Yii-Jan Lin
@janjancl.bsky.social
Associate Professor of New Testament • Yale Divinity School • biblical texts in immigration, borders, apocalypse, textuality, biological metaphors • 她/she • not always here • http://yiijanlin.com
I had the chance to comment in this piece by @derosejason.bsky.social for NPR's All Things Considered.
NPR@npr.org · 2mo agoPresident Trump isn't much of a Bible-quoter, but some members of his administration are, and they have used Scripture to frame controversial policies as justified by the Good Book. n.pr/4vg7yRs
Wounded Knee. Tulsa. My Lai. Abu Ghraib And now, Minab We need to talk about the horror when 180 little schoolgirls, boys and teachers were obliterated by U.S. Tomahawk missiles last week. And tell Congress: Not one more dime for these war crimes My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/iran...
AI error or not, Iran school bombing is a permanent stain on America’s soul | Will Bunch
A debate on AI in warfare obscures the truth about an Iran school bombing. U.S. humans are to blame for this war crime.
inquirer.com
CFP deadline Mar 31, & registration at link. I am a plenary speaker along with Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Mark Elliott, Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Joshua Ralston, Hanna Reichel, Michelle Sanchez, J. Ross Wagner tinyurl.com/548h6u5x
Paul's letter to the Romans Conference
Continuing the tradition of the St Andrews Scripture and Theology conferences, Princeton Theological Seminary, in partnership with St Andrews, announces a conference on Paul’s Letter to the Romans and...
ptsem.edu
With the SBL deadline for proposals extended, consider submitting!!
Yii-Jan Lin@janjancl.bsky.social · 6mo agoTwo calls for papers for SBL 2026 from the units I co-chair: Bible in America and Minoritized Criticism & Biblical Interpretation. Please consider submitting an abstract on either of these urgent topics!
Good thing some US colleges are closing their Religious Studies departments—definitively not “useful” at all or an area of expertise that might be relevant for understanding our present…
Jonathan Larsen@jonathanlarsen.bsky.social · 5mo agoEXCLUSIVE: At more than 30 installations, U.S. commanders told troops the war on Iran is a Christian war. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has been “inundated” with more than 110 complaints. One NCO said they were told the U.S. war is to bring about Armageddon and the return of Jesus…
Two calls for papers for SBL 2026 from the units I co-chair: Bible in America and Minoritized Criticism & Biblical Interpretation. Please consider submitting an abstract on either of these urgent topics!
I'm happy to announce the publication of my article about a curious early episode in the U.S.-Afghan relationship: the Inland oil concession. In 1936, the Afghan government offered the Inland Exploration Company – the local arm of a mid-sized domestic U.S. firm – an exclusive concession across 🇦🇫.
I’m looking forward to the talk! Your book is excellent.
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
Concentration camps: stories of as many as 50 people to a cell — men and women in some cases — with no windows and limited airflow, a single camera-monitored toilet, aluminum blankets, no showers and poor quality food.
ICE detainees from Maine being held under ‘inhumane’ conditions in Mass. facility, attorneys say
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said the allegations of overcrowding and lack of access to lawyers are false.
pressherald.com
Former Washington Post journalists have launched a GoFundMe to help repatriate fired staff members who are effectively stranded in foreign countries. One of the richest men in the world fired them from the paper and didn’t even pay to ensure they got home. Abolish the billionaire class:
Donate to Support for Washington Post international employees, organized by Michelle Lee
Among the hundreds of journalists laid off by The Washington Post on … Michelle Lee needs your support for Support for Washington Post international employees
gofundme.com
I will be giving the Harshbarger Lecture at Penn State on Feb. 25, on a topic that is increasingly terrible. Link below, also streaming. Register here: events.la.psu.edu/event/harshb...
Children screaming and crying can be heard as a possible uprising is underway at the ICE Children's Concentration Camp in Dilley, TX (1/24/26).
Also, may I say that I don’t agree with people saying ICE and CBP need “more training.” They’re doing exactly what this administration has trained them to—impose a reign of fear in blue cities. They don’t need more training. They need to be ripped up root and branch.
In October, ICE grabbed Maher Tarabishi. He was a 24/7 caregiver for his disabled son Wael. At the time of Maher’s detention, disability advocates warned that taking away Wael’s caregiver put his life at risk. Wael died on Friday at age 30. ICE caused his death. They didn’t get to say goodbye.
Disabled son of ICE detainee dies after 30 days of hospitalization
It had been months since Wael Tarabishi seen his father. The family is calling on ICE to release Maher Tarabishi so he may attend his son's funeral.
wfaa.com
Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026
The State Department says it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries whose nationals are deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States. n.pr/49BDR41
U.S. to suspend immigrant visas from 75 countries over public assistance concerns
The State Department says it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries whose nationals are deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.
n.pr
NEW: President Trump is expanding the previous 19-country travel ban to a whopping 39 countries (plus the Palestinian Authority), and appears to expand a block on legal immigration to now include spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens, who were previously exempted.
The Associated Press@apnews.com · 8mo agoBREAKING: The Trump administration expands travel ban to include Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria.
I take Wikipedia for granted. Reading this Jimmy Wales interview reminded me in our Fantasyland age what a remarkable and important creation it is. True pillar of civilization. Runs on only $200 million a year. Requires our support. So I’m finally donating. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
The Culture Wars Came for Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales Is Staying the Course.
nytimes.com
30% off at Yale Press, including my book, Immigration + Apocalypse
Yale University Press@yalepress.bsky.social · 8mo ago'Tis the season for gifts 🎁 and deals! Our ❄️ Winter sale ❄️ starts today. Save 30% off thousands of titles with discount code GIFT30 through December 5th. See full terms: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/gift30/
I'm featured in Publisher's Weekly in the ramp-up to the #AARSBL book panel. If you're in Boston for the annual meeting, please come by.
AAR/SBL 2025: Changing People, Changing Worlds
Yale University religious studies scholar Yii-Jan Lin sees parallels between immigration stories and the Book of Revelation.
publishersweekly.com
Two important and timely panels at #AARSBL co-sponsored by Poverty in the Biblical World with Minoritized Criticism & Biblical Interpretation and Latino/a/e & Latin American Biblical Interpretation respectively: The Bible, Poverty, & Minoritized Peoples and Engaging the Legacies of Gustavo Gutiérrez
Come to my book review panel at #AARSBL2025 ! A cross-organization, interdisciplinary joint session, Sat. Nov 22 @ 1-3:30 Hynes Convention Center 201 -- if not for me, then to hear one of these fabulous panelists! @jaxhidalgo.bsky.social @elprofebarba.bsky.social
you fucked around and now the Episcopalians are doing memes. are you happy now. are you
Something I’ve written about: how cuteness, silliness, and humor strengthen protest. theconversation.com/pikachu-prot...
Mario Guevara, an Emmy-award winning reporter, was deported to El Salvador — a nation he fled more than two decades ago. He was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.
U.S. deports journalist Mario Guevara to El Salvador, family says
Mario Guevara, an independent journalist, was arrested while covering a protest of the Trump administration in a case that has alarmed free speech groups.
washingtonpost.com
It's important to name the tools of authoritarianism so we can identify and condemn them with precision. I'm glad we now have a term for ICE's openly racist, degrading immigration arrests: Kavanaugh stops. slate.com/news-and-pol...
