Jason Eric Bystrom
@jasonbystrom.bsky.social
Religious Studies, Photography, Ethnomusicology, Extreme Metal, Basic Human Decency
Pinned
Introduce yourself with some jobs you've done apart from what you do now:
-camp counselor
-lifeguard
-movie theater box office, concessions, cleaning
-projectionist
-clothing store cashier and stocker
-receptionist
-roofer
-camp counselor
-lifeguard
-movie theater box office, concessions, cleaning
-projectionist
-clothing store cashier and stocker
-receptionist
-roofer
Howdy all,
I’ve been a
•janitor
•dishwasher
•sexton
•children’s caregiver
•paraeducator
•prep cook
•farm worker
and now I’m an instructor at a small high school in Berkeley. I teach government, photography, and digital literacy.
I’ve been a
•janitor
•dishwasher
•sexton
•children’s caregiver
•paraeducator
•prep cook
•farm worker
and now I’m an instructor at a small high school in Berkeley. I teach government, photography, and digital literacy.
I don’t claim any deeper insight into this, but I want to share a note from an Iranian photographer who I have interacted with via Instagram for several years:
January 25, 2026 at 4:20 PM
I don’t claim any deeper insight into this, but I want to share a note from an Iranian photographer who I have interacted with via Instagram for several years:
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
Looking forward to the Pretti Good Act which will dismantle ICE forever.
January 24, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Looking forward to the Pretti Good Act which will dismantle ICE forever.
’m so enraged that I’m practicing box breathing instead of the usual doomscrolling while enjoying my Saturday morning coffee.
January 24, 2026 at 5:36 PM
’m so enraged that I’m practicing box breathing instead of the usual doomscrolling while enjoying my Saturday morning coffee.
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
The biggest risk from violence—especially state violence—is if we formalize it into a more stable form of power.
The state is asking for our consent to legitimize what is happening in Minneapolis as an ordinary function of government. It is a request. And we can and should say no.
The state is asking for our consent to legitimize what is happening in Minneapolis as an ordinary function of government. It is a request. And we can and should say no.
January 17, 2026 at 6:59 PM
The biggest risk from violence—especially state violence—is if we formalize it into a more stable form of power.
The state is asking for our consent to legitimize what is happening in Minneapolis as an ordinary function of government. It is a request. And we can and should say no.
The state is asking for our consent to legitimize what is happening in Minneapolis as an ordinary function of government. It is a request. And we can and should say no.
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
the democrats are right we should focus on kitchen table issues. for example there is a guy at my kitchen table who wants to shoot me in the face with a gun
January 13, 2026 at 12:01 AM
the democrats are right we should focus on kitchen table issues. for example there is a guy at my kitchen table who wants to shoot me in the face with a gun
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
It's a big day for those fluent in the good grammar of civility looking to deploy decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
January 3, 2026 at 12:19 PM
It's a big day for those fluent in the good grammar of civility looking to deploy decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
And for the religious studies/Biblical studies crowd, I stood next to and said hello to Marcus Borg at a row of urinals in a church restroom.
Right folks. Feeling rather down at the moment so bringing back an oldie
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
December 29, 2025 at 11:58 PM
And for the religious studies/Biblical studies crowd, I stood next to and said hello to Marcus Borg at a row of urinals in a church restroom.
I got stuck making small talk with Parker Posey for about five minutes at a bar in Brooklyn when my friend and her friend (who were mutual acquaintances) stepped out to smoke.
Right folks. Feeling rather down at the moment so bringing back an oldie
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
Please Quote this with your most minor celebrity interaction
December 29, 2025 at 11:50 PM
I got stuck making small talk with Parker Posey for about five minutes at a bar in Brooklyn when my friend and her friend (who were mutual acquaintances) stepped out to smoke.
Does not require additional context:
The rock music thing was so stupid. Senator Lieberman was right, it was SEGA who radicalized the youth into roving gangs with Mortal Kombat. Unfortunately, Lieberman’s dead, Sonic has teeth now, and it’s time to choose your fighter.
December 28, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Does not require additional context:
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
Some of you have forgotten that only three years ago you were perfectly capable of writing a text, writing an email, telling a bedtime story to a child, and it should worry you that powerful companies have convinced us we can’t do things we’ve been doing since the dawn of time.
December 23, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Some of you have forgotten that only three years ago you were perfectly capable of writing a text, writing an email, telling a bedtime story to a child, and it should worry you that powerful companies have convinced us we can’t do things we’ve been doing since the dawn of time.
Conversely, you can make anything religious.
(The quoted post comes from a fascinating, sometimes slightly heated thread debating the religious origins of the Christmas holiday versus its malleability as a secular holiday.)
(The quoted post comes from a fascinating, sometimes slightly heated thread debating the religious origins of the Christmas holiday versus its malleability as a secular holiday.)
you can make anything non religious. Japanese Christmas stands witness to this
December 24, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Conversely, you can make anything religious.
(The quoted post comes from a fascinating, sometimes slightly heated thread debating the religious origins of the Christmas holiday versus its malleability as a secular holiday.)
(The quoted post comes from a fascinating, sometimes slightly heated thread debating the religious origins of the Christmas holiday versus its malleability as a secular holiday.)
But she didn’t cite the Bible. She referenced her ideas about the Bible.
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.” https://cnn.it/4b6g3rd
Oklahoma instructor removed from teaching for failing a Bible-based gender essay | CNN
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.”
cnn.it
December 24, 2025 at 4:20 PM
But she didn’t cite the Bible. She referenced her ideas about the Bible.
Uuuum, srry 2 b dismissive, but are we witnessing the birth of a left-aligned Q-Anon type movement in real time right here on Bluesky?
Please take a breath. Go for a walk. Jeebus.
Please take a breath. Go for a walk. Jeebus.
December 23, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Uuuum, srry 2 b dismissive, but are we witnessing the birth of a left-aligned Q-Anon type movement in real time right here on Bluesky?
Please take a breath. Go for a walk. Jeebus.
Please take a breath. Go for a walk. Jeebus.
A great portmanteau even without the context.
(The thread it comes from is kind of amusing if you’re in an eat-the-rich kind of mood.)
(The thread it comes from is kind of amusing if you’re in an eat-the-rich kind of mood.)
Cannibillionaire
December 14, 2025 at 2:52 AM
A great portmanteau even without the context.
(The thread it comes from is kind of amusing if you’re in an eat-the-rich kind of mood.)
(The thread it comes from is kind of amusing if you’re in an eat-the-rich kind of mood.)
The Chicago Manual of Style
omg. Kat Abughazaleh just posted that if she's elected, she'll swear in on a copy of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower.
If you were elected to public office (never mind whether you'd ever actually run), what book would you swear in on?
If you were elected to public office (never mind whether you'd ever actually run), what book would you swear in on?
December 10, 2025 at 6:30 AM
The Chicago Manual of Style
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
Out: Woke
In: Awake
In: Awake
December 2, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Out: Woke
In: Awake
In: Awake
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Let me clarify that this is a textbook example of how “cult” (and “religion” in general) is a tool for defining in-group/out-group identities and social boundary patrolling.
(Not an idea I can claim as my own. @mpgphd.bsky.social in particular is a vocal critic of popular usage of “cult.”)
(Not an idea I can claim as my own. @mpgphd.bsky.social in particular is a vocal critic of popular usage of “cult.”)
November 23, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Let me clarify that this is a textbook example of how “cult” (and “religion” in general) is a tool for defining in-group/out-group identities and social boundary patrolling.
(Not an idea I can claim as my own. @mpgphd.bsky.social in particular is a vocal critic of popular usage of “cult.”)
(Not an idea I can claim as my own. @mpgphd.bsky.social in particular is a vocal critic of popular usage of “cult.”)
November 23, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Here’s my favorite so far.
It's been SEVEN hours and
fifteen days
fifteen days
November 23, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Here’s my favorite so far.
Oops, because of the way Bluesky displays photos, you can’t really see what’s so remarkable about these images unless you click on them. Oh well. I tried to share something beautiful, but some technological limitations got in the way.
This person knows where it’s at:
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
November 22, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Oops, because of the way Bluesky displays photos, you can’t really see what’s so remarkable about these images unless you click on them. Oh well. I tried to share something beautiful, but some technological limitations got in the way.
This person knows where it’s at:
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
November 22, 2025 at 3:01 PM
This person knows where it’s at:
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
ebay.us/m/ncrbo5
“And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!”
This alt-right religious trad something-or-other social media influencer with over 125,000 followers explains that she “know[s] the difference between culture and religion,” all the while hawking “patriotic and religious merch that isn’t gaey.” Uuuuuum…
November 22, 2025 at 2:20 AM
This alt-right religious trad something-or-other social media influencer with over 125,000 followers explains that she “know[s] the difference between culture and religion,” all the while hawking “patriotic and religious merch that isn’t gaey.” Uuuuuum…
And so it begins…
November 13, 2025 at 11:24 PM
And so it begins…