Nation

In this issue of A Public Witness, we turn our spotlight on the race in Virginia to again plead for preserving the sacredness of sanctuaries. We will take you inside church services featuring Glenn Youngkin or Terry McAuliffe, and analyze the mini “sermons” they’re preaching.  

Three Black men — Pete Vinegar, George Robertson, and Isaac King — were lynched in Lawrence, Kansas, on June 10, 1882. On Saturday, soil was taken from the area of the lynching and placed in jars bound for the the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.

In this edition of A Public Witness, we review the public careers of two well-known Christian figures in the public square — Pat Robertson and Francis Collins — who both announced their retirements in recent days. We will explore the lessons they taught and the spirits with which they led. 

The Christian flag’s co-optation at these events raises a banner of questions about its contemporary meaning to the Church. In this edition of A Public Witness, we unfurl the history of the Christian flag and raise up its usage by White Supremacists today.

For many Americans, Pat Robertson, the Christian television pioneer and onetime presidential candidate, will always be remembered for his wacky pronouncements made at inflection points of American history. 

In this edition of A Public Witness, we look at the cognitive dissonance the audit’s findings created for true believers of the “rigged election” claim, along with examining how this bureaucratic exercise took on a religious fervor.

Amid the Boy Scouts of America’s complex bankruptcy case, there is worsening friction between the BSA and the major religious groups that help it run thousands of scout units. An eventual settlement — while protecting the BSA from future sex-abuse lawsuits — could leave many churches unprotected.

Faith-based refugee resettlement groups are celebrating the Biden administration’s proposal to admit as many as 125,000 refugees to the United States in the coming year, calling the decision a “return to moral leadership.” 

Appeals to Christian identity were common during the Trump administration, but with Trump out of office and hundreds of Jan. 6 insurrectionists now facing federal charges, hard-line Christian Nationalists are increasingly fueling their movement with opposition to COVID-19 vaccines and mask mandates.

In this issue of A Public Witness, we take a shot at exploring Biden’s new vaccine rules not as partisans, or even as citizens, but as followers of Jesus. Although we’ve advocated for Christians to voluntarily get vaccinated, government mandates raise additional moral issues warranting our consideration.