iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 15h

# 2 Trending # 5 Most Read This article builds on a wide pattern of findings in our forthcoming book Aspiring to Antiracism: The Pursuit of Racial Justice in White Progressive Churches (Oxford 2027) global.oup.com/academic/pro... "A crucial contribution" Robert Wuthnow

global.oup.com

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Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Devistating. And against Congress's directive. SBE was included in the 26 budget and the NSF section states that "no directorate shall receive more than a 5 percent reduction relative to the fiscal year 2024 enacted level."

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Short article on race, religion, and political identification: Where Black Americans worship matters. See original here 👉 Cobb, R. J. (2026). “Diversity and Dealignment: Congregational Context and the Weakening of Black Partisan Attachment.” Sociological Focus, 59(3), 497–517. shorturl.at/acdeg

shorturl.at

How multiracial churches are depoliticizing Black Americans | Brookings

Ryon J. Cobb reveals how church leadership and racial makeup shape Black Americans' political engagement and power.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

"MY family" vs "THOSE foreigners"

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Following the Pope’s encyclical about AI, you’re going to see a lot more religious intervention in shaping public opinion about tech companies. There are only two social institutions resilient enough to counter AI politically — states and religion. They bought the first. Standby on the second.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

#1 Trending Article Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 👉 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals

Research article
The Changing Church and the Challenge of
Racial Justice

Gerardo Martí

published Oct 25, 2025

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

NEW Endorsement for Our Forthcoming Book from Robert Wuthnow 👇👇👇 global.oup.com/academic/pro...

"At this moment in our nation's history, when churches are among the few free spaces where honest yet difficult efforts at racial reckoning can be made, this carefully researched volume is a crucial contribution for scholars and religious practitioners alike. Most importantly, the detailed ethnographic research demonstrates clearly-as those of us who have participated in anti-racism efforts have seen-that knowledge about institutional constraints, skill, and patience must accompany good intentions."
-- Robert Wuthnow, author of Faith Communities and the Fight for Racial Justice: What Has Worked, What Hasn't, and Lessons We Can Learn

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

NEW 👏👏👏 My article in the Oct issue of The Christian Century @christiancentury.bsky.social “Guided by a theology of inclusivity, many churches aim to be a beacon of niceness. But racism is not nice… It is sustained by power—and it will be undone by action that disturbs, disrupts, and demands.”

christiancentury.org

The inclusivity trap

A commitment to inclusion can help majority White congregations feel virtuous—while avoiding costly...

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

christiancentury.org

The inclusivity trap

A commitment to inclusion can help majority White congregations feel virtuous—while avoiding costly...

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Ricoeur also speaks of "the capacity of language to open up new worlds" & "a disclosure of unprecedented worlds, an opening on to other possible worlds which transcend the established limits of our actual world." Application is LLMs, masked as ordinary speech, creating "new worlds," drawing us in.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Reading Ricoeur: His conviction that a socio-political mythology lies at center of every society provokes thought, especially when he said that crisis drives a society back to myths. Ready application is political actors cultivating belief in crisis, which fuels regressive myth-making as "truth"...

Ricoeur: I was thinking there of Jaspers's philosophy of 'boundary situations,' which influenced me so strongly just after the Second World War. There are certain boundary situations, such as war, suffering, guilt, death, in which the individual or community experiences a fundamental existential crisis. At such moments the whole community is put into question. For it is only when it is threatened with destruction from without or from within that a society is compelled to return to the very roots of its identity; to that mythical nucleus which ultimately grounds and determines it. The solution to the immediate crisis is no longer a purely political or technical matter but demands that we ask ourselves the ultimate questions concerning our origins and ends: Where do we come from? Where do we go? In this way, we become aware of our basic capacities and reasons for surviving, for being and continuing to be what we are. <From A Ricoeur Reader_ Reflection and Imagination - Mario J. Valdés (editor) 1991 University of Toronto isbn13 9780802058805>

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

This is great , political sorting in chat machines Among other things: Republicans were more likely to choose Grok and Democrats Claude MORE 👇👇👇

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Written last Fall, published end of August, still thinking about it today👇 How church worship can accentuate racial justice, yet worshippers will leave it behind

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Written last Fall, published end of August, still thinking about it today👇 How church worship can accentuate racial justice, yet worshippers will leave it behind

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

When it comes to media feeds, we've come to another crossroads. I suggest: Feed honor with attention. Starve bullying with silence.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Dinner @ Cantina Louie Jacksonville, Florida

Alt Text:

Vibrant interior of a Mexican-themed restaurant featuring a large Day of the Dead mural of a woman with face paint and a rose in her hair, string lights overhead, and an olive-green wall adorned with decorative crosses, framed art, and mirrors above pink booths with agave plants.

Detailed Description:

* Left Wall Mural: A colorful mural depicts a woman with Día de los Muertos sugar skull face paint—featuring bright teal patterns around her eyes—and a prominent pink rose in her hair against a blue-water backdrop.
* Gallery Wall: An olive-green wall densely filled with various decorative crosses, framed Day of the Dead artwork, small ornate mirrors, and sunburst decorations.
* Foreground & Overhead: Warm string lights with exposed bulbs hang in rows across the ceiling, while green agave plants sit along the top of pink booth dividers.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

JSSR "When we force respondents to choose which option best reflects making God's Kingdom present, Christian nationalism corresponds to deprioritizing acts of charity or justice, while prioritizing electing Christians to power, changing laws to reflect biblical principles & engaging in evangelism."

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Kennedy Center is a radical continuation of Jan 6 — a smash and grab takeover, this time from the inside out

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Mike Pusateri @mikepusateri.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Da Pope on a garbage truck is the most Chicago thing ever

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

1959 2nd impression (1960) of the book length story published by JP Lippincott Company that originally appeared witybsine parts in magazine form in 1955-56.

A Canticle for Leibowitz
Walter M. Miller Jr
<1960 hardbound with dust jacket>

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Had a marketing class that assigned Vance Packard's Hidden Persuaders, and the professor spent *hours* going through slide after slide for us to learn to detect the unrecognized messages and naked images in print ads. These skills come in handy. But sometimes the images are not so well hidden.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Bravo. I cover a great deal of history in my race course. Students always say: How come no one ever told me this before? After a few weeks, their entire understanding of history, geography, politics, social policy falls into place, integrating vast fields of knowlege in a relevant, cohesive manner.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The United States Institute of Peace Headquarters is a located at 2301 Constitution Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., near the National Mall and the Potomac River. President Donald Trump's name is seen bolted on top of the U.S. Institute of Peace building's facade.

President Donald Trump's name is seen bolted on top of the U.S. Institute of Peace building's facade.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"Augustave was arrested during a traffic stop… At the time, he was making food deliveries for DoorDash, his family said, a job he took after losing his Temporary Protected Status in late July, after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to end the deportation protection."

miamiherald.com

Haitian pastor with pending green card application pulled from ICE deportation flight

Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 89 Haitians on Thursday.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I have an essay published in the latest issue of The Christian Century. Link coming once it is available.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Essay in Davidson College's student paper: "Charlie Kirk built a career convincing college students that 'free speech' meant an obligation to platform whoever asked for it... Debate is not simply a free expression of ideas, it’s a mechanism for building power." thedavidsonian.news/2775/perspec...

Charlie Kirk built a career convincing college students that “free speech” meant an obligation to platform whoever asked for it, and that “civil discourse” meant handing a microphone to an inexperienced 19-year-old and calling it a debate. It was a theater designed to create clips of “owning the libs.” He made a mockery of the unpracticed debater as a way to “prove” he was correct. A waste of air. This forum put a veil over his bigoted views and framed them as simply an engagement with free expression.

I don’t believe we have an obligation to engage with these ideas; in doing so, we only validate them as worthy of engagement. Debate is not simply a free expression of ideas, it’s a mechanism for building power.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

New Yorker cartoon illustrated by Otto Soglow and originally published in the March 7, 1959 issue.

A minimalist black-and-white cartoon depicting an angry crowd running across an empty field to attack a giant, monolithic mainframe computer. The mob carries classic medieval revolt items including pitchforks, torches, picks, and rocks to throw. The massive rectangular machine looms over them, filled with panels, dials, meters, switches, and indicator lights, evoking a modern technology equivalent of Frankenstein's monster being stormed by villagers.

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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I miss the glory of days of lectures being events where torches were waved, and books were being thrown upon those who speak nonsense ... #academicchatter #edusky

An engraving from 1723 showing a university scene: a lecturer is holding a torch, and the audiences is throwing books. From:
Der Leipziger Spectateur welcher die heutige Welt, Der Gelehrten und Ungelehrten, ... Leben und Thaten, Auch wohl Schrifften, beleuchtet und ihnen die Wahrheit saget. Frankfurt, Hamburg und Leipzig, 1723.

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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 13/09/2026

Self-inflicted head wound Living & working in communities with productive people makes us more productive and prosperous Booting them out makes us poorer Many people refuse to grasp this next crucial fact... This holds regardless of their skin color or first language! bsky.app/profile/mcle...

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Much thanks to Robby for his new book. Diving in…!

BACKSLIDE
RECLAIMING A FAITH
AND A NATION AFTER
THE CHRISTIAN TURN
AGAINST DEMOCRACY
ROBERT P. JONES
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE HIDDEN ROOTS OF WHITE SUPREMACY

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

NEW RESEARCH "We conclude by outlining a new agenda for the study of religion–state relations that better accounts for the domains where religion–state interaction most commonly takes place and interrogates the real-world consequences of such interactions for religious and state actors alike."

academic.oup.com

Religion and the Everyday State: How Religious Leaders and Local Law Enforcement Officials Interact in Eight U.S. Communities

Abstract. Scholarship on religion–state relations in the United States often focuses on abstract debates over religious freedom and disestablishment concer

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Lead Article in the new issue of Liturgy Theme: "Liturgy Confronting the Powers" LINK to ResearchGate www.researchgate.net/publication/... LINK to Original Article Website doi.org/10.1080/0458...

The Lull of Liturgy: How Ritual Defers the Demands of Racial Justice
Gerardo Martí
Davidson College, Davidson, NC, USA

ABSTRACT
White progressive congregations routinely enact values of inclusion and justice in worship through confession, prayer, and preaching. Yet familiar liturgical rhythms can inhibit deeper transformation, absorbing even radical antiracist language and gestures without unsettling congregants’ self-understanding or altering underlying church structures. Drawing on ethnographic observation and Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical sociology, this essay heuristically interprets worship as a social performance through which participants adopt a “circumstantial self,” projecting idealized commitments that may not extend beyond the occasion. This performative dynamic produces what is here called the lull of liturgy: a condition in which devotional practices generate moral satisfaction while deferring the sustained, disruptive work required to dismantle systemic racism. Supported by qualitative data, the result is a pattern of symbolic allyship, where low-risk gestures substitute for substantive action, and clergy prioritize harmony over confrontation. Rather than equipping congregants for costly engagement, worship risks only comforting them. For liturgy to “confront the powers,” it must disrupt as well as console. Only when embedded within a broader ecology of formation—including teaching, political education, and structural change—can worship form people capable of sustained, courageous antiracist action. The measure of liturgical formation, then, lies not in its emotional resonance within sacred walls, but in the transformation it produces beyond them.

KEYWORDS Racism, racial justice,sociological theory,sociology of religion,symbolic allyship, progressive congregations, spiritual formation, ritual performance

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Reminder :: Not all religion is "conservative"

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Every pew filled last night for my conversation with Kristin DuMez in Lingle Chapel Davidson College Pres. Church in her new newly released book: Live Laugh Love: the Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made. Community event hosted by our local independent Main Street Books.

Alt Text:
Gerardo Martí and Kristin DuMez sit in black chairs on a wooden platform in Lingle Chapel at Davidson College Presbyterian Church, facing a large audience seated in pews. Martí, on the left, holds up a copy of the new book "Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made." Behind them, dozens of audience members in the pews and upper balcony hold up their copies of the book.

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

JUST PUBLISHED on Substack 👉 gerardomarti.substack.com/p/the-lull-o...

The Lull of Liturgy: Why Worship Practices Meant to Cultivate Justice So Often Become Substitutes for It

Worship can generate a moral self that lasts about ninety minutes. What congregations build after the service determines whether it survives after.

GERARDOMARTI.SUBSTACK.COM

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

JUST PUBLISHED on Substack 👉 gerardomarti.substack.com/p/the-lull-o...

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Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Short article, still relevant academic.oup.com/socrel/artic...

Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review 2020, 81:2 131–141
doi: 10.1093/socrel/sraa004

Editors’ Note

Is the Religious Left Resurgent?

Joseph O. Baker
East Tennessee State University

Gerardo Martí
Davidson College

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