Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 2h

I signup for these emails so you don’t have to.

Reposted by Andrew Ambrose Mackey

Every Knee Shall Bend @eksb.org · 2h

Intercessors for America’s “Propaganda Report” warns believers to spot manipulation—then models it. A civics lesson turns into spiritual warfare, complete with demons, distrust, and a link to partisan media. Read @andrewmackey.com’s newest here:

Faith, Fear, and the Free Gift of Propaganda

Intercessors for America’s “Propaganda Special Report” repackages media literacy as a weapon of spiritual warfare and political distrust.

open.substack.com

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 2d

We will try again on Tuesday. #RepDETROIT #ALDS #Tigers

Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 5d

These guys are part of an highly-financed spiritual oligarchy designed to dump cash into their exclusionary and ultra-capitalist view of them Church. Always disappointing to see them near anything. Gross.

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 5d

After a fantastic first month on Substack, Every Knee Shall Bend (eksb.org & @eksb.org) will be moving to weekly articles on Wednesday going forward. Thanks so much for subscribing and reading.

Every Knee Shall Bend | Andrew Ambrose Mackey | Substack

Examining the ideas, leaders, and cultural forces shaping Christian nationalism, and creating space for open, research-driven articles. Click to read Every Knee Shall Bend, a Substack publication.

eksb.org

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Reposted by Andrew Ambrose Mackey

Jacob Ware @jacobware.bsky.social · 5d

"The White House has taken an action that is sweeping in its rhetoric yet almost certainly empty of formal legal effect."

Such great work on #antifa by Thomas Brzozowski, shedding light on a critically important (and thorny) question for @lawfaremedia.org. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/you-...

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 6d

Yes, I should charge my phone.

Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 6d

This NY Times article has more about the OOO messaging war being waged.

Federal Agencies Use Official Websites to Blame Democrats for Shutdown

www.nytimes.com

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 6d

The IT folks at war.gov don’t appear to have gotten the message around “Warrior Ethos” and enemies from within with this tame language.

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 6d

Head over to HHS.gov for this pop-up and banner.

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 6d

Live look at the header of state.gov

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 7d

Always impressed by @julthomson.bsky.social’s work (giving all us doctoral candidates a good name!) With Mark Rozell they just published an important piece on the global challenges of protecting religious freedom for Ethos. PDF in English here czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/et...

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 7d

This is my 16th time this year at a Midway layover and every time I walk around and then just get a Billy Goat Tavern cheezborger.

Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 7d

This is good content.

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Reposted by Andrew Ambrose Mackey

the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 7d

“Trad cath” is, weirdly, code for “unfamiliar with Catholicism”

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 7d

Far-right Catholics freaking out about the Pope doing normal Pope things will always be entertaining.

The Pope blessed some water? Can you even imagine?

Matt Walsh: Horrific. The whole thing. Pope Leo blesses a block of ice and then stands there while these communist freaks do some kind of weird pagan Earth worshipping hippy ritual. The leader of the Catholic Church shouldn’t be anywhere near this nonsense. What the hell are we doing here

@CatholicSat: The Blessing of the Waters by Pope Leo XIV, at today’s ‘Raising Hope for Climate Justice’ International Conference at Castel Gandolfo.

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 7d

Big fan of no context Pope Leo content.

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Reposted by Andrew Ambrose Mackey

National Catholic Reporter @ncronline.bsky.social · 7d

Leo continued: "Someone who says, 'I'm against abortion but I'm in favor of the death penalty,' is not really pro-life. Someone who says, 'I'm against abortion, but I'm in favor of the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,' I don't know if that's pro-life."

Wading into Durbin controversy, Pope Leo shows himself attuned to US debates

"Someone who says, 'I'm against abortion, but I'm in favor of the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,' I don't know if that's pro-life." the pontiff said.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Andrew Ambrose Mackey

Adam Kotanko @akotanko.bsky.social · 7d

Original footage from Pete Hegseth's speech today

a cartoon character from futurama is waving at the camera

ALT: a cartoon character from futurama is waving at the camera

media.tenor.com

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 8d

To military brass, Trump called cities “training grounds.” In Chicago and Washington, the Church proclaimed “we are not afraid.” Fear vs. hope in the public square. Today in @eksb.org.

The Politics of Fear and the Liturgy of Hope

Trump’s Quantico spectacle contrasts with a People’s Mass in Chicago and Cardinal McElroy’s call for neighbor-love. Fear isolates. Hope gathers.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Andrew Ambrose Mackey

ASA Sociology of Religion Section @asareligion.bsky.social · 10d

NYT features @ryanburge.bsky.social on why the left lacks a Charlie Kirk. Drawing on years of research in religion & politics, he explains why the GOP’s religious base has no parallel among Democrats.

Opinion | Why There Won’t Be a Charlie Kirk of the Left

www.nytimes.com

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 12d

When facts are erased and faith claims take their place, empathy is recast as sin and politics becomes holy war. This essay in @eksb.org asks what it means to keep “picking up serpents” and whether friendship and service can still heal a poisoned public square.

Picking Up Serpents

How Christian nationalist rhetoric recasts facts as faith claims, why empathy is under attack, and why servant leadership and friendship offer a democratic alternative.

open.substack.com

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Andrew Ambrose Mackey @andrewmackey.com · 14d

(Updates literature review)

ASA Sociology of Religion Section @asareligion.bsky.social · 14d

New in Social Forces: @profsamperry.bsky.social new article Secularism, Sorting, and Americans’ Political Knowledge shows secular Americans score highest on civics & politics, especially liberals/Democrats. Evangelicals trend opposite with conservatism. Read it here: doi.org/10.1093/sf/s...

Secularism, sorting, and Americans’ political knowledge

Abstract. Political knowledge, including knowledge of basic civics and current political conditions, is associated with a host of pro-democratic outcomes i

doi.org

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Reposted by Andrew Ambrose Mackey

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 15d

Depolarization is not "a scalable solution for reducing societal-level conflict.... achieving lasting depolarization will likely require....moving beyond individual-level treatments to address the elite behaviors and structural incentives that fuel partisan conflict" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Reposted by Andrew Ambrose Mackey

Andrew Whitehead @andrew-whitehead.bsky.social · 15d

Compare the White House tweet w/ the contents page of Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States (w/ @profsamperry.bsky.social)

Resonant.

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