Nation

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.

For months, we’ve documented the appearances, rhetoric, and political activities in religious settings of candidates running for office on a platform of Christian Nationalism. Many voters rejected this worldview to a shocking degree in Tuesday’s midterm elections. In this edition of A Public Witness, we take a look back at our earlier reporting on various races, and we consider the ongoing test facing American democracy.

As the Supreme Court hears Brackeen v. Haaland, what is at stake for most interested parties is the decades-old Indian Child Welfare Act. The act was meant to stop Native American families from being separated by child welfare agencies and private adoption services and instead seek placement for children within a federally recognized tribe. But some also see it as case about religious liberty.

Political operatives were keeping an eye on Mastriano because of how the Pennsylvanian deployed Christian nationalist themes to secure the hard-line religious right base. Mastriano broke out of the Republican primary pack by cloaking himself in one of the most vocal strains of Christian nationalism: anti-pandemic restrictions, pro-conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and dubious of separation of church and state.