Wounded Knee. Tulsa. My Lai. Abu Ghraib
And now, Minab
We need to talk about the horror when 180 little schoolgirls, boys and teachers were obliterated by U.S. Tomahawk missiles last week. And tell Congress: Not one more dime for these war crimes
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/iran...
CFP deadline Mar 31, & registration at link. I am a plenary speaker along with Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Mark Elliott, Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Joshua Ralston, Hanna Reichel, Michelle Sanchez, J. Ross Wagner tinyurl.com/548h6u5x
With the SBL deadline for proposals extended, consider submitting!!
Good thing some US colleges are closing their Religious Studies departments—definitively not “useful” at all or an area of expertise that might be relevant for understanding our present…
Minoritized Criticism & Biblical Interpretation: "The Stranger": Call for Papers on the 'stranger,' 'foreigner,' and those fleeing disaster in the bible, which can be connected to current actions of ICE, U.S. Homeland Security, and broader global politics driving migration and refuge0seeking. We also want to highlight those reading scripture under authoritarianism and from transnational and noncitizen perspectives.
Bible in America: "The Bible + American Expansion" Call for Papers on recent U.S. activities and statements regarding Central and South America, the Caribbean, Greenland, and Canada, vis a vis biblical themes of expansion, territory, empire, and related topics.
Two calls for papers for SBL 2026 from the units I co-chair: Bible in America and Minoritized Criticism & Biblical Interpretation. Please consider submitting an abstract on either of these urgent topics!
I'm happy to announce the publication of my article about a curious early episode in the U.S.-Afghan relationship: the Inland oil concession. In 1936, the Afghan government offered the Inland Exploration Company – the local arm of a mid-sized domestic U.S. firm – an exclusive concession across 🇦🇫.
I’m looking forward to the talk! Your book is excellent.
Wocka wocka!
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
Concentration camps: stories of as many as 50 people to a cell — men and women in some cases — with no windows and limited airflow, a single camera-monitored toilet, aluminum blankets, no showers and poor quality food.
Former Washington Post journalists have launched a GoFundMe to help repatriate fired staff members who are effectively stranded in foreign countries.
One of the richest men in the world fired them from the paper and didn’t even pay to ensure they got home.
Abolish the billionaire class:
Flyer for event: "Immigration and Apocalypse: Trapped with the Walls of the New Jerusalem," 5:30-7pm.
I will be giving the Harshbarger Lecture at Penn State on Feb. 25, on a topic that is increasingly terrible. Link below, also streaming. Register here: events.la.psu.edu/event/harshb...
Children screaming and crying can be heard as a possible uprising is underway at the ICE Children's Concentration Camp in Dilley, TX (1/24/26).
Also, may I say that I don’t agree with people saying ICE and CBP need “more training.” They’re doing exactly what this administration has trained them to—impose a reign of fear in blue cities. They don’t need more training. They need to be ripped up root and branch.
In October, ICE grabbed Maher Tarabishi.
He was a 24/7 caregiver for his disabled son Wael.
At the time of Maher’s detention, disability advocates warned that taking away Wael’s caregiver put his life at risk.
Wael died on Friday at age 30.
ICE caused his death.
They didn’t get to say goodbye.
Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026
The State Department says it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries whose nationals are deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States. n.pr/49BDR41
NEW: President Trump is expanding the previous 19-country travel ban to a whopping 39 countries (plus the Palestinian Authority), and appears to expand a block on legal immigration to now include spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens, who were previously exempted.
I take Wikipedia for granted. Reading this Jimmy Wales interview reminded me in our Fantasyland age what a remarkable and important creation it is. True pillar of civilization. Runs on only $200 million a year. Requires our support. So I’m finally donating. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
30% off at Yale Press, including my book, Immigration + Apocalypse
Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage
Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage
I'm featured in Publisher's Weekly in the ramp-up to the #AARSBL book panel. If you're in Boston for the annual meeting, please come by.
Two important and timely panels at #AARSBL co-sponsored by Poverty in the Biblical World with Minoritized Criticism & Biblical Interpretation and Latino/a/e & Latin American Biblical Interpretation respectively: The Bible, Poverty, & Minoritized Peoples and Engaging the Legacies of Gustavo Gutiérrez
Oh I will miss you! Yes, there are rumblings, will keep you posted!
Book flyer showing cover of Immigration + Apocalypse, with panelists Lloyd Barba, Amherst College, Melissa Borja, University of Michigan, Willie James Jennings, Yale Divinity School, Jennifer Kaalund, Independent Scholar, Tat-siong Benny Liew, College of the Holy Cross, Roberto Mata, Santa Clara University, Moderated by Jacqueline Hidalgo, University of San Diego. Co-sponsored by AAR Politics & Migration, SBL Asian and Asian-American Hermeneutics, Bible in America, John's Apocalypse & Cultural Contexts Ancient and Modern, Latino/a/e and Latin American Biblical Interpretation.
Come to my book review panel at #AARSBL2025 ! A cross-organization, interdisciplinary joint session, Sat. Nov 22 @ 1-3:30 Hynes Convention Center 201 -- if not for me, then to hear one of these fabulous panelists! @jaxhidalgo.bsky.social @elprofebarba.bsky.social
Screenshot of a Facebook post featuring three of the Portland protesters wearing inflatable frog costumes with the following text: Episcopalians on Facebook Elizabeth Rose Elrod • 22h • Exodus 8:2-6 "But if you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs... The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your officials."
you fucked around and now the Episcopalians are doing memes. are you happy now. are you
Thanks for reading and sharing!
Post from X by Claude Taylor: “Portland is leading the way. This is how you (non-violently) beat Facism. Humor and ridicule are key.” Image is a still from video of protestors wearing inflatable costumes (a dinosaur, raccoon, and unicorn) dancing in front of National Guard.
Something I’ve written about: how cuteness, silliness, and humor strengthen protest. theconversation.com/pikachu-prot...
