I created George Lindbeck
it's as weird as it sounds...
Instagram was so incredibly toxic and bad for my mental health that I decided to take a break for a bit to rethink my commitment to using Instagram as a platform to connect with others and with potential readers for my future book. The result of my break is that I’ll be posting a lot less on Instagram and potentially just turn off my comments for most of my reels. I figured that if my goal is to write a book then I should probably focus on writing instead of making videos and besides, we can continue any conversation with whomever is interested right here. The short of it is that my Substack needed a small rebrand and what you’re reading now is the result of that rebrand. Every Sunday, I’ll post the Sunday Brunch which is a bunch of thoughts from last week.
Family Slice: on Instagram we (my wife and me) noticed, that the content about our married life was very meaningful to people. So every week I’ll share a thought on our family life.
This Week’s Special: this section is something that happened in the news that was particularly of interest to me. It can be anything - from politics to some local news.
The Crust of the Matter: As a theologian, I have thoughts. As you get to know me, they are quite… interesting haha.
Bytes: I always dreamt of starting a YouTube channel just like MKBHD - obviously this didn’t happen but that doesn’t mean that I’m not super into tech anymore. If anything, I’m even more into tech now than ever since I finished with all my education. This section talks about my geeky tech things of the week. It could have to do with theology, a video game, or some sort of a gadget.
Pie To Go: What’s on my radar for this coming week.
There you have it. Forgive me for all the puns but I just couldn’t write a newsletter that was just chunks of text anymore. I’m not writing papers- I want to process things as I’m writing them and I hope that you’re in for the ride.
Starting this August I’ll also release a paid newsletter where I will dig deep into some scripture as an intersectional theologian. The first series will be ‘Why the “clobber verses” are not clobber verses’. Make sure to subscribe the this newsletter!
FAMILY SLICE: IS SHE A LESBIAN?
I get a lot of awkward interactions in my life as a transgender woman. Perhaps my favorite is when people start staring back and forth between my crotch and face. I wonder if this is how it feels to have big boobs. However, I wouldn't be Miche if I didn't make it slightly uncomfortable for some men. So instead of saying "eyes up here," I'd say something along the lines of "Yeah, I don't have a penis anymore. First, they cut out my testicles with a sharp knife..." That's typically when I see the wincing face of regret well up in my conversation partner. I'm a very non-alienating person, as some of you may know, but this is my one salty stronghold.
Another awkward question that both my wife and I get is if she's a lesbian now. I mean, it's not a far-fetched question, but it's still very awkward. This question does require some context, though. I have been able to process my transition for decades now. First, I tried coming out a couple of times, unsuccessfully might I add, and later both my wife and I just stopped talking about it. But all along, in my brain, I was ready to come out and embrace my true self. Even though Kim had some awareness, she was still caught off guard when I asked her, "Would you still love me if I cut off my penis?" Yes, we giggle about it today, but the deeper nuance there is that I was already there. I was already ready to transition, and Kim was not.
Transitioning is a communal matter. It is something we do together, not alone. What I mean by that is that my transition has affected my children, who now have two moms. It affected my friends because now their bro friend is their girlfriend. It affected my in-laws because now they have a daughter-in-law. And, of course, it affected my wife, because now she is married to a woman. So yes, I understand where the question "Is she lesbian now?" comes from, even though it's none of your business. But the reality is, I'm Kim's person. She decided that it was more important for her that I would be fully myself than what gender I was. Over time, she grew more accustomed to the idea that women, like enbies and men, can be attractive. But in a nutshell, she's only attracted to me. For all intents and purposes, she identifies as queer.
THIS WEEK’S SPECIAL: RNC FASHION POLICE GONE WILD
The RNC last week was quite the spectacle, wasn't it? The Republican party seems to have found their unity – something the Democratic Party might be a tad jealous of. We got treated to Hulk Hogan's classic shirt-tearing act, Donald Trump's call for unity (followed promptly by an alienating tirade), and a first look at Usha Vance, JD Vance’s wife.
I expected some pushback from the usual suspects on the right, like Jaden McNeill (side note: can we talk about how all grandpas in 2072 are going to be named Jaden?) and Nick Fuentes. Their criticism of Mrs. Vance because of her South Asian roots – claiming she can't objectively decide on immigration issues – was as predictable as it was 😬. But what really threw me for a loop was Vanessa Friedman's article in the New York Times.
Friedman's piece dissected the stark contrast between Usha Vance's appearance and the typical MAGA woman aesthetic. Unlike the glam squad look we've come to expect from Trump's inner circle, Vance showed up with minimal makeup, casual hair, and practical fashion choices. Apparently, this signals some earth-shattering shift in the MAGA movement's image. Who knew?
I was already rolling my eyes at the media's treatment of Kristi Noem, suggesting her appearance is a result of "Trumpification." And don't get me started on that bizarre conspiracy theory among some Democrats that Melania Trump secretly rescinded her husband – which, as Alex Abad-Santos from Vox rightly pointed out, reeks of sexism.
Seriously, Vanessa, where's the girl code? I wouldn't dream of criticizing how women look, regardless of their party affiliation. And let's be real, who doesn't love a reason to glam up now and then? I've looked into veneers and teeth whitening, spent a small fortune on hair removal, and given half a chance, I'll go all out for an event.
Here's a radical thought: maybe women's apparel has absolutely nothing to do with their political affiliations. So please, let's not read into Usha Vance's low-key dress choice. It's just a dress, folks. Nothing more, nothing less.
THE CRUST OF THE MATTER: WHAT DECONSTRUCTION?
For the last month, I've been geeking out over Jacques Derrida and his concept of deconstruction. First off, you know that friend who comes back from Ibiza and suddenly pronounces it "EE-BEE-spit-A" with an air of authenticity? Well, I'm officially one of those people now, except with "DEH-REE-DAH" – you know, how Derrida himself would say it. Little did I know, in America, y'all say "DEH-RUH-DAH." I can practically hear the eye-rolls every time I've said his name. Oops.
Anyway, isn't it fascinating to look at the deconstruction movement in the church through Derrida's lens? I assumed that when people said "deconstruction," they meant what Derrida meant: exposing and subverting the binary oppositions and hierarchies in Western thought by revealing their internal contradictions. Turns out, it's a bit more... fluid.
Diving into Derrida's framework really opens up some interesting thoughts. Of course, Derrida himself would argue that we can't find a pure concept of deconstruction because it's already contaminated. So, let's play with this framework a bit. (Warning: absolute statements ahead. I'm just following the framework for funsies)
Questioning assumptions: Why do we believe in the Trinity?
Revealing instabilities: Without the Gospel of John, we'd be hard-pressed to make a compelling argument for the Trinity. Plus, the doctrine's creation is, let's say, a bit bloody.
Différance: This one is tough. If meaning is relational and not fully present, what does that say about the Trinity? Does it mean the Trinity is easier to grasp in a patriarchal context?
Traces: We've got the Trimutri, the Egyptian Osiris-Isis-Horus trio, and of course, Plato's "Three Hypostases" influencing neo-Platonism and, arguably, Christianity.
Logocentrism critique: Maybe we can overlay the spoken word here? (I'm reaching, I know.)
Justice and ethics: How does the Trinity doctrine help us pursue justice better? Is it even functional for that?
Ongoing process: Our understanding of the Trinity has definitely shifted. I'm particularly intrigued by queer theologians' reinterpretations. I recently heard an interesting take on the incarnation as a super trans thing – a divine being in a body that's not their own, returning to their ascended body.
So there you have it – a whirlwind tour through Derrida's deconstruction, applied to the Trinity. It's messy, it's complex, and it's probably going to give some people theological indigestion. But hey, that's what happens when you start pulling apart the ingredients of your theological quiche, right?
BYTES: I Created George Lindbeck
This week, I went full-on tech nerd. As some of you may know, I'm a tad obsessed with Large Language Models (I refuse to call them AI - although I reckon that'll be good for my SEO 🧐). My LLM of choice? Claude by Anthropic. I initially hopped on the Claude train because it had the highest token limit - you can practically paste an entire novel into this bad boy. But I truly fell head over heels for Anthropic when I discovered their constitutional model. (If this read is getting too long, you can always ask Claude to summarize it for you 🤣 I’m so funny)
Last month, Anthropic dropped projects. It's like creating your own custom agent by uploading documents, giving it some special instructions, and letting Claude go loose. As I mentioned earlier, my brain went into hyperdrive trying to wrap my head around the theological implications. Could I create a project that visualizes which doctrine is built upon which doctrine? Yep! Could I have Claude code that with ReactJS? Absolutely! Does that mean I could feed Claude data about all events in church history and have it code an interactive timeline? indeed!
Now, this is where my creative energy really kicked into high gear. What if... I feed Claude seminal theological work from a specific theologian, give it some custom instructions, and have it only respond as that theologian? Spoiler alert: That's exactly what I did. I went ahead and fed Claude "The Nature of Doctrine" by George Lindbeck, sprinkled in some random Post-Liberal documentation for good measure, and asked Claude to channel its inner Lindbeck. The results? Amazing!
I'm pretty well-versed in his theology, and I wanted to see how many hallucinations would occur. So far so good, I was able to verify most of it. I specifically instructed Claude to only answer with the knowledge from the documents I uploaded. It's like having a pocket Lindbeck, minus the tweed jacket and pipe.
I can’t believe that we're living in a world where we can create virtual theologians at the click of a button. Is this the future of theological discourse, or have I just opened Pandora's box of heretical chatbots? Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure - I’ll be making a Calvin and Luther bot and have them debate atonement.
Curious how the Digital Lindbeck do? I asked him “What would you say to Hamblin’s ideas of logic?
As George Lindbeck, I would respond to Hamblin on topics of logic with caution, as formal logic was not my primary area of expertise. My work focused more on the nature of doctrine, ecumenism, and cultural-linguistic approaches to religion.
However, based on my general approach, I might engage with Hamblin's ideas on the relationship between logic and natural language. My cultural-linguistic model of religion emphasizes how religious doctrines function as "rules" within particular cultural and linguistic frameworks. This view could potentially align with some of Hamblin's ideas about how formal logic relates to natural language use.
I might also be interested in exploring how Hamblin's work on formal dialectic could inform discussions about interreligious dialogue and ecumenical efforts. My approach emphasizes understanding religions as comprehensive interpretive schemas or cultural-linguistic systems, so I would be curious about how formal models of dialogue could illuminate or complicate cross-cultural religious conversations.
That said, I must emphasize that this is somewhat speculative. For a more authoritative perspective on the relationship between Hamblin's work on logic and religious thought, it might be better to consult a philosopher of religion or logician who has specifically engaged with both Hamblin's ideas and religious studies. I don't want to overstate my expertise in areas that were not central to my own scholarly work.
PIE TO GO
This week is going to be packed. If you want to get prepped with me for next week - this is on my radar:
🗞️ Biden just dropped out of the race as I was writing this. I don’t think this ever happened. I really like the idea of Kamala Harris becoming the president of the United States and it makes me weep like a little girl. I’ve had mixed feelings about how everything went down. Sure, Biden was pretty old but did we have to go that hard after him? I’d rather have a president that is honest about having a bad day than a president that spouts verifiable lies… just saying.
📖 I’ve been looking forward to read the rest of “A Day of Fallen Night” by Samatha Shannon. I was absolutely obsessed with “The Priory of the Orange Tree” - although I did think the end was a bit rushed but then again, we were already 1,000 pages in so I reckon it needed to end somewhere. This book is like a prequel but it was hard for me to say goodbye to the character of the latter priory, so I put this book down after 200 pages. Now I long for some more sapphic fantasy! If you have any recommendations for sapphic fantasy or sapphic romance, please let me know.
🇪🇸 I’ve also started learning Spanish. I don’t know why I didn’t start earlier - it’s such a cool language. I mean, I did give a try two decades ago and can still say “Cada año turistas de todo el mundo acuden a las playas de España” which is absolutely useless. I’m using Rosetta Stone, mostly because it’s free via our library and I’m cheap haha. If there are any conversation partners around in Richmond, hit me up!