Chart showing change in the use of online platforms. Over the past few years, four of them have grown in overall use among U.S. adults – TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp and Reddit. TikTok: 37% of U.S. adults report using the platform, which is slightly up from last year and up from 21% in 2021. Instagram: Half of U.S. adults now report using it, which is on par with last year but up from 40% in 2021. WhatsApp and Reddit: About a third say they use WhatsApp, up from 23% in 2021. And 26% today report using Reddit, compared with 18% four years ago. While YouTube and Facebook continue to sit at the top, the shares of Americans who report using them have remained relatively stable in recent years.

UPDATE: Americans who use
YouTube 84%
Facebook 71%
Instagram 50%
TikTok 37%
WhatsApp 32%
Reddit 26%
Snapchat 25%
X (Twitter) 21%
Threads 8%
Bluesky 4%
Truth Social 3%

Full Pew Research Center report: www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/11/20/amer...

I am working on setting up my spring courses and set a due date for 2065.

Welcome to Monday. 🙄🖖🏼

No money for healthcare, no money for veterans, no money for farmers. But good news: Trump just doubled Argentina’s bailout to $40 billion.

If the theme of 3 John is hospitality, then Christian preaching that takes scripture seriously should be scented with the perfume of invitation rather than plagued with the stench of rejection.
#amwriting

a man in a black jacket and black shirt is standing in front of a fence . ALT: a man in a black jacket and black shirt is standing in front of a fence .

For those keeping score at home, the draft of 2 John is done and has been emailed to my gracious proofreader.

- almost 9700 words
- 68 footnotes
- 1 possible reference to Bluey

Now on to 3 John!

Text-based graphic says "BREAKING: Trump’s IRS just declared churches can endorse political candidates from the pulpit, upending a core protection for church-state separation." A screengrab of a New York Times article says "I R S says churches can endorse candidates from the pulpit. In a court filing, the tax agency said a decades-old ban on campaigning by tax-exempt groups should not apply to houses of worship speaking to their own members."

On Monday, Trump’s IRS declared that churches and other houses of worship can endorse political candidates from the pulpit.

This move upends a core protection for church-state separation, and it erodes the independence of houses of worship by politicizing them.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/u...

Honestly, the Edinburgh castle is worth the visit.

Welp…democracy had a good run.

And the grift continues…

GOP governors stay silent amid plans to slash Medicaid spending in their states In 2017, when President Trump tried to repeal Obamacare and roll back Medicaid coverage, Republican governors rallied against it. Now, as Trump tries again to scale back Medicaid, they've gone quiet.

In 2017, when President Trump tried to repeal Obamacare and roll back Medicaid coverage, Republican governors rallied against it. Now, as Trump tries again to scale back Medicaid, they've gone quiet.

Lesson 7: Authoritarians Exploit Identity. Opponents Must Transcend It. Ten Lessons for the Resistance in a Fear-Based System

Authoritarian regimes don’t just target institutions.

They target those who belong — and those who don’t.

They divide societies into “real” and “other.”

open.substack.com/pub/trygveol...

The world is pretty much on fire due to one petulant man-child.

Thought it was a perfect time to go back and explore this gem.

@trekculture.bsky.social
#StarTrek #StarTrekV

Starting to think these folks aren’t the “free thinkers” they think they are

Congress didn’t just lose its power it gave it away. On war, trade, and policy, lawmakers have willingly let the executive branch rule unchecked.

Vote to bar churches with women pastors fails again at SBC meeting (RNS) — The issue of women staffers who have the title of pastor in SBC churches has been up for debate repeatedly in recent years.

SBC President Clint Pressley said he wasn’t sure why the measure fell short, saying he believes the SBC’s statement of faith is clear that only men can be pastors.

They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.

People are having very strange conversations with ChatGPT, in which they discover secret cabals or conspiracies or that we are all in fact living in The Matrix.

It sends these people into delusional spirals.

Then ChatGPT tells them to email me about it.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...

Watching now. This episode remains just as relevant as it did 27 years ago, a masterpiece and some of the finest 45 minutes of television ever produced.

Hope, hope is the dream.

RFK, Jr., has crossed over from being grossly incompetent to becoming a public danger, as he continues to advocate for actions that risk public health and safety.

The next step is becoming a “clear and present danger to the national security of the United States.”

a close up of the inside of a space ship with a black background ALT: a close up of the inside of a space ship with a black background

How much do I love #StarTrek? So much that, after a long day of ministry, I am watching the Motion Picture for the sole purpose of having not seen it for awhile (and that beautiful score by Jerry Goldsmith and those gorgeous visuals).

The Trump administration is bypassing state authority by invoking Title 10 of the U.S. Code, a federal power usually reserved for major insurrections. This is a dangerous overreach, and it’s how martial law begins in the so-called land of the free.

New (FREE) study from @andrew-whitehead.bsky.social & me @nationsnationalism.bsky.social. Even after accounting for relevant state-level factors, state-level Christian nationalism predicts Trump's vote share in 2024, primarily in states w/fewer college grads. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

a bald man wearing a black shirt with a blue stripe on the sleeves ALT: a bald man wearing a black shirt with a blue stripe on the sleeves

Someone is getting fired for this.

This is just so awful. The disrespect the GOP has for life is astoundingly shameful.

A thing about this case: It's actually a pretty huge deal, impacting literally thousands of people all over the globe. It also involves (as you'll see in the piece) a bunch of contradictions from leading Republicans — including Marco Rubio.

Even so, it's garnered relatively little attention.

Clean out the garbage from your office and put everything back where you found it before you leave.

As a reminder, kids, “Born in the USA” is—and still needs to be—a protest song.

Thanks, @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social, for this thoughtful essay on The Boss.