Religion Dispatches
@religiondispatches.org
bringing you religion, culture, and politics since 2008 * award-winning * independent * non-profit * justice-minded * irreverent RD is a @praeyesright.bsky.social publication want to write for RD? check out https://religiondispatches.org/submissions/
new @xroadproj.bsky.social call for proposals, y'all! grants up to $15k for "diverse knowledge makers" with "innovative projects exploring African American religious history" deadline is 1 Sept come get this money crossroads.princeton.edu/grant-progra...
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This week Tucker Carlson platformed another hardline antisemite-- a pastor who told Carlson 'the Jews killed Jesus' and whose writings rail against 'international Jews'. But unlike last fall's interview with Nick Fuentes, this time the media hardly noticed. My latest at @religiondispatches.org:
Tucker Carlson's Latest Foray Into Far-Right Antisemitism Flies Under the Radar
On Tuesday, Tucker Carlson hosted Jordan Daniel Hall, a Christian nationalist blogger, for a wide-ranging interview criticizing the fundamental tenets of Christian Zionism. Carlson, who recently trade...
religiondispatches.org
also dealt with this a bit in this essay for @religiondispatches.org religiondispatches.org/2021/08/13/l...
Latest Diatribe on Francis and Latin Mass in the Times Launders the History — and Troubling Elements — of the 'Tradition'
Church councils are never simple things, neither when they’re happening nor in their aftermath. Although often called to confront troubling questions or iron out controversies, they haven’t always bee...
religiondispatches.org
Happy Friday, I have a follow up on Hegseth's religious affiliation code changes--because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints someday needs to deal with the fact that the MAGA evangelicals hate them. Up today @religiondispatches.org ! religiondispatches.org/2026/06/12/p...
Pentagon Reclassifies Mormons as Not-Not-Christian, But to MAGA Evangelicals They Will Always Be Heretics
It’s really hard to sympathize with Senator Mike Lee, whose entire persona seems to have gravitated to online trolling of others from a most aggressively MAGA perspective. His X handle is @BasedMikeLe...
religiondispatches.org
still not over this religiondispatches.org/2016/06/13/s...
Sacred Geography: A Queer Latino Theological Response to Orlando
“Oh my God, it was Latin Night,” I said to myself as I lay in bed on Sunday morning, reading the news about the Orlando shooting on my phone. In the wake of the tragedy, I have found myself mostly at ...
religiondispatches.org
"There is no attempt at intellectual consistency or historical accuracy. It’s just power. It’s just fascism. The Christian nationalism here isn’t about returning to anything. The mythical age it hearkens back to is a white supremacist myth."
Religion Dispatches@religiondispatches.org · 2mo agothe latest from RD: @tlecaque.bsky.social on the poignant irony of the DOD erasing the Founding Fathers' faiths from their list of officially recognized religions religiondispatches.org/2026/06/08/f...
"Hegseth and his ilk want to impose their own vision of Christianity and American history on all of us. Actual American history is irrelevant and inconvenient."
Religion Dispatches@religiondispatches.org · 2mo agothe latest from RD: @tlecaque.bsky.social on the poignant irony of the DOD erasing the Founding Fathers' faiths from their list of officially recognized religions religiondispatches.org/2026/06/08/f...
"oh actually Ben Franklin needs a bigger clown nose" is a thing I realized in a professional capacity today in unrelated news dyk I went to school almost non-stop from ages 5 through 35
the latest from RD: @tlecaque.bsky.social on the poignant irony of the DOD erasing the Founding Fathers' faiths from their list of officially recognized religions religiondispatches.org/2026/06/08/f...
The Fake Faiths of Our Founders?
Every Pete Hegseth story somehow becomes a story about Christian nationalism, but few are as on the nose as last week’s. The Pentagon announced the culling of the US military’s list of recognized reli...
religiondispatches.org
grateful to @tlecaque.bsky.social both for his much needed insight and his willingness to let me get uh creative with the feature image here anyway here's the DOD calling the Founding Fathers' faiths fake news religiondispatches.org/2026/06/08/f...
The Fake Faiths of our Founders?
Every Pete Hegseth story somehow becomes a story about Christian nationalism, but few are as on the nose as last week’s. The Pentagon announced the culling of the US military’s list of recognized reli...
religiondispatches.org
I wrote a piece on Hegseth's religious code changes and the specific absurdity of removing the religions of some of our better known Founding Fathers. Up this afternoon @religiondispatches.org with my deepest thanks to @mpgphd.bsky.social for her edits & image. religiondispatches.org/2026/06/08/f...
The Fake Faiths of Our Founders?
Every Pete Hegseth story somehow becomes a story about Christian nationalism, but few are as on the nose as last week’s. The Pentagon announced the culling of the US military’s list of recognized reli...
religiondispatches.org
the latest from RD: @jacobjerickson.bsky.social on Leo's first encyclical "Ecologies of communication take integral systems into account, reflecting on power and paying attention to the material ecological impact of technology on lives seriously." religiondispatches.org/2026/06/02/e...
Ecologies of Communication
Watching Pope Leo XIV announce and release the first encyclical letter of his papacy last week felt achingly surreal. In our age of rapid technology, livestreaming and immediate access build an aura d...
religiondispatches.org
absolutely love this piece @jacobjerickson.bsky.social wrote for @religiondispatches.org "Our technological and algorithmic aspirations are building projects... Their impacts scrape the earth just as much as their algorithms scrape data." religiondispatches.org/2026/06/02/e...
Ecologies of Communication
Watching Pope Leo XIV announce and release the first encyclical letter of his papacy last week felt achingly surreal. In our age of rapid technology, livestreaming and immediate access build an aura d...
religiondispatches.org
"Magnifica Humanitas addresses AI not as an unexpected crisis, but as a technology precedented by and entangled in imperialism and exploitation of workers." Learned alot in this short piece by @roopikarisam.bsky.social on the church, colonialism, data and what the past means for our present.
Religion Dispatches@religiondispatches.org · 2mo agosure did thanks to @roopikarisam.bsky.social for this smart piece! religiondispatches.org/2026/05/26/l...
@natemup.com told y'all! religiondispatches.org/2025/05/09/w...
White Smoke, Black Pope?
This article was first published by Black Catholic Messenger, an independent, nonprofit digital media publication covering stories of interest to African American Catholics.The Catholic Church has a n...
religiondispatches.org
Imani Gandy@angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 2mo agoI just found out yesterday that the Pope is Black. His maternal grandparents were of African, Haitian, and Dominican descent. Louisiana Creole. So a lot of things now make sense.
sure did thanks to @roopikarisam.bsky.social for this smart piece! religiondispatches.org/2026/05/26/l...
Leo XIV Links AI to Histories of Enslavement and Exploitation
Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical this week, on the 135th anniversary of his eponymous predecessor’s landmark Rerum Novarum, or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor. And like Leo XIII befor...
religiondispatches.org
Remington Steel Dosier@stollermeister.bsky.social · 2mo ago@religiondispatches.org also did a great piece on this yesterday
if you like this article (of course you do), be sure to check out @roopikarisam.bsky.social's new book, *Data Empire* (@harpercollins.bsky.social, forthcoming July 2026)!! www.harpercollins.com/products/dat...
Data Empire
AN NPR SUMMER READING PICK From clay tablets to the algorithmic state, a groundbreaking new lens on human history arguing that information has always been t...
harpercollins.com
the latest from RD: @roopikarisam.bsky.social on what makes Leo XIV's first encyclical so radical -- tracing AI back through histories of enslavement and exploitation, and repenting for the RCC's complicity in both religiondispatches.org/2026/05/26/l...
Leo XIV Links AI to Histories of Enslavement and Exploitation
Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical this week, on the 135th anniversary of his eponymous predecessor’s landmark Rerum Novarum, or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor. And like Leo XIII befor...
religiondispatches.org
Excellent essay with historical context of the Catholic Church's support for colonialism. "Institutions have long sought authority over the infrastructures that control public life. That kind of power now increasingly moves through platforms, data centers, and corporations."
Religion Dispatches@religiondispatches.org · 2mo agothe latest from RD: @roopikarisam.bsky.social on what makes Leo XIV's first encyclical so radical -- tracing AI back through histories of enslavement and exploitation, and repenting for the RCC's complicity in both religiondispatches.org/2026/05/26/l...
“the pontiff positions AI as a grave threat to human dignity and the latest point on a much longer timeline of domination, calling the labor undergirding the digital economy ‘new forms of slavery’”
Religion Dispatches@religiondispatches.org · 2mo agothe latest from RD: @roopikarisam.bsky.social on what makes Leo XIV's first encyclical so radical -- tracing AI back through histories of enslavement and exploitation, and repenting for the RCC's complicity in both religiondispatches.org/2026/05/26/l...
My tiny thread yesterday is now a whole op-ed! A quick read, connecting Pope Leo's apology for colonialism and slavery to his warnings about AI — it's all related. Working with editor @mpgphd.bsky.social was an absolutely pleasure!
Religion Dispatches@religiondispatches.org · 2mo agothe latest from RD: @roopikarisam.bsky.social on what makes Leo XIV's first encyclical so radical -- tracing AI back through histories of enslavement and exploitation, and repenting for the RCC's complicity in both religiondispatches.org/2026/05/26/l...
the latest from RD: @roopikarisam.bsky.social on what makes Leo XIV's first encyclical so radical -- tracing AI back through histories of enslavement and exploitation, and repenting for the RCC's complicity in both religiondispatches.org/2026/05/26/l...
Leo XIV Links AI to Histories of Enslavement and Exploitation
Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical this week, on the 135th anniversary of his eponymous predecessor’s landmark Rerum Novarum, or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor. And like Leo XIII befor...
religiondispatches.org
My latest for @religiondispatches.org on the #SanDiego shooting at a #mosque. religiondispatches.org/2026/05/20/a...
Another Mass Shooting. More Dead Muslims. This is America.
Another mass shooting. This is America. More dead Muslims. This is America. These are stories I have written about for a quarter of a century. The only reason it hasn’t been longer is because I’m rela...
religiondispatches.org
missed this earlier but this @religiondispatches.org piece by @danielswise.bsky.social is good! religiondispatches.org/2026/05/23/s...
Is the Surge in Belief — Both Conventional and Bizarre — A Sign We're 'Sliding Back Into the Middle Ages'?
On May 17, the New York Times published a guest essay by Katya Ungerman—“We Are Sliding Back into the Middle Ages”—attributing a strange surge of both conventional religious observance and supernatura...
religiondispatches.org
an absolute delight to collaborate with @roopikarisam.bsky.social on this smart piece for @religiondispatches.org about the pope linking AI to histories of enslavement and exploitation check it out! religiondispatches.org/2026/05/26/l...
Leo XIV Links AI to Histories of Enslavement and Exploitation
Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical this week, on the 135th anniversary of his eponymous predecessor’s landmark Rerum Novarum, or Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor. And like Leo XIII befor...
religiondispatches.org
also shoutout to James for letting me be corny with all the lyrics in the subheds 😂
Megan Goodwin@mpgphd.bsky.social · 3mo agowhat a joy to collaborate with @jameshhilljr.bsky.social on this for @religiondispatches.org "Michael reveals that a particular kind of horror story—one that might startle but not lastingly unsettle its audience—remains immensely profitable for Hollywood." religiondispatches.org/2026/05/12/m...
the latest for RD: @jameshhilljr.bsky.social on why we should understand Michael Jackson's life and legacy as a horror story religiondispatches.org/2026/05/12/m...
Is *Michael* Bad?
Like millions of others, I attended a screening of Michael during its opening week. I found myself tapping my feet to the music. By the time “Bad” played at the film’s conclusion, I was dancing my way...
religiondispatches.org
what a joy to collaborate with @jameshhilljr.bsky.social on this for @religiondispatches.org "Michael reveals that a particular kind of horror story—one that might startle but not lastingly unsettle its audience—remains immensely profitable for Hollywood." religiondispatches.org/2026/05/12/m...
Is *Michael* Bad?
Like millions of others, I attended a screening of Michael during its opening week. I found myself tapping my feet to the music. By the time “Bad” played at the film’s conclusion, I was dancing my way...
religiondispatches.org
In Callais v. Louisiana hat der von einer rechten Mehrheit dominierte Oberste Gerichtshof geschafft, was Ziel eines jahrzehntelangen Projekts war: Die effektive Abschaffung des 1965 verabschiedeten Voting Rights Acts. Oder, anders gesagt: SCOTUS läutet das Ende der multi-racial Demokratie ein.
USAUpdate 269: Jim Crow 2.0 - SCOTUS killt den Voting Rights Act | Annika Brockschmidt
USAUpdate 269: Jim Crow 2.0 - SCOTUS killt den Voting Rights Act by Annika Brockschmidt on Patreon. Join Annika Brockschmidt's community for exclusive content and updates.
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