Robert P. Jones

From a recent visit, in case anyone wants the pre-retcon.

Smithsonian removes Trump from impeachment exhibit in American history museum A temporary placard, on display since 2021, described the president's historic impeachments. Officials said the exhibit was restored to an earlier version following a review of legacy content.

At only 6 months in, we’ve now entered the Ministry of Truth stage of the authoritarian regime.
Smithsonian bows to Trump pressure, removes any mention of his two impeachments from its presidential impeachment exhibit.

www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...

On Wednesday night during a concert at a Nashville-area church, she made a phone call to Republican senator Bill Hagerty's office on speakerphone. She left a voicemail. "Hi, Senator Hagerty, hi, this is Amy Grant," she said. "I'm standing on stage singing to over a thousand people, and I wanted to speak on behalf of all of us to say that President Trump's budget suggests that funding for PEPFAR should be cut by 50 percent this year. We want you to know that here in Nashville we want to see full funding of PEPFAR so we can stay on track to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030."

“Hi, Senator Hagerty, hi, this is Amy Grant,” she said. “I’m standing on stage singing to over a thousand people … We want you to know that here in Nashville we want to see full funding of PEPFAR so we can stay on track to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030.” www.christianitytoday.com/2025/06/amy-...

The coerced installation of internal "monitors" who report to the government is how Trump is destroying independent institutions. Both Paramount-Skydance and Columbia University agreement have such provisions. Columbia's "Resolution Monitor" provisions here:
president.columbia.edu/sites/defaul...

Beyond the 60 Minutes payoff & Colbert cancelation, an unprecedented capitulation: as part of merger agreement, new parent company agrees to install an official to "monitor bias" at CBS’s news division. CBS news will essentially be state controlled media.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/b...

YouTube video by The Convocation Unscripted Epstein and QAnon, DHS’s White Supremacists Memes, Hunger in Gaza

Check out our latest episode at The Convocation Unscripted.
Epstein and QAnon, White Supremacists Memes at DHS, Hunger in Gaza. With:
@robertpjones.bsky.social
@jemartisby.bsky.social
@dianabutlerbass.bsky.social
@kkdumez.bsky.social
youtu.be/ClJiHaiyATM?...

The coerced installation of internal "monitors" who report to the government is how Trump is destroying independent institutions. Both Paramount-Skydance and Columbia University agreement have such provisions. Columbia's "Resolution Monitor" provisions here:
president.columbia.edu/sites/defaul...

Beyond the 60 Minutes payoff & Colbert cancelation, an unprecedented capitulation: as part of merger agreement, new parent company agrees to install an official to "monitor bias" at CBS’s news division. CBS news will essentially be state controlled media.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/b...

A Prayer for the Broken-Hearted People of the World: Reflections from Portugal Plus, "How did we get here?" My recent appearance on Illinois Public Radio

Back from vacation, my latest. A Prayer for the broken-hearted people of the world: Reflections from Portugal.
open.substack.com/pub/robertpj...

Migrants at Ice jail in Miami made to kneel to eat ‘like dogs’, report alleges Incident in which migrants were shackled with hands tied of one succession of alleged abuses at jails in Florida

Migrants at a Miami immigration jail were shackled with their hands tied behind their backs and made to kneel to eat food from styrofoam plates “like dogs”, per a report from Human Rights Watch

“Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up about her 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility—and the generous and compassionate women she met.

In a powerful first-person account, Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up for the first time about her shocking arrest and 45 days in an ICE detention center.

www.vanityfair.com/news/story/r...

Opinion | First thing we do, let’s fire all the statisticians The Trump administration’s strategy in dealing with tough numbers: Don’t count them.

There’s more than one way to cook the books. You can doctor or delete data after it’s been collected. Alternatively, ensure the numbers are never collected in the first place.
Lately, the Trump administration has been into leaning into that second scheme, by purging and defunding statistics agencies

Inspired me to purchase the book. Historical insight may help understand & communicate our current plights.

Thinking abt Tocqueville on #July4th & contradictions he highlighted.
From "The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy":
Tocqueville may have been correct-but not only in the way he intended-that he could see the destiny of America in the 1st Puritan who landed on these shores.
bookshop.org/a/56272/9781...

"The mores of those descended from the Puritans may have produced vibrant associations among themselves, but their habits of the heart also justified genocide, dispossession, and enslavement. This has always been the contradiction of democracy in America."
-from "The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy"

Thinking abt Tocqueville on #July4th & contradictions he highlighted.
From "The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy":
Tocqueville may have been correct-but not only in the way he intended-that he could see the destiny of America in the 1st Puritan who landed on these shores.
bookshop.org/a/56272/9781...

Empathy and Solidarity are the Antidotes to Authoritarianism: My Conversation with Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of "Strongmen" PLUS, a 25% subscription discount extended through the summer.

Seems an appropriate day to highlight my recent conversation with @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social , author of *Strongmen*. Empathy and solidarity are the patriotic antidotes to authoritarianism.
#FourthofJuly
#July4th
www.whitetoolong.net/p/empathy-an...

Glad to be in this Fourth of July conversation with @raushenbush.bsky.social and @interfaithalliance.org .
#july4th

“The book I know says I was hungry and you fed me, I was sick, I was in prison, and you visited me, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,” says Rev. @warnock.senate.gov

Honored to be in this conversation, "Whither America?", with @raushenbush.bsky.social on the State of Belief podcast, as we mark a Independence Day 2025 as our nation's highest values of freedom and equality are under attack. Tune in for a conversation about resilience and resistance.

Let’s Celebrate this Fourth of July without the Myth of White Christian Innocence Which will we honor — the Doctrine of Discovery or the Declaration of Independence?

I originally wrote this essay in a very different time: just 6 months after Trump's defeat, his January 6th attempted insurrection, and Biden's inauguration. The balance has now tipped the other direction, but the choice before us has never been more clear.
www.whitetoolong.net/p/lets-celeb...

Reflections on Patriotism, Resistance, and Independence Day from TCU Plus, our latest podcast.

If you’re, like us, struggling to find the right emotional and spiritual space on this #IndependenceDay holiday, we hope the essays below can keep you company.
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Thx so much for this shout out David!

"We're still in our adolescence as a country and we can't figure out who we want to be," says @robertpjones.bsky.social, president & founder of @prri.org.

stateofbelief.com/2025/june-28...

With every bit I see about #AlligatorAlcatraz, I keep thinking of what @robertpjones.bsky.social said: "It's virtually impossible to write a survey question about the treatment of immigrants that is too brutal for Republicans to support."

Weekly Roundup: July 3 We’re wrapping up the week a bit early to grill some hot dogs and watch some fireworks.

Our roundup is here early for the holiday weekend! It features insights from @robertpjones.bsky.social, @angeladenker.bsky.social, @amandatylerbjc.bsky.social, @raushenbush.bsky.social, @drewstrait.bsky.social, @theb4np.bsky.social, @imillhiser.bsky.social, @michelleboorstein.bsky.social, and more.

Trump calls for deporting US citizens: "We also have a lot of bad people that have been here for a long time ... many of them were born in our country. I think we ought to get them the hell out of here too, if you want to know the truth. So maybe that'll be the next job."

Chris Murphy: "This is the most deeply immoral piece of legislation I have ever voted on in my entire time in Congress."

Wither America? July 4th with Dr. Robert P. Jones Host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush checks in with Public Religion Research Institute President Dr. Robert P. Jones about the state of our democracy and society on the nation's 249th birthday

On this special Independence Day episode, @prri.org founder @robertpjones.bsky.social joins Paul to discuss America’s first 249 years, and what’s to come as the country approaches 250. All while they ask themselves the question: “How Bad Is It?”
religionnews.com/2025/06/28/w...

Cooperative Baptists Remember Historical Injustices, Confront Contemporary Ones “An unhealed past is why we find ourselves mired in an uncertain and unstable present.

Any conference with Traci Blackmon, @robertpjones.bsky.social, @angeladenker.bsky.social, @amandatylerbjc.bsky.social, & @raushenbush.bsky.social is guaranteed to be good. It's particularly encouraging when that's lineup for your denominational meeting!
publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/cooperativ...