Nation

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered under the scorching Texas sun Friday to protest outside the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting, just days after 21 people died in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that has reignited a national debate on gun rights.

In this edition of A Public Witness, we look at the principalities and powers preventing us from doing something about gun violence, along with the Christian leaders aiding and abetting their cause. Then we denounce the idolatry that demands we sacrifice our children.

Former Vice President Al Gore urged Black interfaith leaders and environmental activists to increase joint efforts to seek solutions to the “twin crises of climate and racial justice.” 

In this issue of A Public Witness, we hop down into this lion’s den to further consider Doug Mastriano, his attacks on the media, and the Christian Nationalism animating his campaign. 

Republican Senate hopeful Mehmet Oz is stepping up his criticism of far-right candidates in Pennsylvania who are gaining traction ahead of Tuesday’s primary election.

Doug Mastriano leads the crowded primary field in the polls ahead of voting on Tuesday. And should he win, a man who espouses Christian Nationalism, has spoken at QAnon events, and was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, would be the Republican nominee in a swing state for a race that pretty much all political analysts call a “tossup” in the general election.

Interfaith leaders, including a top White House official, gathered at Georgetown University on Tuesday to affirm engagement across faiths and urge more multireligious action to enhance democracy and diminish polarization.

As scholars of fundamentalism and creationism, we have visited the Ark Encounter multiple times. What we find particularly striking about Ark Encounter is that it is a tourist site devoted to emphasizing — with great specificity — the wrathful nature of God and the eternal damnation that awaits unrepentant sinners.

The Satanic Temple is requesting to fly a flag over Boston City Hall after the U.S. Supreme Court this week ruled the city violated the free speech rights of a conservative activist seeking to fly a Christian flag outside the downtown building. 

Hundreds of demonstrators on both sides of the abortion debate gathered outside the Supreme Court to lift their voices and raise up prayers, responding to the prospect that a right to abortion at the national level will lose its legal grounding after a half-century if Alito’s draft becomes official.