Nation

The spokesman for a major evangelical nonprofit was fired for promoting vaccines on the MSNBC “Morning Joe” cable news show. Daniel Darling, senior vice president of communications for the National Religious Broadcasters, was fired Friday after refusing to recant his pro-vaccine statements.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we take a closer look at the injustices of Lamar Johnson’s case and what is needed to secure his freedom. We also introduce you to Johnson through an exclusive interview with this brother in Christ as he speaks from behind prison bars. 

Calling the COVID-19 vaccines a “great miracle that God blessed us with,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) urged clergy to encourage vaccination. Cleaver spoke to Word&Way for the Dangerous Dogma podcast as the delta variant sparked a rise in cases in Missouri and across the country in recent weeks.

A Catholic school in Lansing has lost an appeal over a Michigan policy that required masks on young kids earlier in the pandemic. Although the statewide mandate ended, some counties are stepping in and requiring masks in schools when the 2021-22 year starts.

Indiana University’s Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture recently held an online mini-conference examining “White Christian Nationalism in the United States.” Two separate panels sought to understand this potent and problematic cultural identity.

A Texas death-row inmate has sued state prison officials to allow his pastor to lay hands on him as he dies from a lethal injection. John Henry Ramirez, 37, is scheduled to be put to death in the Texas death chamber on Sept. 8.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we borrow a principle from economics to help Christians consider the cost of our attention being absorbed by scandals that must be addressed or frivolous issues that should be ignored. 

Former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams used a virtual Washington, D.C., pulpit to preach a message supporting efforts to push back on voting rights restrictions.

What constitutes an evangelical, or what is evangelicalism in the United States today? Scholar Terry Shoemaker explores the various definitions and history of this decentralized, umbrella term within Protestant Christianity and what it means for our current religious landscape.

When Ryan Burge reviewed survey data he didn't find much evidence for the popular narrative that evangelicals are lagging behind on vaccinations. In fact, he found that those without any religious affiliation were the least likely to have received at least one dose of any COVID-19 vaccine.