Donovan Schaefer
@feelingtheory.bsky.social
West coast soul in Philly. Theory prof teaching/writing about emotion, secularism, & power.
Current projects: Conspiracy theory, secular artifacts, Confederate commemoration.
🐱🐱 Brighton & Bristol
🌱 ⓥ food
📚✍️: http://donovanschaefer.com/research
Current projects: Conspiracy theory, secular artifacts, Confederate commemoration.
🐱🐱 Brighton & Bristol
🌱 ⓥ food
📚✍️: http://donovanschaefer.com/research
Pinned
Are Animals Religious?
YouTube video by ReligionForBreakfast
www.youtube.com
Honored to have my book *Religious Affects* discussed as part of this outstanding Religion for Breakfast video essay from @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social reviewing the evidence for religious behavior among animals!
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
This. Is. Brilliant.
Philosophy professor Martin Peterson's response to Texas A&M University's order for him not to teach Plato.
January 9, 2026 at 2:54 PM
This. Is. Brilliant.
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
Ice: why should I change my name? Theyre the ones who suck
This morning in Minneapolis, an ICE vehicle got stuck on an icy hill in a residential neighborhood. Agents had to push the vehicles out, some almost slipping in the ice themselves.
January 9, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Ice: why should I change my name? Theyre the ones who suck
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
This so badly misrepresents what biblical texts say. To give one example, when accused of making himself equal with God, Jesus rebuts the claim.
www.logos.com/grow/is-jesu...
www.logos.com/grow/is-jesu...
Is Jesus God? What the Bible—& the Church—Really Say
The question "Is Jesus God?" is central to Christian faith. Discover what the Bible has to say and how the church has sought to express it in its creeds.
www.logos.com
January 9, 2026 at 4:05 PM
This so badly misrepresents what biblical texts say. To give one example, when accused of making himself equal with God, Jesus rebuts the claim.
www.logos.com/grow/is-jesu...
www.logos.com/grow/is-jesu...
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
Remember: Trump inherited a very strong economy. 2025’s weak economy is entirely his own fault.
Usually presidents aren’t able to have that much impact on the economy — but Trump tanking imports, tourism, and more turned out to be quite effective! 😳
Usually presidents aren’t able to have that much impact on the economy — but Trump tanking imports, tourism, and more turned out to be quite effective! 😳
January 9, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Remember: Trump inherited a very strong economy. 2025’s weak economy is entirely his own fault.
Usually presidents aren’t able to have that much impact on the economy — but Trump tanking imports, tourism, and more turned out to be quite effective! 😳
Usually presidents aren’t able to have that much impact on the economy — but Trump tanking imports, tourism, and more turned out to be quite effective! 😳
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
"Here’s the core finding we keep coming back to: Americans support “strict immigration enforcement” in the abstract, for a vague person who has broken the law, but oppose enforcement in practice, when enforcement means violence and your neighbors disappearing"
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/support-fo...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/support-fo...
Support for abolishing ICE hits a a new high
Americans have turned sharply against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and say it too often resorts to violence
www.gelliottmorris.com
January 9, 2026 at 2:42 PM
"Here’s the core finding we keep coming back to: Americans support “strict immigration enforcement” in the abstract, for a vague person who has broken the law, but oppose enforcement in practice, when enforcement means violence and your neighbors disappearing"
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/support-fo...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/support-fo...
This. Is. Brilliant.
Philosophy professor Martin Peterson's response to Texas A&M University's order for him not to teach Plato.
January 9, 2026 at 2:54 PM
This. Is. Brilliant.
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
Not the most important thing rn but RFK’s carnivalesque inversion of the food pyramid has serious implications for the entire biosphere. Salmon eat bears now. Anteaters are now anteateds. Plants have to give photons back to the sun.
January 8, 2026 at 11:49 PM
Not the most important thing rn but RFK’s carnivalesque inversion of the food pyramid has serious implications for the entire biosphere. Salmon eat bears now. Anteaters are now anteateds. Plants have to give photons back to the sun.
Love the drama of this building in the dark.
January 9, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Love the drama of this building in the dark.
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
Well isn’t that special? www.statnews.com/2026/01/07/n...
Panel behind new dietary guidelines had financial ties to beef, dairy industries
The industry connections of an advisory panel for the new dietary guidelines are notable, especially in light of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s criticism of corporate influence.
www.statnews.com
January 8, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Well isn’t that special? www.statnews.com/2026/01/07/n...
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
📢 25th MLK Jr. Social Justice Lecture & Award
Spike Lee in conversation with historian Heather Williams
Jan 20, 2026 at 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Zellerbach Theatre
3680 Walnut Street
Philadelphia
africana.sas.upenn.edu/events/2026/...
Spike Lee in conversation with historian Heather Williams
Jan 20, 2026 at 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Zellerbach Theatre
3680 Walnut Street
Philadelphia
africana.sas.upenn.edu/events/2026/...
January 8, 2026 at 6:11 PM
📢 25th MLK Jr. Social Justice Lecture & Award
Spike Lee in conversation with historian Heather Williams
Jan 20, 2026 at 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Zellerbach Theatre
3680 Walnut Street
Philadelphia
africana.sas.upenn.edu/events/2026/...
Spike Lee in conversation with historian Heather Williams
Jan 20, 2026 at 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Zellerbach Theatre
3680 Walnut Street
Philadelphia
africana.sas.upenn.edu/events/2026/...
still cracking up over this unmitigated monstrosity.
yes, that's Ross Douthat.
yes, that's Ross Douthat.
January 9, 2026 at 12:12 AM
still cracking up over this unmitigated monstrosity.
yes, that's Ross Douthat.
yes, that's Ross Douthat.
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
went to Nordvegan for dinner last night 🌱 We got lasagna, Japanese curry, tiramisu and cheesecake (all really amazing) (we shared the desserts and then ordered a second tiramisu because it was so good)
January 8, 2026 at 5:39 PM
went to Nordvegan for dinner last night 🌱 We got lasagna, Japanese curry, tiramisu and cheesecake (all really amazing) (we shared the desserts and then ordered a second tiramisu because it was so good)
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
Deadline extended to 1/19 for applications for the Center for Religion and Cities' Public Scholars Fellowship. #AcRel
CRC 2026 Public Scholars Fellowship Application
Application Deadline: January 19, 2026
Honorarium: $1,500
Number of Fellows to be Invited: 4
Schedule: February 2 - April 30, 2026, biweekly on Wednesdays
Sessions: 6 sessions on zoom from 5-7pm E...
docs.google.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Deadline extended to 1/19 for applications for the Center for Religion and Cities' Public Scholars Fellowship. #AcRel
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE UNIVERSE
PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, encouraging users to connect their medical records
But it’s ‘not intended for diagnosis or treatment.’
www.theverge.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:55 PM
FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE UNIVERSE
PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
This haunts me night and day. We have no idea what's happening behind closed doors. People being hurt and abused in ICE's clutches have no recourse. None.
They shot an unarmed white woman in broad daylight.
Imagine what they’re doing to undocumented people trapped in ICE camps.
There’s sexual assault. There’s denial of medical care. There’s forced labour. There’s torture.
More than 30 people have died.
Abolish ICE.
Imagine what they’re doing to undocumented people trapped in ICE camps.
There’s sexual assault. There’s denial of medical care. There’s forced labour. There’s torture.
More than 30 people have died.
Abolish ICE.
January 8, 2026 at 5:05 PM
This haunts me night and day. We have no idea what's happening behind closed doors. People being hurt and abused in ICE's clutches have no recourse. None.
Looking forward to hosting Paula Kolata at @upennrels.bsky.social in 2 weeks!
First Philly adventure soon! Big thanks to @jolyonbt.bsky.social & @feelingtheory.bsky.social for the kind invite. Looking forward to sharing my work on Buddhist gifts, material excess and religious economies in contemporary Japan with @upennrels.bsky.social.
rels.sas.upenn.edu/events/2026/...
rels.sas.upenn.edu/events/2026/...
The Trouble with Buddhist Gifts: The Ethics of Ritual Care in Contemporary Japan | Department of Religious Studies
rels.sas.upenn.edu
January 8, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Looking forward to hosting Paula Kolata at @upennrels.bsky.social in 2 weeks!
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
circlebackalypse now
a close up of a person 's face with the words " the horror , the horror " written below it
ALT: a close up of a person 's face with the words " the horror , the horror " written below it
media.tenor.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:36 PM
circlebackalypse now
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
The flood of nearly nude images, mostly of young women & in some cases children, sparked international fury: Ministers in France have reported X to regulators; the UK’s communication regulator contacted X, India’s Ministry of Electronics & IT wrote a condemning letter. 19thnews.org/2026/01/wome...
Women and children are being digitally undressed on social media
X users are asking the platform's AI chatbot, Grok, to create sexualized images before new legal protections take effect.
19thnews.org
January 8, 2026 at 3:31 PM
The flood of nearly nude images, mostly of young women & in some cases children, sparked international fury: Ministers in France have reported X to regulators; the UK’s communication regulator contacted X, India’s Ministry of Electronics & IT wrote a condemning letter. 19thnews.org/2026/01/wome...
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
The New York Times states it plainly in display type:
Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
Video: Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
An analysis of footage from three camera angles shows that the motorist was driving away from — not toward — a federal officer when he opened fire.
www.nytimes.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:40 PM
The New York Times states it plainly in display type:
Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
Forensic analysis of objective video evidence. This is how you serve readers searching for clarity.
January 8, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Forensic analysis of objective video evidence. This is how you serve readers searching for clarity.
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
what you clearly see, CLEARLY, is a driver who is spooked by the agents grabbing her door, takes steps to drive away, and is immediately shot as moves her vehicle *away* from the agents.
Forensic analysis of objective video evidence. This is how you serve readers searching for clarity.
January 8, 2026 at 1:12 PM
what you clearly see, CLEARLY, is a driver who is spooked by the agents grabbing her door, takes steps to drive away, and is immediately shot as moves her vehicle *away* from the agents.
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
Got out of my stepdad’s funeral to the horrific news of ICE shooting and killing a legal observer and member of our community. When will the terror end? My heart breaks for this city and everything we have been through in recent years 💔
January 7, 2026 at 10:05 PM
Got out of my stepdad’s funeral to the horrific news of ICE shooting and killing a legal observer and member of our community. When will the terror end? My heart breaks for this city and everything we have been through in recent years 💔
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
All this from a political movement that has actively encouraged people to use their vehicles to hurt and kill civilians.
www.reuters.com/article/worl...
www.reuters.com/article/worl...
January 7, 2026 at 10:08 PM
All this from a political movement that has actively encouraged people to use their vehicles to hurt and kill civilians.
www.reuters.com/article/worl...
www.reuters.com/article/worl...
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
I don’t know if it’ll be part of what ultimately topples it, but at each tragedy a few more people realize that this regime is totally okay with killing people, whether by bullets, withholding healthcare, starvation, or any other means they create to carry out their plan.
January 7, 2026 at 9:36 PM
I don’t know if it’ll be part of what ultimately topples it, but at each tragedy a few more people realize that this regime is totally okay with killing people, whether by bullets, withholding healthcare, starvation, or any other means they create to carry out their plan.
Reposted by Donovan Schaefer
Jacob Frey: "To ICE -- get the fuck out of Minneapolis"
January 7, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Jacob Frey: "To ICE -- get the fuck out of Minneapolis"