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David W. Congdon

@dwcongdon.com

2.3K followers 1.1K following 1.8K posts

Senior Editor, University Press of Kansas | Lecturer, KU | Who Is a New Christian? (Cambridge, 2024) | Bylines: Christian Century, Sojourners, Presby Outlook, Revealer

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 11d

I have a new article out in @christiancentury.bsky.social responding to Trump and Dolan's comments about Charlie Kirk being a missionary. I argue they were right—and this tells us something important about the legacy of Christian mission.

Christian Century @christiancentury.bsky.social · 11d

“Cardinal Dolan and President Trump are right about this. Kirk was indeed a missionary—and that’s precisely the problem.”

– @dwcongdon.com

www.christiancentury.org/features/yes...

Yes, Charlie Kirk was a missionary

Trump is right about this—but not for the reasons he...

www.christiancentury.org

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 10h

Who will write a book for me on federalism in the age of Trump?

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 11h

Same time that Pritzker is telling city and state officials to start arresting and prosecuting federal officials for assaulting Illinois citizens.

OT1H, this is clearly really bad.

OTOH, our federalized design might end up being an absolute godsend.

JB Pritzker looking at prosecuting ICE agents in Chicago

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has suggested that state prosecutors might examine the conduct of ICE agents.

www.newsweek.com

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 10h

I often think about how Trump 1.0 was all about isolationism, hence Greg Grandin’s “end of the myth” of the frontier. The myth is over because there’s nothing left to conquer.

But Trump 2.0 could be called the “rebirth of the myth.” By framing cities as a false America, Trump has a new frontier.

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 11h

To be clear:

LA County has declared a state of emergency BECAUSE OF the federal government.

The Feds, LA County is (correctly) saying, have CAUSED the emergency.

This is a striking political moment of internal collapse. Local govts feeling compelled to protect their ppl from … their own govt.

Los Angeles County declares state of emergency over immigration raids

Los Angeles County officials voted on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over ongoing federal immigration raids.

abcnews.go.com

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Reposted by David W. Congdon

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 12h

They're trying to prevent the student newspaper from printing news, period. Not just a particular story.

"The Media School directed us to print no news in the paper... nothing but information about homecoming — no other news at all, and particularly no traditional front page news coverage."

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 13h

Indiana University has fired the staff director of the student newspaper, after disputes in which university leadership tried to pressure him to prevent students from publishing news.

IndyStar 2 . Follow
1h:
"All Media School and IU students, faculty and staff
should be scared by this blatant attack on someone
standing up for what's right," student Editors-ln-Chief
Mia Hilkowitz and Andrew Miller said in a statement.
Read more: bit.ly/43ebKW1
IndyStar.
IDS
The original investigative student
newsroom of Indiana University
Barge suspends Bloomingtonr
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Indiana University fires IDS
adviser amid push to control
student newspaper's content

The director of student media at Indiana University was fired amidst a dispute between university leadership and editors at the Indiana Daily Student over what content gets printed in the student newspaper.

As director of student media, Jim Rodenbush did not directly oversee or have any say over the content published in the IDS, per a charter between the IDS and the university. But he told IndyStar his firing follows a series of meetings with IU Media School leadership in which it grew increasingly apparent they were expecting him to officially prohibit students from publishing news.

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 13h

I keep wondering how long it is before the attacks on free speech hit university presses.

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 13h

Indiana University has fired the staff director of the student newspaper, after disputes in which university leadership tried to pressure him to prevent students from publishing news.

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 21h

Wow, I had no idea he had cancer. What a loss. RIP to a legend.

🏳️‍⚧️ Josephine Riesman (Horrifying) @josie.zone · 21h

RIP D'Angelo

I think about this 2012 GQ profile of him a lot

The Return of D'Angelo - GQ June 2012 Profile

He was once hailed as the next Marvin Gaye. Then, after his ripped body threatened to overshadow his music, he vanished into addiction. So what the hell was he doing recently singing his heart out in ...

www.gq.com

Reposted by David W. Congdon

Hugo Méndez @hugomendez.bsky.social · 21h

If you're in Religion and Science, consider becoming my colleague! (Applications due by November 13.)

unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...

Assistant Professor

The Department of Religious Studies is recruiting for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Religion and Science. Candidates should have broad training in their field of expertise, a commitment to int...

unc.peopleadmin.com

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 21h

“We’re saving God” is quite a claim.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 22h

Eric Trump: "We're saving Christianity. We've saving God. We've saving the family unit. We're saving this nation. I mean, DEI is out of the window, Benny. You no longer have Colin Kaepernick kneeling for the national anthem. You no longer have Budweiser going woke as hell. All of this is dead."

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Reposted by David W. Congdon

Tad DeLay @taddelay.bsky.social · 21h

Bloomberg reports this compact is being extended now to all colleges, and the first threat is withholding student loans. Multiple points clearly result in desegregating higher ed. I’ll underscore again that it bans professors from talking about “societal or political events”

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 23h

My kind of petty.

The Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 23h

After complaints about Timothy Dexter's A Pickle for the Knowing Ones (1797) being entirely devoid of punctuation, in future editions the eccentric businessman supplied a supplemental page so that people “may peper and solt as they please”: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/dexter-pickle

Reposted by David W. Congdon

Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 1d

After getting zero firm commitments to this point from the first nine invitees, the Trump administration is extending its proposed compact to all colleges. Expect some red-state publics to say yes.

Trump Offers All Colleges Preferential Funding Plan Rejected by MIT

The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact — initially rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that would grant preferential federal funding in re...

www.bloomberg.com

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 1d

Scammers on Tinder are now using AI images of women that I can tell are fake because of the shelf of 1000-page Penguin Classics in the background. Anyone with paperbacks this large would have obvious spine creases. If they don’t have creases, you know they’re monsters.

Tinder screenshot of an AI woman named “Mert”

Close-up of the screenshot on the Penguin Classics on the bookshelf in the background

Reposted by David W. Congdon

Samuel Perry @profsamperry.bsky.social · 1d

UVA's Sociology department is looking to hire a tenured sociologist of religion at the Associate or Full level. Here is the advertisement. @sssreligion.bsky.social @asareligion.bsky.social

Details here: apply.interfolio.com/173879

The Department of Sociology at the University of Virginia invites applications for a tenured Associate or Full Professor position specializing in the sociology of religion. We are particularly interested in a theoretically engaged scholar whose work addresses religious pluralism in complex modern societies, the relationship between religion, civic engagement, and democratic political cultures, the social and economic impact of religion from a cultural and historical perspective. Relevant questions may include but are not limited to: how does religion shape cultural and political conflicts? How does religion relate not only to political participation but to the shaping of collectives? How do different understandings of the sacred inform the development of, and dispute over, morality?

For additional information about our dynamic department, please visit https://sociology.as.virginia.edu/. For questions regarding this position, please contact Isaac Reed, Search Chair, at iar2c@virginia.edu.

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 1d

A liturgy for the masses.

John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social · 1d

“No Kings” is great , but we really don't get a functioning democracy back until we internalize, bone deep, the instinctive response to this and every other statement like it: “I don’t care what that rich guy thinks.”

Make it your morning affirmation. Say it ten times at the top of every hour.

The Independent @the-independent.com · 1d

Elon Musk calls for US troops to be sent to San Francisco for war on drugs: ‘It’s the only solution’

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Reposted by David W. Congdon

ashley scarebanks 💀🕯️ @ziibiing.com · 1d

lol “find your own instead of stealing” in defense of columbus day

AJ West • 1h
Find your own holiday instead of stealing. Today is Columbus Day as designated by the federal government
Reply
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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 1d

Can’t wait to see Sentinel publish a defense of monarchy on the 250th anniversary of the USA.

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 2d

The Treasury Secretary declares himself to be pro-monarchy, and promises to punish the entire country if the people exercise their First Amendment rights.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Bessent: "No Kings means no paychecks. No paychecks and no government."

David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 1d

Of all the directions CT could have gone, they chose the worst one. They could have course corrected after Galli, but they went further right instead.
www.christianitytoday.com/news-release...

Marvin Olasky Officially Named Editor in Chief - Christianity Today

Russell Moore becomes editor at-large and columnist.

www.christianitytoday.com

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 2d

Not sure which terrifies me more—a Trump who is nihilistically resigned to damnation or a Vance or Hegseth who see themselves as God’s chosen ambassadors to redeem the world.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump: "I don't think there's anything that's gonna get me in heaven. I think I'm not maybe heaven bound. I may be in heaven right now as we fly on Air Force One. I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to make heaven."

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 3d

I’ve lived most of my life in Portland and Chicago, and this is completely accurate.

Elise Wang @elisewang.bsky.social · 3d

For those not fluent in Catholic: refusing the Monstrance is not denying prisoners the Eucharist, it is refusing Christ himself, since Christ is present in the Monstrance.

If Portland’s blow up animals are the right language for Portland, this is the right language for Chicago.

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 3d

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 3d

Hilarious and terrifying. Sums up the world in which we live.

Kasey Gifford @kaseygifford.bsky.social · 24d

This is absolutely fucking hilarious and pants shittingly terrifying in equal measure.

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Reposted by David W. Congdon

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 4d

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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Reposted by David W. Congdon

Jason❌ @gizmosspace.bsky.social · 4d

This is awesome.

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Reposted by David W. Congdon

Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 4d

aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage

Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 4d

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.   It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

chicago.suntimes.com

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 4d

"I concur...and yet I dissent. Not from the majority’s opinion, but I dissent from the racism embedded in the federal case law."

This is so good. The concurring/dissenting opinion begins on p. 27.

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 4d

Washington Supreme Court Justice Mungia has an extraordinary opinion condemning "the underlying racism and prejudices that are woven into the very fabric" of SCOTUS opinions about Native people.

"We must clearly, loudly, and unequivocally state that was wrong.”
www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf...

MUNGIA, J. (concurring)—I concur with the majority’s opinion.1
And yet I
dissent. Not from the majority’s opinion, but I dissent from the racism embedded in the
federal case law that applies to this dispute.
FEDERAL INDIAN LAW IS A PRODUCT OF THE RACIST BELIEFS ENDEMIC IN OUR SOCIETY
AND OUR LEGAL SYSTEM
While it is certainly necessary to follow federal case law on issues involving
Native American tribes and their members, at the same time it is important to call out that
the very foundations of those opinions were based on racism and white supremacy. By
doing this, readers of our opinions will have no doubt that the current court disavows, and
condemns, those racist sentiments, beliefs, and statements.

Since the founding of our country, the federal government has characterized
Native Americans as “savages”: They were “uncivilized.” They had little claim to the
land upon which they lived. At times, the federal government attempted to eradicate
Native Americans through genocidal policies. At other times, the federal government
employed ethnic cleansing by forcibly removing children from their parents’ homes to
strip them from their culture, their language, and their beings.2
Federal Indian case law arises from those racist underpinnings.
The majority correctly cites to Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1, 8
L. Ed. 25 (1831), which is one of the foundational cases involving tribal sovereignty.
That opinion is rife with racist attitudes toward Native Americans. Chief Justice John
Marshall, writing for the majority, describes a tribe’s relationship to the federal
government as one of “ward to his guardian.” Id. at 17. In effect, the opinion presents
tribal members as children, and the federal government as the adult. That theme would
follow in later opinions by the United States Supreme Court—as would the theme of
white supremacy.
Cherokee Nation began with the premise that Native American tribes, once strong
and powerful, were no match for the white race and so found themselves “gradually
sinking beneath our superior policy, our arts and our arms.” Id. at 15. The white man
was considered the teacher, the Native Americans the pupils:

Meanwhile they are in a state of pupilage. Their relation to the United
States resembles that of a ward to his guardian.
Id. at 17.
This characterization of superior to inferior, teacher to student, guardian to ward,
was repeated in later United States Supreme Court opinions.
In Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, 187 U.S. 553, 23 S. Ct. 216, 47 L. Ed. 299 (1903),
often characterized as the “American Indian Dred Scott,”
3
the Court used that rationale to
justify ruling that the United States could break its treaties with Native American tribes.
These Indian tribes are the wards of the nation. They are communities
dependent on the United States. Dependent largely for their daily food.
Dependent for their political rights. . . . From their very weakness and
helplessness . . . there arises the duty of protection, and with it the power.
Id. at 567 (quoting United States v. Kagama, 118 U.S. 375, 383-84, 6 S. Ct. 1109, 30 L.
Ed. 228 (1886)).
Our court also carries the shame of denigrating Native Americans by using that
same characterization: “The Indian was a child, and a dangerous child, of nature, to be
both protected and restrained.” State v. Towessnute, 89 Wash. 478, 482, 154 P. 805
(1916), judgment vacated and opinion repudiated by 197 Wn.2d 574, 486 P.3d 111
(2020).
3 See A

Returning to Cherokee Nation, Justice William Johnson’s separate opinion was
less tempered in how he considered the various Native American tribes:
I cannot but think that there are strong reasons for doubting the
applicability of the epithet state, to a people so low in the grade of
organized society as our Indian tribes most generally are.
Cherokee Nation, 30 U.S. at 21. Native Americans were not to be treated as “equals to
equals” but, instead, the United States was the conqueror and Native Americans the
conquered. Id. at 23.
In discussing Native Americans, Justice Johnson employed another racist trope
used by judges both before and after him: Native Americans were uncivilized savages.
[W]e have extended to them the means and inducement to become
agricultural and civilized. . . . Independently of the general influence of
humanity, these people were restless, warlike, and signally cruel.
. . . .
But I think it very clear that the constitution neither speaks of them as states
or foreign states, but as just what they were, Indian tribes . . . which the law
of nations would regard as nothing more than wandering hordes, held
together only by ties of blood and habit, and having neither laws or
government, beyond what is required in a savage state.
Id. at 23, 27-28.
This same characterization was used by Justice Stanley Matthews in Ex parte KanGi-Shun-Ca (otherwise known as Crow Dog), 109 U.S. 556, 3 S. Ct. 396, 27 L. Ed. 1030
(1883). Justice Matthews described Native Americans as leading a savage life.

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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 4d

I definitely didn't intend to be making that stronger claim. I don't think any historical development is inevitable (here I would echo DBH's tradition book), and I recognize that some in the original postliberal camp did not and would not follow this trajectory.

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Reposted by David W. Congdon

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 5d

This is the genius of the Portland protests - they make the claims of lawlessness look not just wrong, but comical

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 5d

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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