Patrick Scriven

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, social media timelines quickly filled with speculation, partisanship, and outrage. Here are my thoughts on how our digital habits distort our witness and lead to bad results. www.pnwumc.org/a-wicked-pro...

YouTube video by CNN The Christian nationalist pastor with ties to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

Progressive? Independent? Libertarian? Person of faith (non-Christian) or reasonable Christian? All can find reasons to be disturbed by this.
youtu.be/NqzSxd6sS1s?...

15 teens. 300 miles. One mighty ancestral river, running free. The removal of four dams finally made a descent of the Klamath possible. These Indigenous kayakers became the first to attempt it.

Good things still happen. Enjoy this gift article of one such thing. wapo.st/4m81PJf

60,000 Gazans have been killed. 18,500 were children. These are their names. Palestinian children have been killed at a rate of more than one per hour since the war began.

18,500 children, with bombs made in and policy supported by the U.S. wapo.st/3IRLZn6

Western Jurisdiction College of Bishops decry militarized presence targeting immigrants In the face of a glorified militarized presence and false narrative perpetuated about our immigrant siblings, specifically in the Los Angeles area, the five active…

A word from our Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church College of Bishops. #LA #losangeles #peacefulprotests
vimeo.com/1092982359

AI isn’t the only tool we rely on too much.
What if the problem isn’t the pastor—but the model?
It’s time to co-create again. #UMC #AI #discipleship
👉 Read: www.pnwumc.org/rethinking-t...

Three U.S. citizens, ages 2, 4 and 7, swiftly deported from Louisiana The cases have renewed concerns that the Trump administration’s expedited deportations are violating the rights of both citizens and noncitizens.

Just when you think we might have seen the bottom. Can you get lower than quickly deporting a 4-year-old with Stage 4 cancer without their medication or the ability to contact their doctors? It shouldn’t matter, but the child was also a U.S. citizen.

wapo.st/4iDFVux

Read more about their inspiring work: greaternw.org/news/wesley-...

Before creation care was cool, Wesley UMC in Yakima was leading the way. Starting with a single recycling box years ago, they now process over 883,000 pounds of recyclables a year, powers its ministry with solar, and brings people together—one can, one cup of compost, one connection at a time.

YouTube video by CBS News Watch: Vance drops Ohio State football's national championship trophy during White House visit

Oopsies!

American hell In the last year of his life, Martin Luther King Jr.’s confidence in the politics of progressivism dimmed. Judgment became his...

An interesting consideration of the theological trajectory of MLK Jr.’s preaching over his final years.

How many people and small businesses need to go bankrupt before Trump‘s tariffs make us all richer?

Wisconsin supreme court race: liberal Susan Crawford beats Musk-backed candidate Liberal judge says victory is against ‘unprecedented attack on our democracy’ after defeating Brad Schimel in the most expensive judicial election in US history

Apparently, not everything is for sale. #goWI #goawayElon

Drawing on personal experience, scripture, and the powerful words of Martin Niemöller, Patrick Scriven reflects on the troubling case of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University student detained under unclear circumstances, and the questions it raises about due process, free speech, & Christian witness.

There is a lot of terrible shit going on in the world. Don’t forget to stop and take in some of the good.

A.I. Saved His Life by Discovering New Uses for Old Drugs (Gift Article) Scientists are using machine learning to find new treatments among thousands of old medicines.

AI may kill us all ala Terminator, but it is also doing amazing things in some people's hands.

(2 of 2) There is zero evidence such posts do anything except driving people apart. Shame is not a constructive social lever. Many of us have allowed our emotions to get the best of us. Still others have decided to ride that rage to their own benefit. We can, and we should do better.

(1 of 2) The frustration, anger and sadness many feel about the USA right now is both reasonable and understandable. Posts like this are partly responsible for the situation we find ourselves in.

U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World (Gift Article) Here are some of the 5,800 contracts the Trump administration formally canceled this week in a wave of terse emails.

The opposite of good is …

As Musk tears through Washington, some Tesla owners feel buyer’s remorse For many D.C.-area owners, the car has gone from progressive icon to badge of shame.

As a Tesla owner, I get this.

Worst. Episode. EVER.

“In Kennedy's first week on the job, HHS postponed an important meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, without saying when it would resume.”

Texas measles outbreak nears 100 cases, raising concerns about undetected spread Health officials say a measles outbreak in West Texas is growing because of low vaccine rates and undetected infections.

It’s a shame there isn’t a way to prevent this. Oh wait, there is?

That is where my head goes as well.

That assumes we still have courts that are independent/

You are right. And while I suspect many people wouldn’t be willing to pay, I’m surprised no social media platform (unless you count YouTube) has really allowed users to subscribe to retain more control of the content they see. I wonder what they’re unwilling to lose.

Thoughts about social media. While Bluesky has been a lovely change, I do worry when they inevitably need to monetize.

Nine unvaccinated people hospitalized as Texas measles outbreak doubles All 24 cases are in unvaccinated people, 22 of which are under age 17.

Congrats to RFK Jr. for being confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary?