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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen
@stephenwaldron.bsky.social
940 followers 310 following 1.3K posts
Theologian writing a book on the political theology of the New Apostolic Reformation. Websites: https://stephenwaldron.substack.com/ theologyandsociety.com
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 21h
The statement "Our best is yet to come" is probably more influential in US evangelical churches than any more formal kind of theology at this point.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 21h
There's a whole theology going on in the church elders' response to the arrest of their pastor for alleged conduct with a minor.
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collincornell.bsky.social
collin cornell @collincornell.bsky.social · 1d
“One of the chants that has become ubiquitous at these protests at Broadview is, ‘Love your neighbor, love your God, save your soul and quit your job,’” said Black, who pastors at the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago. “Everybody chants that.”
rns.org
RNS @rns.org · 2d
The pastors’ efforts are part of rising faith-based pushback to the Trump administration as the president seeks to implement plans for mass deportation of immigrants.
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…
religionnews.com
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 1d
Even fixating on conservative theological ideas like "biblical inerrancy" misses that the things driving most Christian conservatives are pre-ideological, rooted in forms of life and ways of interpreting that can seem far removed from anything political or intellectual.

bsky.app/profile/daws...
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
Dawson Vosburg @dawsonvosburg.bsky.social · 17d
and this isn’t necessarily articulated, but the reason why allegory is so common is because the number one statement about the Bible that most shapes vernacular evangelical interpretation isn’t “the Bible is literally true,” it’s “all the Bible applies to my life”
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 1d
The footsoldiers of MAGA religion are rarely neo-Confederates like Wilson, but they are scared and angry enough to overlook almost any fault in someone they see as able to protect them and their children from the people and ideas they fear.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 1d
That doesn't make it less bad that he has growing political influence, but I do wish people would pay more attention to influences like KLove and Facebook groups and multicampus suburban/exurban churches that are the real glue holding the religious side of MAGA together.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 1d
Much like so many were unaware of Charlie Kirk's racism, probably 1% of Christian conservatives in the US know about Wilson's noxious views. Only a core group of Reformed homeschoolers or classical school types even know who he is.
gbbranstetter.bsky.social
Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 1d
Listening and learning
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nycsouthpaw.bsky.social
southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 2d
The situation in America is not great. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 2d
Going to start adding "in this era of AI" to everything to imply that I'm saying something important/worthwhile.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 2d
It also gets in the way of the document when I'm literally trying to read it.
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Reposted by Stephen
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
Dawson Vosburg @dawsonvosburg.bsky.social · 17d
and this isn’t necessarily articulated, but the reason why allegory is so common is because the number one statement about the Bible that most shapes vernacular evangelical interpretation isn’t “the Bible is literally true,” it’s “all the Bible applies to my life”
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 3d
The problem of conservative politics is how to get a majority to support a hierarchical social order. One of the main tricks is to undermine democracy and make minority rule possible through both legal and extra-legal means. Another is to propagate falsehoods. But the monster can eat its creator.
wymancr.bsky.social
Chris Wightman 🧟‍♂️ @wymancr.bsky.social · 3d
I don't think it's really all that hard to square the circle on Trump representing the culmination of a turn against democracy that has been boiling in the GOP fever swamps for a long time and he is a radical departure for Republican presidents who until now have come from the mainstream elite.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 3d
The comments about the Old Testament are a real mess, though.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 4d
I think that one way forward for progressive Christians is to explicitly model that you can be open-minded and empathetic in specifically Christian ways. "By their fruits you will know them," and the outcomes of MAGA Christianity for character/virtue are going to be increasingly repulsive.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 4d
The grain of truth in the New Atheists's critique of religion is that there are many people who use their religion to justify being completely uninterested in either thinking or feeling in dialogue with others who differ from themselves. It is a particular problem in the US.
stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 4d
If you've already made up your mind that you have God's perspective and those who don't share it are *at best* ignorant victims of the devil's deception, there's simply no reason to care what anyone else thinks or feels. The "sin of empathy" concept has been developing for a long time.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 4d
If you've already made up your mind that you have God's perspective and those who don't share it are *at best* ignorant victims of the devil's deception, there's simply no reason to care what anyone else thinks or feels. The "sin of empathy" concept has been developing for a long time.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 4d
This is the key thing many progressives miss about why most Christian conservatives are completely uninterested in things like dialogue and understanding perspectives other than their own.
swordsjew.bsky.social
Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · 4d
i do not respect this belief but it is enlightening to wrap your head around the fact that a significant number of your political rivals believe you are literally in league with satan, and act with concomitant zeal and brutality
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swordsjew.bsky.social
Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · 4d
i do not respect this belief but it is enlightening to wrap your head around the fact that a significant number of your political rivals believe you are literally in league with satan, and act with concomitant zeal and brutality
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 8d
I want to be part of a society that allows us to have this ad.
numb.comfortab.ly
Comfortably Numb @numb.comfortab.ly · May 22
Jimmy Fallon does ads for that crappy spammy game.
Jimmy Fallon is making a face like he just heard someone fart, and realizes it was him. He is promoting Royal Kingdom on Google Play.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 9d
People also don't usually realize that it will likely make you *less* employable than before because everyone assumes that you could be doing something better than what they're hiring for and there's no way to explain that, actually, there isn't some *we love hiring PhDs* employer out there.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 10d
"Restorationism" and "primitivism" are very US Christian tendencies that give something positive to revive ("old time religion"). The Pentecostals I grew up among were obsessed with revival, and by the late 20th century it was completely intertwined with religious right politics in those circles.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 10d
To be honest, I'm not sure! I suspect that widespread opinions of it as a good thing go back to the Great Awakening. European Christians loved to condemn "enthusiasm," so I guess there have long been "enthusiastic" forms of Christianity that were condemned by religious authorities.
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 10d
I think it might be worth delegitimizing the very notion of revival. The two key leaders of the great revival that supposedly paved the way for US nationhood (Edwards and Whitefield) both enslaved Black people. "Is this the fast I have chosen?"
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stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 10d
He posted a weird St. Michael meme last year, iirc. Either a Catholic close to him is making this happen or it was one of the 3 religious themes that somehow lodged itself into his brain, which has now turned it into a central pillar of Christianity.
stephenwaldron.bsky.social
Stephen @stephenwaldron.bsky.social · 14d
I'll see if I can find time. The way he discussed the secular sounds very clunky/cringey now, but I think he basically meant the kind of "universalism" at stake in this discussion.
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