Burke Gerstenschlager
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bleaktheology.bsky.social
Burke Gerstenschlager
@bleaktheology.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.1K following 4.1K posts
Finishing a book on Joy Division, lament, & God. Former academic book editor. Religion & culture writer. Kierkegaardian. Anti-fascist. UT-Austin Classics BA. YDS MDiv. Episcolutheran. Your post-punk counterweight to joy in Brooklyn.
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bleaktheology.bsky.social
Burke Gerstenschlager @bleaktheology.bsky.social · Feb 6
A Bleak Theology Guide to Resistance

Everything is terrible everywhere all at once. What to do? How to respond? Here is a Guide of ten things to help weather this storm. I hope that you will find this Guide helpful. It is a longer read, but I believe it is worth it. Take your time. Ruminate on it.…
A Bleak Theology Guide to Resistance
Everything is terrible everywhere all at once. What to do? How to respond? Here is a Guide of ten things to help weather this storm. I hope that you will find this Guide helpful. It is a longer read, but I believe it is worth it. Take your time. Ruminate on it. Share it. Peace be with you. First, for those who don't know, bleak theology is an…
www.bleaktheology.com
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
Imagine escaping the literal Nazis, making it to America, living three quarters of a century there making your life, and then this:
November 17, 2025 at 8:20 PM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
I hate that we keep giving these terrible people air and yet it's essential that we all know that these terrible people continue to be influential. Really all I can say is that we continue to loudly mock them and their shit theology and give them no intellectual quarter whatsoever.
tylerhuckabee.bsky.social hucksgiving @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 4h
watching these two Christian Nationalists have a conversation and see if you can spot the part where I spit coffee all over my screen.
November 18, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
naomiaklein.bsky.social
The AI bubble may be about to bust.

Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.

We all need to say this very clearly:

NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!

Expropriate their asses instead.

They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.

They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
November 17, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
warhol.bsky.social
Little Race Riot, 1964
https://botfrens.com/collections/19/contents/1206683
Gift of Edlis Neeson Collection
November 17, 2025 at 12:16 PM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
I've been researching liberation theologian Paulo Cardinal Arns, Archbishop of São Paulo from 1970 - 1995, and found this story when he fought against Brazil's military junta.

1/3

www.newyorker.com/magazine/198...
A Miracle, a Universe—I
www.newyorker.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
He’s definitely decided to block their release by claiming it’s all evidence for his cases against Democrats
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d
Trump: "House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide."
As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat “Shutdown.” The Department of Justice has already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the Public on “Epstein,” are looking at various Democrat operatives (Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, etc.) and their relationship to Epstein, and the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE! All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT, which is the Economy, “Affordability” (where we are winning BIG!), our Victory on reducing Inflation from the highest level in History to practically nothing, bringing down prices for the American People, delivering Historic Tax Cuts, gaining Trillions of Dollars of Investment into America (A RECORD!), the rebuilding of our Military, securing our Border, deporting Criminal Illegal Aliens, ending Men in Women’s Sports, stopping Transgender for Everyone, and so much more! Nobody cared about Jeffrey Epstein when he was alive and, if the Democrats had anything, they would have released it before our Landslide Election Victory. Some “members” of the Republican Party are being “used,” and we can’t let that happen. Let’s start talking about the Republican Party’s Record Setting Achievements, and not fall into the Epstein “TRAP,” which is actually a curse on the Democrats, not us. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
November 17, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
originalsp.in
What color was the peril, Larry?

WHAT COLOR
joolia.bsky.social Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 1d
gosh I wonder why they called her peril www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
The Harvard Crimson Throughout the seven months of correspondence reviewed by The Crimson, Summers and Epstein referred to the woman Summers was pursuing in some messages by the code name "peril" but never used her name in messages directly describing the relationship. On at least two occasions, the two men discussed Jin's emails to Summers, which he forwarded to Epstein. In later messages, the two men appeared to joke about the probability that Summers would have sex with the woman, apparently Jin.
November 17, 2025 at 2:43 AM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
November 17, 2025 at 1:07 AM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
Who un/knowingly approved this?!
lillikoifish.bsky.social Lillikoifish @lillikoifish.bsky.social · 1d
YOU GUYS WANNA SEE SOMETHING CURSED???? HOW ABOUT NEON GENESIS LEHIGH VALLEY PHANTOMS HOCKEY?????
November 17, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
jackjenkins.me
Also in here: DHS responded to the faith-led protest yesterday, calling participants “violent rioters” and “imbecilic morons” who need to “get a job.”

Asked about the statement, one UMC pastor who participated in the protest told me: "This is our job." religionnews.com/2025/11/15/a...
The Department of Homeland Security did not reply immediately to a request for comment, but on Friday a post on the department’s X feed seemed to mock the protest participants, saying, “Womp womp, cry all you want. These criminal illegal aliens aren’t getting released,” the post read. The post called the demonstrators “violent rioters” and “imbecilic morons” who need to “get a job.” Asked about the DHS statement, Woolf said he and other protesters were “demanding constitutional and due process rights” for detainees, adding, “I believe that justice will come in this life or the next.” “I know which side I choose. I choose the gospel,” he added. “This is our job,” said the Rev. Kristina Sinks, a United Methodist pastor who helped organize a worship service, in reply to the DHS post. Sinks also rejected the suggestion that demonstrators were violent. She later explained via text message that she believes it is the job of clergy to “advocate for the oppressed, the vulnerable, and those dehumanized by any forces of evil and oppression.” Sinks added: “Why does DHS feel threatened by clergy praying? What are they hiding?”
November 15, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
sarahposner.bsky.social
The Christian right for decades has fear-mongered that federal agents (under Dem presidents) would "criminalize" Christianity and literally prevent them from worshipping.

Now that Trump's stormtroopers are doing it ... crickets
bgrueskin.bsky.social Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 1d
Here’s a story for every national news outlet:

In N.C., churchgoers are literally running into the woods as federal agents descend on the property.

“Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken.”

www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
6d Listen to this article Congregants of an east Charlotte church scattered into the woods Saturday when masked federal agents arrived and detained one of their members, according to witnesses. About 15 to 20 church members were doing yard work on the property off Albemarle Road while their children played games and their spouses cooked meals. Agents parked just outside a closed gate leading to the church parking lot and ran into the yard, said the pastor, who did not want to identify himself or his church. The agents asked no questions and showed no identification before taking one man away, whose wife and child were inside at the time, the pastor said. They attempted to grab others, too. "Right now, everybody is scared. Everybody," he said. "One of these guys with immigration, he say he was going to arrest one of the other guys in the church. He pushed him." Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken. Some yard workers fled into the surrounding woods when officials arrived, including 15-year-old Miguel Vazquez.
November 16, 2025 at 12:16 PM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
When the Trump Administration said it was going against anti-Christian bias, they included the "wrong" kind of Christian.
jackjenkins.me Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 2d
Via @charlotteobserver.com: Church members flee as federal agents arrive at east Charlotte place of worship

“Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken.” www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...
Church members flee as federal agents arrive at east Charlotte place of worship
Witnesses say one man was detained while doing yard work while his wife and child were inside.
www.charlotteobserver.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:24 PM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
I am flummoxed. Erickson has Weyrich, the Moral Majority, Rushdooney, the Heritage Foundation, and countless other Christofascists to thank for where American conservatism is now and he says this. This is not a matter of Alice in Wonderland eating too much cake.
November 16, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
ebetania.bsky.social
Come for the myriad Bluesky references, stay for the #hotpriest(s)
November 16, 2025 at 1:06 PM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
"his own nature inclined to evil." - BCP
November 16, 2025 at 4:45 AM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
From THEOLOGY AS CRITICAL REFLECTION ON PRAXIS

"This is a theology which does not stop with reflecting on the world but rather tries to be part of the process through which the world is transformed. It is a theology which is open -

1/2
revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf @revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social · 2d
I wanted to share probably the most important sermon I’ve given and it’s while I’m being arrested. It’s torture pure and simple what happens at #Broadview. I’m ok, though I was thrown to the ground and choked with my pectoral cross. A review of the video shows I was peaceful - did I deserve this?
November 15, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
troynovaunt.bsky.social
I love that the pope clearly hates the algorithms as much as I do
markharris.bsky.social Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 2d
Some inspiring words on cinema in the streaming era from the Pope.

Yes, THAT Pope.
The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what “works,” but art opens up what is possible. Not everything has to be immediate or predictable. Defend slowness when it serves a purpose, silence when it speaks and difference when evocative. Beauty is not just a means of escape; it is above all an invocation. When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console, but challenges. It articulates the questions that dwell within us, and sometimes, even provokes tears that we did not know we needed to express.
November 15, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
alana-m-vincent.net
Something something money evil.
jpietruska.bsky.social Jamie Pietruska @jpietruska.bsky.social · 2d
Buried the lede: "(Premium users can also converse with Satan.)"
nbcphiladelphia.com NBC10 Philadelphia @nbcphiladelphia.com · 3d
The app Text With Jesus uses artificial intelligence and chatbots to offer spiritual guidance to users who are looking to connect with a higher power: on.nbc10.com/7XM8xrf
November 15, 2025 at 2:37 PM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
Explaining 1970s and 80s American geopolitics and culture that you lived through to your 12yo is a wild endeavor. Like, telling your 12yo what was happening when you were 12 (i.e., 1986) is a bonkers moment, starting from the Challenger Disaster onward.
November 15, 2025 at 5:59 PM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
12yo: Who was Rambo?
Me: Well, first we have to go back to the Vietnam War...
12yo: He's kind of a John Wick type of guy.
Me: Sort of. And then he got sent to Afghanistan...
12yo: WHAT?!
Me: Well, this was the '80s and...
November 15, 2025 at 5:56 PM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
And you thought "Piss Christ" was the end of Serrano's controversies...

news.artnet.com/art-world/ep...
Epstein Files Reveal Correspondence With Artist Andres Serrano
Artist Andres Serran's emails with Jeffrey Epstein discussing 2016 election are included in the House Oversight Committee files release.
news.artnet.com
November 15, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
tusk81.bsky.social
As Trump says that his ICE raids “haven’t gone far enough,” a reminder that the overwhelming majority of individuals in immigration detention have NO CRIMINAL RECORD AT ALL. “Many of those convicted committed only minor offenses, including traffic violations.” open.substack.com/pub/americas...
42,755 out of 59,762-or 71.5% held in ICE detention have no criminal conviction according to data current as of September 21, 2025. Many of those convicted committed only minor offenses, including traffic violations.
November 15, 2025 at 5:30 PM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
12yo: Were there any popes that were married?

Me: Well, to answer that question, you have to go back to before the Great Schism... [I give comprehensive explanation about how RC church doesn't allow married clergy, but EO does.]

12you: ... I asked if there were any popes that were SCARY.

Me: Oh.
November 15, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Reposted by Burke Gerstenschlager
mpgphd.bsky.social
jk all conversations with AI characters are in fact conversations with Satan
November 15, 2025 at 2:40 AM
bleaktheology.bsky.social
This is Catloaf Software Inc, the company behind this awful app. These are not the people you want to be creating an app to interact with AI Jesus and Satan.

www.catloafsoft.com/about-us/
November 15, 2025 at 2:38 AM