Matt Hartley
@rmatthartley.bsky.social
Religious Diversity educator. Florida man. Dad jokes. Community Coordinator for Young Adult Transformation Collective, Adjunct Religious Studies, roving Preacher.
I’m telling you this as a political scientist. The person who is electable is the one who is elected. This can and does change over time. Any and all speculation about “electability” is either puffery or anxiety and is often both.
Julia Azari@juliaazari.bsky.social · 16h agoOne way to be safe is to never write an electability take
Happy to share I’m starting a full-time Visiting Faculty role with University of North Florida Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies for Fall/Spring 26-27. As I transition from Adjunct, I’ll continue to teach Comparative Religion & Intro to Humanities, and promote department with students.
This piece resonates with me. I am sometimes asked by my Jewish Zionist friends and family whether, as a Jew from the US, I support Israel. I think it's fair to ask in reply: does Israel support me? forward.com/opinion/8409... cc: @joelhs.bsky.social
Israel's government doesn't want to protect American Jews. It wants to use us.
Leaders’ silence when the Tree of Life massacre followed Trump’s anti-immigration tirades speaks volumes about the current campaign to tie Mamdani to a violent attack.
forward.com
the thing about having actual principles is that when a politician I respect does some stupid shit I can just be like, “that sucks, knock it off” instead of inventing an imaginary world where I’m forced to defend stupid shit for procedural 4d chess reasons
"Positioning a trans actor as the moral voice of reason, an unwavering advocate for Zeus’s law, and a man whose ultimate betrayal symbolizes the destruction of civilized Greek society for the sake of the 'victory' at Troy, is especially pertinent to where we are currently."
Them@them.us · 2w agoA spoiler-filled discussion of the film’s moral themes — far beyond the casting of Elliot Page and Lupita Nyong'o.
The environmental crises in Congo from mining and in Gaza from war provide two examples of how extraction and occupation are twin sins. sojo.net/magazine/aug...
The Twin Flames Burning Gaza and Congo
A liberation theologian on how extraction and occupation work in tandem.
sojo.net
if you haven't listened to the jurassic park score recently you absolutely should total masterpiece
Seth Masket@smotus.bsky.social · 2w agoWhy does a summer action film about dinosaurs and computer kids and chaos theory have the most moving score that’s ever been written
maybe we can just trying briefly turning gender off and then on again
Total and complete shut down of gender until we can figure out what the hell is going on
Toby Buckle@polphilpod.bsky.social · 2w agoour elites want to abolish hard men
My latest. On white christian nationalists' love of ICE and concentration camps. open.substack.com/pub/robertpj...
White Christian Nationalists' Love of ICE and Concentration Camps, in Three Charts
White Christians who score high on the Christian nationalist scale enthusiastically support ICE and the building of concentration camps for immigrants on U.S. soil.
open.substack.com
more serious Odyssey opinion: leaning into the religious significance of the Trojan horse strategy (and the hospitality as central to civilization theme) was a good choice by Nolan and friends artistically and politically. strongest condemnation of our present era I'd expect from a mass market film
appears the US war apparatus is pivoting from general war crimes to a more openly genocidal strategy
Scott Horton@robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 3w agoThe US is adopting a strategy of attacking water storage and desalination plants designed to render the region uninhabitable. If continued, this strategy will make the Gulf littoral uninhabitable in the coming decades. Yet there is no discussion of these tactics and their repercussion in the US.
As private schools proliferate in Florida and across the country, fueled by taxpayer dollars, states are choosing not to closely regulate who is operating them or to oversee student safety and achievement, a ProPublica investigation found. Read this ⬇️⬇️ www.propublica.org/article/priv...
Congratulations on confirming everything Judith Butler ever said about gender performativity, I guess.
Matthew Gault@mjgault.bsky.social · 3w agoHegseth announced they're gonna start screening for T and administering testosterone treatment for warriors found wanting
Sorry but "Darline Graham Nordone, the Sister Senator," is a Lauren Lapkus character on Comedy Bang Bang who has appeared six times, including in 2023 at the Charleston live show. I can hear the voice already.
Sahil Kapur@sahilkapur.bsky.social · 3w agoSouth Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) announces he’s picking Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to finish the remainder of his Senate term.
ICE and/or police murdered someone this morning in Biddeford, Maine. From the statements I’ve seen from local activists, I *think* the victim was a young Black man. You may already know Black immigrants are the largest non-white immigrant demo in Maine. A protest is already under way.
Witness says Biddeford shooting victim told police ‘I tried to stop’
One resident says he heard the shots and saw as agents pulled the man out of the vehicle.
pressherald.com
Sometimes two consecutive days can provide dramatically polarized obits which provide an education in living. How you treat people, the ways you use your influence, your consistency in caring about inclusion and impact, all of these are the difference between scorn and adoration. RIP Sam Neill.
"Neill changed the Union flag on his uniform to an Aboriginal flag... In the movie's future of 2047, Australia would have progressed past being represented by a divisive symbol of oppression... his hope that the country ends up on the right side of history." Source: screenrant.com/event-horizo...
Peter Murphy@peterwmurphy1.bsky.social · 2y agoActor Sam Neill had that idea when he played an Australian astronaut in the film "Event Horizon" (1997) set in 2047. He asked for that design, saying he thought by 2047 Australia would celebrate its Indigenous history. #InvasionDay
Best “remove glasses to look at something unbelievable” in cinema history.
Jurassic Park: Dr. Grant's Surprise
Alt: Jurassic Park: Dr. Grant's Surprise
static.klipy.com
NEW: He was picking up a work crew to take them to construction site at 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning. ICE showed up. And now this small business owner, the father of three American citizens, is dead. www.thebulwark.com/p/he-lived-h...
He Lived Here for 35 Years. Put Three Kids in College. ICE Killed Him.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was picking up a crew for a construction project when ICE shot him. It now claims he was the aggressor.
thebulwark.com
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Interfaith Action for Palestine gathered around 200 people to protest Christians United for Israel and US military support for Israel.
Pro-Palestinian interfaith coalition protests Christian Zionist summit
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Interfaith Action for Palestine gathered around 200 people to protest Christians United for Israel and US military support for Israel.
religionnews.com
Early last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis began signing death warrants at a faster rate than ever before. What followed was the most intense period of executions the state has carried out in more than eight decades. with @nytimes.com
Florida Is Executing Prisoners at a Record Pace, Even as Most of the U.S. Abandons the Death Penalty
Early last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis began signing death warrants at a faster rate than ever before. What followed was the most intense period of executions the state has carried out in more than eight ...
propublica.org
New AP polling of Jewish Americans— Mamdani (+5): 44% Favorable; 39% Unfavorable Netanyahu (-27): 32% Favorable; 59% Unfavorable Trump (-42): 29% Favorable; 71% Unfavorable Where's all the breathless wall-to-wall coverage on Netanyahu & Trump making Jewish people feel unsafe?
cathartic smugness and jokes aside, Jenny Racicot did something heroic today. she already suffered, and she will likely receive horrific backlash and even more suffering for speaking up. but she did it anyway, to try and protect other women and (not hyperbole) to protect our country.