Nation

Stephen Schneck, a prominent Catholic political activist and academic, has been appointed by President Joe Biden to serve on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federal government panel dedicated to protecting religious minorities and other persecuted groups abroad.

In this edition of A Public Witness, we investigate the New York Times’s history of stirring religious conversations. Then we examine the surprisingly narrow perspectives regularly offered in the opinion section of the “old gray lady.”

Sen. Raphael Warnock may have added a title to his name when he was elected to the U.S. Senate last year, but he says he remains first and foremost a preacher. Warnock spoke with Religion News Service about the influence of King on his life, the challenges of being a father to young children from afar, and how he finds sermon topics as he works in Washington.

After Trump lost the election in November, a report from the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and the Freedom From Religion Foundation concluded that Christian nationalism, also referred to as white Christian nationalism, was used to “bolster, justify and intensify the January 6 attack on the Capitol,” according to BJC’s Amanda Tyler.

A COVID-19 vaccine that could soon win federal approval may offer a boost for the U.S. military: an opportunity to get shots into some of the thousands of service members who have refused other coronavirus vaccines for religious reasons.

Faith-led advocacy group the Poor People’s Campaign is pushing for a broad-based meeting with President Joe Biden to discuss poverty, arguing the White House has not adequately responded to requests for a summit despite the president endorsing the group while running for office and speaking at their events.

After a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, several pastors around the country challenged their conservative counterparts with this question: Are you pro-life if you are pro-gun?

In this issue of A Public Witness, we recall an earlier “satanic panic” before looking at the hellish impact that demonizing our political opponents has on democracy.

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.