@treymc.bsky.social
Do you dislike it because it’s a non-Christian tradition they’re pulling from? Or is it more that they’re not actually talking to people from those traditions?
January 30, 2026 at 3:27 AM
Do you dislike it because it’s a non-Christian tradition they’re pulling from? Or is it more that they’re not actually talking to people from those traditions?
I guess I’m wondering about religious appropriation & the appearance of harmony. Like people appropriating religious language for left-wing causes, or the inverse?
January 29, 2026 at 10:06 PM
I guess I’m wondering about religious appropriation & the appearance of harmony. Like people appropriating religious language for left-wing causes, or the inverse?
Curious to hear what you think are some examples of good and bad liberalisms
January 29, 2026 at 1:08 PM
Curious to hear what you think are some examples of good and bad liberalisms
As a more liberal-leaning Christian myself, I guess it’s just disheartening to feel like, ultimately, we borrow the fundamentalists’ same trump card when it comes to heated public discourse about our values - “you’re going to hell!”
January 25, 2026 at 3:58 PM
As a more liberal-leaning Christian myself, I guess it’s just disheartening to feel like, ultimately, we borrow the fundamentalists’ same trump card when it comes to heated public discourse about our values - “you’re going to hell!”
But it’s exactly your first point that I had in mind: Christianity isn’t monolithic. There’s hellfire & brimstone, sure, but there are other currents which may help us escape an endless back-and-forth of “no, *you’re* going to be tortured!” between Christians with real value differences.
January 25, 2026 at 3:53 PM
But it’s exactly your first point that I had in mind: Christianity isn’t monolithic. There’s hellfire & brimstone, sure, but there are other currents which may help us escape an endless back-and-forth of “no, *you’re* going to be tortured!” between Christians with real value differences.
Honest question: is hellfire & brimstone the best language we can leverage for the current moment? Can the master’s tools dismantle the master’s house?
January 25, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Honest question: is hellfire & brimstone the best language we can leverage for the current moment? Can the master’s tools dismantle the master’s house?
Last names mixed up?
January 10, 2026 at 5:13 AM
Last names mixed up?
Honestly, I may be no better. I’m more attracted to a society that unanimously rejects racism than I am a society that places freedom to privately be a racist above that. I agree we shouldn’t enforce private beliefs through fascism, but I’m also saying my end goal isn’t perpetual private racism.
March 5, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Honestly, I may be no better. I’m more attracted to a society that unanimously rejects racism than I am a society that places freedom to privately be a racist above that. I agree we shouldn’t enforce private beliefs through fascism, but I’m also saying my end goal isn’t perpetual private racism.
As someone married to a person of the same sex, I guess I feel like some things *should* be antagonized, you know? I think there’s tremendous wisdom in shifting to a positive narrative, but lived experience makes that difficult when the people in power are actively pushing against your rights.
March 5, 2025 at 8:04 PM
As someone married to a person of the same sex, I guess I feel like some things *should* be antagonized, you know? I think there’s tremendous wisdom in shifting to a positive narrative, but lived experience makes that difficult when the people in power are actively pushing against your rights.
Yeah, I think that’s it in a nutshell. I’m sort of like, yeah, it’s not great, but would it be even worse if we (placing myself within that group - not speaking for you) just withdrew from the culture wars entirely? I don’t know the answer.
March 5, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Yeah, I think that’s it in a nutshell. I’m sort of like, yeah, it’s not great, but would it be even worse if we (placing myself within that group - not speaking for you) just withdrew from the culture wars entirely? I don’t know the answer.
to try to preserve that majority through cultural engagement given (1) we don’t have many political tools right now, and (2) we want to hold that majority for when we *do* have another chance to take back some political tools?
March 5, 2025 at 7:38 PM
to try to preserve that majority through cultural engagement given (1) we don’t have many political tools right now, and (2) we want to hold that majority for when we *do* have another chance to take back some political tools?
I mean, hasn’t Christian Nationalism been growing at least partially through culture warring from the right, even before they gained more extensive political tools in January? If we’re saying one hope of liberalism is its acknowledgment that conservatives aren’t the majority, doesn’t it make sense/1
March 5, 2025 at 7:36 PM
I mean, hasn’t Christian Nationalism been growing at least partially through culture warring from the right, even before they gained more extensive political tools in January? If we’re saying one hope of liberalism is its acknowledgment that conservatives aren’t the majority, doesn’t it make sense/1
it seems like we ought to at least push back, not because winning a culture war is its own end, but because it affects the framing of using tools of power.
March 5, 2025 at 7:21 PM
it seems like we ought to at least push back, not because winning a culture war is its own end, but because it affects the framing of using tools of power.
I think you’re saying: who cares if X% of Americans are illiberal so long as we take away their access to tools of power. But doesn’t that itself become more easily caricatured as fascism if, 10 years from now, most Americans are avid Christian Nationalists? Since they’re waging culture war (cont)
March 5, 2025 at 7:20 PM
I think you’re saying: who cares if X% of Americans are illiberal so long as we take away their access to tools of power. But doesn’t that itself become more easily caricatured as fascism if, 10 years from now, most Americans are avid Christian Nationalists? Since they’re waging culture war (cont)
I agree broadly, but unsure on how we distinguish leftist fascism from the strategy you outline here-focusing on legal advances over and against cultural dialogue. I agree with your goals, but doesn’t “cutting them off at the knees” lend itself to charges of “leftist fascism?” How do we avoid that?
March 5, 2025 at 7:11 PM
I agree broadly, but unsure on how we distinguish leftist fascism from the strategy you outline here-focusing on legal advances over and against cultural dialogue. I agree with your goals, but doesn’t “cutting them off at the knees” lend itself to charges of “leftist fascism?” How do we avoid that?
It seems Dems are getting lambasted for yet another out-of-touch PR move. For those of us that believe in the cause but feel disheartened by this, what can we do?
March 5, 2025 at 3:14 AM
It seems Dems are getting lambasted for yet another out-of-touch PR move. For those of us that believe in the cause but feel disheartened by this, what can we do?
What about the incessant partisan chanting from the other side?
March 5, 2025 at 3:07 AM
What about the incessant partisan chanting from the other side?
I’ll check it out - thanks for the rec!
March 3, 2025 at 10:28 PM
I’ll check it out - thanks for the rec!
ways & how they often deployed more creative interpretation, broad strokes, and ideas about human flourishing.
March 3, 2025 at 10:10 PM
ways & how they often deployed more creative interpretation, broad strokes, and ideas about human flourishing.
I applaud the work he’s doing, but I guess that framing (“fake Christian!”) sometimes feels adjacent to a certain kind of biblicism - one that hasn’t always been self-evidently liberating. I’m thinking of how American abolitionists had a *much* harder time deploying biblical texts in straightforward
March 3, 2025 at 10:08 PM
I applaud the work he’s doing, but I guess that framing (“fake Christian!”) sometimes feels adjacent to a certain kind of biblicism - one that hasn’t always been self-evidently liberating. I’m thinking of how American abolitionists had a *much* harder time deploying biblical texts in straightforward
That said, not an expert on the economy or how to think about comparisons like this, so happy to be corrected!
March 3, 2025 at 9:46 PM
That said, not an expert on the economy or how to think about comparisons like this, so happy to be corrected!
Not sure if you’re being sarcastic, but isn’t that largely true? To be clear, he’s a danger to our country - but it feels like we don’t have to use misleading charts to get there:
March 3, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Not sure if you’re being sarcastic, but isn’t that largely true? To be clear, he’s a danger to our country - but it feels like we don’t have to use misleading charts to get there:
For example, you essentialize the core teachings of Jesus above. That’s fine, but it’s also an option for them - just in another direction. Maybe the solution is to stop essentializing, accept that we all come to the table with priors, and work from there, whatever that looks like.
March 3, 2025 at 9:31 PM
For example, you essentialize the core teachings of Jesus above. That’s fine, but it’s also an option for them - just in another direction. Maybe the solution is to stop essentializing, accept that we all come to the table with priors, and work from there, whatever that looks like.
There’s no normative “Christianity” against which we might weigh all iterations. Some things seem clearly out of bounds, of course, so maybe that’s too strong. But, frankly, they’ve proven better situated in deploying the “fake Christian” move, so maybe we ought to innovate here - human flourishing?
March 3, 2025 at 9:26 PM
There’s no normative “Christianity” against which we might weigh all iterations. Some things seem clearly out of bounds, of course, so maybe that’s too strong. But, frankly, they’ve proven better situated in deploying the “fake Christian” move, so maybe we ought to innovate here - human flourishing?
Ooh, interesting! Lots to read up on - thanks!
March 3, 2025 at 4:54 AM
Ooh, interesting! Lots to read up on - thanks!