@cstarrcstarr.bsky.social
Sociologist. Religion, Non-religion, Social movements, Content Analysis, Qualitative Methods. Facebook page where I post sociological perspectives on current events: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573563705847
✋ Former USG war crimes lawyer here.
Apropos of SecDef's remarks this morning:
Denial of quarter—even the declaration of no quarter—is a war crime.
And recognized as such by the US Government.
From DoD's Manual for Military Commissions.
every quantitative measure is actually a stack of qualitative assumptions in a trenchcoat
(cartoon Adam Zyglis)
"[The United States government] can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other."
—Benjamin Franklin in his Constitutional Convention closing speech, 1787
I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning.
What a shameful exercise in performative religiosity and piety 😳
Consensual sexual pleasure is a radical, political act under fascism.
This is honestly one of the most anti-Jewish things I’ve ever seen from the United States government.
The Constitution is clear: Congress decides on war. When a president uses military force without authorization and Congress stays silent, they are abandoning their role as a co equal branch of government. War is the most serious power our government has. Shame on the U.S. Senate today.
After four days of hesitating, the president of France has joined the prime minister of Spain in saying that the 🇺🇸🇮🇱 attack on Iran is a violation of international law.
But they are still the only 2 EU leaders to have done so. Will others join?
Johnson: “We're not at war right now.”
What's shameful is: Speaker Johnson is not loyal to the constitution of the United States. He should be investigated for falsely swearing his oath of office
BREAKING: Babe, wake up. New war just dropped. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/u...
kind of crazy that if you have enough money and don't like what you see in the media, you can just buy up every film studio, news station, and social media app and change it
“We’re not going to take away the authority of the president of the United States to be able to be the commander-in-chief. … We don’t need 535 commanders.”
Christian Nationalist Logic:
"We're gotta waste millions of dollars killing folks in a useless war because Jesus is powerless to just come back himself and start Armageddon if we don't. He needs our help, y'all! Glory!"
That one person can drag us into a war without consulting or even notifying Congress, or our allies, or fully explaining to the American people why this is necessary, is absolutely bonkers.
Reminder that Congress has the power to stop this.
Via Aleja Hertzler-McCain: Hundreds of United Methodists rally to dismantle ICE outside Capitol religionnews.com/2026/02/25/h...
"This is our religion, and this is our culture,” Tsai says, “so doing this music event, in front of the temple, is very close to our lives. I love it.”
www.theguardian.com/music/2026/f...
NEW: Trump announced in his State of the Union address tonight that Vice President Vance will lead a “war on fraud." The comment appears to stem from a previous plan to create to a new assistant attorney general role that answers directly to the White House.
Since this will likely come up in the SOTU: Yes, US stock markets are up since Trump took office (14%).
But in the rest of the world, markets are up WAY more. Cumulative market gains are more than triple ours (43%)
A recent NYT op-ed blamed the Trump's regime's lawless violence on 'paganism' while conjuring Christianity as the source of good values. I think this is a terrible way to think about history and gets in the way of cleaning up the messes Christians have made. My latest from @religiondispatches.org
"Academic research—such as that of sociologist Andrew Chesnut—estimates between five and 12 million followers in Mexico and the United States, which would place it among the fastest-growing religious movements in the Western Hemisphere."
suracapulco.mx/gana-seguido... #AcademicSky #Mexico
A big 🖕🏽 from my favorite Pope to my least favorite Buckeye
American #religion is changing, and we need more than hot takes and simple graphs. @USCCRCC is launching a multi-pronged effort to get better stories out there. Including journalism fellowships.
dornsife.usc.edu/crcc/stories...
you may also remember that the "board of peace" is structured so that donald trump, personally, has sole and absolute control over it. he's just stealing our fucking money. what i want from my dems? a commitment to take that shit back.
