The Revealer

Is faith in meritocracy undermining American democracy? In “The Myth of Meritocracy,” @nberlat.bsky.social argues that belief in meritocracy has distracted Americans from the promise of equal participation central to democracy. Check it out at the link below!

“This seemingly grassroots movement to ‘burn down’ America’s public schools is actually a top-down, astro-turfed effort to change the very nature of the Constitution.” Great article about the CN roots of the modern homeschooling movement.

Conservative Christians have a plan to overhaul the U.S. Constitution. It starts in the classroom. In “Homeschooling for Christian Nationalism,” Keri Ladner follows an organization looking to rewrite the Constitution and its links to Christian homeschooling. Check it out at the link below!

New from me:

Could the U.S. become a Christian monarchy? The people who believe this should happen have direct access to the Trump administration — among them, tech billionaire Peter Thiel. In “The Gospel of Peter Thiel,” @bradleyonishi.bsky.social details the threat Thiel poses to American democracy.

Muslim migrants at the U.S./Mexico border are among groups known as "trapped populations." They cannot move forward and cannot return to where they are from. My friend Ken Chitwood journeyed to a shelter for Muslim migrants in reporting for @therevealer.bsky.social: therevealer.org/waiting-on-n...

American Muslims face threats to their ability to freely practice their faith. In “Is Religious Liberty in America Real?” @annapiela.bsky.social argues that attacks on the rights of Muslim Americans should be a sign that religious liberty in America is broken. Check it out at the link below!

In Mexico, Muslim migrants are waiting for an election that they hope will change their lives. In “Waiting for November,” Ken Chitwood follows the stories of migrants stuck at the border and the fading possibility of political change in immigration policy in the U.S.

Christians have had a role in dismantling American democracy, but what role do they have in saving it? In “The Antidote to Christian Nationalism is Christian,” @matthewdtaylor.bsky.social urges Christian Americans to take a stand against authoritarianism and for democracy.

Thanks to @miguelpetrosky.bsky.social for speaking with me about his @therevealer.bsky.social article about James Talarico: therevealer.org/james-talari... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

NEW podcast episode! "The Tech Industry and Conservative Christian Alliance" Why have wealthy tech executives aligned themselves with conservative Christians? @bradleyonishi.bsky.social, author of American Caesar, discusses their shared political goals. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Adrienne Krone reviews Recipes for the Melting Pot: The Lives of The Settlement Cook Book, connecting the history of the cookbook to the broader importance of Jewish-American foodways to American food culture. Check it out at the link below!

Join us for an event on 10/1 in NYC! @bradleyonishi.bsky.social will discuss his new book American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords are Turning America into a Monarchy with @emmagoldberg.bsky.social from the New York Times. More info & register here: wp.nyu.edu/crm/events/

In an excerpt from her book Whispers in the Pews: Evangelical Uniformity in Divided America, Amy D. McDowell follows a Southern Evangelical congregation as they grapple with their silence on LGBTQ+ inclusion.

In “Hindu Nationalism's New Frontiers, from Sri Lanka to the United States,” @anujbehal.bsky.social follows the rise of Hindu nationalism in diaspora communities around the world, linking its growth to India’s political climate and the religious and ethnic grievances it exports.

@nberlat.bsky.social reviews Kaleidoscope: Pluralism, White Supremacy, and American Religious History and argues for a vision of American religion that emphasizes solidarity between marginalized religious communities. Check out "Democracy Requires Religious Pluralism" in our September issue!

*I* appear very little in Damned If She Does, but I thought I owed it to readers to introduce myself and explain why women quitting church has fascinated me for years. If you want a sneak peek, please see this excerpt, shared today by @therevealer.bsky.social. therevealer.org/why-i-quit-c...

Our September Issue! Articles on religious diversity & democracy, global Hindu nationalism, Jewish food, evangelical silence on LGBTQ Christians, & women leaving religion from @nberlat.bsky.social, @anujbehal.bsky.social, @adriennekrone.bsky.social, & @sarahstankorb.bsky.social. therevealer.org

NEW podcast episode: "Christian Women Empowering Right-Wing Politics" How are Christian women empowering the Right & what unites them? @drkatiegaddini.bsky.social, author of Esther’s Army, joins us to make sense of this large & growing demographic. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

In the new film Leviticus, gay teens are haunted by a demon. @eocieslik.bsky.social reflects on the film, what she calls a new genre of "Queer Religious Horror" and what, in this case, it reveals about the real-life horrors of conversion therapy.

In my new piece for @therevealer.bsky.social, I write about conspiracism as religion. Individual conspiracy theories can be absurd and contradictory. But the larger belief system is not. It offers explanation, identity, fellowship, prophecy, and an apocalypse. therevealer.org/conspiracism...

A new play considers what happened to an entire community, and what everyone knew, when a priest abused the parish's children for years. @brianclites.bsky.social offers a powerful review.

I wrote a profile for @therevealer.bsky.social about Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, and I did a deeper dive into the state and infrastructure of the Christian Left during the second Trump era. therevealer.org/james-talari...

Very pleased to be part of The Revealer’s summer issue, alongside a really interesting collection of work on religion, politics, culture, and belief.

Our Summer issue is here! With articles on conspiracy theories & religion, LGBTQ cruises & religion, clergy abuse, queer religious horror, James Talarico & the Christian Left from @noellecook.com, @miguelpetrosky.bsky.social, @eocieslik.bsky.social, @brianclites.bsky.social & more! therevealer.org

Thank you @brettkrutzsch.bsky.social, for having me on. I really enjoyed our conversation about the women of January 6, conspiracy beliefs, and what years of ethnographic fieldwork can reveal about belonging, identity, and extremism.

NEW podcast episode: "The January 6 Women Insurrectionists & Their Conspiracy Beliefs" @noellecook.com, author of The Conspiracists (@broadleafbooks.bsky.social), discusses the women who stormed the Capitol, their beliefs, & how conspiracies act like religion. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

NEW podcast episode: "Wellness Culture and Religion" What are the limits of today's wellness trends and how might insights from their religious roots help more people thrive? Liz Bucar, author of Beyond Wellness from @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social, joins us. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify!

How is the delegitimization of Palestinians constitutive of Zionist identity? And how are leftest Jews making Palestinian rights central to Jewish identity today? Columnist @nberlat.bsky.social reflects on these cornerstone questions in the newest installment of his "Skeptic's Corner" column.

Our June issue is here! Featuring articles on Palestinians and Zionist identity, domestic labor trafficking in the Middle East, religious myths in America, wellness trends & religion, gay evangelical activism, & more from @nberlat.bsky.social, @wmstell.bsky.social & others! therevealer.org

Why do so many American evangelicals feel disdain toward Europe? And how is that impacting the current administration's foreign policy? @miguelpetrosky.bsky.social reflects on all of this in "European Antichrist."

I just listened to this great interview with @wmstell.bsky.social.

NEW podcast episode: "Evangelicals & Queer Activism" What's the history of evangelical queer activism? @wmstell.bsky.social, author of Born Again Queer (@princetonupress.bsky.social) discusses what gay evangelical activists set out to achieve & what happened next. Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify

In the newest installment of his "Skeptic's Corner" column, @nberlat.bsky.social examines similarities between Wake Up Dead Man, The Exorcist, Conclave, and the actual Catholic Church--and considers what happens when both Hollywood & the Church present men as the solution to patriarchy's problems.

I wrote for @therevealer.bsky.social about right-wing evangelical Christian disdain for Western Europe, as portrayed by the various Antichrists in Christian end-times films I grew up watching. Many thanks to @brettkrutzsch.bsky.social for his edits/feedback. therevealer.org/european-ant...

I wrote about Dobson in the Epstein Files, gender essentialism and r@pe culture. With references to @dlmayfield.bsky.social, @sarahmccammon.bsky.social, @kkdumez.bsky.social, @lizcharlottegrant.bsky.social, @manongarcia.bsky.social, @politybooks.bsky.social @sevenstories.bsky.social and more!

“The Nicolae Carpathia character is really helpful because that character is a proxy for a certain evangelical critique of cosmopolitan European culture“ - I enjoyed speaking w/ @miguelpetrosky.bsky.social for his @therevealer.bsky.social piece on the Euro Antichrist therevealer.org/european-ant...

Our May issue is here! Articles on James Dobson in the Epstein Files, vaccine hesitancy, evangelical disdain of Europe, movies on the Catholic Church, Palestinians on screen, & British Muslims from @nberlat.bsky.social, @mwatsonfore.bsky.social, @miguelpetrosky.bsky.social, & more! therevealer.org

Big congratulations to Niyati Evers! Her article "A Radical Reimagining of 'Never Again,'" won the prestigious Wilbur Award from the @religioncomms.bsky.social! Evers, the child of Holocaust survivors, reflects on what "Never Again" should mean today. Don't miss her powerful, award-winning article!

In "Envisioning Puerto Rican Muslim Futures," Ken Chitwood reflects on how Puerto Rican Muslims blend their Puerto Rican heritage with Islam in novel ways that are reflective of both Puerto Rican and Muslim traditions. Check it out in our April issue!

NEW podcast episode: Vaccine Hesitancy & Religion What led to an alliance between wellness enthusiasts & conservatives over vaccines? Kira Kieffer, author of Unvaccinated Under God from @princetonupress.bsky.social, discusses links between vaccine hesitancy & religion. On Apple Podcasts & Spotify.

Dawne Moone and Theresa Tobin share lessons all of us can learn from LGBTQ Christians of color, a group many do not think even exists, about how they fight for recognition and justice. Check out "Learning from LGBTQ People of Color about Wholeness and Justice in Today's World" from our April issue.

Why do so many MAGA figures exalt Pope Leo XIII, the namesake for the current pope? A.W. Strouse explores the earlier pope's antidemocratic writings that align with today's right-wing political figures agendas. Check out "The Case Against Leo" from our April issue!

David Zepf examines the success of the viral streaming series The Chosen and its user-funded model, with storylines that feature biblical characters with issues that resonate today, such as anxiety disorders and autism. Check out "Divine Algorithms and Evangelical Mass Media."

@anujbehal.bsky.social investigates the popularity of astrology apps in India and how they bridge religious beliefs, emotional support, and current technology to offer people quick comfort on their phones. Check it out in our April issue available now!

Our April issue is here! Featuring articles on the popularity of astrology apps in India, the unique success of the evangelical streaming series The Chosen, Pope Leo's politically complicated namesake, LGBTQ Christians of color, Puerto Rican converts to Islam, and more! therevealer.org