Jason Eric Bystrom
@jasonbystrom.bsky.social
Religious Studies, Photography, Ethnomusicology, Extreme Metal, Basic Human Decency
Pinned
Introduce yourself with some jobs you've done apart from what you do now:
-camp counselor
-lifeguard
-movie theater box office, concessions, cleaning
-projectionist
-clothing store cashier and stocker
-receptionist
-roofer
-camp counselor
-lifeguard
-movie theater box office, concessions, cleaning
-projectionist
-clothing store cashier and stocker
-receptionist
-roofer
Howdy all,
I’ve been a
•janitor
•dishwasher
•sexton
•children’s caregiver
•paraeducator
•prep cook
•farm worker
and now I’m an instructor at a small high school in Berkeley. I teach government, photography, and digital literacy.
I’ve been a
•janitor
•dishwasher
•sexton
•children’s caregiver
•paraeducator
•prep cook
•farm worker
and now I’m an instructor at a small high school in Berkeley. I teach government, photography, and digital literacy.
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Let me clarify that this is a textbook example of how “cult” (and “religion” in general) is a tool for defining in-group/out-group identities and social boundary patrolling.
(Not an idea I can claim as my own. @mpgphd.bsky.social in particular is a vocal critic of popular usage of “cult.”)
(Not an idea I can claim as my own. @mpgphd.bsky.social in particular is a vocal critic of popular usage of “cult.”)
November 23, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Let me clarify that this is a textbook example of how “cult” (and “religion” in general) is a tool for defining in-group/out-group identities and social boundary patrolling.
(Not an idea I can claim as my own. @mpgphd.bsky.social in particular is a vocal critic of popular usage of “cult.”)
(Not an idea I can claim as my own. @mpgphd.bsky.social in particular is a vocal critic of popular usage of “cult.”)
November 23, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Here’s my favorite so far.
It's been SEVEN hours and
fifteen days
fifteen days
November 23, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Here’s my favorite so far.
Oops, because of the way Bluesky displays photos, you can’t really see what’s so remarkable about these images unless you click on them. Oh well. I tried to share something beautiful, but some technological limitations got in the way.
This person knows where it’s at:
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
November 22, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Oops, because of the way Bluesky displays photos, you can’t really see what’s so remarkable about these images unless you click on them. Oh well. I tried to share something beautiful, but some technological limitations got in the way.
This person knows where it’s at:
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
November 22, 2025 at 3:01 PM
This person knows where it’s at:
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
This alt-right religious trad something-or-other social media influencer with over 125,000 followers explains that she “know[s] the difference between culture and religion,” all the while hawking “patriotic and religious merch that isn’t gaey.” Uuuuuum…
November 22, 2025 at 2:20 AM
This alt-right religious trad something-or-other social media influencer with over 125,000 followers explains that she “know[s] the difference between culture and religion,” all the while hawking “patriotic and religious merch that isn’t gaey.” Uuuuuum…
And so it begins…
November 13, 2025 at 11:24 PM
And so it begins…
Reading for tomorrow’s flight to the Midwest. Found this in a free library this evening! Spotted it in the dark.
(Disclosure: Shamus is a longtime casual friend who I know from my Madison, Wisc. friends group. Have read a few of his shorter pieces, but never gotten around to reading his books.)
(Disclosure: Shamus is a longtime casual friend who I know from my Madison, Wisc. friends group. Have read a few of his shorter pieces, but never gotten around to reading his books.)
November 13, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Reading for tomorrow’s flight to the Midwest. Found this in a free library this evening! Spotted it in the dark.
(Disclosure: Shamus is a longtime casual friend who I know from my Madison, Wisc. friends group. Have read a few of his shorter pieces, but never gotten around to reading his books.)
(Disclosure: Shamus is a longtime casual friend who I know from my Madison, Wisc. friends group. Have read a few of his shorter pieces, but never gotten around to reading his books.)
November 12, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Birthplace of the free speech movement:
“[4] individuals were arrested while attempting to hang an approximately five-foot-tall cardboard bug off Sather Gate in protest of Turning Point USA’s, or TPUSA, upcoming event on campus”
www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...
“[4] individuals were arrested while attempting to hang an approximately five-foot-tall cardboard bug off Sather Gate in protest of Turning Point USA’s, or TPUSA, upcoming event on campus”
www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...
4 UC Berkeley students arrested on felony vandalism charges for anti-TPUSA art installation
UCPD arrested four students early Monday morning for felony vandalism, according to information from campus administrators.
www.dailycal.org
November 11, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Birthplace of the free speech movement:
“[4] individuals were arrested while attempting to hang an approximately five-foot-tall cardboard bug off Sather Gate in protest of Turning Point USA’s, or TPUSA, upcoming event on campus”
www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...
“[4] individuals were arrested while attempting to hang an approximately five-foot-tall cardboard bug off Sather Gate in protest of Turning Point USA’s, or TPUSA, upcoming event on campus”
www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
Taco Bell’s new Seventhmeal promotion is looking pretty good
November 10, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Taco Bell’s new Seventhmeal promotion is looking pretty good
Perhaps they’re inspired by Hungary’s universal healthcare system.
incredible that these guys have a massive hard on for a country that, if it were a state, would rank behind kansas in terms of wealth and which would be a total backwater if it weren’t economically integrated with more functional countries
November 8, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Perhaps they’re inspired by Hungary’s universal healthcare system.
Huston Smith and Seyyed Hossein Nasr. And in the popular scholar category, Karen Armstrong.
(Although, I wouldn’t say that any of them are influential on my thinking about religion.)
(Although, I wouldn’t say that any of them are influential on my thinking about religion.)
Right, enough of James Watson - who's a senior academic you've met who's been an utter delight?
I'll go first: Jocelyn Bell Burnell
I'll go first: Jocelyn Bell Burnell
November 8, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Huston Smith and Seyyed Hossein Nasr. And in the popular scholar category, Karen Armstrong.
(Although, I wouldn’t say that any of them are influential on my thinking about religion.)
(Although, I wouldn’t say that any of them are influential on my thinking about religion.)
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
I think we need to stop calling it empathy and go back to calling it decency. It isn't a favour you're doing someone else, it's you proving that you aren't a fucking ghoul
November 7, 2025 at 2:09 PM
I think we need to stop calling it empathy and go back to calling it decency. It isn't a favour you're doing someone else, it's you proving that you aren't a fucking ghoul
These guys really are accelerationists hell-bent on burning the whole thing down.
November 7, 2025 at 5:12 PM
These guys really are accelerationists hell-bent on burning the whole thing down.
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
You (a fool): The LLM is an all-knowing oracle, on its way to godlike intelligence
Me (dumber): The LLM is Indra’s Net, each fundamentally empty token a multifaceted jewel in whose surfaces the reflections of every other jewel arise in mutual interdependence
The LLM: You can eat that rock
Me (dumber): The LLM is Indra’s Net, each fundamentally empty token a multifaceted jewel in whose surfaces the reflections of every other jewel arise in mutual interdependence
The LLM: You can eat that rock
August 16, 2025 at 3:38 PM
You (a fool): The LLM is an all-knowing oracle, on its way to godlike intelligence
Me (dumber): The LLM is Indra’s Net, each fundamentally empty token a multifaceted jewel in whose surfaces the reflections of every other jewel arise in mutual interdependence
The LLM: You can eat that rock
Me (dumber): The LLM is Indra’s Net, each fundamentally empty token a multifaceted jewel in whose surfaces the reflections of every other jewel arise in mutual interdependence
The LLM: You can eat that rock
This is brilliant.
أنا اسمي زهران ممدان وعم رشّح حالي لأكون العمدة الجديد في مدينة نيويورك
November 1, 2025 at 10:31 PM
This is brilliant.
Coffee shop entitlement on display:
Barista calls, “Orange cappuccino for Lisa!”
Woman steps up and says somewhat curtly, “It’s supposed to be a flat white.”
Meanwhile, Lisa picks up her orange cappuccino.
Five minutes and two drink orders later, barista calls, “Flat white for Kay!”
Barista calls, “Orange cappuccino for Lisa!”
Woman steps up and says somewhat curtly, “It’s supposed to be a flat white.”
Meanwhile, Lisa picks up her orange cappuccino.
Five minutes and two drink orders later, barista calls, “Flat white for Kay!”
November 1, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Coffee shop entitlement on display:
Barista calls, “Orange cappuccino for Lisa!”
Woman steps up and says somewhat curtly, “It’s supposed to be a flat white.”
Meanwhile, Lisa picks up her orange cappuccino.
Five minutes and two drink orders later, barista calls, “Flat white for Kay!”
Barista calls, “Orange cappuccino for Lisa!”
Woman steps up and says somewhat curtly, “It’s supposed to be a flat white.”
Meanwhile, Lisa picks up her orange cappuccino.
Five minutes and two drink orders later, barista calls, “Flat white for Kay!”
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
Where's the piece about how buying super yachts and supreme court justices can lead to both overspending and fascist regimes???
October 31, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Where's the piece about how buying super yachts and supreme court justices can lead to both overspending and fascist regimes???
Now this is a metaphor that even I can understand.
"How do you expect to win back men...?"
We don't want those men. They are the hot dogs on the floor of humanity and we still have all these nice prepped hamburger patties if someone would just let them cook.
We don't want those men. They are the hot dogs on the floor of humanity and we still have all these nice prepped hamburger patties if someone would just let them cook.
October 21, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Now this is a metaphor that even I can understand.
My favorite marcher so far at the SF No Kings is wearing a high-vis vest and raising a trash grabber in lieu of a sign.
October 18, 2025 at 10:13 PM
My favorite marcher so far at the SF No Kings is wearing a high-vis vest and raising a trash grabber in lieu of a sign.
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
this rocks. when indiana edu killed the student newspaper, Purdue stepped up, printed the forbidden issue, drove it to Bloomington and stocked the boxes.
October 18, 2025 at 6:27 PM
this rocks. when indiana edu killed the student newspaper, Purdue stepped up, printed the forbidden issue, drove it to Bloomington and stocked the boxes.
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
Take a picture of yourself at the No Kings rally.
Print it.
Put it in a frame.
Your grandchildren will speak about you for generations to come. You took a stand against fascism. You stood up for democracy. 
Print it.
Put it in a frame.
Your grandchildren will speak about you for generations to come. You took a stand against fascism. You stood up for democracy. 
October 16, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Take a picture of yourself at the No Kings rally.
Print it.
Put it in a frame.
Your grandchildren will speak about you for generations to come. You took a stand against fascism. You stood up for democracy. 
Print it.
Put it in a frame.
Your grandchildren will speak about you for generations to come. You took a stand against fascism. You stood up for democracy. 
WE ARE PRACTICING AN ICE LOCKDOWN at Berkeley Adult School, ffs!!!!!!!
(I take Arabic classes here, but the vast majority of the students are ESL learners.)
(I take Arabic classes here, but the vast majority of the students are ESL learners.)
October 17, 2025 at 2:05 AM
WE ARE PRACTICING AN ICE LOCKDOWN at Berkeley Adult School, ffs!!!!!!!
(I take Arabic classes here, but the vast majority of the students are ESL learners.)
(I take Arabic classes here, but the vast majority of the students are ESL learners.)