Is Empathy a Sin? Some Conservative Christians Argue It Can Be
Empathy is usually regarded as a virtue, a key to human decency and kindness. And yet, with increasing momentum, voices on the Christian right are preaching that it has become a vice.
Judge Rules Some Texas School Districts Don’t Have to Display Ten Commandments
A federal judge temporarily halted a law requiring public schools to display a version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom, echoing faith leaders and others who argue the statute violates the First Amendment.
Three New Documentary Projects Warn About Abusive, Nationalistic Faith
This issue of A Public Witness recommends two films and one miniseries exploring important issues of Christian Nationalism and religious abuse.
Review: How Did They Read the Prophets?
Old Testament scholar Michael B. Shepherd explores the world of ancient exegesis, focusing on how early Jewish and Christian readers understood the Hebrew Bible’s prophetic literature.
Fight Between Library and Church: Theft or Civil Disobedience?
Sixteen volumes go missing after a Kentucky church urges members to check out then never return library books about LGBTQ+ people.
‘There Really Is No Escape’: Faith Leaders Help Immigrants Face Court As ICE Arrests Rise
Clergy are accompanying immigrants to court appointments to provide comfort and information and, in cases where their worst fears are realized, to pick up the pieces of a shattered American dream.
Literally Misreading the Bible
This issue of A Public Witness looks at how one Calvinist voice with connections to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is publicly doing violence to Scripture to justify some disturbingly unChristlike behavior.
‘The Elephant in the Room’ Is a Rom-Com for Our Political Moment
The charming new film from Emmy-winning writer and director Erik Bork features laughs, romance, and insights into how we can connect with people who hold a different worldview.
How a Former Schoolteacher Became the Next Lutheran Presiding Bishop
The Rev. Yehiel Curry, a former lay church planter, will be installed as presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in October.
Dallas Clergy ‘Bear Witness’ With Prayer Vigils Outside ICE Office
Mara Richards Bim, the new Justice and Advocacy Fellow at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, spoke about how to bridge what we talk about in church and political action.