Nation

In this issue of A Public Witness, we recite the ways the Lord’s Prayer has been co-opted at political rallies across the country. Then we meditate on what is happening and the inherent politics of the Lord’s Prayer.

An Oregon church is suing the coastal city of Brookings, arguing that an ordinance restricting the church’s meal program for the unhoused violates its right to religious freedom. St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon filed the lawsuit against the city on Jan. 28 in Oregon’s U.S. District Court.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we open up the book on recent efforts to ban or deplatform unwanted perspectives. Then we turn the pages on the ways these efforts often backfire, proving to be a harmful approach for dealing with noxious opinions. 

We kickoff with a look at the health-related controversies that have swirled around the NFL. We then ask for an official review from Christian thinkers past and present. Finally, we send up a Hail Mary that encourages followers of Jesus to think about their sports consumption more faithfully. 

With so many ideological strands animating the far-right — including racism, antisemitism, and fervent nationalism — a shared affinity for Christian Nationalism has come to serve as a unifying element, scholars of extremism say. And as Christian Nationalism’s presence grows, experts are concerned it could expand extremism’s influence over other, more moderate conservative politicians and groups. 

A Republican-dominated South Dakota House committee on Friday rejected Gov. Kristi Noem’s proposal to require public schools to have a moment of silence to start the day. The Republican governor first billed the proposal at a conservative Christian conference in Iowa last year as “putting prayer back in schools.”

In this issue of A Public Witness, we tune into the oral arguments in Shurtleff v. City of Boston. We also judge the effort to undermine the Jeffersonian-called separation of church and state by conservative Christians and unlikely allies like President Joe Biden and the ACLU.

Regardless of what happens on Capitol Hill, Progressive National Baptist Convention leaders said they plan to lobby Congress in March and register voters weekly in their congregations and communities.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we study the political effort behind the Bible blitz. We also quiz this movement to consider the pedagogical and religious problems with such legislation. 

On Saturday, a man took people hostage in Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. The congregation’s rabbi is particularly well connected to the larger interfaith community and on good terms with many Muslim and Christian leaders.