Brandon Bayne

Ok, I don't usually do this, but the Molly Worthen piece on Christian Nationalism in the NYT? Apologetics.
I'm on Xmas break and I don't feel like wasting my time breaking this down but let me just say this: WHO IS WE? Because some of us get Christian Nationalism, the NAR, and Dominionism.

Like politics, anyone can (usually) weigh in on religion.

But FWIW: Harvard, where Pinker teaches, also has a divinity school.

It has lots of scholars who study religion for a living.

Pinker isn't one of them — in fact, they've publicly criticized him: www.commonwealmagazine.org/enlightenmen...

Hi all,

I rarely do this, but I'm posting that I'm back on the academic job market.

As a Californian, my partner and I are trying to stay on the West Coast. Any leads for jobs in History, American Studies, Cultural Studies, etc. in the Western U.S. are greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Nathan

Simply amazing that the Supreme Court declared an end to legal race discrimination in the affirmative action case two years ago and now allows overt racism in both immigration arrests and redistricting.

Using race to help minorities? Bad. Using it to discriminate against them? Very, very good.

Mike Pence wrote an opinion piece for Fox News. Reading the headline, I was like, "Okay, seems like a normal take."

Then I read the subheadline and... bro, what?

re: roblox dude's interview crashout. the thing he wants to say but can't is "at scale, kids are gonna get hurt. that is the price for scale." the thing nobody wants to say out loud is "maybe scaling to a level where harm isn't manageable is bad, and scale should be contained"

CBP reported to be coming to Raleigh tomorrow. Here's the Siembra NC hotline. Please share widely.

Ex-Rep. Dan Bishop, R-NC, confirms new role as a top US prosecutor in the state Despite no official announcement, former Charlotte-area U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop said he has a new role as a top prosecutor in North Carolina.

NC voters didn’t want the election denier as the state AG so Trump did what Trump does. www.newsobserver.com/news/state/n...

Dale Partridge & @dalepartridge X.com We cannot sing "God bless America" while: Allowing Mosques, Hindu Temples, and Synagogues to be built in America. ¿ Readers added context: God Bless America was composed by Israel Isidore Beilin, a Jewish man who arrived in the United States aged 5 to escape the Russian pogroms.

Delighted to announce that the Department of Religious Studies at UNC Chapel Hill is searching for a new colleague at the rank of Assistant Professor with expertise in Religion and Science. You can find more information below. Please share widely and feel free to reach out directly with questions.

Coming soon to a bookstore near you :-)

From the pulpit to the picket line: For many miners, religion and labor rights have long been connected in coal country The retirement of United Mine Workers of America’s longtime president is a reminder that labor and religion have always been entangled in coal country.

Something I wrote on the occasion of the retirement of Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America for the past 30 years.

So since I'm annoyed let me say a few things today.Some folks have been writing about Christian Nationalism and apocalyptic right wing movements for YEARS here in the US. YEARS. Do we get to have a platform in major mags and newspapers... rarely.

Charlie Kirk Memorial in Seoul Shows Power of Christian Nationalism for Young Korean Activists On September 13, 2025, echoes of “We are Charlie Kirk” could be heard across Seoul. From Jamsil to Gangnam, thousands of young Koreans commemorated American political activist Charlie Kirk's death by ...

We’re living in a world that defies any single adjective as it has been beyond comprehension. Reflecting on what has been and what is going on, I wrote this piece.

Thank you @mpgphd.bsky.social @religiondispatches.org for this opportunity!

religiondispatches.org/charlie-kirk...

I'm thrilled that my book is coming out this month, and even more thrilled to be on this fall lineup from @dukepress.bsky.social - so many amazing authors and titles! Check out the whole fall lineup here: dukeupress.wordpress.com/2025/10/01/n...

Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West by Max Perry Mueller In this gripping history, classicist Mueller (Race and the Making of the Mormon People) uncovers the life and complicated legacy...

Starred Review of Wakara’s America from @publisherswkly.bsky.social. www.publishersweekly.com/9781541602595

Muscogee Nation will pause new citizenship cards following Freedmen descendant ruling Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David Hill issued an executive order on Thursday, pausing the issuance of new citizenship cards to descendants of Freedmen in the wake of a tribal court’s ruling…

Disappointed 2 see this. In response 2 the tribe’s Supreme Court decision that Freedman descendants can enroll, Muscogee Nation will stop issuing citizenship cards 4 everyone. Like how @ the end of segregation rather than integrate public pools many communities just got rid of them.

Survey stakes are in the ground at the San Rafael Valley, where DHS is preparing to wall off the last best corridor in Arizona for jaguars, ocelots & other species. Not a soul in sight.

A great article came out last year about how crypto trading apps trick users into what is--in essence--gambling by telling them they're *really smart* for "investing"

AI is the same. Sells the fantasy of hyper-efficiency. Convinces users they're mastering cutting-edge tech by "prompt engineering"

“I support immigrants who do it the right way and follow the legal process?” So, how do you feel about ICE mostly arresting people in courthouses when they come for scheduled appointments in…you know…the legal process?

The killer is consistently described in the press as “a devout Christian who opposed abortion” as if that’s an essential trait of devout Christians.

Many, if not most, “devout” Christians support abortion access.

Melissa Hortman was a Catholic who taught Sunday school.

Job Garcia’s kidnapping by the Trump administration is the top story on the LA Times website right now.

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Sen. Alex Padilla, who was just forcibly removed from a DHS press conference, is the ranking member of Judiciary’s subcommittee on immigration, citizenship, and border safety, which has “oversight of federal agencies with citizenship, asylum, refugee, and immigration enforcement responsibilities.”

After Delay, Chapel Hill Board Votes to Award Tenure After faculty raised alarm over the board’s delay on the decisions, trustees finally debated and voted by email. A couple of them said they generally opposed tenure.

from a UNC Trustee: “It is not good governance to give your child a cookie every time they lay on the floor and scream that they want one.”

so telling that he doesn’t see faculty as professionals entitled to the promotion structures outlined in our job contracts. we’re kids demanding treats.

On the one hand, it seems bad that the leader of the free world spent the day tweeting about Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift. On the other hand, this is gonna make it easier to get my summer concerts reimbursed as research, so…

Under Texas’ Abortion Ban, Where a Woman Lives Can Determine Her Risk of Developing Sepsis While the rates of dangerous infections spiked across the state after it banned abortion in 2021, women in Houston fared far worse than those in Dallas, according to ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind ana...

NEW: The rate of sepsis in Houston surged 63% after Texas banned abortion.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where hospital leaders empowered doctors to intervene before patients’ conditions worsened, it rose just 29%.

Apr. 27, 1899 | White GA Mob Lynches Man for 'Talking Too Much' About Another Lynching Learn more about this history of racial injustice.

On this day in 1899, a white mob in Lee County, Georgia, lynched a Black man named Mitchell Daniel for “talking too much” about the brutal lynching of another Black man days earlier.

the thing I hate most about that rfk quote is that autistic lives have value and worth and beauty and dignity whether they are able to do the things other people do or not. no one is defined by ability or lack thereof and to frame divergence as lack is monster stuff, utterly godless

Unidentified men grabbing someone off the street and putting her in a car because she wrote an op-Ed. This as flatly authoritarian as anything we’ve seen in this country in a very long time.