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Jack Jenkins

@jackjenkins.me

23K followers 710 following 5.5K posts

National Reporter for Religion News Service. "Workaday writer." — The New Yorker. Author of "American Prophets," a book on the religious left. Tips? Try me on Signal: jackmjenkins.60 Website: jackjenkins.me

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · Nov 22

Hey new followers!

I'm Jack. I write about religion and politics for @rns.org.

I also wrote a book, American Prophets, which is about the modern religious left.

If you've tips or things you'd wanna leak me, my Signal is in my bio!

Also, you can grab my book here: www.amazon.com/American-Pro...

American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country

American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country [Jenkins, Jack] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country

www.amazon.com

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1h

Oh look they're playing so much better look at the skill the finesse maybe this team will finally turn it all aroundaaaaaaannnnd they're losing

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1h

Now to observe the time-honored tradition of watching the USMNT and slowly dying inside.

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1h

Anyway, here’s some more on him and Hegseth: religionnews.com/2025/09/29/c...

Defense Secretary Hegseth tests Constitution in Pentagon worship services

(RNS) — Speaking at a recent worship service at the Pentagon, Hegseth said the US needs to be 'in prayer, on bended knee, recognizing the providence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.'

religionnews.com

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1h

Fast forward a couple of years, and Hegseth is sitting in the pews of Wilson’s new church plant in DC: religionnews.com/2025/07/14/w...

With Pete Hegseth in the pews, a Christian nationalist church plant launches in DC

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Christ Kirk DC is the latest example of pastor Doug Wilson's growing sphere of influence among a cadre of conservatives sometimes described as the 'New Right.'

religionnews.com

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1h

He’s actually been A Thing in some circles for decades, but it was the COVID era that really surged his support: religionnews.com/2023/02/22/h...

How big Christian nationalism has come courting in North Idaho

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (RNS) — ‘If we put God back in Idaho, then God will always protect Idaho‚ amen?’

religionnews.com

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1h

Also, he’s been a rising influential voice on the right for the minute.

I’ve been trying to tell y’all. religionnews.com/2024/05/31/t...

The second coming of Doug Wilson

(RNS) — Conservatives are elevating long-controversial Idaho pastor Doug Wilson, framing him as a champion of a relatively moderate form of Christian nationalism — but critics say his ideas remain ext...

religionnews.com

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1h

Look, I get critiques of *how* someone conducts an interview.

But Wilson’s congregants include the Sec. of Defense, who invited a pastor in Wilson’s denomination to lead the first of a recurring worship service at the Pentagon.

If anything, it’s odd it took this long for outlets to interview him.

Stephen West @stephenwest.bsky.social · 6h

Spending your time talking to someone who wants to relitigate slavery is definitely a choice you can make

Opinion | He Believes America Should Be a Theocracy. He Says His Influence Is Growing.

www.nytimes.com

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 2h

Side note: They changed it eventually, but that website still has weird, unaddressed inaccuracies on it.

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 2h

Note: This isn't the first time the Trump admin has used an apparent AI-generated image prominently on a govt website.

They also appear to have done it on the "America Prays" website, which initially had an image of George Washington praying that differed oddly from the original painting (right).

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Reposted by Jack Jenkins

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 3h

An update from WGN on Debbie Brockman: "Earlier today, a WGN-TV creative services employee was detained by ICE. She has since been released, and no charges were filed against her. Out of respect for her privacy, we will have no further statements about this incident.”

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 6h

This morning, masked Border Patrol agents violently pinned a longtime WGN-TV producer to the ground after detaining another unidentified male in Chicago, eventually arresting her and hauling her off in an unmarked silver van.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

WGN-TV producer violently detained during Chicago ICE enforcement action

A DHS spokesperson said that Debbie Brockman was placed under arrest for ‘assault on a federal law enforcement officer,’ claiming the WGN employee threw objects at the agent.

www.independent.co.uk

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 4h

This Newsmax host compares the ordination of a PC(USA) pastor to a Universal Life Church online ordination.

PC(USA) ordination requires a three-year masters of divinity, passing an ordination exam, and a host of presbytery requirements.

The Presbyterian tradition is older than the U.S.

Media Matters for America @mmfa.bsky.social · 8h

A Newsmax host defended ICE agents shooting a minister in the head with a pepper ball by falsely claiming he was “actually an antifa member masquerading as a pastor.”

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 5h

The video in this post is…wow. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YaF...

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 6h

Again, unclear how/if this interacts with the TRO handed down by a federal judge yesterday, which had a lot to say about how DHS agents were to treat journalists in the region: religionnews.com/2025/10/09/f...

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 7h

Speaking of Bovino: a Chicago-area pastor told me the Border Patrol official approached him and began personally shoving him at a protest last week.

It's not in the piece, but the pastor later added: "It did feel like this is being staged for some kind of audience." religionnews.com/2025/10/09/f...

However, faith leaders in Chicago say tensions surrounding the Broadview facility have escalated over the past few weeks.
The Rev. David Swanson, pastor at New Community Covenant Church on Chicago's South Side, declined to comment directly on the lawsuit, explaining that he's only been a part of demonstrations at Broadview on one occasion.
But he said that during his visit, when large numbers of demonstrators assembled near the facility last Friday, the behavior of DHS agents left him unnerved.
At one point, he said, senior Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino — who has become a visible presence in DHS immigration enforcement - walked over to where Swanson and others were standing and began shoving the pastor while yelling in his face. Swanson, who was wearing a clerical collar, said Bovino yelled "I'm not going to tell you again" even as the pastor continued to move back. Part of the incident was documented by a Associated Press photographer; however, DHS officials did not respond immediately to comment on the interaction.

Swanson said the experience differed dramatically from demonstrations elsewhere he has attended. In the past, he said, he has tried to be "a presence for peace in situations that can get volatile" and a "person who different sides can be able to approach and talk with and have conversations with." But his experience at Broadview felt different.
"This was the first time that I felt like there was absolutely no regard and no respect for a person who was visibly associated with a faith tradition," Swanson said. "It did not seem like it made one iota of difference."

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 7h

Full story here: religionnews.com/2025/10/07/i...

Religious protesters say ICE threatens religious freedom in Chicago

(RNS) — Despite potential danger, religious leaders and faith activists have been a visible presence at Chicago-area ICE protests, some waving signs with slogans such as ‘Love thy neighbor’ and ‘Who w...

religionnews.com

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 7h

This was buried in one of my stories this week, but it feels notable that DHS promotional videos invoke faith while focusing not only on the agency's mass deportation efforts, but also *arrests of protesters.*

Footage of *protester* arrests is being used, quite literally, for *ICE* recruitment.

DHS, meanwhile, has also invoked faith — especially Christianity — to promote its actions. The agency has produced promotional videos that overlay Scripture on top of images of ICE agents conducting raids. And on Tuesday, the DHS X feed posted a new video with religious themes. As the song “Revival” by recording artist Zach Bryan plays, footage rolls of a recent ICE raid on a Chicago apartment building, an event Amnesty International condemned as an “attack on human rights.” The video then shifts to images of federal agents and local police pushing back protesters in front of the Broadview facility.

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 9h

Huh. Curious how/if this interacts with the TRO handed down yesterday restricting forceful actions by federal agents in north Illinois: religionnews.com/2025/10/09/f...

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Reposted by Jack Jenkins

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 10h

BREAKING: White House budget office says "substantial" firings of federal workers have started as the Trump administration exerts shutdown leverage.

Budget office says 'substantial' firings of federal workers have started in government shutdown

The White House budget office says that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Jack Jenkins

Vittoria Elliott @telliotter.bsky.social · 1d

My first foray onto YouTube for @wired.com, doing a deep dive into the state of immigration enforcement and deportation under the Trump administration.

youtu.be/uD9ETC80HDA?...

Where ICE Has Taken The Most People | On The Grid | WIRED

YouTube video by WIRED

youtu.be

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 11h

*This joke is so extremely niche you have to find a hidden door and utter a secret password to get it.

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 11h

Mark my words, "Toward an Inflatable Liberationist Theology" is gonna fill an auditorium at AAR.*

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 11h

The humanities grad school papers on this dynamic are gonna go on forever.

dr. caitlin m. green @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social · 23h

there are SO many more inflatable costumes tonight. clearly we have settled on a motif

Wide shot of many people in inflatable costumes

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 11h

Speaker Mike Johnson, standing next to Emmer here, urged Democrats less than a month ago to "turn down their rhetoric," saying, "Nazis and fascists is not helpful."

As such, striking to see him stand quietly as a fellow Republican insists there is a "terrorist wing" of the Democratic Party.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12h

Emmer: "This is about one thing and one thing alone -- to score political points with the terrorist wing of their party, which is set to hold a hate America rally in DC next week."

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 12h

Side note: lest you think this is a one-off, a sizable group of Catholic nuns, priests and lay leaders have announced plans to do the same thing — offer communion to detainees in the Broadview ICE facility — tomorrow.

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 12h

NEW: Clergy are at the Broadview, IL ICE facility today — where clergy have been shot w/pepper balls in recent days.

UMC minister Rev. Hannah Kardon, one of those shot w/pepper balls in the past, among those asking to give communion to those detained. Attendees (who sent photos) say police declined

Clergy holding communion wares talking to police.

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Reposted by Jack Jenkins

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 12h

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