iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Remember that HOMES acronym we learned in elementary school for the Great Lakes? With the (fake) renaming of Lake Ontario, it appears the acronym will have to be SHAME. Which I guess is fitting.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

I do use the hints after a while, but I almost always make myself get to Amazing before I allow myself to use the hints. On days when I can't get past Great, I start to get worried!

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

We just watched that tonight too! Lots of scenes where people either stand still and wait for the car to run them over, or run in a straight line down an easily drivable road.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

I wrote a review of Ross Kane's The Good News of Church Politics for the Christian Century. It's an accessible read, and good for church folks who are trying to live together well in a moment that feels overwhelming.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

I agree with this, but how do folks deal with simple lack of class time? Unfortunately, I know my students don't read everything I assign, and if I try to incorporate some lecture/explanation in class, plus discussion, plus assessments, it just makes class time seem almost impossible.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Denial of religious freedom - certainly not the first time this has happened in detention centers, but always a problem.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

I wrote about Christian ethical thought on responsibilities to different neighbors, and how treatment of migrants fits in that tradition. To be sure, Vance and Trump do not approach this issue with any kind of Christian principle. But the moral debate actual ethicists have is worth talking about.

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Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush @raushenbush.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Noting that Elon Musk attacked the Lutheran Church's work providing services, and that JD Vance attacked Catholic Bishops for their work with immigrants. Fair to say that this administration is one of the most hostile to religion and religious freedom that we have seen in recent memory.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Thanks. I'll try to check in with @sandrasulldun.bsky.social as well. I'm sure this stuff is going to keep coming up.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Tisha, I'm trying to write on Christian cosmopolitan and communitarian thought for The Conversation right now, but I think your comments on the ordo amoris may be more poignant. Do you ever write for them? I'd love to give your name to the editor if you're willing, for this or something else.

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Barn Raiser @barnraiser.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

The United States will need nearly 8 million new caregivers over the next decade, and rural economies, facing aging workforces and declining populations, have relied on migrant labor to fill such labor shortages.

buff.ly

When Will the U.S. Start Competing for Immigrants? Sooner Than You Think

Is the nation about to see the magnetic poles of this conversation reverse? It may seem unlikely in the short term, given Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Immigration formed a major talking…

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Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 29/01/2025

I just received a stop-work order from HUD on the grant we won at Urban Institute to support our Housing Market Forecaster. This work is designed to identify land-use reform strategies that can assist cities in adding housing supply and improve housing affordability. www.urban.org/projects/hou...

urban.org

Housing Market Forecaster

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Party of free speech, Cindy! I vaguely remember when it was supposed to be bad for government to be telling private companies how to run their business.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Yep, I've been reporting those. They're not always super contentious even - a bunch of replies saying "Do you like golf?" Or "What do you think about AI?" But some are more confrontational.

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Grudgie the Wail @grudgie.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

I want to make this clear: diversity is extremely popular. THAT is what they’re furious about. They lost that battle in the culture and want to reverse it by force.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

They're all written by other Laura Alexanders. It's not even that easy to review them all at once because the "go to the next article to review" button doesn't actually work. I have to imagine this is an AI thing designed to "make my work life easier and more efficient." Blah./2

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Okay I have to complain about this somewhere. I go in to do my annual review of my work, and the system my university uses (Watermark, for those who care) has started pulling articles it thinks *might* be mine and asking me to edit or reject them. NONE of them are mine./1

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Agree with that. The circumstances would have to be right.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Middle schoolers ALL call each other "bro" now, it seems. But although I don't find it offensive, I do find it interesting that we continue to view the male-coded words as "neutral"

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Doesn't offend me, and I still use "guys" myself sometimes, although I prefer y'all. Now I'm thinking of going up to a group of men or mixed gender and greeting them "hey gals" and seeing what happens though!

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

...that your spouse has behaved in whatever bad way those powers think justifies ending things. We can all imagine cases of mental cruelty that are hard to prove in court. No-fault divorce isn't just about love, it's about whether ppl determine the course of their own lives and relationships. (2/2)

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

I appreciate the author's history, but I feel like this is a weird way to address no-fault divorce. It's not just about whether you can divorce if you fall out of love, it's about being able to end a bad marriage even if you can't prove to the satisfaction of the powers that be...(1/2)

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Reposted by Laura Alexander

The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · 05/12/2024

Immigrants are not economic burdens. The research is clear: immigrants play pivotal roles in driving innovation, enhancing productivity and fostering economic growth in their adopted countries #immigration

buff.ly

Immigrants are unsung heroes of global trade and value creation

Migrants play a crucial role in global trade networks.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

I'm sure there's multiple nuances to this, but it's amazing how differently people can think about "scary 'men'" (sarcasm, trans women are women) "going into women's bathrooms" vs. "my colleague who I know, using the bathroom that's right for her."

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

I know Giving Tuesday is over but I asked my colleague who directs our Native American studies program and he recommends this org, which advocates for Indigenous rights in the US: narf.org/about-us/

narf.org

About Us - Native American Rights Fund

NARF is a non-profit law firm committed to helping Native American individuals and organizations preserve tribal existence and protect their rights.

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Reposted by Laura Alexander

Bolts @boltsmag.org · 04/12/2024

Trump has called for “mass deportations,” though the infrastructure to detain immigrants didn’t start with Trump. What questions do you have about the history of immigration detention in the U.S.? Let us know, and historian Brianna Nofil will answer: boltsmag.org/ask-bolts/

boltsmag.org

Ask Bolts: The Past and Present of Immigrant Detention | Bolts

Send us your questions about the history and politics of incarcerating immigrants in the U.S.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Shout-out to #aarsbl friends and colleagues, you've made this a great conference. Lots of talk of building communities of mutual support. I hope we can carry the work forward!

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Once again, this is unconstitutional, & also if it makes it into any classrooms I would love to see some malicious compliance where students learn the actual teachings of Jesus & the Bible about overturning social hierarchies, rich people giving their wealth to the poor, welcoming the stranger, etc

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

@jayirwin.bsky.social do you have insight on this? Btw you and Rebecca would get along, I think. Two good friends, both of whom I admire.

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PRRI @prri.org · 18/11/2024

PRRI finds that more than 7 in 10 Americans support various efforts to tell the truth about slavery and discrimination (90%), create more inclusive public spaces (79%), or repair past damage done by violence or discrimination (72%). Read more in @latimes.com. www.latimes.com/california/s...

latimes.com

Palm Springs to pay $5.9 million to Black and Latino families over razed homes

The Palm Springs City Council has approved a $5.9-million settlement with Black and Latino families whose homes were torn down decades ago.

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Bolts @boltsmag.org · 17/11/2024

In his final hours, Keith Gavin’s request for a halal final meal was denied by Alabama prison officials. "I’m a Muslim, I’m supposed to be eating halal food,” he told Bolts shortly before his execution. “There’s nothing else to eat but junk food.” boltsmag.org/alabama-exec...

boltsmag.org

Before Executing a Muslim Man, Alabama Denied Many of His Final Religious Requests

Keith Gavin made a number of requests about his final moments, all stemming from his Islamic faith. But the prison largely ignored them, as it has with Muslim prisoners in the past.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Well, duh, but notable nevertheless. So basically Trump is going to copy Obama on immigration. Which, to be clear, is still not good. "Criminal" covers a lot of things, many of which most Americans think are no big deal.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Most of my life is about theological ethics, but here in NE I've been involved in keeping public dollars in public schools and advocating for support for ALL students and education that's constitutionally appropriate. What's happening in OK would be funny if it weren't harming students.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

But I love the idea that if politicians are going to force religion into public classrooms, teachers would be like, "okay, they want religion, let's give 'em religion!" and explain the ACTUAL teachings of Christianity and/or other traditions./6

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Anyway, again, I'm not saying this is good and there are nuances to all of these teachings (for example there are often good reasons for someone to get divorced, and Jesus was talking about protecting women anyway - also something that could be explained!)./5

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

And talk about how the early Christian church "held everything in common" and how in the Christian tradition there are supposed to be no distinctions between male and female, people of different nationalities, etc./4

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

As well as the command not to bear false witness. But one could get all Jesus-y and talk about overturning money-changers tables and how those who combine religion with politics to gain power are vipers and how people must examine their own lives before judging others, especially for sexual sins./3

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Just think of what might happen if the *actual* teachings of Jesus and the Bible were taught in classrooms. Again, unconstitutional! I'm not suggesting this! But it would be fascinating. In the current context, really hitting hard the teachings against adultery and divorce would be interesting.../2

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

A judge has ruled that the Louisiana law mandating putting Ten Commandment in public school classrooms is unconstitutional. Of course this is true, but I also sometimes dream about the ways these sorts of laws enable malicious compliance.../1 apnews.com/article/ten-...

apnews.com

Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments

Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill says the state will ask a federal appeals court to quickly stay a lower court's order declaring unconstitutional a law requiring that the Ten Commandments ...

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Primary, so I might be interested in what you've used in your course! We're going to read pieces of the usual suspects... Basil, Augustine, Aquinas, some Reformers, Gutierrez or another liberation theologian, some feminist and womanist theology, Schmemann. Would love to get some ideas.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Fellow religion folks who have thoughts on must-reads for an "Introduction to Theology" course, feel free to advise me! We're looking at both Eastern and Western Christian theology and trying to cover all eras - it's a VERY "greatest hits" style course.

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Laura Alexander @laura-e-alex.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

First post! Wanted to say hi and that I'm very excited about my upcoming courses this spring. I don't think any of it will be easy, but I love hearing students' perspectives. Religion and Human Rights; War, Religion, and Human Rights; and an independent study with a student interested in theology.

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