iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Our government actively campaigned against the Civil Rights movement inside historically Black churches. There's a lot of talk about religious freedom right now. Is it freedom for all — or only for religions whose politics the government finds agreeable?

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We've been here before. The Church Committee documented in 1976 how J. Edgar Hoover's FBI wiretapped the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and mailed him an anonymous letter urging him to take his own life.

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Three and a half months later, a federal agent was inside their building. That raises serious questions about whether DHS violated a court order.

Here's where it gets more disturbing. In February, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction protecting the American Baptist Churches and others — and cited University Baptist by name as a reason the order was necessary.

On May 28th, an undercover agent attended a martial arts class in the gym at University Baptist Church in Dinkytown. She was wearing a concealed recorder. It fell on the floor.

Newly released Homeland Security records, made public last week by defense attorneys in a federal case in Minneapolis, show undercover agents spent months inside community meetings at Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopal, and Unitarian Universalist churches across the Twin Cities. 🧵 ⚓

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Do not make me put on my Christian History hat.

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If you would like to criticize someone with a middle eastern name for their policy agenda - by all means. But if you’re going to use broad strokes and misinformation to demagogue the adherents of an entire religion, you are obviously, to quote Jesus, ignoring the log in your own eye.

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I have not seen a single American Muslim leader call for “Sharia Law” to be imposed on the US, just like I haven’t seen any Jewish leaders call for the imposition of Kosher, or Catholic leaders for the imposition of Canon Law.

Their religious authorities have officially decried acts of terrorism by extremists every time they have happened (but no one pays attention). They have stood with me at vigils for the Jewish community when antisemitic violence has occurred.

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I work with with American Muslims regularly. Some of their families have been in this country longer than yours. Their sons and daughters have fought and died for America starting with the Revolution.

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Christian Friends, if you’re spouting off about “Sharia Law” and 911 right now, you’re encouraging religious hatred and intolerance, period. 🧵 ⚓️

The mother of Kareem Kahn, a us muslim soldier killed in Iraq at his grave.

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Our tactical options are now being constrained by our logistical limits, and the world, including our adversaries, have now learned exactly how long our logistical leash is.

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There’s a famous quote: “Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.” It is clear that we had not taken logistics into account when we entered into this war of choice.

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The entire world is now asking the question of whether it is in their best interest to buy American weapons systems, threatening a powerful tool we had in economic pressure.

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This also assumes that with missiles like the Patriot, we will cancel all foreign contracts, meaning the 18 other countries whom we have convinced to use the system will have no new missles available.

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Our inventory was already low at the beginning of the conflict and at best it will take 3- 4 years to rebuild to pre-conflict levels. The Chinese are tallying every tomahawk we expend in their calculations.

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Munitions Shortages After Epic Fury

We have expended a huge portion of both our offensive and defensive munitions in Iran. These are expensive, hard to build missiles that we can’t ramp up production for quickly. 🧵 youtu.be/vZUJHUkC-3M?...

youtu.be

YouTube video by Center for Strategic & International Studies

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The denial makes me angry, because I saw it with my own eyes, lost people I loved, and still have to put up with people pushing conspiracy theories fueled by trauma that have no factual basis.

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Nor will I forget the refrigerator trucks in the hospital parking lot functioning as overflow for the morgue. We dodged a bullet - it could have easily have been as bad as 1914. But it wasn’t due to structures that have largely now been dismantled or disrupted.

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It seems like so many have forgotten the actual toll, and the memory seems to be focused on the inconvenience of wearing a face mask and being at home. I spent a short time inside an ICU during the pandemic, and I will never forget the courage, professionalism, pain and despair I saw.

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David Simmons @frdavid.org · 27/07/2026

Seems like a lot of that unprocessed COVID trauma is coming out right now. For most of us, COVID was life-disrupting, but not deadly. That was due to the difficult and often sacrificial work of the medical and scientific community, whom I continually thank God for. 🧵 ⚓️

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Today is the feast day of William Reed Huntington, the original author of what became the "Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral." This is a post I wrote several years ago that examines our proposed full-communion agreement with the UMC in light of this work. ⚓ www.roodscreen.org/p/sharing-th...

roodscreen.org

Sharing the Cat’s Gift: The Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, and the Historic…

Sharing the Cat’s Gift: The Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, and the Historic Episcopate

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David Simmons @frdavid.org · 08/07/2026

Two Baptists — Sen. Warnock and Speaker Mike Johnson — spent 30 minutes arguing over Matthew 25 and left further apart than they started. Johnson says it's about individuals, not nations. But in a democracy, there's no impermeable wall or responsibility between the person and the state. ⚓

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True American patriotism and blood-and-soil politics are opposites.

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At a time where government officials are making claims that citizenship should only be given to those whose ancestors were here at the time of the civil war, remember that during the war, men like Lawrence were fighting for the rights of enslaved African Americans and hated Irish immigrants.

In a week where SCOTUS narrowly kept birthright citizenship as a constitutional imperative, we need to hear this.

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Re-watching “Gettysburg.” Struck by Chamberlain’s speech to some mutineers - “We are here for something new… we are an army set to set men free.. no man has to bow. No man born to royalty - here we judge you by what you do not by who your father was…. It’s the idea that we all have value.”

Teddy Focaccia @kmaustinyoung.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Reposted by David Simmons

I need everyone to know that Rowan Williams reviewed JD Vance’s book, and it is both a generous and savage review. Also some great writing because, of course. ⚓️ www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...

theguardian.com

Communion by JD Vance review – a strange, poignant book about faith and the modern world

JD Vance’s Christian vision is thoughtful – but impossible to square with the political company he keeps

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David Simmons @frdavid.org · 02/07/2026

Here's an idea, since we follow a lord who was executed by the Roman State, maybe Christians shouldn't be staging mock executions to traumatize children. ⚓

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Reposted by David Simmons

Texas Public Radio @texaspublicradio.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Sister Letty Ugboaja of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen was reportedly detained by ICE while on her way to Sunday Mass. Ugboaja is part of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy congregation. Read More👉 ebx.sh/qmQ0q0

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David Simmons @frdavid.org · 23/06/2026

The Southern Baptists voted to tighten their ban on women preaching. Here's the positive case for women in ordained ministry — running from the empty tomb to a quote from a theologian who defended the male priesthood. #Theology #WomenInMinistry #Christianity ⚓

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David Simmons @frdavid.org · 16/06/2026

I don't want no Skubb. A Skubb is a box that can't get no love from me

David Simmons @frdavid.org · 11/06/2026

I guess they thought it was a mistake to begin the Beguines?

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David Simmons @frdavid.org · 11/06/2026

The Pentagon quietly cut the military's recognized religions from 211 to 31 last week. 22 are Christian denominations. Judaism and Islam each got a single box; UUs, Neo-Pagans, and others got filed under "Other." Religious freedom isn't freedom if it only counts the religions in charge. ⚓

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Happy Pride Month. 🏳️‍🌈

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That's what the commandment to love your neighbor means to me. Jesus calls us to love — and that love always requires us to be open to change.

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Over years of sitting with that conversation, I moved from neutral party to proactive advocate.

That haunted me. Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light. What my friend described was the opposite of that.

I asked how he reconciled those two things. He said he didn't. He'd tried to pray the gay away for years. He still believed gay people were going to hell — so he was going to hell, and there was nothing he could do about it.

A close friend in college had grown up in a strict fundamentalist church. He was also openly gay.