Nation

Historian Thomas Lecaque argues that how the various scandals surrounding Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker are understood by many evangelicals is based on a bad reading of Biblical narrative. The sins of Walker’s past are forgiven, regardless of the hypocrisy – and, in fact, they are an important component of what makes him important. Because beyond his utility, he gets to play the David card.

For this issue of A Public Witness, we tuned into the latest ReAwaken America Tour event so you wouldn’t have to watch. We’ll show you how Lahmeyer and others are trying to push Christians to accept Christian Nationalism as the only alternative other than atheism. Then we’ll look at the madness of their false gospel and the response needed from Christians outraged by such cynical logic.

In just a couple weeks, voters in five states will consider proposed amendments to their state constitutions that would remove the slavery exception for prisons. In this issue of A Public Witness, we look at state-level efforts to undo the slavery exception with a focus on clergy in Tennessee who are speaking out. Additionally, we consider how Christians elsewhere can also advocate for prison reform.

Welcome to Branson, Missouri, where the holy trinity of faith, flag, and family reign supreme and where an inspirational, God-and-country style of Christian nationalism serves as comfort food for the American soul. For more than a century, weary pilgrims have sought spiritual renewal and rest from the troubles of modern life here in the heart of the Ozarks — hoping to find a nostalgic vision of a beautiful America.

This issue of A Public Witness examines the political attacks on Warnock’s faith during this campaign and his previous run, and also considers similar attacks on King. This rhetoric exposes how some preachers and politicians supporting the dominant power structures seek to excommunicate the Black church as not really Christian.

Two significant abolitionists are subjects of a twin set of documentaries, "Becoming Frederick Douglass" and "Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom," co-productions of Maryland Public Television and Firelight Films and released by PBS this month (October).

Since early last year, the ReAwaken America Tour has carried its message of a country under siege to tens of thousands of people in 15 cities and towns. The tour serves as a traveling roadshow and recruiting tool for an ascendant Christian nationalist movement that's wrapped itself in God, patriotism, and politics and has grown in power and influence inside the Republican Party.

By taking a step back, we can see a critical issue beyond the media’s focus in this latest Herschel Walker controversy. And this story is less about Walker and more about the churches helping him run down the electoral field. So, in this issue of A Public Witness, we look at Walker’s religious campaign strategy and his record of dishonesty to consider the danger of churches fumbling their moral witness.

“A priest, a truck driver, and a grandma walk into a game show.” It’s not the set-up to a joke, but rather to one of the five “Jeopardy!” episodes in which the Rev. David Sibley appeared last week. Sibley, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Walla Walla, Washington, appeared on the beloved, long-running trivia competition Sept. 26-30, winning four straight episodes and $79,098.

On the morning after an explosive news report that Senate hopeful Herschel Walker paid for a girlfriend’s abortion in 2009, the Georgia Republican attended a closed prayer event at First Baptist Church in Atlanta. Journalists who showed up at the church were told by church staffers they had to leave. But Word&Way found photos and videos shared on social media by attendees that give insights into the campaign event.