My latest: "As we increasingly realize that our country is run by a president who imagines himself to have ultimate power...Christians must draw upon the scriptures that not only...critique the idea of collective punishment, but see the coming of Jesus as a collective blessing for all of humanity."

“The idea of collective blessing in scripture is a direct critique of the way power is being wielded to punish in our country. Collective punishment in politics has become normalized, but it does not have to be so.” – @revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social www.christiancentury.org/online-colum...

Sad news: someone stole baby Jesus from our anti-ICE nativity. But vandalism cannot stop us. We just adapt and keep on critiquing this administration’s cruelty on immigration. Where’s baby Jesus? We don’t know. He is being detained in a labyrinthian hellscape where his loved ones cannot find him.

It appears baby Jesus was stolen from the Chicago-area Nativity scene that's critical of ICE. The church has added a new sign that reads: "Where are Mary, Joseph, and Jesus? We don't know: They are being detained in a labyrinthian hellscape where their loves ones are unable to locate them."

Sad news: someone stole baby Jesus from our anti-ICE nativity. But vandalism cannot stop us. We just adapt and keep on critiquing this administration’s cruelty on immigration. Where’s baby Jesus? We don’t know. He is being detained in a labyrinthian hellscape where his loved ones cannot find him.

Like American Baptist pastor @revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social at protests against ICE in Chicago (publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/baptist-pa...) & with Nativity scene (wordandway.org/2025/12/08/i...). He's a Baptist model completely missing in NY Times - not just in this piece but all year! 4/

It was such an honor to be asked to help light the Hanukkah candles at Jewish Reconstructionist Synagogue in Evanston. Members from JRC showed up for us when we needed them after our nativity was targeted by rabid right wingers, and it was important for me to do the same - especially this week.

It's like they read the Christmas story and thought Herod was the good guy.

My wife @annapiela.bsky.social and I wrote a new book that comes out in January - Confronting Islamophobia in the Church. Invite us to your church, book group, or podcast, please! If you could help us spread the word and even preorder the book, we'd be grateful. www.judsonpress.com/Products/J32...

If Christians take this task up, we can create a better world for our #Muslim neighbors and ourselves - this is the stuff that a pluralistic democracy needs to fight fascism. Pastors have a big role to play in educating their congregants about other religions and building tolerance.

While kidnapping people from U.S. streets (and kidnapping Bible verses to justify the violence), @briankaylor.bsky.social writes about how the Department of Homeland Security would also like to police church Nativity scenes.

It was such an honor to be asked to help light the Hanukkah candles at Jewish Reconstructionist Synagogue in Evanston. Members from JRC showed up for us when we needed them after our nativity was targeted by rabid right wingers, and it was important for me to do the same - especially this week.

Reposting with alt text for this excellent Creed by Jose Luis Casal

There’s more about Mary in the Quran than the Christian Bible (including the Catholic versions with Apocrophya).

If you want to build a pluralistic democracy, you have to fight Islamophobia. The latest @theispu.bsky.social polling shows #Islamophobia increasing in the US, but increasing the most among #Christians. This is a crisis the #church can act on, because we can teach love or hate. Our choice.

My latest: “That is a world worth fighting for with everything we have, including using our most sacred symbols and in physically standing between menacing forces and their intended targets. This Advent, we are invited to prepare ourselves anew for this reversal of power. Are we ready?”

Somebody raised these kids right. We need more of this energy. 😂

This is 🔥🔥🔥! The Immigrant’s Creed by Jose Luis Casal in @sojo.net We have to use our most sacred symbols and ideas to fight dehumanization wherever we find it. Otherwise, what’s the point of religion? It certainly isn’t to coddle elites and say “submit to the authorities” over and over.

Somebody raised these kids right. We need more of this energy. 😂

Ever wonder why the algorithm and our cultural overlords want you miserable? It’s because joy is resistance. Joy lets us know that there are things worth fighting for. That’s why they want to take it from you. Don’t let them. Fight to find joy, so you can fight for your values. #joy #advent #sermon

My latest: “That is a world worth fighting for with everything we have, including using our most sacred symbols and in physically standing between menacing forces and their intended targets. This Advent, we are invited to prepare ourselves anew for this reversal of power. Are we ready?”

For today’s Unsettling Advent entry, @revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social writes that God is still coming into being, even amidst the cruelty of ICE and the terror of state violence. “It must have seemed hopeless in first-century Palestine ... but that is where the light of the world chooses to be born.”

Ever wonder why the algorithm and our cultural overlords want you miserable? It’s because joy is resistance. Joy lets us know that there are things worth fighting for. That’s why they want to take it from you. Don’t let them. Fight to find joy, so you can fight for your values. #joy #advent #sermon

If you want to build a pluralistic democracy, you have to fight Islamophobia. The latest @theispu.bsky.social polling shows #Islamophobia increasing in the US, but increasing the most among #Christians. This is a crisis the #church can act on, because we can teach love or hate. Our choice.

Labor Sec. Chavez-DeRemer & Agriculture Sec. Rollins attended Pentagon Christmas worship service yesterday. It seems a bit odd that Cabinet members are going around to gov't worship services like groupies. Don't they have things to do in their agencies? publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/at-pentago...

Really support this ad by @interfaithalliance.org and not just because I’m in it. Choose love not ICE! youtu.be/eALKrOVaRGg

Love this! Look, #religion is a tool that can be used for good or evil. The important thing is to do good with our most sacred stories. That's why I put up the nativity, and why adapting the birth story to fight dehumanization is important. What we do matters. When we do good, it is often "divisive"

The link for those interested: www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comme...

@govpritzker.illinois.gov is doing an AMA on Reddit. It would be a shame if folks asked him about Illinois State Police brutalizing protestors - me included! He’ll likely give a weak response about how he can’t do anything. That’s what I’ve come to expect from him and politicians generally.

Read it for yourself (in translation) - Mary/Maryam really shines in the Quran in a way that she doesn't in the Bible. quran.com/maryam

In the #Advent season Christians all over the world are getting ready for the birth of Jesus, but some of the most beautiful narratives of Jesus’ birth are in the Quran, not the Bible. The Christmas miracle we need is to challenge #Islamophobia together by building respect across traditions.

This. This is important, particularly now. #Islamophobia #Christianity #Islam

In the #Advent season Christians all over the world are getting ready for the birth of Jesus, but some of the most beautiful narratives of Jesus’ birth are in the Quran, not the Bible. The Christmas miracle we need is to challenge #Islamophobia together by building respect across traditions.

"Change does not result from politicians making declarations or signing resolutions. It comes from within communities themselves. This means that every individual congregation has the power to tackle Islamophobia at the local level. Let us not allow fear to shape our witness."

People have always used religion to serve their interests, but this should really make you mad if you're a #Christian. This sort of thing is blasphemy and is what the Bible really means when it talks about taking God's name in vain. Ironically, they do this and call me a heretic for my nativity!

Faith leaders carry a responsibility that goes beyond preaching. Communities look to them to take a stand against injustice. @revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social breaks down the unique moral role clergy play in our society. Hear the full conversation: linktr.ee/savedbythecity

This is the war on Christmas - it could be a tweet from Herod’s ministry of war. This is the sort of blasphemy that ought to enrage Christians everywhere. Jesus’ birth story is of a family forced to leave their home due to an authoritarian ruler and political violence. The context is right there.

Hey, Christians, y'all good with them using your religous holy day for this?

This is the war on Christmas - it could be a tweet from Herod’s ministry of war. This is the sort of blasphemy that ought to enrage Christians everywhere. Jesus’ birth story is of a family forced to leave their home due to an authoritarian ruler and political violence. The context is right there.

Ah: reached out to the pastor of this church — @revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social — and he sent along a photo of the sign in question:

People have always used religion to serve their interests, but this should really make you mad if you're a #Christian. This sort of thing is blasphemy and is what the Bible really means when it talks about taking God's name in vain. Ironically, they do this and call me a heretic for my nativity!

"Change does not result from politicians making declarations or signing resolutions. It comes from within communities themselves. This means that every individual congregation has the power to tackle Islamophobia at the local level. Let us not allow fear to shape our witness."

Read my latest in @april-cc-commons.bsky.social: www.aprilonline.org/christians-h... #Islamophobia #Islam #Christianity #Muslims

When they destroyed our Mary figure in our anti-ICE #nativity, I bet they didn’t think that we would make it MORE powerful! Honestly, if you tear something down that you don’t like, you’re pretty much never the good guy. That goes for nativities and the entire county, btw. #DHS, take note.

Then rang the bells more loud and deep / God is not dead, nor doth He sleep The wrong shall fail, the right prevail / With peace on Earth, good will to men

This goes hard.

My heart grieves for what happened in Australia and the rampant antisemitism in our country and world, but pay attention to heroes like this especially when Islamophobic narratives dominate. 👇👇👇👇

Australian news reporting that the hero bystander here is named Ahmed al Ahmed. Muslim, father of two.

When they destroyed our Mary figure in our anti-ICE #nativity, I bet they didn’t think that we would make it MORE powerful! Honestly, if you tear something down that you don’t like, you’re pretty much never the good guy. That goes for nativities and the entire county, btw. #DHS, take note.

Someone vandalized our anti-ICE #nativity, but we came back stronger than ever. It’s a piece of living art, and we’re not going to stop sharing our message of compassion and love. We get knocked down, but we get back up again - better and stronger. Love wins - never doubt it.