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Ruth Braunstein

@ruthbraunstein.bsky.social

Sociologist. Religion, culture, politics | Director Meanings of Democracy Lab | 📚 MY TAX DOLLARS, PROPHETS & PATRIOTS, RELIGION & PROGRESSIVE ACTIVISM | 🎧 WHEN THE WOLVES CAME

122 Posts3160 Follower812 Folgt
Daniel Winchester@bishopofwestsaxons.bsky.social · 4w ago

IT'S ALIVE! Brainstorming, discussing, writing, and re-writing this piece on the "unbundling" of American religion with @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social, @jlkucinskas.bsky.social, and @bsteens.bsky.social was the most enjoyable part of the process, but it's gratifying to see it officially "out" in ASR.

Religion Unbundled: Toward a Twenty-First-Century Paradigm for the Sociology of American Religion - Ruth Braunstein, Jaime Kucinskas, Brian Steensland, Daniel Winchester, 2026

Much recent sociological work on religion in the United States is written outside the field’s two established paradigms: secularization theory and the 1990s “re...

journals.sagepub.com

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion@jssreligion.bsky.social · last mo.

White evangelicalism isn't simply divided between conservatives & liberals. The deeper divide is over Christian autocracy vs. pluralistic democracy. In this SSSR Presidential Address, @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social explores what this reveals about American religion & politics. doi.org/10.1111/jssr...

Religion and the Restructuring of American Politics

Over the past decade, White evangelicals in the United States have largely aligned themselves with Donald Trump's Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement and the Christian nationalist ideas it pr....

doi.org

Ruth Braunstein@ruthbraunstein.bsky.social · last mo.

Truly honored by the news that *My Tax Dollars* was awarded this year’s Mary Douglas Prize for Best Book by the American Sociological Association Culture Section. đŸ€© Thanks to all who have supported the book at various stages!

Princeton University Press@princetonupress.bsky.social · last mo.

Congratulations to @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social, whose book My Tax Dollars is the Winner of the Mary Douglas Prize for Best Book, Culture Section, presented by the American Sociological Association! Read a preview of the book here: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb... @asanews.bsky.social

Jaime Lee Kucinskas@jlkucinskas.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Check out this article from @landonschnabel.bsky.social, Ilana Horowitz & @contexts.org on DIY Faith, especially among young & LGBTQ+ journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... Great w/our forthcoming article @ Am Soc Rev on the Unbundling of Religion: osf.io/preprints/so... @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

Brooklyn Walker@brooklynwalker.bsky.social · 3mo ago

@ruthbraunstein.bsky.social — a leading scholar of Christian nationalism — invited @pauldjupe.bsky.social and I to discuss our work in a Q&A on her Substack. She pushed us on the practical implications of our findings in ways that sharpened my thinking. ruthbraunstein.substack.com/p/why-some-e...

Why some efforts to combat Christian nationalism may fail

A Q&A with political scientists Brooklyn Walker and Paul Djupe

ruthbraunstein.substack.com

American Sociological Association@asanews.bsky.social · 4mo ago

ASA member Ruth Braunstein @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social @jhu.edu notes that individuals who practice war tax resistance typically want to do their duty as citizens but can't in good conscience contribute to war. @npr.org

Taxpayers filing for peace: Evading taxes as protest

Protesting the government by not paying taxes is one way to be heard. We talk with Ruth Braunstein about her book, My Tax Dollar: the Morality of Taxpaying in America.

n.pr

Princeton University Press@princetonupress.bsky.social · 5mo ago

My Tax Dollars author @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social speaks with @nytimes.com. Check out @tarasiegelbernard.bsky.social's full piece on tax resistance here:

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 5mo ago

Tax resistance has long been woven into America’s fabric. Some filers have refused to pay over the decades — or at least are inquiring about their options today — as they struggle to pay their federal income taxes in good conscience.

The Horizons Project@horizonsprjt.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Check out the ideas, tools, and research grounding and inspiring us this month. H/T @votingrightslab.bsky.social @navigatorsurvey.bsky.social @protectdemocracy.org @npquarterly.bsky.social @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social @adamkahane.bsky.social https://horizonsproject.us/the-vista-february-2026/

THE VISTA: February 2026

In February we celebrated 100 years of Black History month, with commemorations and invitations to communities to “reflect not only on the history itself, but on how the rituals of remembering have helped shape culture, identity, and national understanding of Black life.” We also joined in the joyful celebration of this year’s Superbowl half-time show, with Bad Bunny’s Gift for Multiplicity. “Bad Bunny showed up with community, color, dance, music and chaos. That’s why, when he ended his performance by saying seguimos aquí (‘we’re still here’), it felt like an insistence on showing up as our full selves, without leaving anything or anyone behind.” 

horizonsproject.us

Diana Butler Bass@dianabutlerbass.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Big fall-offs among all religious groups except Black Protestants - thus proving (as always) that everyone should listen to and understand Black theology, history, and ethics.

Conrad Hackett@conradhackett.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Extremely or very confident Donald Trump acts ethically in office White evangelicals 40% US adult avg. 21% Unaffiliated 10% Black Protestants 7% https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/02/09/white-evangelicals-remain-among-trumps-strongest-supporters-but-theyre-less-supportive-than-a-year-ago/

Compared with a year ago, White Protestants and religiously unaffiliated adults now have significantly less confidence that Trump acts ethically in office. For example, 26% of White nonevangelical Protestants are extremely or very confident Trump acts ethically in office, down from 38%. And the share of religious “nones” who have a lot of confidence in Trump’s ethics now stands at 10%, down from 16%. Confidence in Trump’s ethics has remained low among Black Protestants.
Jack Jenkins@jackjenkins.me · 9mo ago

For more info on this (failed) effort: religionnews.com/2025/07/30/e...

Evangelical legal group asks Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage ruling

(RNS) — ‘We think that it’s not a matter of if, but just a matter of when, the Supreme Court will overrule Obergefell,’ said Mathew Staver, head of Liberty Counsel.

religionnews.com

Mark Joseph Stern@mjsdc.bsky.social · 9mo ago

New: The Supreme Court DENIES Kim Davis' request to overturn Obergefell, the marriage equality decision. No noted dissents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...

DAVIS, KIM V. ERMOLD, DAVID, ET AL. The motion of Foundation for Moral Law for leave to file a brief as amicus curiae out of time is denied. The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.