Rob von Thaden
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rvontha.bsky.social
Rob von Thaden
@rvontha.bsky.social
2.4K followers 1.1K following 3.9K posts
Denizen of the North Coast who cogitates about cognition, sacred texts, and other sundries. Should be writing about Galatians. (Views are my own)
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rvontha.bsky.social
A brisk Friday on the North Coast. The Infant and I wish everyone health, safety, and peace.
A close up of the Infant of Prague with an old professor peeking in the frame.
November 14, 2025 at 12:30 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
Went up to big box store land and I snagged some music this afternoon.
The back of Sharon van Etten & the Attachment Theory's album.
November 8, 2025 at 7:20 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
Shifting gears and starting to discuss Asian religions in the U.S. today (I need to do more with this in future iterations). Altmann's "Hindoo Religion in American National Culture" chapter allows us to connect our discussion to earlier conversations re: white Protestant anxiety.
The cover of Dr. Michael Altmann's Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu: American Representations of India, 1721-1893.
November 7, 2025 at 5:26 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
A blustery Friday on the North Coast. The Infant and I wish everyone health, safety, and peace.
An old professor with the Infant of Prague.
November 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
Had a great discussion about the introduction to @judithweisenfeld.com 's _New World A-Coming _ yesterday in American Religion. Religious creativity is one of the through lines of how I structure the course and this book is perfect for that!
The cover of Dr. Judith Weisenfeld's New World A-Coming: Black Religion and Racial Identity during the Great Migration. The cover image is Charles White's painting, "Five Great American Negroes" (1939-1940)
November 4, 2025 at 3:38 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
#3 at my polling place!
An "I voted" sticker with an American flag.
November 4, 2025 at 12:20 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
I'm not really an anniversary person. But this day always gives me pause. Especially when I reflect that mom was only ten years older than I am now when she had to go.
A lit votive candle in a red candle holder.
October 31, 2025 at 12:30 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
We spent today (and will again Friday) talking about a chapter in @kellyjbaker.bsky.social 's _Gospel According to the Klan_. Hard stuff. But important stuff. It allows me to give some specificity to ideas we've been encountering all semester in American Religion.
The cover of Dr. Kelly J. Baker's book, The Gospel According to the Klan: The KKK's Appeal to Protestant America, 1915-1930. The cover shows a Klansman on a horse (both wearing Klan regalia), holding a burning cross as the horse tears back.
October 29, 2025 at 7:42 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
We discussed the introduction of @judithweisenfeld.com 's Black Religion in the Madhouse in American Religion today. It was great! It allowed me to connect back to the Wells-Oghoghomeh chapter we read earlier in the semester. And forward to her New World A-Coming intro (that we discuss in a week).
The cover of Judith Weisenfeld's Black Religion in the Madhouse: Race and Psychiatry in Slavery's Wake.
October 27, 2025 at 8:12 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
It's a soggy, soggy Friday on the North Coast. The Infant and I wish everyone health, safety, peace, and dry shoes.
The Infant of Prague with an old professor.
October 24, 2025 at 11:31 AM
rvontha.bsky.social
Pre-marathon ramen achieved!
A bowl of Touhenboku spicy ramen.
October 18, 2025 at 6:07 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
Well, they let us cross the border. Despite the usual Friday evening brutal Toronto traffic, we made it safe and sound.
Shot of Downtown Toronto, looking north, from the Hilton Toronto. University Ave is to the left, City Hall and Nathan Philips Square to the right, and the back of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts ("the permanent home of the Canadian Opera Company and the performance venue for The National Ballet of Canada") is in the foreground.
October 18, 2025 at 2:21 AM
rvontha.bsky.social
We made it to another Friday, friends. The Infant and I wish everyone health, safety, and peace.
The Infant of Prague with an old professor.
October 17, 2025 at 11:29 AM
rvontha.bsky.social
I will be accepting thank you cards and gifts from everyone living along Lake Erie for what is sure to be a winter with a dearth of snow. 😉
A new orange Ariens snow blower in my garage.
October 14, 2025 at 1:32 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
Super fragrant October roses.
A red rose in bloom. A red rose just about to bloom. A red rose in bloom.
October 12, 2025 at 7:50 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
A crisp Fall Friday on the North Coast. The Infant wishes everyone health, safety, and peace.
A small figurine of the Infant of Prague. Looking a little worse for wear (missing fingers), my favorite kind of well used object.
October 10, 2025 at 12:06 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
From the New Yorker: October 6, 2025.
From "Handkerchief" Handkerchiefs, ties, an old man on the street selling loose freshly roasted nuts from a bright blue cart. Is there anything lovelier? I know--now-- it is only a matter of days (if I am lucky) until I, too, stand somewhere hoping another human will stop and find what I'm offering interesting. --Robin Coste Lewis
October 3, 2025 at 11:13 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
Another cool Friday morning (turning warm later) on the North Coast. The Infant and I wish everyone health, safety, and peace.
An old professor with the Infant of Prague.
October 3, 2025 at 11:29 AM
rvontha.bsky.social
New book arrived yesterday! 😊
The cover of Dr. Kathryn Gin Lum's book, Heathen: Religion & Race in American History.
September 30, 2025 at 2:16 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
October Eve Eve here on the North Shore. While I'm delighted to see new growth and flowers on my ancient, albeit scraggly, rosebushes (this is about the fourth or fifth time they've leafed--they get eaten a lot), I'm trying not to think too hard about what such things portend...
A scraggly old rose bush, about 6ft tall, with new leaves and new, deep red, flowers. New growth on the old rose bush. Close up of the new, deep red, flower on the rose bush. A new flower, more pinkish than deep red, on a smaller old rose bush.
September 29, 2025 at 9:31 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
A cool Fall Friday morning on the North Coast. The Infant and I wish everyone health, safety, and peace.
The Infant of Prague with an old professor peeking in.
September 26, 2025 at 11:34 AM
rvontha.bsky.social
Talked about ch. 5 of this book in my American Religion class yesterday and it's SO good.

And I might have played up that Dr. Wells-Oghoghomeh and I both got our Ph.D.s from Emory ("She's been a tad more successful than me as a scholar though..." 🤣).
The cover of Dr. Alexis Wells-Oghoghomeh's book, The Souls of Womenfolk: The Religious Culture of Enslaved Women in the Lower South.
September 23, 2025 at 8:33 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
We've made it to the bottom of another week. The Infant wishes everyone health, safety, and peace.
A side shot of the Infant of Prague with an old professor.
September 19, 2025 at 11:28 AM
rvontha.bsky.social
I am now among the elect!

My contributor's copy came! Many, many thanks to @kjmrphy.bsky.social and Justin Jeffcoat Schedtler for including me in this.
The cover of the second edition of Apocalypses in Context: Apocalyptic Currents through History, edited by Kelly J. Murphy and Justin Jeffcoat Schedtler.
September 16, 2025 at 6:57 PM
rvontha.bsky.social
Erie Moon Mammoths!
UPMC PARK. A baseball field.
September 12, 2025 at 11:29 PM