We brought @angeladenker.bsky.social to the Convocation Unscripted to learn more about what’s happening in Minneapolis and why it matters for all of us.

A Calvinist pastor in Minnesota on Sunday blessed ICE & prayed for God to "break the teeth" of ICE's opponents. My response to such imperial theology: wordandway.org/2026/01/12/p...

fresh audio product: some of the best of 2025: Emile Torres, Quinn Slobodian, Femi Taiwo, Kristin Du Mez, Anatol Lieven, Laleh Khalili, Susannah Glickman www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html#S...

Whereas this student is being empowered for making vague and unsubstantiated references to Biblical authority, I was once placed on TPUSA's Professor Watchlist for specifically citing Biblical authority in a paper outlining the Bible's concerns about concentrated wealth. You can't win.

I need to use up my @nytimes.com gift links for December and can't think of a better story to share than this one about DOGE's disastrous fails and disruptions: "The group’s biggest claims were largely incorrect...And its many smaller cuts added up to few savings." 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...

Just want to point out that this man was leading the whole Turning Point USA crowd in prayer last week. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crim...

Behind the fascade of power, behind the plastic surgery and lip fillers, behind the power poses, beyond the hubris and vanity of it all, there is a deeper moral reality. There is honesty, and there are lies—lies that sell cruelty as kindness, and ugliness as beauty. open.substack.com/pub/kristind...

The Trump family has amassed a $4 billion fortune since his re-election. During my time as Ambassador, I was accused of "focusing too intensely on the issue of corruption." There's no such thing. We need leaders who serve the people — not themselves. www.wsj.com/politics/tru...

Note: there are religious groups — including entire Christian denominations — that hold deeply held religious views that could be classified as some of these “agendas”.

Also, many of us didn't "smell" the fascism; we painstakingly researched & reported on the infrastructure of the growing anti-democratic movement, starting well before 2015 & with relative restraint. Some Very Serious Editors called us "shrill" and "resistance-y." newrepublic.com/article/2042...

This right here made me a subscriber.

“And then when we were finished, he comes up to me to shake my hand and say goodbye. And he says to me, "You know, you have a lot of power in the discretion you use to be kind to people." And I looked at him and I said, "You know, you do, too." The moral core of the feature, the photos, all of it.

Hegseth just held his #Christmas Worship Service at the Pentagon. Here's my report featuring remarks by Franklin Graham, who praised a "God of War" & read a Bible passage often used to justify genocide: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/at-pentago...

In honor of Rob Reiner........... he fought for democracy. "Directed by Dan Partland and produced by actor/filmmaker Rob Reiner, “God & Country” is based on Katherine Stewart’s 2019 book The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism." www.au.org/the-latest/c...

Watched the new Knives Out last night and hoo boy now I know why I keep getting tagged in it. 😳

Via me and @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social: CBP posted a pic of two detained Iranians, saying, “No fun in the sun when you are unlawfully present.” According to their Episcopal priest, they’re Christian converts seeking asylum, and deporting them may be a death sentence religionnews.com/2025/12/09/b...

A week full of gut punches… open.substack.com/pub/kristind...

We are now further away from the theatrical release of Raiders of the Lost Ark (June 12, 1981) than it was from the year it takes place in (1936). We have reached the Indiana Jones event horizon.

"We're fighting for the life of democracy right now... Religion is at the core of the threat." - @kkdumez.bsky.social On the importance of naming & confronting the problem of Christian Nationalism. So much that's so good here. Have a listen. ⬇️ convocation.substack.com/p/trumps-dru...

This one's for Dr. @kkdumez.bsky.social. I'm in Montana, and this afternoon I pulled up behind this truck and my jaw actually dropped. If you haven't read her book with both of these personages on the two bumper stickers in the title, you must! (The blurred vehicle tag is not Montana.)

Zohran flip your hair again we need healthcare get him to give us healthcare.

Just dropped @convocation.bsky.social —Trump’s Drumbeat of Violence and Christian Nationalism. Our latest episode w/ @jemartisby.bsky.social @kkdumez.bsky.social @robertpjones.bsky.social @dianabutlerbass.bsky.social convocation.substack.com/p/trumps-dru...

1. Since I get asked about this: I think this is both a reasonable position and one I deeply disagree with — bc it's not a standard we apply to other political terms. E.g., you'll get different answers if you ask folks to define "liberal" too — but we still use it. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...

TONIGHT: Hear from PRRI Senior Democracy Fellows @wilsonhartgrove.bsky.social, @kkdumez.bsky.social, and @jemartisby.bsky.social at 7:00 PM at “A Revolution of Values: Confronting the Triple Evils of Our Time,” presented by the King Center Tune in: www.youtube.com/live/1p24SbP...

“Epstein is at the heart of the MAGA movement.” Writes @kkdumez.bsky.social That one sentence alone just absolutely explains why all of us with “TDS” had such a visceral reaction the moment the man rode that escalator. I think something in us knew how deep and dark this all was.

authors you have the chance to do the funniest thing right now

Never forget that just a week ago, Ross Douthat and the NYTimes were asking if women ruined the workplace.

Come for the myriad Bluesky references, stay for the #hotpriest(s)

Chicago really sending only its most handsome faith leaders for these gigs huh

Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:

Latest podcast episode just posted! Our take on the meaning of the 2025 election results: the surprising, the practical, and the big picture. @jemartisby.bsky.social @dianabutlerbass.bsky.social @robertpjones.bsky.social @kkdumez.bsky.social convocation.substack.com/p/the-most-i...

John Cleary, who was shot in the chest by Ohio National Guard troops during an antiwar protest at Kent State University in 1970, a moment captured in a Life magazine cover photo, died last month. He was 74.

Cover of my next book just dropped.

I can’t remember when a book has made me laugh this hard. Maybe never.

Faith leaders — as well as faith-based food banks — have long argued they absolutely cannot independently handle the raw number of people currently served by government food assistance programs. They argued it again last week in Congress, calling the idea a "lie". religionnews.com/2025/10/30/f...

Sharing a special sneak peek of the audiobook of "A Beautiful Year." The reflection explores the spirituality of All Souls Day. Friendly warning: You may get teary. "A Beautiful Year" releases on 11/4. dianabutlerbass.substack.com/p/sunday-mus...

A conversation from the Convocation Unscripted: Finding Beauty in the Liturgical Year You'll be surprised by the relevance of this discussion to these hard days. open.substack.com/pub/convocat...

NEW from me: Speaker Mike Johnson dismisses religious freedom concerns of clergy who have been shot by DHS/ICE with pepper balls, pepper rounds, or rubber bullets, insisting he hasn't heard about such incidents despite being asked about one earlier this month. religionnews.com/2025/10/29/s...

In all fairness, depicting ICE as Mel Gibson makes a lot of sense.

Spokane friends, im coming your way! Tomorrow, at Whitworth : favs.news/whitworth-20...

This should be fun.

Many thanks to @kkdumez.bsky.social for this wonderful insightful review of "Rooted" by Christy Berghoef. #bookreview #Rooted #Homecoming #Nature #Memoir kristindumez.substack.com/p/rooted?utm...

Wisconsin friends, I’d love to see you this Sunday at Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison, 5:30pm!

Question for writer/editor friends: I have an almost-finished manuscript—is it really safe to delete all places of publication in notes? This is really a thing now?

Cantwell: "Do you think that the women on the steps of the Capitol were a 'hoax' yesterday?" RFK: "I don't know about any women." Cantwell: "The women who were talking about Epstein. Do you think they were perpetuating a hoax?" RFK: "This is the first I'm hearing about it."

Donald Trump's message to Epstein survivors: "Enough." On Wednesday, survivors spoke about their experiences at Capitol Hill to support a bipartisan bill that would release their files. When asked about it in the Oval Office, Trump decried it as a "Democrat hoax" and said "I think it's enough."

Grateful to be a part of this new cohort of Senior Democracy Fellows at PRRI: