Nation

Pete Hegseth, who likes to call himself ‘secretary of war,’ read a prayer during the latest government worship service that echoes a scene written by Quentin Tarantino calling for ‘great vengeance and furious anger.’

The Republican administrations of Nebraska, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Montana, Florida, Tennessee, and Indiana have each announced partnerships with Turning Point USA to promote school chapters in every high school.

‘Church-state separation ensures we are all free to live as ourselves and believe as we choose, as long as we don’t harm others,’ Rachel Laser of Americans United for Separation of Church and State countered.

‘Our nation must be careful not to allow partisan agendas to undermine institutions built on merit, sacrifice, and service,’ said the president of the historically Black National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc.

Rev. Caleb Morell, a Southern Baptist, offered an evangelistic message about the resurrection of Jesus that stopped just short of a formal altar call as he urged government workers to follow Jesus.

Biblical stories like Jonah and the whale would be required reading for Texas public school students under proposals that are putting the state at the center of another contentious wrangling over the role of religion in classrooms.

‘For an administration that has been using religious language to justify the war, it’s remarkable that they have completely avoided engaging Christian moral theology on this point,’ said Robert P. Jones, a Christian Nationalism scholar.

This issue of A Public Witness considers how the military chaplain who authored a war prayer and the secretary of defense who appropriated it for himself performed violence against Scripture to justify violence against people.

The president mixed Christian claims with threats of war and insults to immigrants during Holy Week, including a threat to send Iran to 'Hell' on Easter.

In the last week, faith leaders were offered some of their first glimpses into ICE facilities, making use of a degree of access denied to most people — even members of Congress.