Gerardo Martí
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gerardomarti.bsky.social
Gerardo Martí
@gerardomarti.bsky.social

William R Kenan Jr Professor of Sociology @ Davidson College | Race, Religion, Power, Social Change | Past Roles: Editor Sociology of Religion Journal, President SSSR & ASR, Chair ASA Religion, AAR Religion & Social Science Unit | cv https://bit.ly/40mps8D .. more

Political science 39%
Sociology 33%
Pinned
A BEST BOOK OF 2025

"Brimming with constructive criticism couched in a sympathetic depiction of its subject, this book is a showcase in producing outstanding and compelling biography that represents wider narratives and trends in history."

🎉🎉 Very happy to celebrate our new biography 🎉🎉
The Church Must Grow or Perish is Named a Best Book of 2025 by The Anxious Bench
Historian Joey Cochran writes, "Mulder and Marti’s The Church Must Grow or Perish, a biography of Robert Schuller, is a must-read showcase on the artform of producing stellar religious biography"
gerardomarti.substack.com

Happy Thanksgiving 😝

Let the games begin

After hiring a Black woman President & CEO, fierce calls to drop ‘Christianity’ from their name.

Racialized and gendered framing of reactions are explicit: “woke” “Black” “lady” “pastor” — all presented as disqualifying (even sinful) attributes.
Christianity Today hires a Black woman and the right goes nuts
Nicole Massie Martin’s appointment comes during a season of turnover and turmoil at the flagship evangelical magazine.
baptistnews.com

Wonder how much the turkey contributed to his campaign 🤔
President Trump spares turkeys Gobble and Waddle from appearing on Thanksgiving dinner plates.

Mexican immigrants come to define "race" in a way distinct from both the color-conscious hierarchy of Mexican society and the Black-White binary prevalent within the United States👇
Racial Baggage | Stanford University Press
Upon arrival to the United States, Mexican immigrants are racialized as simultaneously non-White and "illegal." This racialization process complicates notions of race that they bring with them, as the...
www.sup.org

Reposted by Gerardo Martí

President Trump spares turkeys Gobble and Waddle from appearing on Thanksgiving dinner plates.

Doonesbury goes back to college

A mainline pastor on his departure from a mainline church👇

“My departure was painful, but it clarified something essential: My calling is not to comfort the rich and powerful but to accompany the oppressed…I no longer believe the church’s calling is to be liberal. I believe it is to be liberating…”
Liberalism is not liberation – Baptist News Global
“Liberalism can articulate justice, admire justice, vote for justice, but often does so without ever truly risking anything for justice.”
baptistnews.com

“At minimum, AI does not have the Holy Spirit inside of it”

A top artist on the iTunes top 100 Christian and gospel albums chart this week,Solomon Ray, is not a real person.

Reinforces idealization of Black people as superior worshippers — even if they’re AI generated.
The Current No. 1 Christian Artist Has No Soul - Christianity Today
AI-generated musician Solomon Ray has stirred a debate among listeners, drawing pushback from popular human singer Forrest Frank.
www.christianitytoday.com

Lovely write up of Danish author Solvej Balle and her experimental opus
She Has Taken 30 Years to Write a 7-Part Novel About 1 Day. It’s a Sensation.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Nathan P. Kalmoe

for lecture on religion and culture 👇
He said "Amen" straight into the drop

Lmao Pope Leo threw a rave for an archbishop's 75th birthday this is kind of incredible
Q: “Are you affirming you think Trump is a fascist?”

TRUMP: “That’s ok, you can just say yes.”

ZOHRAN: “Ok. Yes.”

Forging a Less Christian Nation👇

Recent immigrants tend to be highly religious and Christian.

White Americans tend to be less religious, and much less so the younger they are.
Why Trump's immigration crackdown may make America less Christian
(RNS) — America has become less religious because white Americans are less religious. Most recent immigrants are religious, and many are Christians.
religionnews.com

👇👇👇

“If they are hoping to sway their parishioners, the bishops may have a steep hill to climb.”

Great data from Paul A. Djupe and Brooklyn Walker👇
The Bishops Were Not Just Speaking to Trump, but also to Trumpism Among Catholics
By Paul A. Djupe and Brooklyn Walker [Image credit: National Catholic Reporter] The selection of the new pope from the global south (as well as from the Chicago south!) sent a signal that Pope Fran…
religioninpublic.blog
He said "Amen" straight into the drop

Lmao Pope Leo threw a rave for an archbishop's 75th birthday this is kind of incredible

‘When you demand that immigrants come “the right way,” realize what you are demanding no longer is possible. The door labeled “right way” has been barricaded.’
Let’s get this one thing clear – Baptist News Global
Coming to America “the right way,” as conservatives demand, is no longer possible for most people seeing a new life among us
baptistnews.com

The current administration intends to implement a comprehensive plan to target Spanish-speaking churches across the country during the upcoming holiday season between Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, and Christmas, Dec. 25.
Exclusive: Trump DHS Plans Immigration Raids on Churches Over Holidays
The Trump Dept. of Homeland Security is briefing federal agencies on plans for immigration enforcement operations inside churches over holidays.
thisweekinworcester.com
Pope Leo denounces "extremely disrespectful" treatment of immigrants in U.S. www.axios.com/2025/11/19/p...
Pope Leo denounces "extremely disrespectful" treatment of immigrants in U.S.
"We have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have."
www.axios.com

From PRRI @prri.org

Most Americans oppose stripping US citizens of their citizenship and deporting them if they are determined to be a threat to the country.

However, support is much higher among Republicans, White Evangelicals, strong Christian Nationalists.

MORE 👉 prri.org/research/tru...

Me: <going about my business online>

AI: LOOK AT ME! I'M HERE! READ ME! AREN'T I HELPFUL? YAY ME! CLICK FOR MORE! I'M HELPFUL, REALLY! C'MON I'M EVERYWHERE! BUZZ BUZZ I CAN GENERATE EVEN MORE! JUST ASK! YOU CAN DISMISS ME BUT I'LL BE BACK!
Now instead of simply reading the abstract for an academic article I have to contend with multiple pop-ups from adobe asking me if I want an AI summary and I cannot stress enough how much I DO NOT WANT this.

@adobe.com has made a useful product less useful with an annoying and redundant feature
Now instead of simply reading the abstract for an academic article I have to contend with multiple pop-ups from adobe asking me if I want an AI summary and I cannot stress enough how much I DO NOT WANT this.

@adobe.com has made a useful product less useful with an annoying and redundant feature

Threat, Replacement, and Deportation: Identifying Who is Most Receptive to Anti-Immigrant Narratives

A PRRI @prri.org survey report from 2023 anticipates the groups across America who support aggressive deportation efforts—and suggests why

👉 open.substack.com/pub/gerardom...

Agamben is so relevant to our moment

Podcast episode from 2023
Episode #191 ... The modern day concentration camp and the failure of human rights. (Giorgio Agamben)
Podcast Episode · Philosophize This! · 12/05/2023 · 29m
podcasts.apple.com

“Today it is not the city but the [concentration] camp that is the fundamental biopolitical paradigm of the West.”

— Giorgio Agamben

<quotes in this NYRB review>

“Indigenous people make up 6 percent of the world's population, but their territory accounts for close to a quarter of the earth's land surface, containing more than a third of remaining natural lands worldwide, often in northern boreal and equatorial forests.”
— Robert Sullivan, NYRB 12/4/25

In light of I C E in North Carolina, good to review where Americans stand in immigration.

Who is most receptive to the immigrant “threat” narrative?

Read this excellent @prri.org Report from 2023 👇
Are Immigrants a Threat? Most Americans Don’t Think So, but Those Receptive to the “Threat” Narrative Are Predictably More Anti-immigrant
prri.org

Great to see a new edition of Divided by Faith (Oxford 2025).

I can still remember sitting in my office holding a copy of the original, sent to me as a gift from Michael Emerson.

The book inspired an idea that became my dissertation, which launched my scholarly career. Amazing to now be included!

I don’t know who in Charlotte is wildly in favor of I C E actions starting this past weekend, but the outrage is real, and citizens are being arrested for supposed
o b s t r u c t i o n.

If disruption of service at high-end places occurs, it could foment an effective push back among the affluent.
Border Patrol storms Myers Park Country Club, attempts to detain employee
The agents did not have prior permission to enter the grounds, the club said in a release to members.
www.charlotteobserver.com