Nation

In this issue of A Public Witness, we countdown the ways the war on Advent is taking off. And while many are accepting the ways of consumerism whole hog, we open up the doors of how the Gospel has a serious message for us in these seemingly absurd times. 

In a video released Tuesday, President Joe Biden spoke directly to the families of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School nine years ago, saying the nation owed families of mass shootings “more than our prayers. We owe them action.”

This edition of A Public Witness unpacks troubling examples of when a person’s religious identity became grounds for others to question their fitness for public office.

The Supreme Court appeared ready Wednesday to rule that religious schools can’t be excluded from a Maine program that offers tuition aid for private education. 

The topics people search for each year on Bible Gateway are always interesting, according to Jonathan Petersen, content manager of the website. But this year’s may be the “most intriguing,” Petersen wrote on the site.

In this edition of A Public Witness, we cover the strange effort to recast those previously vilified (often for good reasons) as heroes. Among those considered: Marvin Olasky, Russell Moore, Daniel Darling, and Liz Cheney.

Marcus Lamb, a prominent Christian broadcaster known for his outspoken opposition to COVID-19 vaccines, has died after contracting the virus. Lamb, co-founder and CEO of the Daystar Television Network, was 64.

A fresh-cut natural Christmas tree usually graces the Grand Arcade at Convention Hall on Asbury Park’s historic boardwalk. But this year, in its place is art made of cardboard in the shape of a tree.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we cross-examine the rhetoric about Rittenhouse that moves from legal technicalities to dangerous promotions of vigilantism. And we rest our case with a call for Christians to reject the glorification of violence. 

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, both Democrats and one an ordained minister, made the religious case for protecting and expanding voting rights on Thursday, championing the “sacred” right to vote in a wide-ranging discussion that also touched on whether God is Black.