Dawson Vosburg
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dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
Dawson Vosburg
@dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
1.1K followers 110 following 640 posts
sacramental evangelical | class struggle social democrat | sociology PhD candidate studying capitalism, race, and Christianity at Ohio State University

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dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
it’s taken me awhile but I’m finally reading what has arguably done more to confuse evangelicals about poverty than any other work: “When Helping Hurts.” core claims: poverty isn’t primarily material in nature, “handouts” don’t solve it, and the goal is to solve poverty with labor income
original cover for the book WHEN HELPING HURTS: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor and yourself. By Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert; foreword by John Perkins.
December 1, 2025 at 11:10 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
reddit atheists demonstrating a strong grasp of how ancient historical sources work

if you want to lose hope the replies to this post are a good way to do it
a reddit post from r/atheism Post title: Is there any firsthand proof or evidence of Jesus existing? A guy saying he existed 100 years later doesn't count. People believe in all kinds of things. Some today believe the moon landing was fake. Some today believe the world is flat. You need direct sources or he can just be summed up as delusion
November 7, 2025 at 4:25 AM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
I didn't think a writeup of my academic work would be the thing related to me that got 12k upvotes on reddit?!
Post in the r/science subreddit, liking to a psypost.org writeup of my article "'I Thank God We're Rich': Justifying Economic Inequality in an Evangelical Congregation" with the headline: "Sermons at large evangelical church tend to justify economic inequality, study finds. Focusing on a large and fast-growing megachurch in the American Midwest, the research suggests that pastors there interpret Scripture in ways that downplay inequality and defend wealth accumulation."
October 21, 2025 at 7:08 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
the early Christians absolutely criticized wealth, they sound like Proudhon lol (first image is Basil the Great, first quote of the second image is St. Clement of Alexandria)
St. Basil the Great: “I am wronging no one,” you say, “I am merely holding on to what is mine.” What is yours? Who gave it to you so that you could bring it into life with you? Why, you are like a man who pinches a seat at the theater at the expense of latecomers, claiming ownership of what was for common use. That’s what the rich are like; having seized what belongs to all they claim it as their own on the basis of having got there first. Whereas if everyone took for himself enough to meet his immediate needs and released the rest for those in need of it, there would be no rich and no poor. Clement of Alexandria: Private property is the fruit of iniquity. I know that God has given us the use of goods, but only as far as is necessary; and he has determined that the use shall be common. The use of all things that are found in this world ought to be common to all men. Only the most manifest iniquity makes one say to another, ‘This belongs to me, that to you.’ Hence the origin of contention among men. Likewise, St. Ambrose of Milan: Private property is not a matter of justice, for it is not according to nature, which has brought forth all good things for all in common. God has created everything in such a way that all things are to be possessed in common. Nature therefore is the mother of common right, usurpation the mother of private right. The idea that private property was a source of human conflict was fairly commonplace among the early Christians, as St. Augustine makes clear: Do we fight over the things we possess in common? We inhale this air in common with others, we all see the sun in common. Blessed therefore are those who make room for the Lord, so as not to take pleasure in private property.
August 26, 2025 at 7:19 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
frankly not far off
(Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus) Pastor Tray claimed this to be a counter-cultural passage that may make people uncomfortable: “I do think that it needs said today that the reality of hell—because it is so uncomfortable for many to address, or explain, or even to understand, to comprehend the reality of hell. This is a reality that is being erased in our culture by many who refused to heed the Word of God.” Clearly, to Pastor Tray, the Bible contains difficult truth that people need to hear despite their natural cultural resistance to it. Pastor Tray could hardly have been clearer, however, that the fates of Lazarus and the rich man were unrelated to their material position. Having just leaned into hell despite it being “uncomfortable” and “erased in our culture,” he clarified his interpretation of the material implications of the story: This is not a passage about rich people, poor people. God's not against people having wealth, God's against wealth having people, amen? This is the story of two men: a rich man who possesses the one thing upon death that he cannot keep: his life and everything in it; and a poor man who possesses upon death the one thing that not even death can take away: his love for God and his relationship with the Father, a relation that begins in life and continues after death. When the passage raised the topic of hell, Pastor Tray emphasized a countercultural mandate to preach literally. When it turned to poverty and wealth, however, Pastor Tray immediately offered a spiritualized interpretation. He claimed it was perfectly fine for the rich man to have accumulated wealth; what the rich man needed was the additional spiritual layer of “relationship with God.” It didn't follow that a relationship with God would have caused the inequality between the rich man and Lazarus to be ameliorated. Aside from the disclaimer that the passage is “not about” rich and poor, material implications are basically absent from the rest of the message.
August 26, 2025 at 6:27 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
Why might this be the case? Churches that take a hard line against wealth accumulation and inequality risk losing well-off attendees—whose giving keeps the lights on. The pastor proudly told a story of one such couple who left another church because it was too anti-wealth.
“Like, what other blessing does God give some people in the church that makes the person receiving the blessing almost feel like they've got to shrink back into the shadows and apologize for what God has given them, or even be embarrassed because of what God has given them?” He followed this with a story about a couple at New River who left their previous church because, in his paraphrase, “quite honestly, we started to feel almost condemned from the pulpit because we have wealth.” They did not claim that they were specifically targeted as individuals. Rather, it was the general condemnation of wealth from the pulpit at that church which pressured them to leave and find a church that would not, in their eyes, judge them for their wealth. Pastor Tray ended the story: “And again, I have to ask the question, what other blessing does God give us that we as Christians shame one another for?” Throughout the sermon, the point was repeated: Jesus is not condemning anyone for being rich; “there's nothing wrong with doing well” financially; “God isn't opposed to us having nice things.” He summed up the point succinctly the following week: “We're not rich shaming anyone.”
August 26, 2025 at 6:02 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
seth rogen’s involvement was the moment you knew it had broken containment
A tweet from Jacob Brunton from September 3, 2020 that reads: God's justice is relentlessly merit-based. Jesus is the ultimate Capitalist, and He would rather see you burn in Hell than give you what you need, unless you confess that you don't deserve what you need from Him. If you hate Capitalism, you very likely will hate Christ. Seth Rogen responds on September 5th: “You’re a f*cking moron.” Brunton replies to Rogen: “His justice is merit-based. But for those who cast themselves on His mercy, confessing that they don't deserve it, He has poured out His just wrath on Christ as a substitute.”
August 9, 2025 at 5:14 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
no way
a post describing how Trump was bizarrely taking a walk on the roof of the White House, followed by a posts that consists of an image from the “NOPE” film poster where the characters are looking up with fear and awe.
August 5, 2025 at 3:44 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
there really is a reason they call it “reddit atheism”
A post in the subreddit r/atheism with the title: I've been brainwashed into saying "Bless you" when someone sneezes. What are the alternatives? Or do I stay silent? The post preview says: I've been brainwashed into saying "Bless you" when someone sneezes. What are the alternatives? Or do I stay silent? Best answer gets unlimited crypto in the afterlife. It has 1,391 upvotes and 2,005 replies.
July 8, 2025 at 1:49 AM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
people can do what they do as long as it’s not like. this
some cleric displaying the awful stole over collared shirt thing that some people like to do
April 28, 2025 at 7:41 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
not beating the sacramental evangelical allegations
A chart describing the positions of several streams of North American Anglican/Episcopal doctrine and practice, of which I have selected many options across the board
April 28, 2025 at 12:06 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
"Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point" guy
April 4, 2025 at 4:20 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
I don’t think you’re representing him fairly. Of main concern is the ambiguity of the phrase “paycheck to paycheck” which produces a lot of the heat, and he has no interest in claiming a “real” definition of a kind of useless proxy.
March 25, 2025 at 6:34 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
the left is stifling free speech on campus, I hear
March 4, 2025 at 2:42 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
i’m begging people to take the polanyi pill
February 27, 2025 at 3:12 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
this is exactly the opposite of what progressives must learn from trump’s campaign! conservatives spend so much energy *actively creating* public opinion and what Singer’s brilliant strategy would have you do is just chameleon yourself to the public opinion conservatives generated
February 8, 2025 at 1:26 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
checking in on the brilliant minds of gen x facebook
May 6, 2024 at 2:52 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
some quotes here. it’s not like, pro-socialism per se. but it basically thinks there is real economic injustice that Christian morality speaks to, as well as the fact that a lot of these questions are ones of political prudence rather than God’s mandate
“Some are quite comfortable under what they regard as orthodox preaching, even though they know their wealth has come from the watering of stocks and from wrecking railroads, and from grinding the faces of the poor. The supposed orthodoxy of such preaching is probably defective in its statements of the social teachings of the Gospels. One might be a social bandit and buccaneer and yet believe in the virgin birth and in the resurrection of Christ; but one cannot be a Christian unless he believes "that if One died for all, then were all dead: and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again;" and to live for Christ means to live for Him in every sphere and relationship of life, whether employer or employee, capitalist or laborer, stock-holder or wage-earner.” (2/2) bitter envy and sorrow of thousands who are attracted to Socialism merely by its protest against the present social order and its prophecies of a better age to come. 1. This protest of Socialism is a call to the Church to proclaim more insistently the social principles of Christ. This does not mean the adoption of a so-called "social gospel" which discards the fundamental doctrines of Christianity and substitutes a religion of good works; but a true Gospel of grace is inseparable from a Gospel of good works. Christian doctrines and Christian duties cannot be divorced. (1/2) III. Socialism is, however, something else than a scientific economic theory, or a popular materialistic philosophy; it is a serious protest against the social wrongs and cruelties of the age, against the defects of the present economic system, against special privilege and entrenched injustice, against prevalent poverty, and hunger, and despair. It is not always an intelligent protest. Its cry is sometimes inarticulate and wild; but it voices the social unrest, the sullen discontent, the Socialists may adopt many of the Christian principles and feel impelled by Christian motives, they must remember that Christianity is something other than a social propaganda and far more than an economic theory. On the other hand, the Church recognizes that it has no right to ally itself with any political party, or to commit itself to any one form of social or industrial organization. The Church leaves its members free to adopt or reject Socialism as they may deem wise. A man may be an ardent Socialist and a sincere Christian, or he may be a true Christian and a determined opponent of Socialism. Most Christians admit the wisdom of many Socialistic pro-posals, but feel that they are at liberty to act without the interference of the Church. In America, for example, the public school system and post office department of the government are instances of the application of Socialistic principles. Government ownership might be extended to the railroads, mines, public utilities, factories;
March 19, 2024 at 3:19 AM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
December 15, 2023 at 4:32 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
thus ending the scientific definition of virginity
Mary, as a virgin, is neither supported by scripture nor science. Let’s say that she was a virgin when she was impregnated by the female Spirit of God (both in Hebrew and Greek, spirit is feminine). Once Jesus went through the birthing canal, he would have ruptured the hymen, thus ending the scientific definition of virginity. For Mary to remain a perpetual virgin, her human would have had to grow back, something which scientifically is impossible.
December 15, 2023 at 3:00 PM
dawsonvosburg.bsky.social
marked the image so hopefully you won’t see what’s in the post I’m responding to unless you choose to

the thing is, I just feel despair when I read takes like this. people approach ideas as if they’re cast in resin with all entailments and consequences you want to attribute to them
November 6, 2023 at 11:12 PM