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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 2h

Some buildings become monuments to greatness.
Others become monuments to insecurity that history has to bury out of embarrassment.
They’re grotesque. (9/9)

brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 2h

who covered everything in gold and built monuments to himself because he was desperate to be seen as great.
Nero's palace was bigger than it needed to be. More gold than made sense. Built to prove something that real power never has to prove.
Then the Romans buried it in shame. (8/9)

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 2h

Very secure leader behavior.
Oh, and it's "self-funded"—by Google ($22 million), Lockheed Martin (undisclosed), and various tech companies (undisclosed) who are all - purely coincidentally - doing business with his administration.
So the word "grotesque" comes from an insecure tyrant (7/9)

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 2h

for doing all of this."
Makes him seem smaller.
Aides say he 3D-printed little dollhouse models that he fidgets with during meals. "The tenser things are, the more he moves the pieces around."
So when actual work needs doing, he's... playing with tiny buildings.
Very normal. (6/9)

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 2h

Gilded Corinthian columns. Crystal chandeliers. Gold everything. All modeled after Mar-a-Lago.
He's literally remaking the People's House to look like his country club.
Interior designers are calling it "tacky," "looks cheap," “gilded rococo nightmare” and—"makes him seem smaller (5/9)

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 2h

Now, why am I bringing this up the day after the East Wing got demolished?
Because somebody just tore down a building that survived World War II to build a ballroom TWICE THE SIZE of the White House itself.
$250-300 million (the number keeps going up). (4/9)

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 2h

they found these wild, distorted paintings everywhere. They called it "pittura grottesca"—"cave painting."
That's where we get the word "grotesque." It literally means: the excessive, desperate stuff from Nero's palace that was so cringe they had to bury it. (3/9)

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 2h

built himself a 100-300 acre golden palace called the Domus Aurea. It had a 98-foot statue of himself, a party barge lake, and SO. MUCH. GOLD.
When Renaissance artists discovered it centuries later (buried underground because even Romans were like, “This is too much”), (2/9)

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 2h

Fun Etymology Lesson That'll Ruin Your Day (a thread)
So I learned something delightful on our trip to Rome.
You know where the word "grotesque" comes from?
Nero's palace.
Emperor Nero—the guy who murdered his own mother and used Christians as garden torches—(1/9)

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 3d

On Saturday, I joined other Arkansans at Little Rock's No Kings Rally. That evening, Trump posted an AI video of himself wearing a crown and dropping feces on American protesters. Christians must be political without being partisan.#arpx #ArkansasBlueDots #NoKings open.substack.com/pub/brohamme...

Beyond Red and Blue

How Christians Can Be Political Without Being Partisan

open.substack.com

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Reposted by brohammett.bsky.social

🇵🇸 Justpepper ❌️👑🇺🇸 @justpepper.bsky.social · 8d

#arpx

Arkansas Advocate @arkansasadvocate.com · 8d

Arkansas’ child care system needs additional funding to avoid widespread closures and layoffs due to changes to the state’s financial aid program for low-income families, providers told the state Early Childhood Commission during a Wednesday work session.

✍️: @tessmvrbin.bsky.social
buff.ly/kPS6Zkv

Arkansas child care providers ask state for help after changes to school readiness program | Arkansas Advocate

Reimbursement rate cuts are expected to cost providers statewide $727,000 per week, totaling $37.8 million in lost revenue for local economies.

arkansasadvocate.com

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 7d

Full story: brohammett.substack.com/p/sixteen-da... #ARChildcare #ArkansasFamilies #arleg #arpx

Sixteen Days to Save Arkansas Childcare

When the wheels fall off, everyone stops moving

brohammett.substack.com

brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 7d

#Arkansas: 16 days until childcare collapse.
6K families losing care. 400 educators laid off. 80+ centers closing. State found $277M for private school vouchers but can't find $80M for working-class childcare. This is a choice.
Sign the petition: www.change.org/p/don-t-let-...

Sign the Petition

Don’t Let Our Children be Casualties: Support Quality Childcare in Arkansas

www.change.org

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 10d

The Bible never called #GretaThunberg #antichrist (whatever #PeterThiel says). But it has a LOT to say about leaders who build golden monuments to themselves, exploit religion for power, and scapegoat the vulnerable. New essay at open.substack.com/pub/brohamme... #Apocalypse

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 16d

"We don't need any lone rangers" is one of the most common dismissals in church leadership circles. But what if we've missed something important? New post on what the Lone Ranger teaches us about faithful leadership when institutions fail. open.substack.com/pub/brohamme...

Actually What the Church Needs Right Now Is More Lone Rangers

Reconsidering a childhood hero's lessons for pastoral ministry and faithful leadership

open.substack.com

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Reposted by brohammett.bsky.social

Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 16d

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 20d

"I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." —Jesus
When does unity become complicity? When does bridge-building abandon the gospel?
New essay on the difference between cheap peace and costly peacemaking. Featuring Klein vs. Coates on where we draw the line. brohammett.substack.com/p/when-peace...

When Peacemaking Demands a Sword

Why Christians Must Stand Against Dehumanization—Even When It Costs Us Everything

brohammett.substack.com

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · 23d

"A Tale of Two Christianities"
Two versions of Christianity are competing for America's soul—one following Jesus' radical teachings about love and enemy care, the other wrapped in nationalism and power.
I'd love your thoughts, especially if you disagree.
Read: brohammett.substack.com/p/a-tale-of-...

A Tale of Two Christianities

What the Kirk memorial and Quantico speeches reveal about the American church

brohammett.substack.com

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Reposted by brohammett.bsky.social

Arkansas Advocate @arkansasadvocate.com · Aug 21

Via @tessmvrbin.bsky.social: Arkansas faith leaders petitioned Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday not to restart executions in the state in light of a new law allowing the use of nitrogen gas suffocation for the death penalty. #arpx

Faith leaders speak against death penalty, urge Arkansas governor not to restart executions | Arkansas Advocate

Arkansas is the fifth state to legalize execution by nitrogen gas, which clergymembers of several denominations say is a form of torture.

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · Jun 19

Congress targets UMC agencies for immigrant ministry—despite receiving ZERO federal funding. Our response? We continue welcoming the stranger because Scripture calls us to, regardless of political pressure.
www.umnews.org/en/news/unit...
#UMC #Immigration #FaithInAction

United Methodist ministries named in House probe | UMNews.org

The United Methodist Council of Bishops and other ministries are among 215 charities that received a U.S. congressional committee’s letter about their work with immigrants.

www.umnews.org

brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · Apr 20

Sacred Steps: Easter Sunday - The Journey Transformed
mailchi.mp/ca8e6bd1dade... #HolyWeek2025 #Easter2025

Sacred Steps: The Journey Transformed

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · Apr 19

Sacred Steps: Holy Saturday - The Pilgrim's Rest
mailchi.mp/6af51bb54831... #HolyWeek2025

Sacred Steps: Holy Saturday - The Pilgrim's Rest

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · Apr 18

Sacred Steps: Good Friday - The Path of Sorrows
mailchi.mp/9777a0d778f9... #HolyWeek2025

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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · Apr 17

Sacred Steps: Maundy Thursday - The Table
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brohammett.bsky.social @brohammett.bsky.social · Apr 16

Sacred Steps: Wednesday - Betrayal on the Journey
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking_of_Christ_%28Caravaggio%29#