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.
Birthplace of the free speech movement:
“[4] individuals were arrested while attempting to hang an approximately five-foot-tall cardboard bug off Sather Gate in protest of Turning Point USA’s, or TPUSA, upcoming event on campus”
www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...
“[4] individuals were arrested while attempting to hang an approximately five-foot-tall cardboard bug off Sather Gate in protest of Turning Point USA’s, or TPUSA, upcoming event on campus”
www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...
4 UC Berkeley students arrested on felony vandalism charges for anti-TPUSA art installation
UCPD arrested four students early Monday morning for felony vandalism, according to information from campus administrators.
www.dailycal.org
November 11, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Birthplace of the free speech movement:
“[4] individuals were arrested while attempting to hang an approximately five-foot-tall cardboard bug off Sather Gate in protest of Turning Point USA’s, or TPUSA, upcoming event on campus”
www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...
“[4] individuals were arrested while attempting to hang an approximately five-foot-tall cardboard bug off Sather Gate in protest of Turning Point USA’s, or TPUSA, upcoming event on campus”
www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
Taco Bell’s new Seventhmeal promotion is looking pretty good
November 10, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Taco Bell’s new Seventhmeal promotion is looking pretty good
Perhaps they’re inspired by Hungary’s universal healthcare system.
incredible that these guys have a massive hard on for a country that, if it were a state, would rank behind kansas in terms of wealth and which would be a total backwater if it weren’t economically integrated with more functional countries
November 8, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Perhaps they’re inspired by Hungary’s universal healthcare system.
Huston Smith and Seyyed Hossein Nasr. And in the popular scholar category, Karen Armstrong.
(Although, I wouldn’t say that any of them are influential on my thinking about religion.)
(Although, I wouldn’t say that any of them are influential on my thinking about religion.)
Right, enough of James Watson - who's a senior academic you've met who's been an utter delight?
I'll go first: Jocelyn Bell Burnell
I'll go first: Jocelyn Bell Burnell
November 8, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Huston Smith and Seyyed Hossein Nasr. And in the popular scholar category, Karen Armstrong.
(Although, I wouldn’t say that any of them are influential on my thinking about religion.)
(Although, I wouldn’t say that any of them are influential on my thinking about religion.)
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
I think we need to stop calling it empathy and go back to calling it decency. It isn't a favour you're doing someone else, it's you proving that you aren't a fucking ghoul
November 7, 2025 at 2:09 PM
I think we need to stop calling it empathy and go back to calling it decency. It isn't a favour you're doing someone else, it's you proving that you aren't a fucking ghoul
These guys really are accelerationists hell-bent on burning the whole thing down.
November 7, 2025 at 5:12 PM
These guys really are accelerationists hell-bent on burning the whole thing down.
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
You (a fool): The LLM is an all-knowing oracle, on its way to godlike intelligence
Me (dumber): The LLM is Indra’s Net, each fundamentally empty token a multifaceted jewel in whose surfaces the reflections of every other jewel arise in mutual interdependence
The LLM: You can eat that rock
Me (dumber): The LLM is Indra’s Net, each fundamentally empty token a multifaceted jewel in whose surfaces the reflections of every other jewel arise in mutual interdependence
The LLM: You can eat that rock
August 16, 2025 at 3:38 PM
You (a fool): The LLM is an all-knowing oracle, on its way to godlike intelligence
Me (dumber): The LLM is Indra’s Net, each fundamentally empty token a multifaceted jewel in whose surfaces the reflections of every other jewel arise in mutual interdependence
The LLM: You can eat that rock
Me (dumber): The LLM is Indra’s Net, each fundamentally empty token a multifaceted jewel in whose surfaces the reflections of every other jewel arise in mutual interdependence
The LLM: You can eat that rock
This is brilliant.
أنا اسمي زهران ممدان وعم رشّح حالي لأكون العمدة الجديد في مدينة نيويورك
November 1, 2025 at 10:31 PM
This is brilliant.
Coffee shop entitlement on display:
Barista calls, “Orange cappuccino for Lisa!”
Woman steps up and says somewhat curtly, “It’s supposed to be a flat white.”
Meanwhile, Lisa picks up her orange cappuccino.
Five minutes and two drink orders later, barista calls, “Flat white for Kay!”
Barista calls, “Orange cappuccino for Lisa!”
Woman steps up and says somewhat curtly, “It’s supposed to be a flat white.”
Meanwhile, Lisa picks up her orange cappuccino.
Five minutes and two drink orders later, barista calls, “Flat white for Kay!”
November 1, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Coffee shop entitlement on display:
Barista calls, “Orange cappuccino for Lisa!”
Woman steps up and says somewhat curtly, “It’s supposed to be a flat white.”
Meanwhile, Lisa picks up her orange cappuccino.
Five minutes and two drink orders later, barista calls, “Flat white for Kay!”
Barista calls, “Orange cappuccino for Lisa!”
Woman steps up and says somewhat curtly, “It’s supposed to be a flat white.”
Meanwhile, Lisa picks up her orange cappuccino.
Five minutes and two drink orders later, barista calls, “Flat white for Kay!”
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
Where's the piece about how buying super yachts and supreme court justices can lead to both overspending and fascist regimes???
October 31, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Where's the piece about how buying super yachts and supreme court justices can lead to both overspending and fascist regimes???
Now this is a metaphor that even I can understand.
"How do you expect to win back men...?"
We don't want those men. They are the hot dogs on the floor of humanity and we still have all these nice prepped hamburger patties if someone would just let them cook.
We don't want those men. They are the hot dogs on the floor of humanity and we still have all these nice prepped hamburger patties if someone would just let them cook.
October 21, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Now this is a metaphor that even I can understand.
My favorite marcher so far at the SF No Kings is wearing a high-vis vest and raising a trash grabber in lieu of a sign.
October 18, 2025 at 10:13 PM
My favorite marcher so far at the SF No Kings is wearing a high-vis vest and raising a trash grabber in lieu of a sign.
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
this rocks. when indiana edu killed the student newspaper, Purdue stepped up, printed the forbidden issue, drove it to Bloomington and stocked the boxes.
October 18, 2025 at 6:27 PM
this rocks. when indiana edu killed the student newspaper, Purdue stepped up, printed the forbidden issue, drove it to Bloomington and stocked the boxes.
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
Take a picture of yourself at the No Kings rally.
Print it.
Put it in a frame.
Your grandchildren will speak about you for generations to come. You took a stand against fascism. You stood up for democracy. 
Print it.
Put it in a frame.
Your grandchildren will speak about you for generations to come. You took a stand against fascism. You stood up for democracy. 
October 16, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Take a picture of yourself at the No Kings rally.
Print it.
Put it in a frame.
Your grandchildren will speak about you for generations to come. You took a stand against fascism. You stood up for democracy. 
Print it.
Put it in a frame.
Your grandchildren will speak about you for generations to come. You took a stand against fascism. You stood up for democracy. 
WE ARE PRACTICING AN ICE LOCKDOWN at Berkeley Adult School, ffs!!!!!!!
(I take Arabic classes here, but the vast majority of the students are ESL learners.)
(I take Arabic classes here, but the vast majority of the students are ESL learners.)
October 17, 2025 at 2:05 AM
WE ARE PRACTICING AN ICE LOCKDOWN at Berkeley Adult School, ffs!!!!!!!
(I take Arabic classes here, but the vast majority of the students are ESL learners.)
(I take Arabic classes here, but the vast majority of the students are ESL learners.)
Actually, a daily battle for me- don’t let them eat the delight.
they're coming through wardrobes, folks, and they're coming over through portals on train platforms and schoolyard walls, and by using rings of various colors, and they're saying "oh bother" and "by Jove" and they're taking over narnia folks and eating all the turkish delight, they eat the delight
October 11, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Actually, a daily battle for me- don’t let them eat the delight.
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
is it not weird that every day there’s a new video of anonymous masked men having the time of their lives beating/shooting/disappearing people and the dem response from the top down is “republicans want to double your health insurance premiums”
October 10, 2025 at 6:54 PM
is it not weird that every day there’s a new video of anonymous masked men having the time of their lives beating/shooting/disappearing people and the dem response from the top down is “republicans want to double your health insurance premiums”
To me the thing that is so infuriating about this is that I teach high school students who have vastly greater critical thinking skills and are far more politically astute than any of the three speakers from this clip 😡
“Have you given any more thought to suspending habeas corpus?”
TRUMP: “Suspending who?” 🤷🏼
Aaand scene.
TRUMP: “Suspending who?” 🤷🏼
Aaand scene.
October 8, 2025 at 11:31 PM
To me the thing that is so infuriating about this is that I teach high school students who have vastly greater critical thinking skills and are far more politically astute than any of the three speakers from this clip 😡
I think that this is sage advice in quite a broad range of contexts really.
*makes Jack off gesture*
by which i mean turn off my computer and walk into the sea
by which i mean turn off my computer and walk into the sea
October 8, 2025 at 5:14 AM
I think that this is sage advice in quite a broad range of contexts really.
Absolutely no disrespect to Dorroll here, who is far more a scholar than I will ever be, but isn’t the very point of critical RS to problematize and redescribe? If we want to “simply better understand the experience of faith on its own terms,” can’t we simply consult an insider?
This gets at what I think is a genuine problem in our field: contemporary (ie, post-structuralist) Religious Studies theory is designed to translate the experience of faith into secular language, rather than trying to simply better understand the experience of faith on its own terms.
religious studies mfs when you tell them rituals facilitate the transmission of dogma and aren't a free-for-all "embodied religion" divorced from institutions and doctrines
October 6, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Absolutely no disrespect to Dorroll here, who is far more a scholar than I will ever be, but isn’t the very point of critical RS to problematize and redescribe? If we want to “simply better understand the experience of faith on its own terms,” can’t we simply consult an insider?
Reality Winner is truly a national treasure.
There should be piercing parlors in airports cause that's where I make my best decisions
October 5, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reality Winner is truly a national treasure.
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
you're looking at a foreign country. the government rounds up people on the basis of skin color or other characteristic, puts them in 'detention' facilities, separates families, deports them without process, confiscates their property, denies them access to counsel. what would you call it?
October 4, 2025 at 10:46 PM
you're looking at a foreign country. the government rounds up people on the basis of skin color or other characteristic, puts them in 'detention' facilities, separates families, deports them without process, confiscates their property, denies them access to counsel. what would you call it?
From August 2024:
Vaught suggests that mass deportations are “part of a plan to "end multiculturalism" in America” and “should protests break out in response [Trump] use the military to ‘maintain law and order.’”
www.mediamatters.org/russ-vought/...
Vaught suggests that mass deportations are “part of a plan to "end multiculturalism" in America” and “should protests break out in response [Trump] use the military to ‘maintain law and order.’”
www.mediamatters.org/russ-vought/...
In undercover interview, Project 2025 architect gets candid on the initiative’s radical goals and connections to Trump
In an undercover interview with reporters from the British non-profit organization Centre for Climate Reporting, Project 2025 architect and MAGA ally Russ Vought admitted to the project's strong ties ...
www.mediamatters.org
October 3, 2025 at 9:49 PM
From August 2024:
Vaught suggests that mass deportations are “part of a plan to "end multiculturalism" in America” and “should protests break out in response [Trump] use the military to ‘maintain law and order.’”
www.mediamatters.org/russ-vought/...
Vaught suggests that mass deportations are “part of a plan to "end multiculturalism" in America” and “should protests break out in response [Trump] use the military to ‘maintain law and order.’”
www.mediamatters.org/russ-vought/...
Reposted by Jason Eric Bystrom
We are being ruled by every loser you ever met in high school
September 30, 2025 at 10:35 PM
We are being ruled by every loser you ever met in high school
As history teaches us, we will one day be subsumed into a void of cold, dark meaninglessness. That’s why self-aggrandized bloviating is so naive and dangerous.
Hegseth: "As history teaches us, the only people who actually deserve peace and those who are willing to wage war to defend it. That's why pacifism is so naive and dangerous."
September 30, 2025 at 3:18 PM
As history teaches us, we will one day be subsumed into a void of cold, dark meaninglessness. That’s why self-aggrandized bloviating is so naive and dangerous.