Magdalene and the disciples" "We must take action, set out to look for him: look for him in life, look for him in the faces of our brothers and sisters, look for him in everyday business, look for him everywhere except in the tomb."

@pennstateuniv.bsky.social is cordially invited to stick up for PSU students whose degrees and research are being destroyed www.presidentsalliance.org/press/eighty...

BIG 10's Rutgers and Michigan State working against "ideological deportation" in legal filing. Let's go @pennstateuniv.bsky.social

Empathy in the news a bit. Time to plug my book about the ups and downs of producing, especially for migrants. www.amazon.com/Empathy-Beyo...

Empathy Beyond US Borders: The Challenges of Transnational Civic Engagement (Cambridge Studies in Social Theory, Religion and Politics)

Empathy Beyond US Borders: The Challenges of Transnational Civic Engagement (Cambridge Studies in Social Theory, Religion and Politics) [Adler Jr, Gary J.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Empathy Beyond US Borders: The Challenges of Transnational Civic Engagement (Cambridge Studies in Social Theory, Religion and Politics)

amazon.com

Postponed until fallish 2025... my talk about how local Catholic elected officials in the US. oppose Christian nationalism and support religious pluralism. uwaterloo.ca/st-jeromes/e...

Prayers for @pontifexes.bsky.social

📢 Calling all religion scholars! 📢Please consider this my personal invitation to submit a paper or organize a session at the upcoming @sssreligion.bsky.social Annual Meeting in Minneapolis this October! Reach out to me or @evanstewart.bsky.social with questions or ideas!

Dang, Pope scooping me. Not m(any) integralist natural law Catholics among local officials in the US. I'll share the goods when visiting with @camacgregor.bsky.social at uwaterloo.ca/st-jeromes/e...

Jack Jenkins@jackjenkins.me · last yr.

Oh, I missed this: The Pope *directly refutes* JD Vance here: "The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the “Good Samaritan” … that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception."

Contra the "integralist" and anti-democratic spate of Catholic theoretical arguments, I'll give a ground-level view of what Catholic officials really think about pluralism and church-state separation. (Hint: they support both.)

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR)@sssreligion.bsky.social · 2y ago

SSSR member/Penn State professor Gary J. Adler Jr. will speak on "how Catholicism influences everyday governance," Thursday, Feb 27th, 2025, 7:30 PM (EST) in Waterloo, ON @uofwaterloo.bsky.social. ➡️ In person & livestream. #Religion #Sociology #SociologyOfReligion uwaterloo.ca/st-jeromes/e...

I see some suggestions, in the reporting regarding the OMB impoundment order, that a mere delay in spending appropriated funds is legal. But that's not really true. The delay OMB has ordered specifically contradicts the Impoundment Control Act. A thread.

I just called (the same) House member's office as @djvanness.bsky.social to let them know that my federal grant funding helps undergrads and grads go to PSU, pay for housing, eat, etc. The staffer responded, "Yeah, we've been getting A LOT of phone calls this morning about this." More calls pls

Dave Vanness@djvanness.bsky.social · 2y ago

I just called my (Republican) House member's office. Even their staffer was completely taken aback. Everyone call your Representative and ask them what they plan to do to protect their Constitutional authority and defend their constituents. Hot tip: call their district offices too, not just DC.

Pretty good evidence that the best way to understand the Catholic Church in the U.S. is not by watching/listening to those with the loudest, most traditionalist megaphone. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/06/u...

Pope Names Robert McElroy, an Ally on Immigration, as Cardinal in Washington

The appointment of Robert W. McElroy is a signal of the pope’s priorities, two weeks before Donald J. Trump’s term begins.

nytimes.com

Lots of new folks finding the bluesky. In that spirit, I've deactivated my account on the other place.

I’m thrilled to share that my first academic publication is out @sfjournal.bsky.social In this paper, with @garyadler.bsky.social, we analyze religious identity and behavior over time to analyze the secularization question in Turkey. 1/n academic.oup.com/sf/advance-a...

Religious rebound, political backlash, and the youngest cohort: understanding religious change in Turkey

Abstract. We distinguish two streams of theory that dominate explanations of religious change: cohort-based cumulative decline theory, which emphasizes sma

academic.oup.com

Sociologists tackle religious freedom. Take a quick tour of the latest sociological research on religious freedom, its meanings, its uses, and its future. I'll be sharing insights from my research with @jonathancoley.bsky.social @mayrl.bsky.social, rebecca sager, and eric plutzer.

Sociologists tackle religious freedom. Take a quick tour of the latest sociological research on religious freedom, its meanings, its uses, and its future. I'll be sharing insights from my research with @jonathancoley.bsky.social @mayrl.bsky.social, rebecca sager, and eric plutzer.

Popular strategies schools and local govts use for holidays pluralism (do em all!), neg secularism (allow em all) pos secularism (do none!) transformative secularism (do em but with new names). Harvest Fest? Full on transforming the medieval peasant experience.

Gary Adler@garyadler.bsky.social · 3y ago

Managing Halloween....My kid's school nixed it in favor of a Harvest Fest," which, I assure you, is not well ritualized in my university town. www.nytimes.com/2023/10/30/l...

Managing Halloween....My kid's school nixed it in favor of a Harvest Fest," which, I assure you, is not well ritualized in my university town. www.nytimes.com/2023/10/30/l...