Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 8h

Again: the importance of Religious Studies

Inside a New Bible-Infused Texas English Curriculum

Inside a New Bible-Infused Texas English Curriculum

www.nytimes.com

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 12h

"10 people" sounds optimistic, to me

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 1d

He's right (but he's not exactly an innocent in these things)

Republicans Against Trumpism @rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social · 1d

Chris Christie: “Thie is no longer, the Department of Justice, is no longer the premier prosecuting office in America. What it is now is a capo regime who goes out and executes hits when directed by the Don to do so. That’s what it is.”

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Republicans Against Trumpism @rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social · 1d

Chris Christie: “Thie is no longer, the Department of Justice, is no longer the premier prosecuting office in America. What it is now is a capo regime who goes out and executes hits when directed by the Don to do so. That’s what it is.”

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 1d

Ooh!! Had not known of this, very good news

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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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

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jenn m. jackson @jennmjacksonphd.bsky.social · 1d

Universities like UT Austin have shown that they will place ideology and political power ahead of the most vulnerable students, faculty, and staff they serve.

Fight against the closure of Black, Latino, and Gender Studies at UT Austin. Support our students.

#Blacksky #polisky

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Deborah McDowell @dem8z.bsky.social · 1d

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!

The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 1d

On this, he was right

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d

John Searle, a philosopher who was best known for a thought experiment he formulated, decades before the rise of ChatGPT, to disprove that a computer program by itself could ever achieve consciousness, died at 93.

John Searle, Philosopher Who Wrestled With A.I., Dies at 93

His blunt debating and imaginative theorizing about artificial intelligence and the human mind made him a leading scholar. But sexual-harassment allegations ended his career.

nyti.ms

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d

John Searle, a philosopher who was best known for a thought experiment he formulated, decades before the rise of ChatGPT, to disprove that a computer program by itself could ever achieve consciousness, died at 93.

John Searle, Philosopher Who Wrestled With A.I., Dies at 93

His blunt debating and imaginative theorizing about artificial intelligence and the human mind made him a leading scholar. But sexual-harassment allegations ended his career.

nyti.ms

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Lee Drutman @leedrutman.bsky.social · 1d

New study finds Democrats represent public opinion better than Republicans: "the quality of statehouse democracy, here meaning the dynamic relationship between opinion and policy, is substantially weakened by Republican Party control of state government."

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 2d

"Say what you will about Dick Tracy, at least it was a FILM"

a man with a beard and sunglasses is sitting at a table in a classroom .

ALT: a man with a beard and sunglasses is sitting at a table in a classroom .

media.tenor.com

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 2d

Fierce, unruly, maybe a teeeeeensy bit chilly

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Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 2d

ICE kidnapped a 7th-grader with a pending asylum claim and spirited him out of state without notifying his parents, seemingly with the cooperation of the local police in Everett, MA.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/12/m...

Everett 13-year-old arrested by ICE and sent to Virginia detention facility
By Marcela Rodrigues Globe Staff,Updated October 12, 2025, 44 minutes ago

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A 13-year-old boy was arrested by ICE in Everett and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested by ICE in Everett and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Everett after an interaction with members of the Everett Police Department and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia, according to his mother and immigration lawyer Andrew Lattarulo.

The boy’s mother, Josiele Berto, was called to pick her son up from the Everett Police Department on Thursday, the day he was arrested. After waiting for about an hour and a half, she was told her son was taken by ICE, Berto told the Globe in a phone interview.

“My world collapsed,” Berto said in Portuguese.

From the police department, the boy was taken to ICE’s holding facility in Burlington on Thursday evening, where he spent a night before being transferred by car to the Northwestern Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Winchester, Va., on Friday morning, his mother said. The juvenile facility is more than 500 miles away from Everett.

The boy is a 7th-grader at Albert N. Parlin School in Everett, his mother said. The teen and his family, who are Brazilian nationals, have a pending asylum case and are authorized to work legally in the United States, Lattarulo said.

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 2d

The "Girlboss" headfake is over, and you have to grapple with the thought that she's only ever been an hysteria entrepeneur, not a responsible editor. Why don't you admit that?

Steve Herman @w7voa.journa.host.ap.brid.gy · 2d

IDF announces it's "now launching Operation 'Returning Home’ to return our hostages from Hamas captivity. In a few hours we will all be reunited.”

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 3d

This was an unusually dumb op-ed, even by NYT standards. We are talking, almost Nicholas Kristoff-levels of inanity.

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 3d

This one was much more high on the hyperbole and low on the new information than your usual episodes, I admit to being surprised and disappointed

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 3d

Sounds like a great guy, Thanksgivings must be fun at his house

Peter Baker @peterbakernyt.bsky.social · 3d

Before targeting Trump foes, Pulte practiced on his own family, per @
Brian Slodysko and Chris Megerian. He accused his grandfather’s widow of insider trading, was tied to a website trashing an aunt as a "fake Christian" and called another relative "a fat slob." apnews.com/article/trum...

How Bill Pulte learned the art of the attack, from his own family to Letitia James

Bill Pulte has become a significant player in the Trump administration. Known for his aggressive online persona and bitter public fights with several family members, Pulte currently serves as director...

apnews.com

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Peter Baker @peterbakernyt.bsky.social · 3d

Before targeting Trump foes, Pulte practiced on his own family, per @
Brian Slodysko and Chris Megerian. He accused his grandfather’s widow of insider trading, was tied to a website trashing an aunt as a "fake Christian" and called another relative "a fat slob." apnews.com/article/trum...

How Bill Pulte learned the art of the attack, from his own family to Letitia James

Bill Pulte has become a significant player in the Trump administration. Known for his aggressive online persona and bitter public fights with several family members, Pulte currently serves as director...

apnews.com

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 3d

Biden has always been an exemplary Boomer, w/ many strengths but also gifted with narcissism & feeling deeply loved & deeply un-self-knowing & unable to understand when it's his time to leave the stage. That said, I know abstractly that this stage of life is v hard.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 3d

Joe Biden, adjusting to post-presidency life, remains bitter about being pushed out of the 2024 race, according to sources. The former president is working on his memoir and foundation while undergoing cancer treatment.

Biden struggles to adjust to private life as Trump, Democrats attack

Biden is also undergoing radiation treatment and hormone therapy as part of a treatment plan for an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 3d

Looks like the laity's decided that Cupich is wrong. 55 to 43 split for Trump. And this grew 2016-20-24.
If abortion is your deal-breaker, it's fine to NOT vote.
The Bishops need to think about how their teaching has failed to reach the laity. www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/265015/...

Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 3d

Looks like the laity's decided that Cupich is wrong. 55 to 43 split for Trump. And this grew 2016-20-24.
If abortion is your deal-breaker, it's fine to NOT vote.
The Bishops need to think about how their teaching has failed to reach the laity. www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/265015/...

New Pew study reveals percentage of Catholics who voted for Trump in 2024

A new Pew Research Center report reveals that about 22% of those who voted in the 2024 election and cast their ballot for President Donald Trump were Catholic.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 3d

Joe Biden, adjusting to post-presidency life, remains bitter about being pushed out of the 2024 race, according to sources. The former president is working on his memoir and foundation while undergoing cancer treatment.

Biden struggles to adjust to private life as Trump, Democrats attack

Biden is also undergoing radiation treatment and hormone therapy as part of a treatment plan for an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 3d

“More than three dozen federal judges have told The New York Times that the Supreme Court’s flurry of brief, opaque emergency orders in cases related to the Trump administration have left them confused about how to proceed in those matters and are hurting the judiciary’s image with the public.”

Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders

www.nytimes.com

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 4d

With a very nice "Thank/fuck you" letter, in fact. Good for MIT.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 4d

Breaking news: MIT’s president turned down the Trump administration’s offer of priority access for federal funding, publicly releasing a letter that emphasized the elite university’s values.

MIT rejects Trump administration deal for priority federal funding

MIT is one of the nine schools that were asked to agree to adopt conservative priorities and policies in exchange for funding perks.

wapo.st

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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 4d

Breaking news: MIT’s president turned down the Trump administration’s offer of priority access for federal funding, publicly releasing a letter that emphasized the elite university’s values.

MIT rejects Trump administration deal for priority federal funding

MIT is one of the nine schools that were asked to agree to adopt conservative priorities and policies in exchange for funding perks.

wapo.st

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 4d

Attn @hedgehogreview.bsky.social

Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 4d

A good start to Friday: #hedgehog alert! (With thanks as ever to @arthistoryanimalia.bsky.social for bringing this to my attention.)

John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 5d

Hedgehog, c. 1650 (Rijksmuseum)

I love its expression.

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Steve Herman @newsguy.bsky.social · 4d

The Nobel Committee has awarded this year's peace prize to Maria Corina Machado "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy."https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2025/p

Nobel Peace Prize 2025

The Nobel Peace Prize 2025 was awarded to Maria Corina Machado “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

www.nobelprize.org

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Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 4d

A good start to Friday: #hedgehog alert! (With thanks as ever to @arthistoryanimalia.bsky.social for bringing this to my attention.)

John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 5d

Hedgehog, c. 1650 (Rijksmuseum)

I love its expression.

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