Nation

Members of Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit working to protect the Apache sacred site in Arizona known as Oak Flat, are requesting a rehearing in their case against the United States as they seek to stop a private venture from turning the land into an underground copper mine. The Apache people hold a number of important ceremonies at Oak Flat that can take place only on the site, which would be destroyed by mining.

The Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin endorsed by Trump is calling for people to take up “pitchforks and torches” in reaction to a story that detailed his giving to anti-abortion groups and churches — rhetoric that many say amounts to threatening violence. Since the story’s publication, he has gone after not just his opponent and Democrats, but also the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and, more broadly, all reporters.

Parents of children enrolled in Maine religious schools fought all the way to the Supreme Court for the state to treat tuition reimbursements the same as other private schools. But only one of the religious high schools has signed up to participate this fall, after Maine’s attorney general warned that the schools would have to abide by state antidiscrimination laws, including those that protect LGBTQ students and faculty.

If Dr. Mehmet Oz is elected to the U.S. Senate this fall, he’ll be the first Muslim ever to serve in the chamber. It’s something he hardly brings up while campaigning, his Democratic opponent isn’t raising it and it’s barely a topic of conversation in Pennsylvania’s Muslim community. Even if Muslims know that Oz is a fellow Muslim, many may not identify with him culturally or politically.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we offer a review for the test about the cultural and political forces targeting public education. Then we open up a new chapter about how Christians have added to this political polarization before answering the essay question about the consequences of such politicking.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we take you backstage to meet the most influential Christian musician in the world of conservative political activism. Then we rewind to rehear Trump’s problematic relationship with 9/11 before considering the sour note of this mixture of worship and profane politics.

An Arkansas state senator will be required to unblock critics from his social media accounts under a settlement a national atheists’ group said it reached with the state on Wednesday.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we look at politicians citing Ephesians 6 in ways that don’t fit with the meaning of the passage. Then we consider how this rhetoric adds to a political environment already filled with violence.

Religion News Service reached out to more than 50 House and Senate Republicans seeking their response, questioning whether they support calls to make the RNC the party of Christian nationalism. The list ranged from hardline conservatives to more moderate Republicans who recently voted to codify the legalization of same-sex marriage into federal law.

On Friday, a group of religious leaders met outside First Baptist Church in Batavia, New York, to denounce the arrival of General Michael Flynn’s ReAwaken America Tour. What made this different from previous events put on by the group Faithful America is that the leaders speaking out against Christian nationalism came from both within and outside of Christianity.