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gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Jun 21

The newest issue of Religion & Theology 32, no. 1&2 (2025), just out ...

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · May 30

A discussion on scholarly journal editorship I am involved with - Keyan Tomaselli on the implications of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa [ASSAf] Statement on the Recognition of Editors and Peer Reviewers, and the whole scholarly value chain in academic publishing.
doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Publishing as knowledge clubs: ASSAf Statement on the Recognition of Editors and Peer Reviewers

doi.org

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · May 29

Julie Schumacher Cohen, 28 May 2025: "We can grieve the Holocaust as an unfathomable act of human cruelty and mourn the way in which a people not responsible for it—the Palestinians—continue to bear an undue burden from its legacy."
www.commonwealmagazine.org/gaza-israel-...

Catholic Guilt and Gaza

Insofar as Catholic neglect of the plight of the Palestinians stems from guilt about the Holocaust, it’s long past time to rethink how this guilt is addressed.

www.commonwealmagazine.org

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · May 14

New Testament Society of Southern Africa
Supplement Virtual Conference 15 May 2025

The virtual conference will be held via Zoom online. us02web.zoom.us/j/3247885838...
Meeting ID: 324 788 5838
Passcode: 730170

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 28

A lot of pep-talking for the coming fightback is taking place, and this one adds another bit to the programme needed: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Donald Trump, beware – this is what a global liberal fightback looks like | Timothy Garton Ash

From the Canadian elections to universities and civil society, the campaign to turn the tide against anti-liberal nationalists is well underway, says Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash

www.theguardian.com

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 28

There is a longer debate on this book between Yonathan Adler, Niels Peter Lemche, Anders Klostergaard Petersen, and others [with Kratz weighing in] on Academia.edu www.academia.edu/community/ld.... A thread much worth reading.

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gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 28

There is also a longer debate with him on Academia.edu, amongst others with Niels Peter Lemche and Anders Klostergaard Petersen [and Reinhard Kratz] on this. That thread is also very worth reading: www.academia.edu/community/ld...

Academia.edu | Log In

Academia.edu is the platform to share, find, and explore 50 Million research papers. Join us to accelerate your research needs & academic interests.

www.academia.edu

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 28

The madness creep spilling over the border, as reported in the Toronto Star: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Redirecting...

www.facebook.com

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 26

jacobin.com/2022/04/span...

Guernica Was a Dress Rehearsal for the Nazi War That Followed

The bombing of Guernica on this day in 1937 wasn’t just part of the Spanish Civil War but a show of Nazi Germany’s military might. When antifascist journalist George Steer uncovered Germany’s responsi...

jacobin.com

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 22

www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

Pope Francis leaves behind a legacy of faith and service in the Catholic Church

Pope Francis, the first Argentinian pope, passed away on Easter Monday, leaving a transformative legacy of compassion, reform and inclusivity.

www.dailymaverick.co.za

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 22

Towards a new civic morality: jacobin.com/2025/04/mele...

Jean-Luc Mélenchon: “We Need a New Civic Morality”

As he visits the US for the first time, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La France Insoumise, writes about the collapse of triumphal capitalist narratives and sets out an alternative vision for humanity ...

jacobin.com

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 21

"Although he had a conservative reputation in his earlier years, Pope Francis used his role as a world religious leader to campaign against poverty and social oppression, directly challenging the appropriation of Christianity by figures like J. D. Vance." jacobin.com/2025/04/pope...

Pope Francis Was an Amiable Mold Breaker in the Vatican

Although he had a conservative reputation in his earlier years, Pope Francis used his role as a world religious leader to campaign against poverty and social oppression, directly challenging the appro...

jacobin.com

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 21

On the late Pope Francis who made migrants and immigrants a focus of his papacy: www.democracynow.org/2025/4/21/po...

Pope Francis’s Book Editor Robert Ellsberg on the Pontiff’s Life, Legacy & Care for Refugees

We continue our look at the life and legacy of Pope Francis with a focus on his advocacy for migrants’ rights and next steps for selecting his successor, with input from groups like SNAP, Survivors Ne...

www.democracynow.org

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 21

And another report on the passing of Pope Francis: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Though not a John XXIII, I have read some of his pastoral letters and encyclicals, and I have been impressed by his social vision. I could think with them with my students.

Pope Francis, groundbreaking Jesuit pontiff, dies aged 88

Death of 266th head of Catholic church triggers period of global mourning and Vatican conclave of cardinals to elect successorLatest updates: tributes paid after Pope Francis dies aged 88

www.theguardian.com

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 21

Whatever you think of the institution, I did find him an inspirational figure www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...

Pope Francis has died on Easter Monday aged 88 - Vatican News

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta.

www.vaticannews.va

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gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 15

Photo of conference attendees at the just past annual meeting of the New Testament Society of Southern Africa, 31 March to 4 April. The keynote speakers stand in the front row; I am behind Lily Nortjé Meyer, the current honorary president of the Society, in front.

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gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 12

Thom Hartmann in Alternet: "Democracy doesn’t 'die in darkness.' It dies when truth becomes a crime and silence becomes survival."
www.alternet.org/alternet-exc...

Is this the moment American democracy finally broke?

The highest form of freedom in a democracy isn’t just the right to vote or protest — it’s the right to speak truth to power. To call out corruption. To challenge lies. To stand firm when the powerful ...

www.alternet.org

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gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 11

On the other side of the world, from the margins, this is how African commentators look at events in the Global North ... www.trt.global/afrika-engli...

TRT Global - The West made a mockery of democracy. Now the joke is on them.

As alleged war criminals receive red-carpet treatment and institutions of justice are abandoned, the illusion of moral leadership crumbles—revealing a system built on selective accountability and colo...

www.trt.global

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gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 9

www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...

Analysis: GNU 2.0 — ANC presses ‘Control-Alt-Delete’ on the national coalition

The decision by the ANC’s National Working Committee to ‘reset’ the national coalition opens the door to real change in the government. It can also lead to turmoil in the ANC.

www.dailymaverick.co.za

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 9

The dispute centred on raising taxes [e.g. slight raise in VAT] as well as different visions on how to stimulate a moribund economy. But both the ANC and DA act as if they are still in May 2024 country, not really adapted to the new political reality. Adults in the room needed urgently.

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 9

Amidst all the Trump-caused turmoil in the world, South Africa is also on knife's edge: After the elections of May 2024 the ANC was forced into a really grand 'coalition' they called a Government of National Unity. Now the two biggest parties are at loggerheads because of a budget dispute.

gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 5

With the keynote speakers at the just past annual meeting of the New Testament Society of Southern Africa: from left to right - Markus Vinzent, Judith Lieu, Zana de Wet and Chris de Wet, Annette Potgieter, Paul Robertson, and myself.

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gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Apr 5

The 60th annual meeting of the New Testament Society of Southern Africa has just concluded. At the business meeting, colleague Pieter Botha and I [we both retired December 2022] were voted as honorary presidents of the Society for 2026 and 2027 respectively. A great honour.

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gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Mar 28

Morality is selective. Lesson we learnt in the old apartheid SA and are still learning in the new SA.

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gerhardvdh57.bsky.social @gerhardvdh57.bsky.social · Mar 28

On many fronts academics are feeling their way through dark times: aarweb.org/news/religio...

Religious Studies Matters. Expertise Matters. Both Are Under Attack Right Now. - AAR

People pictured in photo, from left: Christina Parrish Stone, Florida Humanities; Claudia Schippert, AAR Executive Director; Alex Weeden, Legislative Assistant to Representative Maxwell Frost; Joy Ban...

aarweb.org

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