Jillian's Avatar

Jillian

@westerfield.bsky.social

Theologian, educator, thanatologist. Enjoy gardening, hiking, board games, books, fiber arts, pottery Queer Baptist pastor living in Chicago, with roots in Texas and Appalachia. (She/her or they/them)

471 Followers  |  1,270 Following  |  51 Posts  |  Joined: 25.10.2023  |  1.7329

Latest posts by westerfield.bsky.social on Bluesky


So when authorities say β€œshe tried to run over an officer,” that is not a neutral description. It is a claim of intent that can be used to justify lethal force after the fact.

When the state kills first and invents the threat afterward, it is not policing, it is death squad behavior. /end

08.01.2026 21:13 β€” πŸ‘ 5361    πŸ” 1332    πŸ’¬ 53    πŸ“Œ 45

Too many analyses of why the US doesn't see the same kinds of protests as the Arab Spring or France or Nepal ignore that we have the largest carceral system in the history of the world. If our police were a military, only our actual military and the Chinese military would be larger.

05.01.2026 18:05 β€” πŸ‘ 185    πŸ” 51    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 8

A reminder that the US killed 80 people in Venezuela, and it would be nice if the US media cared enough to think that the life of a grandmother in Caracas whose building is destroyed by a US bomb matters as much as the life of a person in the US.

05.01.2026 17:54 β€” πŸ‘ 12255    πŸ” 3406    πŸ’¬ 265    πŸ“Œ 143
Post image

The casualties already coming in. Grandmothers in their apartments….

03.01.2026 19:21 β€” πŸ‘ 2503    πŸ” 932    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 93

Can't help but feel like this is one of the reasons why the Constitution says If a dude in office does an insurrection, don't let that motherfucker hold office again

Bc clearly they cannot be trusted with power & control over the levers of government, & they do not care about democratic constraints

03.01.2026 14:31 β€” πŸ‘ 11961    πŸ” 2568    πŸ’¬ 128    πŸ“Œ 77
Book Camp 2026 (Jan 1st – 3rd) – Camp Tamarack

Come to book camp in January! This will be the third year we are doing this camptamarack.org/2025/12/10/b...

14.12.2025 21:31 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Baby Jesus wrapped in a thermal blanket, separated from Mary and Joseph by a chicken wire fence. An ICE centurion menaces the family from behind

Baby Jesus wrapped in a thermal blanket, separated from Mary and Joseph by a chicken wire fence. An ICE centurion menaces the family from behind

By witnessing this familiar story through the reality faced by migrants today, we hope to restore its radical edge, and to ask what it means to celebrate the birth of a refugee child while turning away those who follow in his footsteps.

25.11.2025 22:23 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Nativity display from another angle, with the Holy Family in the foreground and ICE centurions jn the background

Nativity display from another angle, with the Holy Family in the foreground and ICE centurions jn the background

The Holy Family were refugees. This is not political interpretation, this is the reality described in the stories our tradition has told and retold for millenia.

25.11.2025 22:21 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Closer image of one of the ICE centurions. Its face is entirely covered by its mask and sunglasses

Closer image of one of the ICE centurions. Its face is entirely covered by its mask and sunglasses

This installation isn’t subtle because the crisis it addresses isn’t abstract. We hope viewers will ask what sanctuary means when families are met with dehumanization. We further hope to move people to action, regardless of faith or philosophical background.

25.11.2025 22:19 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Closer image of the Mary figure, who is wearing a respirator mask to protect her from chemical weapons. An ICE centurion looms behind her

Closer image of the Mary figure, who is wearing a respirator mask to protect her from chemical weapons. An ICE centurion looms behind her

The gas masks worn by Mary and Joseph reference the documented use of tear gas and other chemical weapons deployed by ICE agents against peaceful protesters, journalists, and community members advocating for immigration reform and bearing witness to human rights abuses within the system.

25.11.2025 22:15 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Closer image of the doll representing Baby Jesus. He is wrapped in a silver emergency blanket and his hands are zip tied together. The wooden box he rests in is perched among rubble, with a chicken wire fence visible behind him. He is alone, his parents held on the other side of the fence with the ICE centurions

Closer image of the doll representing Baby Jesus. He is wrapped in a silver emergency blanket and his hands are zip tied together. The wooden box he rests in is perched among rubble, with a chicken wire fence visible behind him. He is alone, his parents held on the other side of the fence with the ICE centurions

The zip ties on the infant's wrists directly reference the children who were zip-tied by agents during a raid on a Chicago apartment building earlier this year, where most residents were U.S. citizens: a stark reminder that enforcement terror does not discriminate by documentation status.

25.11.2025 22:13 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Image of a group of mannequins on a church lawn, dressed to represent Mary, Joseph, BabyJesus, and three centurions in the background. On closer inspection, there are some intentionally anachronistic details. Mary and Joseph are wearing respirator masks. The baby is swaddled in a silver emergency blanket, the centurions are wearing balaclavas, sunglasses, and tactical vests which have patches that read β€œICE”

Image of a group of mannequins on a church lawn, dressed to represent Mary, Joseph, BabyJesus, and three centurions in the background. On closer inspection, there are some intentionally anachronistic details. Mary and Joseph are wearing respirator masks. The baby is swaddled in a silver emergency blanket, the centurions are wearing balaclavas, sunglasses, and tactical vests which have patches that read β€œICE”

Thanks to Loretta, Kelli, Jack, and Miller for their help setting up our nativity this morning.

This installation reimagines the nativity as a scene of forced family separation, drawing direct parallels between the Holy Family's refugee experience and contemporary immigration detention practices.

25.11.2025 22:10 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
How Chicagoans Helped Their Neighbors Through The SNAP Freeze From turning their porches into food pantries to baking birthday cakes, neighbors found creative ways to help those going without food assistance during the government shutdown.

Proud to see Lake Streeters like Jill showing up for our neighbors during a crises that never needed to happen blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/17/h...

17.11.2025 17:23 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
a photograph of the interior of a church. Several people are visible sitting in pews. In the pew immediately in front of the photographer, a black human-sized cardboard cutout in the outline of a woman is visible, as though a shadow is sitting in the pew in front of you.

a photograph of the interior of a church. Several people are visible sitting in pews. In the pew immediately in front of the photographer, a black human-sized cardboard cutout in the outline of a woman is visible, as though a shadow is sitting in the pew in front of you.

Went to a prayer service tonight at St. Mary of the Lake, where they have cardboard cutouts throughout the church representing parishioners afraid to come to Mass because of ICE.

25.10.2025 01:57 β€” πŸ‘ 14371    πŸ” 4370    πŸ’¬ 364    πŸ“Œ 263

Can’t believe I didn’t see this before, but what an exciting find. Archivists are the best.

03.07.2025 17:17 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

So excited to see this in time to incorporate this finding into my sermon this Sunday!

03.07.2025 17:14 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

kind of just endlessly sad and grieving that there are so few voices in the public sphere making the basic principled argument that immigration is an affirmative good in every way and the best way for this country to serve humanity is to welcome people who want or need to leave their homes

07.06.2025 19:35 β€” πŸ‘ 17247    πŸ” 4691    πŸ’¬ 99    πŸ“Œ 221

here’s the thing: every elected Democrat could say tomorrow that ICE is good and it wouldn’t stop people being pissed off that stormtroopers are coming into their neighborhoods to disappear their friends and family

if you don’t want to be treated as a fascist invader stop acting like one

07.06.2025 04:03 β€” πŸ‘ 873    πŸ” 207    πŸ’¬ 18    πŸ“Œ 2
Preview
'We're citizens!': Oklahoma City family traumatized after ICE raids home, but they weren't suspects A woman says her family’s fresh start in Oklahoma turned into a nightmare after federal immigration agents raided their home, taking their phones, laptops, and life savings – even though they were …

Please highlight this story.

ICE stormed into the wrong house, trashed the place, and made women/girls stand outside in the rain in their underwear. ICE also stole phones, laptops, and cash savings from the family, who moved to OKC two weeks ago.

kfor.com/news/local/w...

29.04.2025 14:15 β€” πŸ‘ 21919    πŸ” 13717    πŸ’¬ 1286    πŸ“Œ 2207

It was a great panel! I wasn’t able to go in person, but enjoyed it online.

23.04.2025 19:23 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

My exact thought.

19.04.2025 21:33 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I don't really have anything especially profound to say, but yeah man this is it. They won't obey even the most milquetoast SCOTUS orders and are talking about sending US citizens to foreign gulags. It's happened here.

14.04.2025 17:20 β€” πŸ‘ 6883    πŸ” 1642    πŸ’¬ 70    πŸ“Œ 39

Bring back *everyone* who was sent from the U.S. to CECOT in El Salvador. *No one* should be sent there. ALL their rights were violated. ALL of them should come home.

13.04.2025 15:28 β€” πŸ‘ 27653    πŸ” 7002    πŸ’¬ 105    πŸ“Œ 312

People will argue that we should be willing to defy the law in the name of justice while also treating criminalized people as disposable. It's incoherent.

10.04.2025 23:30 β€” πŸ‘ 3361    πŸ” 751    πŸ’¬ 34    πŸ“Œ 24

Saw your follow-up post, guess that answers that

10.04.2025 14:34 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Does he at least think that would have been a bad thing? We are apparently at a point where I would find solace in that, rather than him being an explicit Nazi supporter 🫠

10.04.2025 14:32 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

If you abduct someone and send them involuntarily and without recourse to a country where they've never lived to be imprisoned, that isn't deportation, it's human trafficking

09.04.2025 14:23 β€” πŸ‘ 13864    πŸ” 3923    πŸ’¬ 251    πŸ“Œ 142

As the author of a history of concentration camps, I would like to emphasize that this is a very bad idea, and we should definitely not do it.

08.04.2025 20:52 β€” πŸ‘ 13116    πŸ” 3831    πŸ’¬ 377    πŸ“Œ 116

I served in the military and I worked at a relatively cushy biotech factory for a couple of years and the military was infinitely more easy and comfortable work. The factory is what got me to go back and finish my undergrad.

08.04.2025 14:25 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Poster for Evanston Ecumenical Palm Sunday Procession on April 13 at 9AM at the southwest corner of Raymond Park. White text on a pink scalloped background with an image of a small white donkey leading a group of smiling people of all ages waving palm branches. A young girl pets the donkey.

Poster for Evanston Ecumenical Palm Sunday Procession on April 13 at 9AM at the southwest corner of Raymond Park. White text on a pink scalloped background with an image of a small white donkey leading a group of smiling people of all ages waving palm branches. A young girl pets the donkey.

A space for joy in tough times: our annual Ecumenical Palm Sunday Procession with live donkeys Tinkerbelle and Iris. Meet at the corner of Lake St. and Chicago Ave. in Evanston at 9AM on April 13 to join in the fun.

07.04.2025 20:44 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@westerfield is following 19 prominent accounts