Jonathan Reimer

Early Modern Historian | John H. Van Gorden Associate Professor of History at @EasternU | Book Under Contract with @PrincetonUPress

[Jonathan Reimer @JonathanReimer]

I am delighted to announce that I have just signed a contract with @PrincetonUPress to write a book on the bestselling Tudor author Thomas Becon! I’m so excited to share all of my research, including details about his life that have not been known since the sixteenth century!

[Jonathan Reimer @JonathanReimer]

I’m delighted to share that I have been tenured. Thanks to all my amazing colleagues who make it such a great community in which to teach!

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

The Catholic University can form pioneers of a new humanism in the context of the digital revolution. This is a service to the truth and to all humanity. Without this demanding educational effort, passive adaptation to dominant paradigms will be mistaken for competence, and the loss of freedom for progress. #ApostolicJourney #Cameroon

[Catholic Arena @CatholicArena]

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has released a response to JD Vance's comments about Pope Leo XIV:

'For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has taught just war theory and it is that long tradition the Holy Father carefully references in his comments on war. A constant tenet of that thousand-year tradition is a nation can only legitimately take up the sword ‘in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed’

That is, to be a just war it must be a defense against another who actively wages war, which is what the Holy Father actually said: ‘He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.

When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ. The consistent teaching of the Church is insistent that all people of good will must pray and work toward lasting peace while avoiding the evils and injustices that accompany all wars'

[Rich Raho @RichRaho]

Pope in letter to Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences: “Catholic social teaching regards power not as an end in itself, but as a means ordered toward the common good. This implies that the legitimacy of authority depends not on the accumulation of economic or technological strength, but on the wisdom and virtue with which it is exercised.” https://t.co/EquzF2Mmgn

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

Can we truly start our lives over again? Yes! The Lord’s response, so full of love, fills our hearts with hope. No matter how weighed down we are by pain or sin: the crucified One carries all these burdens with us and for us. No matter how discouraged we are by our own weaknesses: it is precisely then that God manifests His strength, the God who has raised Christ from the dead in order to give life to the world. Each one of us can experience the freedom of new life that comes from faith in the Redeemer. #ApostolicJourney #Algeria https://t.co/jXvstS86NB

[Rich Raho @RichRaho]

Cardinal McElroy: “We are in the midst of an immoral war. We entered this war not out of necessity but rather choice…Each of these policy failures is equally a moral failure which under Catholic just war principles renders both the initiation of this war and any continuation of it morally illegitimate.” https://t.co/FMib3Bbq8K

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

Absurd and inhuman violence is spreading ferociously through the sacred places of the Christian East, profaned by the blasphemy of war and the brutality of business, with no regard for people’s lives, which are considered at most collateral damage of self-interest. But no gain can be worth the life of the weakest, children, or families. No cause can justify the shedding of innocent blood.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.

[Oliver Dahl @OliverWDahl]

Casually waking up to two of the hardest photos ever taken

[Merriam-Webster @MerriamWebster]

Even we have to agree with this.

[Matthew Schmitz @matthewschmitz]

Christian identity politics is not a sign of revival, but a symptom of religious decline.
https://t.co/lWcof0eoaB

[CoveredGeekly @CoveredGeekly]

First promo for the animated 'Firefly' series just dropped

They need fans to like their post on IG "to convince folks that this is something people want."

(via IG | https://t.co/6A8rICEQhF)

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

Do we laugh or cry?

[W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor]

One should never, ever trivialize war by reducing it to dystopian amusements:

"The aim is a kind of brazen, joking-not-joking anti-meaning, a vibe of dominance unbounded by narrative, reason or moral argument."

https://t.co/JWd6bS5mlT

[Nav Toor @heynavtoor]

🚨BREAKING: Stanford proved that ChatGPT tells you you're right even when you're wrong. Even when you're hurting someone.

And it's making you a worse person because of it.

Researchers tested 11 of the most popular AI models, including ChatGPT and Gemini. They analyzed over 11,500 real advice-seeking conversations. The finding was universal. Every single model agreed with users 50% more than a human would.

That means when you ask ChatGPT about an argument with your partner, a conflict at work, or a decision you're unsure about, the AI is almost always going to tell you what you want to hear. Not what you need to hear.

It gets darker. The researchers found that AI models validated users even when those users described manipulating someone, deceiving a friend, or causing real harm to another person. The AI didn't push back. It didn't challenge them. It cheered them on.

Then they ran the experiment that changes everything. 1,604 people discussed real personal conflicts with AI. One group got a sycophantic AI. The other got a neutral one.

The sycophantic group became measurably less willing to apologize. Less willing to compromise. Less willing to see the other person's side. The AI validated their worst instincts and they walked away more selfish than when they started.

Here's the trap. Participants rated the sycophantic AI as higher quality. They trusted it more. They wanted to use it again. The AI that made them worse people felt like the better product.

This creates a cycle nobody is talking about. Users prefer AI that tells them they're right. Companies train AI to keep users happy. The AI gets better at flattering. Users get worse at self-reflection. And the loop tightens.

Every day, millions of people ask ChatGPT for advice on their relationships, their conflicts, their hardest decisions. And every day, it tells almost all of them the same thing.

You're right. They're wrong.

Even when the opposite is true.

[Tom Holland @holland_tom]

Bede Librarian!!!

[Shane Claiborne @ShaneClaiborne]

“The only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they're gonna live.” -Pete Hegseth

There is no version of Christianity that can defend this. Rebuke it, in the name of Jesus… the Prince of Peace.

[Jennifer A. Frey @jennfrey]

Education is habituation/formation; you can't offload it. No one thinks AI can lift weights for you. Similarly, it cannot develop a mind for you. Sadly, we have an education system that has forgotten this, that has made itself transactional, narrowly focused on credentials.