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Marie Griffith

@mariegriffith.bsky.social
985 followers 234 following 19 posts

US religious history, gender & sexuality studies, religion & politics. Professor at WashU in St. Louis. Writing a book on clergy sexual abuse across American Christianity. rap.wustl.edu/people/r-marie-griffi…

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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Bob Smietana @bmietana.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
SBC leaders have claimed that the denomination's abuse scandal was a hoax. Now survivors want an apology religionnews.com/2026/07/21/s...
religionnews.com
SBC leaders called an abuse crisis a hoax. Abuse survivors want an apology.
(RNS) — In an open letter, a group of survivors and advocates say that comments by SBC President Willy Rice and Texas pastor Jack Graham make it harder to address the issue of abuse in churches.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
Please share. 💔
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.
1. I am a resident of the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am over 18 years of age. I am a children's entertainer who specializes in face painting.
2. On Saturday, January 24, 2026, at about 8:50 am, I was getting ready to go to work when I heard whistles outside. I knew the whistles meant that ICE agents were in the area, so I decided to check it out on my way to work. I've been involved in observing in my community because it is so important to document what ICE is doing to my neighbors. Connecting to your local community and knowing who your neighbors are is something I profoundly value.
3. I drove to Nicollet Ave. and 26th where I could hear the whistles coming from. I turned south onto Nicollet. There were already several ICE agents there and they'd set up a sort of vehicle convoy on Nicollet and 28th. There were also about 15 observers there, recording and observing ICE.
4. I saw ICE agents surrounding cars and punching car windows. I also saw them stopping vehicles further down Nicollet, so I backed up because I didn't feel safe continuing on.
5. I noticed a man sort of acting to help traffic move more smoothly. He helped me find a place to park. I got out with my whistle and my camera. I went over to him and said something like, "I'm going to film and use my whistle."
6. It seemed like most ICE activity was happening a little farther down the street from us, near 27th. Someone was being thrown to the ground.7. I started recording. There was an agent by a car across the street. Two observers were a few feet away from the agent, blowing their whistles. One was wearing a backpack.
8. I and the man who was observing and helping direct traffic were standing in the street. There was a phone in the man's hand recording a video.
9. An agent approached and asked us to back up, so I moved slowly back onto the sidewalk.
10. The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray. The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn't see him reach for or hold a gun.
11. Then the ICE agent shoved one of the other observers to the ground. Then he started pepper spraying all three of them directly in the face and all over. The man with the phone put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him.
12. Then the man tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying. More agents came over and grabbed the man who was still trying to help the woman get up. All three of the observers looked to have been badly affected by the pepper spray. I could feel the pepper spray in my eyes.13. The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn't see him touch any of them-he wasn't even turned toward them. It didn't look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn't see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.
14.1 don't know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him.
15. The video I recorded of what happened accurately depicts the events leading up to the agents shooting him and several minutes afterwards. The video is attached as Exhibit 1.
16. I have read the statement from DHS about what happened and it is wrong. The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.
17. I feel afraid. Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don't feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me. I don't know what the agents will do when they find me. I do know that they're not telling the truth about what happened. I've heard that other witnesses might have been arrested and taken to the Whipple Building.
18. I am disgusted and gutted at how they are treating my neighbors and my state. I keep alternating between crying and feeling determined it is important to remember the value of documenting injustice. We show up for the people who need us to bearwitness, because it can't just be one group of people bearing the brunt of their tyranny. This is a struggle to protect our freedom and democracy, those things are on the line. He lost his life for those values.
I declare under penalty of perjury that everything I have stated in this document is true and correct.

Dated and signed on Jan 24, 2026 in Hennepin County, State of Minnesota.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Fannie Bialek @fanniebialek.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
It’s here!! I’m so thrilled to hold it in my hands! Thank you to everyone at @uchicagopress.bsky.social and especially Kyle Wagner for bringing it into the world!
Hand holding copy of book called Love in Time by Fannie Bialek. Cover is off white with five hand painted strawberries at different stages of ripeness, from flower to fully red and ready to eat.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 10/10/2025
The video in this post is…wow. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YaF...
youtube.com
Feds detained a woman who identified herself as a WGN employee in Lincoln Square
YouTube video by Chicago Sun-Times
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Ryan Estrada @ryanestrada.com · 06/09/2025
Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars. OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
theatlantic.com
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Holy shit this is incredible.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 08/06/2025
Another great reason to read @rns.org: We wrote a very similar story to this back in March, when I talked to activists (including one also quoted in this NYTimes story) about plans to overturn Obergefell utilizing strategies used to overturn Roe. religionnews.com/2025/03/26/s...
religionnews.com
Abortion fight won, conservative Christians mimic Dobbs tactics to go after same-sex marriage
(RNS) — A multistate effort is spitting out legislation and lawsuits aimed at testing the Supreme Court justices’ commitment to Obergefell v. Hodges.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Start every day with this reality: EVERY HOUSE SEAT and 33 Senate seats are up for election in 2026. THAT must be the focus. Let’s get disciplined. #LeaveNoPowerOnTheTable ballotpedia.org/United_State...
ballotpedia.org
United States Congress elections, 2026
Ballotpedia: The Encyclopedia of American Politics
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Fred Wellman @fpwellman.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
Yesterday my hometown was hit with massive tornadoes. We weren't expecting them in places that have never been hit before and have no idea who will help us. FEMA is all but dead and our state is run by Republicans that hate the city. This is the canary in the coal mine. My latest.
open.substack.com
A tornado tells a bigger story
My town was struck by historic tornadoes yesterday and a storm is coming for you too.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Philip Bump @pbump.com · 01/04/2025
If Oct. 7 had never happened, Trump would right now be pulling funding from Columbia and Harvard because of DEI policies or admissions requirements or what research they were doing or all of the above. The right hates universities and that’s it.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Virtually every Cybertruck — those freaky Tesla vehicles made to look like aggression incarnate – has been recalled, because, literally, they come unglued. What a metaphor for this regime: a weak vehicle trying to look tough, a victim of its own cheapness, an ugly toy falling apart.
meditationsinanemergency.com
Coming Unglued: Week Eight of the Stupid Coup (and the Stalwart Resistance)
Spring is here and so is authoritarianism, and I recommend your serious attention to both. We may be at this resistance business for a while, so take care of yourself so you can keep taking care of hu...
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Opinion | My entire career is based on pretending to be from Appalachia. Here’s why we must end DEI.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Susan Stryker @susanstryker.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
American Historical Association (AHA) and Organization of American Historians (OAH) finally issued a formal statement on the censoring of history on govermentment websites and other resources: www.historians.org/news/aha-oah...
historians.org
AHA–OAH Joint Statement on Federal Censorship of American History
The American Historical Association (AHA) and the Organization of American Historians (OAH) have released a joint statement condemning federal censorship of American history.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Prof. Anthea Butler @antheabutler.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Thank you @maddow.msnbc.com for calling out the lack of diverse faces in the lineup changes at @msnbc.com , and the peope losing their jobs this week in the shakeup.
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Marie Griffith @mariegriffith.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Rachel @maddow.msnbc.com has strong words tonight about the painful changes recent at MSNBC—thank you for not staying silent and for this powerful message!
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Michael Harriot @michaelharriot.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
After being subjected to years of insults from Donald Trump and an official "DEI investigation" from Trump's new FCC commissioner, MSNBC fired the first Black woman to host a primetime Cable news show. Happy Black History Month!
dlvr.it
MSNBC Can't Cancel Our Joy
MSNBC canceled Joy Reid's show because ... you know.
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Marie Griffith @mariegriffith.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Sounds about right.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
John Carlson @johndcarlson.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
From my new piece @rns.org. Our former republic — preserved by various facets of civil religion — seems poised to give way to a Second American Republic defined by Trump’s boundless ambition, avarice and conceit. religionnews.com/2025/01/23/i...
religionnews.com
In Trump, we have abandoned our civil religion — and we are no longer the same
(RNS) — No one should underestimate how serious Trump is about his policies. But nor should we understand him to be morally serious.
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Marie Griffith @mariegriffith.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
A wonderful (if all too brief) article about the extraordinary David Clohessy, who has devoted his life to helping other survivors of clergy sexual abuse across Catholic-Protestant lines. I write about him in much fuller detail in my book, but this is a good read. flatlandkc.org/news-issues/...
flatlandkc.org
Clergy Sex Abuse Survivor Reflects on His Reform Work
David G. Clohessy, of St. Louis, cites better victim support and resistant bishops among wins and losses in efforts to change the Catholic Church.
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Marie Griffith @mariegriffith.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Religion scholars gone wild. (Sorry I didn’t capture everyone who stopped by the Americanist soirée last eve!) #AAR #sblaar24 #sblaar
Religion scholars gathering over drinks at the AAR ‘24.Religion scholars gathering over drinks at the AAR ‘24.
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Marie Griffith @mariegriffith.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
AAR friends, come join our reception tonight! Great food, drinks, and conversation, as ever. All welcome!
Invitation to a reception 11/23/24 from 6-8pm in the Hilton Bayfront, Indigo Terrace.
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Marie Griffith @mariegriffith.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
I look forward to it too—see you Monday! #AAR #sblaar24 #sblaar
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Marie Griffith @mariegriffith.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Looking forward to this panel in just a couple of hours, with a few of us thinking together about gender and the recent election. Zoom at 6pm CST. Register: bit.ly/3AFfKDW
Photograph of demonstrators illustrated a poster for a panel on Gender and the Election via Zoom on 19 November at 6pm Central Time.
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Marie Griffith @mariegriffith.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
Infuriating. No less infuriating for being utterly and sadly predictable.
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Reposted by Marie Griffith
Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
People (especially pundits) assume universities have way more influence over politics and culture than they do and grant way too little credit for the essential, basic knowledge we produce (climate science, cancer research, AI, ethics, etc.)
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Marie Griffith @mariegriffith.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Brief timeline cleanse, courtesy of Rowan and Winnie.
Two cats (Rowan and Winnie) appearing to share a sweet nose kiss.
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Marie Griffith @mariegriffith.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Finally dipping in my toes here and happy to see so many old and new peeps here—and very glad to begin moving off the other platform that is so toxic.
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