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Christopher Douglas

@crddouglas.bsky.social
1.9K followers 761 following 336 posts

Reading American fiction, Christian Right & apocalypse via Bible scholarship. Univ of Victoria. My latest: "What If God is a ‘Pagan Amalgam’: Marilynne Robinson and Historical Bible Scholarship" academic.oup.com/litthe/article/37/…

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Reposted by Christopher Douglas
Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 16h
New working paper: the Norwegian wealth tax was a huge success. The "exodus" of wealthy people never happened (less than 100 individuals left). Tax revenue increased by 71.5%. No changes in business activity or investment. www.nber.org/papers/w35854
Taxing Entrepreneurial Wealth: Evidence from
Norway, 2021-2025
Marius A. K. Ring
WORKING PAPER 35854|
DOl 10.3386/w35854
ISSUE DATE October 2026
Whether imposing higher taxes on business owners adversely affects business activity by constraining investment and inducing capitalist flight is a central question in the ongoing debate on how to tax the ultra wealthy. To shed new light, I exploit a series of related Norwegian reforms during 2021-2024 that increased dividend tax rates, removed migration-related capital gains tax loopholes, and nearly doubled the effective marginal tax rate on business wealth. These reforms spurred international debate and, allegedly, an "exodus" of Norwegian billionaires (Financial Times,
2023). While I document clear effects on migration, these responses are concentrated among the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution and mostly confined to 2022 and 2023. My results indicate that at most 100 individuals left due to the reforms. I find no evidence of significant outmigration or reduced inflows of startup founders or inventors. I estimate that absent any outmigration, wealth tax revenues would have increased by 75% from 2021 to 2024. Reform-driven outmigration lowers the revenue gain to 71.5%. My findings further show that outmigrating owners' firms remain economically active and do not reduce investment. In a broader set of analyses, I examine whether business outcomes are affected, regardless of whether owners outmigrate, since firms may reduce investment both due to liquidity constraints or distortions to owners' savings decisions. I compare firms owned by Norwegian individuals subject to the wealth tax with firms owned by foreigners and other tax-exempt entities. By merging historical ownership data from Orbis with the Norwegian shareholder register, I perform these analyses on both Norwegian and foreign-domiciled firms.
Across settings, I find no evidence that Norwegian-owned firms pay out more dividends or invest less after the reforms,…
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Mark McEntire @markmcentire.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
A revealing account about how scholarship, archaeology, and popular consumption of religious narrative works, from one of the most creative thinkers in our field.
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Christopher Silver @christophersilver.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
TT job announcement at McGill: The Department of Jewish Studies and the Department of Sociology invite applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position (Segal Chair in Jewish Studies), commencing August 1, 2027. More information can be found here: www.mcgill.ca/jewishstudie....
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Andrew Whitehead @andrew-whitehead.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
***NEW REPORT*** Using a large (23,000 people) national survey collected in 2026 by @kettering.org & @gallup.com, I wrote this expansive report on Christian nationalism and Americans' views of democracy. As we head toward Nov., this report shows us what is at stake. kettering.org/christian-na...
kettering.org
Christian Nationalism and the State of American Democracy in 2026
What do Christian nationalists mean by "democracy"? New Democracy for All Project survey data reveals competing visions of power, citizenship, and democratic values.
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I read this and frankly this was my takeaway: "But social media trends don’t last forever, and the trad trend is showing its cracks." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/s...
nytimes.com
Her Brand Was Tradwife. Now She’s Divorced. (Gift Article)
What happens when a trad influencer leaves her husband, questions her beliefs, stops selling anti-feminism T-shirts — and still needs to make a living online?
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Dan McClellan @maklelan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Bombshell Noah’s Ark Report RELEASED! #maklelan3484 youtu.be/GrcWlasDGb4
youtu.be
Bombshell Noah’s Ark Report RELEASED!
YouTube video by Dan McClellan
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The techno-dystopia I actually fear is a future where most people think truth is whatever Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or Grok say, and the very small number of people who control those systems use that to manipulate for their own ends, making our current epistemic crisis seem small in comparison.
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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Can't think of any reporter who speaks for me more than this guy— a Canadian. "Hundreds of hours immersed in Trump’s rhetoric has given me some insights and personal opinions about the nature of his lying, how it is received by the public and how it is covered..." www.cnn.com/2026/09/27/p...
cnn.com
I started fact-checking Trump 10 years ago. Here are 15 things I’ve learned | CNN Politics
Ten years ago this month, in my old job as Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, I started what I believed would be a quick little side project: fact-checking underdog presidential candidate ...
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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Drum beats on: NYT joins Boston Globe, Chronicle of Higher Ed, & Inside Higher Ed in following the terrific reporting of student journalists at @thedartmouth.bsky.social on extensive undisclosed AI use by our provost, a national champion of more AI on campuses. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/u...
nytimes.com
Dartmouth Provost Is the Latest College Professor Examined for A.I. Use (Gift Article)
Dartmouth said it would investigate its provost over A.I. accusations. Similar controversies on other campuses have prompted frustration among students.
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Jon Douglas @atranscendedman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Royal Society of Medicine editorial. Long COVID is real and linked to sustained increases in healthcare use. The editor argues that underfunding medical science and continuity of care is a costly mistake for patients and health systems. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Long covid and other wise investments of time and money - Kamran Abbasi, 2026
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Tom the Dancing Bug, by Ruben Bolling @rubenbolling.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
🎉 And... announcing the completely complete Complete Tom the Dancing Bug Library! All eight volumes compiling the entirety of the comic strip (and more!) from 1990-2023 (!) are now lovingly published and waiting to find their forever homes! 👇 tomthedancingbug.com/2026/09/09/a...
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Here's today's column on the astonishing, ongoing mistreatment of people with #ME/CFS. Please spread it far and wide: the only thing which can break the media's wall of indifference is seeing an article about the issue go viral. Thank you. 1/2 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed | George Monbiot
Changes in guidance and science seem to have little impact on millions of devastated lives. It’s a social crisis playing out behind closed doors, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
How much influence is end times prophecy exerting over American policy right now? The short answer: more than one might like My latest for The New Republic
newrepublic.com
We Need to Talk About the Apocalypse
End-times prophecy, pro-war prayer circles, Democrats as demons: Christian dominionism’s influence is everywhere in the second Trump administration—and increasingly, within America itself. Can democra...
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Once again, Marisa is doing The Work. Check it out.
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Sarah Andersen @sarahseeandersen.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The image is of a four panel comic.
In panel one, we see a man sitting at a restaurant table. He is sweating. He says "Y-you have beautiful eyes".
The second panel zooms in on the man's face. He says, "I'm sorry. I'm just so nervous."
In panel three we see that a biblically accurate angel is sitting on the other side of the table.
In panel four we zoom in on the angel's face, who says "BE NOT AFRAID".
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Centre for Studies in Religion and Society @csrs-uvic.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Scholars in the Square is back! We're excited to welcome a new cohort of fellows, and to share their research in our free lecture series. Join us Thursday as CSRS faculty fellow Chris Douglas ties together the ancient gods and contemporary fiction. More info on our events page: uvic.ca/csrs/events.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 14/09/2026
Trump's foreign policy is not isolationist. On the contrary, his ideologues want to build an international empire run by far-right political movements who serve American crypto, mineral and tech companies, many with links to the president. Read more here: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
Empire of Grift
Far-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.
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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
First excerpt from End Times Fascism! So happy The Guardian went for the part of the book about the wonder of THIS world, and the people doing everything to commit to it. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
The end times fascists are plotting their escape from our world. Our mission is clear
An unholy alliance is working toward an apocalyptic future from which only a chosen few will emerge unscathed. It’s becoming clear how we stop them
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Kristin Du Mez @kkdumez.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Aspire to live in such a way that reporters write stories on why people don’t like you. 🙃 baptistnews.com/article/what...
baptistnews.com
What’s so upsetting to evangelicals about Kristin Du Mez?
Unfortunately, not everyone in evangelicalism receives Du Mez’s scholarship with such openness, says Rick Pidcock.
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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
There's a knowing position that insists the "AI could kill us" stuff is marketing. Maybe! Weird thing to gamble on, to insist that you're smarter about. Seems plausible when it comes in form of support for serious slowdown or pause. I find even this guy far too tepid. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | This Is Really Bad (Gift Article)
We can no longer pretend that A.I. is safe.
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 11/09/2026
Just did a quick look around and I don't see very many headlines about the President of the US making people pledge allegiance to him personally while telling everyone to commit election fraud and "cheat like hell" to support his party. Seems like it should be a story?
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Rowan Hooper @rowhoop.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Something to cling to and promote the hell out of: leveraging POSITIVE TIPPING POINTS www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Climate solutions most likely to reach ‘positive tipping points’ revealed by scientists
Global shift towards clean electricity could trigger ‘cascade’ of progress, helping reduce air pollution, cut waste and revive oceans
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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
“An 80-year-old president is spending a ridiculous amount of time consuming and reposting endless A.I. fan fiction portraying him as the biggest, strongest and most important person alive. It feels like we’re genuinely watching his brain rot in real time.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/u...
nytimes.com
60 Posts in 10 Hours: How Trump’s Social Media Reflects His Version of Reality (Gift Article)
With an assist from A.I., President Trump offers a window into how he wants to be seen — and, critics say, a barometer of his mental state.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 08/09/2026
just put up a video on this youtu.be/COUIZyAZtkA
youtu.be
The media double-standard that lets the GOP get away with taking millions from a white supremacist
YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie
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Dan Sinykin @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
"our beliefs, behavior, and even sensory inputs are colored by a thousand invisible influences. Our selfhoods are fluid and interconnected, and possession is one way of talking about this fact" thebaffler.com/salvos/terri...
thebaffler.com
Territorial Spirits | Joseph P. Laycock
He didn’t realize his dream job would involve desperate strangers asking him to save them from demonic oppression.
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Tade "Will Eat Your Heart in the Marketplace" Thompson @tadethompson.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Bookmail! For the uninitiated, that's Antara ibn Shaddad on the cover. @rachelschine.bsky.social
Rachel Shine's Black Knights

Showing man on horse with finger in the air
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 05/09/2026
New in PN: @ninajankowicz.com on the golden age of disinformation “I’m not optimistic about us clawing back from this unless there’s serious rethinking of our systems, and frankly, regulation of these social media platforms that are making us such passive and uncurious consumers of information."
publicnotice.co
Nina Jankowicz on the golden age of disinformation
“Memory-holing is core to all of the narrative coups Republicans are achieving right now.”
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Brian Beutler @brianbeutler.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I have some frustrations... www.offmessage.net/p/elon-musk-...
offmessage.net
I Am Going To Lose My F****** Mind
Can someone make the madness end? Or are we simply doomed to demented discourse and intolerable double standards and spineless opposition forever?
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
If the media is going to insist that politicians denounce their supporters who make extremist statements, I have a suggestion for someone a bit more important than a Twitch streamer.
campaign-trails.ghost.io
Denouncing Extremists
One of the media's favorite activities is demanding that Democratic politicians denounce individuals on their side who have made extreme statements. This is a pattern that stretches back to the 1992 ...
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 03/09/2026
the literal position of the trump administration is that any school that has any more than a smattering of black students is engaged in illegal racial discrimination against whites www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/b...
nytimes.com
Trump Moves to Strip Tax Exemption From Schools That Aid Minority Students (Gift Article)
The Treasury Department released rules that would prevent schools with race-based programs from qualifying for tax-exempt status, a threat to both higher education and other private schools.
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Christopher Douglas @crddouglas.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Bloomsbury doesn't like the title of my new book and wants me to rename it by swapping the title and subtitle. They say the subtitle is more descriptive and has more keywords. Fair. But I think the title is cooler. What should I do? Concede or stand my ground?
Dune font logo generator for a book title, God Is Made of Other Gods: Divine Morality in Contemporary American Literature
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Christopher Douglas @crddouglas.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Bloomsbury doesn't like the title of my new book and wants me to rename it by swapping the title and subtitle. They say the subtitle is more descriptive and has more keywords. Fair. But I think the title is cooler. What should I do? Concede or stand my ground?
Dune font logo generator for a book title, God Is Made of Other Gods: Divine Morality in Contemporary American Literature
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Ola Wikander @olawikander.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
34: Māweth and Yām must be regarded as gods in the HB; what else would you call them?
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Internet Archive @archive.org · 27/08/2026
📚 What looks like the work of a solitary author can be the product of a system. In BIG FICTION, Emory professor Dan Sinykin argues books are shaped by a larger system: agents, editors, marketers & others whose decisions shape the page. 🎧Listen: futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/big... 🧵
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 25/08/2026
A really excellent synthesis of the interconnected risks of climate change. Great resource to bookmark.
homoneos.org
Climate as a Threat to the Economy and Society in the Years and Decades Ahead
An interactive analytical report based on more than 200 scientific and institutional sources.
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Brian Beutler @brianbeutler.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I know there's more to this because I'm a somewhat-irrational data center hater myself. But with that self-knowledge, I'd be much more taken with politicians who had viable ideas for fighting oligarchy and crushing attention casinos than data-center bandwagonners. www.offmessage.net/p/people-pow...
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 23/08/2026
"Against Canada, Trump is fighting a trade war that very few Americans support, under leadership that most Americans reject, to achieve results that virtually all Americans would dismiss as pointless if not crazy" Read David Frum: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
How to Lose a Trade War
Trump’s bullying of Canada is failing.
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mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
✋🔺🤚 youtu.be/0Ssi-9wS1so?...
youtu.be
Angine de Poitrine - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)
YouTube video by KEXP
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
This is a comfortable bedtime story that people like David French tell themselves to avoid confronting the actual reality that Trump is as much the logical endpoint of every authoritarian thing that went unpunished under Nixon, Reagan, & GWB, as he is total repudiation of traditional conservatism.
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Christina Holland @mortalwombat.info · 19/08/2026
Let me merge the bible curriculum and trump aide discourse and tell you that when the Bible's King David was super old and has constant chills and presumably couldn't get it up they hired a young lady unfortunately named Abishag "just to keep him warm" and she became a pawn in the succession crisis
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Tom the Dancing Bug, by Ruben Bolling @rubenbolling.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
🔵 This week's Tom the Dancing Bug - SUPER-FUN-PAK COMIX, feat. "McSmelty's World" and MORE! Read it right here👇
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Megan Nutzman @megannutzman.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
There are just a few days left to apply to be a visiting scholar this year at Ohio State's Center for the Study of religion. This program is exclusively for colleagues who are not in tenure-track positions. For details, see religion.osu.edu/visiting-sch...
Graphic with the text "Apply now for the Visiting Scholar Program. Apply by August 14. The Ohio State University, Center for the Study of Religion" superimposed on a mandala
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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
This is an attack on the priciple of an informed public, a subject on which I wrote my dissertation in 1986. pressthink.org/j/rosen-arch... "Truth Social’s Early-Access Scheme Is Indefensible." www.nationalreview.com/2026/08/trut...
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Max Fawcett @maxfawcett.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
This is genuinely astonishing: a piece by the Globe and Mail’s editorial board lamenting the “new normal” of wildfires and summer smoke and no mention whatsoever of a) climate change, or b) the burning of fossil fuels that causes it. #cdnpoli www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit...
theglobeandmail.com
Globe editorial: A summer season of fire, smoke, ashes and fear
The carefree feeling of summers past has been incinerated as wildfires rage across the country
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
🔥🔥🔥TOO HOT FOR TEXAS🔥🔥🔥
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David W. Congdon @dwcongdon.com · 02/08/2026
1. Scholar of religion and theology here. I teach a course on Christian nationalism and American politics every year at KU. While I appreciate this thread, I would argue that America *is* a Christian nation—but specifically for the reasons identified by Matthew Avery Sutton in his new book.
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Paul Prins @paul.urbanmonastic.org · 01/08/2026
The feeling of persecution is the point. Their approaches to outreach and evangelism are often crass and offensive SO THAT they are rejected. This helps reinforce the identity of the rejected group while also distancing them from others who aren't being 'persecuted' for their faith. But...
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Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Reminder that the Golden Age of Comics began in 1938 when a couple of Jews started making stories about fighting evil. So many of the people in power now seen so much like cartoon villains bc those archetypes were literally created after some of the most horrific human beings of our known history.
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Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 30/07/2026
I need Christopher Nolan to keep adapting towering works of literature as a sort of Keynesian stimulus for literary culture.
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