Nicolete Burbach
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nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
Nicolete Burbach
@nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
580 followers 300 following 1.2K posts
Trans theologian and connoisseur of fine heavy music

Co-Editor of Trans Life and the Catholic Church Today (T&T Clark, 2024)

Find/access my stuff at https://linktr.ee/nicoleteburbach

Can't access my DMs. Opinions are my own
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nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
brb harvesting souls on the highway
Image of the grim reaper on a motorbike Source https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QnwwvB
December 2, 2025 at 4:53 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
Trying to explain reflexivity to my students
Doing intellectual inquiry in this vein is a bit like trying to build the perfect telescope. To begin with, you do not have a telescope. All you can see are a few planets, a bunch of stars, and it is hardly obvious what any of them are. But you are a curious mind, and seized by the beauty of these celestial objects. You wish to appreciate and know them in new depth and clarity—so you go away and build a telescope. Now, you can see the craters on the moon, the moons orbiting Mars! You revel in it, and your understanding grows. But wouldn’t it be great to see Mars like you can see the moon? And what about those other moons? Your telescope is not powerful enough to bring these objects into proper focus. So you go away and grind some more lenses, refine the focusing mechanism etc, and come back. Now you can see all those things clearly—but wait! What’s that? Jupiter has moons? And, orbiting the Sun at a vast distance—is that another planet? Magnificent! And so the process repeats itself, with each new iteration of the telescope revealing its own imperfections in just the right way to enkindle love and curiosity, driving you onwards to further refine your instruments. Eventually, you may come to learn that, while lenses may work for some objects, the sky is filled with others that will never be visible to the eye. So you change technology entirely, instead setting up receptors for radiation, and building computers that can turn that radiation into a visible model. Now your night sky looks very different. Where there were once shining balls of rock and glimmering stars, there are now dots and lines on a graph. Your activity has also changed: where you once ground lenses and stared up in wonder, you now calibrate dishes and interpret numbers. And so you start to ask: Has some kind of trade-off been made? Have you sacrificed the aesthetic to the intellectual parts of your study? Or has the intellectual required a revision of your aesthetics – are the dots and lines beautiful? Or has the intellectual suffered in losing the aesthetic, now being caught up in mathematical abstractions to the point of losing touch with the beautiful objects you first sought to understand? And finally, the ultimate question: is this activity greater or lesser than the one with which you started out? After thinking for a long time, you may a decision: perhaps you will turn off the dish in frustration, and return to the telescope. Perhaps you will try and work with both telescope and radio dish, treasuring the light reflected from the surface of near objects even as you gaze into the dark depths. Or perhaps you will decide that the graphs give you what you loved in the light, if in a form that requires more work to appreciate, putting away the telescope once and for all—or getting it out only for fun. And who is to say what choice would make you the more faithful student of astronomy?
November 21, 2025 at 12:06 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
The problem is that this law is intrinsically a matter of policing toilets and gender. That's what keeping trans women out of women's toilets *is*. There is no magic way to 'get this right' that avoids these things. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
November 20, 2025 at 2:39 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
The turning over the calendar to 1984 meme, but the woman is reading out the following passage: "In preparatory talks for Cop30, Argentina and Paraguay requested the inclusion of footnotes in an informal note on the state of the negotiations to clarify their understanding of gender as referring to the female and male sexes. The Vatican, which rarely intervenes in climate negotiations, called for a reference to “sex” rather than “gender” during discussions on the need for disaggregated data" The man is turning over the calendar to the year 1995, because this is almost exactly what happened at the UN conference on Women in that year. A bunch of secually conservative countries, facilitated by the Vatican, objected to the language of "gender" because it was seen as denaturalising sex roles (including heterosexuality etc). They also ended up forcing a clarification in the final document that the word was simply being used as a more polite synonym for "sex". It's all so fucking tiresome honestly
November 15, 2025 at 6:11 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
Yeah the publishers really leaned into that lmao
November 7, 2025 at 6:23 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
My goal as an academic is to one day write something so bluntly quotable as this

(jacquelyn Grant. 1989. White Women's Christ and Black Women's Jesus: Feminist Christology and Womanist Response. Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press, 195)
Feminist theology is inadequate for two reasons: it is White and racist
November 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 2:31 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
November 2, 2025 at 6:25 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
So glad to finally have a copy of this! I've spent so long using and recommending that Untoreli Press zine that plagiarised her work, it's really good to finally see this out and citable. Also, Durham has a feminist book shop now! Check out Collected Books! collectedbooks.co.uk?srsltid=AfmB...
A copy of Tourmaline's book on Marsha P Johnson, 'Marsha' (2025)
November 2, 2025 at 1:44 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
What he failed to realise is that nothing is funnier than a call for dignity from the guy in the Popemobile.
Contrast this with John Paul II’s request that journalists stop referring to the papal car as the “popemobile” because it was “undignified” (in Stone, 2008: Online). Here, John Paul accurately reads the name as parodically identifying a contradiction between the Church and its purported dignity. However, he responds to the contradiction as a threat to this dignity. In doing so, he loses touch with the transcendent orientation of the contradiction, in the process disguising it. The result is that the Church itself ceases to be read in light of this orientation, reversing the emphasis of the humour: rather than laughing at how the fulfilment of creation incorporates the popemobile, we now laugh at the ridiculousness of a call for dignity from the man who rides in it.
October 28, 2025 at 11:12 AM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
In contrast, for Francis, the contradiction becomes about affirmation, not negation. It lies between the stupidity of the moment and its transcendent orientation - we laugh because the moment is stupid *and yet* it is still wonderful.
This also means that the object of comedy in Eucharistic temporality is different. Climacus’ humour turns on the incongruity between finite or relative passion, and the absoluteness or inescapability of suffering before the infinite; or finite or relative guilt, and the total or absolute guilt before the infinite. In contrast, Francis’ eschatology establishes a contradiction between the “social tensions” of present limitation (which we have associated with alterity, disagreement, and the failure of mediation in epistemological crisis), and the future reconciliation encountered within the Eucharistic communion. In short, for Climacus, humour lies in the triviality of the finite in the face of the infinite. For Francis, however, humour lies in the importance of finite struggles in the face of ultimate consolation, and the contradiction therein with their difficulty; that we must persist in the absurdity of limitation today because it finds its fulfilment tomorrow. This ‘Eucharistic’ humour is essentially joyful, showing the way out of the contradiction not through negation of the finite, but in the promise of its fulfilment.173 For example, Francis encourages evangelizers to embrace “the smell of the sheep” (EG §24) and being “soiled by the mud of the street” (EG §45). These two images, which metaphorically express closeness to peoples’ lives and the difficulties involved in relating to Others respectively, portray a Church that is undignified: it has become smelly and dirty in the course of its work. However, he can deploy these images precisely because he is certain of a deeper dignity that remains is unshaken by these superficial embarassments. The contradiction that they express is not one in which the Church’s muckiness becomes trivial in light of its transcendent orientation. Rather, it attains a new level of importance and dignity, and this is what is funny.174
October 28, 2025 at 11:12 AM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
As the Church supposedly discovered in the 1960s, along with Liberal political virtues: it's meaningless to worry about tyranny if you just want to assert another kind.
Another quote from this idiot: "The fundamental teaching of Catholic social thought is that tyranny is a real threat in the economy and the state, and that only a democracy founded upon solidarity, the sharing of the burdens of this hard and merciless life, can generate a virtuous politics through domesticating the demonic energy of the market and of the state. Solidarity, status and subsidiarity are the three pillars."
October 22, 2025 at 2:20 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
The next time someone tries to deny that Maurice Glasman is a hatemonger, you can just show them this absolutely mask-off article.
web.archive.org/web/20251022...
Screenshot of a blatant bit of hate speech from the linked article, reading: "We are only just emerging from the fog of progress in which up is down, bad is good, weird is normal. In which human rights mean you cannot tell the truth, justice is the defence of perverts, democracy is liberalism, sovereignty is obedience to multinational treaties, freedom means compliance, creativity is marketing, and diversity is homogeneity. Two generations have been sacrificed to this idiocy masquerading as reason, and universities have been the main incubators. And by the way, men are women and Islam is a religion of peace. And if you do not agree with all of that, we will take away your lanyard and you will not have a job. Honestly." Honestly, indeed.
October 22, 2025 at 2:14 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
Finally I'd just like to register my admiration for how he's picked *the most stark and forceful* statements on poverty, without shying away from them one bit
30. James goes on to say: “Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter” (5:3-5). These are powerful words, even if we would rather not hear them! A similar appeal can be found in the First Letter of John: “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?” (3:17). 42. Consequently, charity is not optional but a requirement of true worship. Chrysostom vehemently denounced excessive wealth connected with indifference for the poor. The attention due to them, rather than a mere social requirement, is a condition for salvation, which gives unjust wealth a condemnatory weight. “It is very cold and the poor man lies in rags, dying, freezing, shivering, with an appearance and clothing that should move you. You, however, red in the face and drunk, pass by. And how do you expect God to deliver you from misfortune?... You often adorn an unfeeling corpse, which no longer understands honor, with many varied and gilded garments. Yet you despise the one who feels pain, who is torn apart, tortured, tormented by hunger and cold.” [32] This profound sense of social justice leads him to affirm that “not giving to the poor is stealing from them, defrauding them of their lives, because what we have belongs to them.” [33] 108. At a particularly critical time in the history of the Church in Rome, when the imperial institutions were collapsing under the pressure of the barbarian invasions, Pope Saint Gregory the Great felt it necessary to remind the faithful: “Every minute we can find a Lazarus if we seek him, and every day, even without seeking, we find one at our door. Now beggars besiege us, imploring alms; later they will be our advocates... Therefore do not waste the opportunity of doing works of mercy; do not store unused the good things you possess.” [118] Gregory courageously denounced contemporary forms of prejudice against the poor, including the belief that they were responsible for their plight: “Whenever you see the poor doing something reprehensible, do not despise or discredit them, for the fire of poverty is perhaps purifying their sinful actions, however slight they be.” [119] Not infrequently, our prosperity can make us blind to the needs of others, and even make us think that our happiness and fulfillment depend on ourselves alone, apart from others. In such cases, the poor can act as silent teachers for us, making us conscious of our presumption and instilling within us a rightful spirit of humility.
October 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
"It is always better at least to do something rather than nothing"

Words to live by, even if I don't always do so
119. Our love and our deepest convictions need to be continually cultivated, and we do so through our concrete actions. Remaining in the realm of ideas and theories, while failing to give them expression through frequent and practical acts of charity, will eventually cause even our most cherished hopes and aspirations to weaken and fade away. For this very reason, we Christians must not abandon almsgiving. It can be done in different ways, and surely more effectively, but it must continue to be done. It is always better at least to do something rather than nothing. Whatever form it may take, almsgiving will touch and soften our hardened hearts. It will not solve the problem of world poverty, yet it must still be carried out, with intelligence, diligence and social responsibility. For our part, we need to give alms as a way of reaching out and touching the suffering flesh of the poor.
October 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
ABSOLUTELY. Interpersonal solidarity is dignifying when done properly. It's why mutual aid is so important, beyond often just being the only option.
116. Those inspired by true charity know full well that almsgiving does not absolve the competent authorities of their responsibilities, eliminate the duty of government institutions to care for the poor, or detract from rightful efforts to ensure justice. Almsgiving at least offers us a chance to halt before the poor, to look into their eyes, to touch them and to share something of ourselves with them. In any event, almsgiving, however modest, brings a touch of pietas into a society otherwise marked by the frenetic pursuit of personal gain. In the words of the Book of Proverbs: “Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor” (22:9).
October 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
I'm a little skeptical of appeals to the dignity of work that are quick to conflate work with entering the capitalist workforce. But I think this recognition that giving a man a fish is still really vital is important
115. I would like to close by saying something about almsgiving, which nowadays is not looked upon favorably even among believers. Not only is it rarely practiced, but it is even at times disparaged. Let me state once again that the most important way to help the disadvantaged is to assist them in finding a good job, so that they can lead a more dignified life by developing their abilities and contributing their fair share. In this sense, “lack of work means far more than simply not having a steady source of income. Work is also this, but it is much, much more. By working we become a fuller person, our humanity flourishes, young people become adults only by working. The Church’s social doctrine has always seen human work as a participation in God’s work of creation that continues every day, also thanks to the hands, mind and heart of the workers.” [128] On the other hand, where this is not possible, we cannot risk abandoning others to the fate of lacking the necessities for a dignified life. Consequently, almsgiving remains, for the time being, a necessary means of contact, encounter and empathy with those less fortunate.
October 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
I like the very concrete, almost non-symbolic rendering of the Good Samaritan here. Sure, the parable is about solidarity in general. But here it's presented as especially being about how we treat the homeless and unhoused; a key issue of our time, not least in the US.
106. It is important for us to realize that the story of the Good Samaritan remains timely even today. “If I encounter a person sleeping outdoors on a cold night, I can view him or her as an annoyance, an idler, an obstacle in my path, a troubling sight, a problem for politicians to sort out, or even a piece of refuse cluttering a public space. Or I can respond with faith and charity, and see in this person a human being with a dignity identical to my own, a creature infinitely loved by the Father, an image of God, a brother or sister redeemed by Jesus Christ. That is what it is to be a Christian! Can holiness somehow be understood apart from this lively recognition of the dignity of each human being?” [116] What did the Good Samaritan do?
October 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
This passage could go down in history, marking the Church's official turn against the rise in authoritarian, and silicon valley demogoguery in particular. What is needed now is a consistent implementation - which will be more challenging to achieve given the Church's own political ambiguities
92. We must continue, then, to denounce the “dictatorship of an economy that kills,” and to recognize that “while the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies that defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny is being born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules.” [94] There is no shortage of theories attempting to justify the present state of affairs or to explain that economic thinking requires us to wait for invisible market forces to resolve everything. Nevertheless, the dignity of every human person must be respected today, not tomorrow, and the extreme poverty of all those to whom this dignity is denied should constantly weigh upon our consciences.
October 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
Incredible, unexpected recovery of the CDF's 'Instruction on Certain Aspects of the “Theology of Liberation”'. Often taken as signalling a condemnation of Liberation Theology, Leo identifies that it actually welcomes Liberation Theology's critical edge. Its ambivalence isn't an excuse for injustice
98. Finally, in a document that was not initially well received by everyone, we find a reflection that remains timely today: “The defenders of orthodoxy are sometimes accused of passivity, indulgence, or culpable complicity regarding the intolerable situations of injustice and the political regimes which prolong them. Spiritual conversion, the intensity of the love of God and neighbor, zeal for justice and peace, the Gospel meaning of the poor and of poverty, are required of everyone, and especially of pastors and those in positions of responsibility. The concern for the purity of the faith demands giving the answer of effective witness in the service of one’s neighbor, the poor and the oppressed in particular, in an integral theological fashion.” [106]
October 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
There are also just some bits of analysis that are incredibly insightful
95. As it is, “the current model, with its emphasis on success and self-reliance, does not appear to favor an investment in efforts to help the slow, the weak or the less talented to find opportunities in life.” [100] The same questions keep coming back to us. Does this mean that the less gifted are not human beings? Or that the weak do not have the same dignity as ourselves? Are those born with fewer opportunities of lesser value as human beings? Should they limit themselves merely to surviving? The worth of our societies, and our own future, depends on the answers we give to these questions. Either we regain our moral and spiritual dignity or we fall into a cesspool. Unless we stop and take this matter seriously, we will continue, openly or surreptitiously, “to legitimize the present model of distribution, where a minority believes that it has the right to consume in a way which can never be universalized, since the planet could not even contain the waste products of such consumption.” [101]
October 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
I think this is significant too. The Latin American bishops' conference at Puebla is often interpreted as moderating Medellin's call for economic justice by emphasising evangelization over material needs. Leo enjoins us to read it differently
90. At Medellín, the bishops declared themselves in favor of a preferential option for the poor: “Christ our Savior not only loved the poor, but, ‘being rich, he became poor.’ He lived a life of poverty, focused his mission on preaching their liberation, and founded his Church as a sign of this poverty in our midst… The poverty endured by so many of our brothers and sisters cries out for justice, solidarity, witness, commitment and efforts directed to ending it, so that the saving mission entrusted by Christ may be fully accomplished.” [90] The bishops stated forcefully that the Church, to be fully faithful to her vocation, must not only share the condition of the poor, but also stand at their side and work actively for their integral development. Faced with a situation of worsening poverty in Latin America, the Puebla Conference confirmed the Medellín decision in favor of a frank and prophetic option for the poor and described structures of injustice as a “social sin.”
October 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
Rev Dr Kelly Douglas Brown is a discipline-defining Womanist theologian - and you can listen to her speak! Insanely excited about this.

There's still time to sign up londonjesuitcentre.churchsuite.com/events/eigp7...
A flyer for the London Jesuit Centre's Black History Month lecture featuring Rev Dr Kelly Douglas Brown - 28th October, 7 pm, online.
October 8, 2025 at 8:49 AM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
I would go nuts if we ever got to sing this in church
September 28, 2025 at 9:16 PM
nicoleteburbach.bsky.social
Holy shit @hundredyearoldman.bsky.social are heavy

Absolutely incredible set. Everyone go listen to them now
September 27, 2025 at 7:16 PM