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While reporters and peaceful protesters were accosted on Pentecost by militarized forces, tanks have been rolling into the nation’s capital so President Trump can enjoy a military parade on his birthday this Saturday.

The Southern Baptist Convention meeting this week in Dallas will also consider a proposed ban on churches with women pastors.

When Jesus said to go pray in a closet, he didn’t mean you should then show it off to Fox News or The Associated Press.

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Church

The Rev. Eboni Marshall Turman, who served in leadership roles at Abyssinian, including as assistant minister, said in a Wednesday statement that she is ‘prayerfully preparing’ an appeal.

There is so much history between the walls of Metropolitan AME, which has hosted funerals for Rosa Parks and Frederick Douglass and opened its pews to American presidents. It made history again this year.

Sociologist Ruth Braunstein recently decided to try a different way of analyzing religion, politics, and money: a documentary podcast exploring divergent evangelical responses to Christian Nationalism.

Nation

Their goal is to walk south from the Flushing Quaker Meeting House — across New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania — to the U.S. Capitol to deliver a copy of the “Flushing Remonstrance.”

The logjam on a possible mega-bill indicates the climb facing some Republicans in their quest to infuse more conservative Christianity into public schools.

This issue of A Public Witness takes us inside MAGA merchandise shops in Branson, Missouri, to explore some surprising theological messages that mix partisan politics with the worship of violence.

World

The small Christian community has begun to fracture under pressure from forces they say threaten them and the multifaith character of the Old City.

A letter with more than 200 signatories, organized by Churches for Middle East Peace in the United States and Embrace the Middle East in the United Kingdom, was provided to A Public Witness ahead of its formal release today.

Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of Islamist insurgents.

Editorials

Editors Brian Kaylor and Beau Underwood outline the theological reasons for a COVID-19 vaccination outreach effort centered around clergy. Such an act is not only a matter of public health, it is also a witness to what we believe about the Gospel.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor argues that as the delta variant of COVID-19 fuels a new spike in cases in some parts of the U.S., conservative Christians who refuse vaccination are putting people at risk and undermining the teachings of Jesus.

In a guest piece for Americans United, Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor writes why on the Fourth of July, which falls on a Sunday this year, he won’t be attending church.

Word&Way Voices

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy argues that MAGA evangelicals have basically accepted the conclusion that Trump is not a good person — but this doesn’t change their vote due to the power of figurative language.

Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab documents how a leading evangelical group recently took a bold step away from pro-Trump American evangelicals.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell reflects on ancient understandings of the heart and how they relate to our modern grief.

E-Newsletter

Historian David Swartz unpacks his new seven-episode narrative podcast series on conversations in his Kentucky community about a local Confederate statue.

This issue of A Public Witness mounts a bully pulpit to warn about the dangerous Christian Nationalistic targeting of public schools.

As we enter a season of Lent amid the chaos of Elon Musk and an oligarchy-fueled administration, this issue of A Public Witness reads the Bible and the Forbes Billionaire List to decide this day who we will serve.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Sociologist Jason Shelton’s new book explains what has happened — and is happening — in ways that call for revising how we perceive the Black Church as an institution and social force.

In "Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right," Scott Coley trains a critical eye on the fusion of evangelicalism and right-wing politics.

In "Mornings with Schleiermacher: A Devotional Inspired by the Father of Modern Theology," Chad Bahl seeks to introduce a contemporary audience to the theological ideas of Friedrich Schleiermacher, one of the most important Christian theologians of the nineteenth century.

In "Hebrews (Commentaries for Christian Formation)," New Testament scholar Amy Peeler offers insights into Christology, the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, and the letter’s canonical resonances.