Nation

Shortly after Elon Musk officially took charge of Twitter last month, Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, joined a group of civil rights advocates for a meeting with the newly minted social media mogul. Among advocates’ chief concerns: that Musk, a self-declared “free speech absolutist,” would reactivate previously banned accounts — including that of former President Donald Trump.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy offers lessons we can glean from the upcoming Georgia runoff election. He argues that the Social Gospel, “the politics of Jesus,” needs rediscovering. In this recovery, it will not be about whether Warnock or Walker wins the Senate seat. The Social Gospel will not center on how people vote but rather on how the church takes the opportunity to be an alternative to the politics of the world.

Our democracy is in trouble and we need to elect pro-democracy candidates. But what if that isn’t sufficient? That’s why Christopher Beem wrote "The Seven Democratic Virtues: What You Can do to Overcome Tribalism and Save Our Democracy." A political scientist with a background in religious ethics, Beem brings the best of both traditions to bear on one of the most pressing challenges of our time.

Two scholars, Jill Hicks-Keeton, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, and Cavan Concannon, a professor at the University of Southern California, have teamed up for a second time to examine and explore The Museum of the Bible’s exhibits, theatrical experiences, publications, funding and partnerships. The book argues that the museum is part of a larger 100-year-old project of white evangelical institution-building.

Many reasons have been suggested as to why highly religious Americans are less likely to be worried about climate change or work to try to stem it. But in the end, a new Pew Research survey concludes, it’s all about politics. Massive gaps in views among people claiming the same type of religion point to political partisanship as the crucial factor driving their environmental opinions.

Among U.S. faith leaders and denominations, there are sharp differences over the bill advancing in the Senate that would protect same-sex and interracial marriages in federal law. The measure, a high priority for congressional Democrats, won a key test vote Wednesday.

When Trump announced yet another White House bid from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday, he did so with a speech devoid of overt religious references. While some of Trump’s stalwart evangelical supporters were there — namely, conservative commentator Eric Metaxas, pastor Mark Burns, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — many of the former president’s longtime religious defenders were nowhere to be seen.

Greg Locke, a Tennessee pastor known for his viral videos about COVID-19, election conspiracies and witchcraft, claims another social media giant has given him the boot. A Donald Trump supporter who has been featured at Christian nationalist events such as America’s Revival and disgraced former Trump official Mike Flynn’s ReAwaken America tour, Locke was banned from Twitter last year for spreading misinformation.

When the pandemic hit, many Americans lost the habit of churchgoing after almost every church in the country closed their in-person services and shifted online. But did some of them give up on God? In a new study, sociologists raise questions about the rapid decline in indicators of “intense religion” during the pandemic, which they argue may be due to changes in a popular survey rather than a sign of religious decline.

As Twitter’s new owner bumbles along and risks destroying the very network he just purchased for $44 billion, we thought we’d take a look at why this matters — even to people not on Twitter. In this issue of A Public Witness, we look at the erratic chirping happening right now at Twitter. Then we suggest what might be lost if the blue bird app goes the way of Myspace or Friendster.