iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

I am immensely grateful that, at least for the time being, my university president and provost see inherent value in the disciplines of theology, religious studies, and philosophy. Grateful that market logic, while operative here, is not everywhere dominant.

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

I wonder if Barron knows how utterly transparent he is. Like, he is the king of telling on himself.

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

I am honestly wondering whether the cruelty itself is the point (he’s trying to kill people), or whether he primarily wants to cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of all vaccines while foreseeing that people will die. In any case, the motivation hardly matters if the result is the same. 11/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

… needlessly die if this new policy goes forward. We must oppose this with every fiber of our being. This is a true public health emergency that is going to be created by a lawless and unethical HHS for absolutely no reason. 10/10

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

… looking at the very real possibility that you will not be able to obtain an effective COVID-19 or influenza vaccine this upcoming fall and winter if you live in the United States. This means that many, many more patients, particularly elderly patients and persons with chronic conditions, will… 9/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

It’s completely bonkers. Many viruses that cause respiratory disease mutate so quickly, so it would be completely unreasonable to subject a yearly vaccine update for a vaccine already known to be safe and effective to the same clinical trial standard as a new treatment for a novel disease. We are 8/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

…testing a new drug treatment can take years. Seasonal (yearly) updates to standard vaccines for respiratory diseases (COVID-19, influenza, etc.) currently do not have to go through all the phases. The new HHS policy would potentially change all of that. That means no effective seasonal vaccines. 7/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

…you’re confirming safety and testing effectiveness. In phase 3, you are confirming effectiveness with a larger group of people, and only after a successful phase 3 clinical trial can you even apply for the new treatment to be FDA-approved and marketed to the general public. These phases for… 6/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

…regulations, but this practice has been broadly condemned as unethical, and these companies have been roundly criticized in medical journals and in the press. Second, clinical trials in the US, whether placebo-controlled or not, have four phases. In phase 1, you’re testing safety. In phase 2… 5/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

…reviewing research protocols, and international ethical codes on which there is broad consensus. It has happened in the past that pharmaceutical companies have attempted to conduct placebo-controlled clinical trials in jurisdictions outside of the United States in order to avoid these… 4/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

…treatment for the same disease, then the standard of care is that point of comparison and must be given to the control group rather than a placebo. Every time. No exceptions. In addition to this being an ethical standard, this procedure conforms with current FDA regulations, IRB procedures for… 3/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

First, it is well-established that placebo-controlled clinical trial is ethically justifiable only when there is no known safe and effective treatment for the disease. If there is a known safe and effective treatment (standard of care), and if you want a point of comparison to test a new… 2/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

I mean, I knew that Graham was a spineless coward with no moral principles, but I didn’t know that he also was this…dumb? This goes beyond simple sycophantic behavior.

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

…and be appointed by the pope. Therefore, a cardinal could be a non-ordained (lay) Catholic as well as a female, though historically I am not sure that we have ever had a female cardinal. So, current canonical requirements aside, there is no good theological reason why women cannot be cardinals. 2/2

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

The eve of the papal conclave is as good a time as any to point out that it was only fairly recently (1917) that a cardinal in the Catholic Church was required to be ordained and therefore also male. Prior to this point, cardinals only needed to be active in the sacramental life of the church… 1/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Well done, good and faithful servant.

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

I love Luke’s version of the resurrection proclamation n because, among other reasons, it reminds men that they should BELIEVE WOMEN

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Oh yeah, I get it! Just between you, me, and your Bluesky followers, I think maybe that F’s analysis of confession tries to make claims beyond what his evidence and analytical framework can actually deliver. His claims need supplementation by theologians like you!

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

During the reading of the passion according to Luke at mass tonight, when the reader portraying the soldier said of the recently-crucified Jesus, “Surely this man was innocent,” in my mind I heard, “Sorry, administrative error.”

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

I think it’s mostly because of a difference in methodology when you compare EV with the rest of the Catholic social tradition. It doesn’t operate in the same thought world and does not really reference the broader CST tradition very much. There are some thematic similarities, though, as you note.

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Greer: “As the ‘I didn’t think he would do this’ chorus continues to grow, I can’t help but think what many really mean is, ‘I didn’t think he would do this to people like me.’” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Black Americans Are Not Surprised

Many Black Americans are not surprised by the way Trump is running roughshod over the rule of law, because they have seen it happen throughout American history.

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

This is pretty devastating, not only for the hospital system itself but also for all the patients who have benefited from their pastoral care over the years. Also, where are all of the seminaries in the Boston area going to send seminars for CPE now?

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Every unjust social hierarchy from the modern period onward (race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, etc.) relies for its justification on the idea that the categorization of humanity into two or more groups is based on differences that are natural, biological, genetic, and/or intended by God.

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Reposted by Michael Jaycox (he, him)

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 28/03/2025

The most serious Nazi shit in this extremely Nazi shit executive order may be the idea, just slipped in there, that one of the "divisive narratives that distort our shared history" is that "race is not a biological reality but a social construct." www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

whitehouse.gov

Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Legal scholars who are colleagues of mine inform me that there are several pending cases currently under litigation that engage these questions from a copyright/intellectual property theft standpoint, as well as from a labor justice and royalties theft standpoint

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Also, three of my articles and two of my book reviews are in there. To be fair, one of the articles is open access, but still.

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Yeah, we call this theft in moral theology

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

It’s like they don’t realize or care what their decision is going to do to schools that are smaller and less wealthy, in terms of setting a precedent.

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Edit *acknowledged in many contexts in 4/4

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

…”general public” only began to demonstrate interest in these questions in any meaningful way a few years afterward, with a peak of interest around 2017. But by 2024, the same “general public” had decided that they were done talking about race, racism, and white supremacy. They were tired. Huh. 6/6

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

…demonstrate interest in those very questions and social problems. For example, a lot of my research is about race, racism, and white supremacy. My first introduction to the scholarly literature on these topics was in 2006. I began to take up these questions more seriously around 2012–2013. The… 5/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

… in many contexts globally outside of the United States. I’d also like to note that professors have an expertise gained through decades of focused study on particular questions and social problems, which also offers us a perspective on how frequently and capriciously “the general public” will… 4/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

… to the pursuit of truth. That being said, I think these opinion pieces also demonstrate a certain provincial mentality, in the sense that it is never asked whether the mainstream US public is “out of touch“ with the international human rights consensus, whose moral authority is still… 3/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

…that differ from a majority view held by non-professors in the general public. I readily admit that this may be possible. I also readily admit that the purpose of higher education in the US, broadly speaking, needs to demonstrate a firm or commitment to the common good of society, in addition… 2/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

You know, I’ve seen a lot of opinions lately in #VeryImportantNewspapers, the general gist of which is that US professors in higher education are out of touch with the American public, presumably because they hold certain views about immigration, transgender people, public health, and so on… 1/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

For what is done, not to be done again May the judgment not be too heavy upon us Because these wings are no longer wings to fly But merely vans to beat the air The air which is now thoroughly small and dry Smaller and dryer than the will Teach us to care and not to care Teach us to sit still. 3/3

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something Upon which to rejoice. And pray to God to have mercy upon us And pray that I may forget These matters that with myself I too much discuss Too much explain Because I do not hope to turn again Let these words answer 2/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Because I know that time is always time And place is always and only place And what is actual is actual only for one time And only for one place I rejoice that things are as they are and I renounce the blessed face And renounce the voice Because I cannot hope to turn again 1/

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Michael Jaycox (he, him) @jaycoxm.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

I fantasize about slashing cybertruck tires all the time. Oops, was that out loud? Also, Susan, really good piece.

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