Mark Godin
@haldbeg.bsky.social
The apology is here: bsky.app/profile/urc....
Yesterday, a social media post included a reference to Holocaust Memorial Day which was unsuitable for which we apologise. The URC has marked Holocaust Memorial Day for many years and is a member of many interfaith dialogues. We deeply regret any distress caused.
January 28, 2026 at 2:28 PM
The apology is here: bsky.app/profile/urc....
Note: the post in question has now been deleted, and an apology put up by the URC’s social media team—but the Daily Devotion remains as it was.
January 28, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Note: the post in question has now been deleted, and an apology put up by the URC’s social media team—but the Daily Devotion remains as it was.
I say all of this as a Presbyterian minister who, when I lived in England, served for a time as a minister of the United Reformed Church, and remain a member of the denomination’s Inter Faith Enabling Group.
We can do better.
We can do better.
January 28, 2026 at 11:02 AM
I say all of this as a Presbyterian minister who, when I lived in England, served for a time as a minister of the United Reformed Church, and remain a member of the denomination’s Inter Faith Enabling Group.
We can do better.
We can do better.
such laziness has and will continue to be used to promote violence against Jews.”
From the chapter “Judeophobia and the Pharisees” by Meredith J. C. Warren, Shayna Sheinfeld, and Sara Parks.
From the chapter “Judeophobia and the Pharisees” by Meredith J. C. Warren, Shayna Sheinfeld, and Sara Parks.
January 28, 2026 at 11:02 AM
such laziness has and will continue to be used to promote violence against Jews.”
From the chapter “Judeophobia and the Pharisees” by Meredith J. C. Warren, Shayna Sheinfeld, and Sara Parks.
From the chapter “Judeophobia and the Pharisees” by Meredith J. C. Warren, Shayna Sheinfeld, and Sara Parks.
To quote from Judeophobia and the New Testament (Eerdmans, 2025) p. 45, in the current political climate, “the way we use ‘Pharisees’ in classrooms and churches is one area where we do not want to be lazily reinscribing harmful caricatures;
January 28, 2026 at 11:02 AM
To quote from Judeophobia and the New Testament (Eerdmans, 2025) p. 45, in the current political climate, “the way we use ‘Pharisees’ in classrooms and churches is one area where we do not want to be lazily reinscribing harmful caricatures;
Would any of this had been noted if the social media post had not linked the devotion to Holocaust Memorial Day?
Don’t know, but with or without this shocking juxtaposition, churches have to do better in all our actions towards people of other religious traditions.
Don’t know, but with or without this shocking juxtaposition, churches have to do better in all our actions towards people of other religious traditions.
January 28, 2026 at 11:02 AM
Would any of this had been noted if the social media post had not linked the devotion to Holocaust Memorial Day?
Don’t know, but with or without this shocking juxtaposition, churches have to do better in all our actions towards people of other religious traditions.
Don’t know, but with or without this shocking juxtaposition, churches have to do better in all our actions towards people of other religious traditions.
The daily devotion linked to in the post and officially produced by a relatively progressive Christian denomination repeats stereotypes of specific 1st-century Jewish groups without any critical reflection on the text, simply using them as representative of ”false teaching and unhealthy influence”.
January 28, 2026 at 11:02 AM
The daily devotion linked to in the post and officially produced by a relatively progressive Christian denomination repeats stereotypes of specific 1st-century Jewish groups without any critical reflection on the text, simply using them as representative of ”false teaching and unhealthy influence”.
Reposted by Mark Godin
My Catholicism is so lapsed that the Vatican has a photo of me behind the counter saying “Do not accept prayers from this woman.”
Nevertheless, a lot of churches of many different denominations are doing a lot of genuinely good things!
apnews.com/article/minn...
Nevertheless, a lot of churches of many different denominations are doing a lot of genuinely good things!
apnews.com/article/minn...
Thousands rally against immigration enforcement in subzero Minnesota temperatures
Police have arrested about 100 clergy who were demonstrating against immigration enforcement at Minnesota’s largest airport.
apnews.com
January 25, 2026 at 7:21 PM
My Catholicism is so lapsed that the Vatican has a photo of me behind the counter saying “Do not accept prayers from this woman.”
Nevertheless, a lot of churches of many different denominations are doing a lot of genuinely good things!
apnews.com/article/minn...
Nevertheless, a lot of churches of many different denominations are doing a lot of genuinely good things!
apnews.com/article/minn...
In many ways that fits so much.
November 29, 2025 at 11:23 AM
In many ways that fits so much.
Happy World Linguistics Day, from Umeå, Sweden!
November 26, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Happy World Linguistics Day, from Umeå, Sweden!
The first book I thought of in response to this was Jared Pechaček’s The West Passage, but others have got there first. Also, Premee Mohamed’s The Siege of Burning Grass and Vajra Chandrasekera’s The Saint of Bright Doors.
November 19, 2025 at 9:34 PM
The first book I thought of in response to this was Jared Pechaček’s The West Passage, but others have got there first. Also, Premee Mohamed’s The Siege of Burning Grass and Vajra Chandrasekera’s The Saint of Bright Doors.