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Judge John P. Cronan said the commission is diverse through including both clergy and lay people and has 'adherents of at least five different religions' — by citing the one Jewish member and members of various Christian denominations.

Shaw University Divinity School hopes to be the first theological school accredited by the Association of Theological Schools to offer a doctoral degree in AI. Its first cohort begins in January.

Education should open minds to facts, science, and our history — not close doors to them. Regressive-thinking adults prefer to hide facts and truth from students, as exhibited in the recent order from President Trump adding warning signs to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

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Church

In an open letter, a group of survivors and advocates say that comments by SBC President Willy Rice and Texas pastor Jack Graham make it harder to address the issue of abuse in churches.

'The Supreme Court, not too far from here, decided that it was OK for Black folks to not deserve representation in Congress,' said its social justice commission co-chair.

‘Voting rights are being eroded,’ said President Boise Kimber of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc. ‘Black political leaders are being decimated by redistricting.’

Nation

At a Sunday service after their release, which was backed by a range of Latino evangelical groups, the Assemblies of God pastors urged Christians to speak out for immigrants.

A news conference inside the state Capitol brought together about two dozen leaders from the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, the South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ, the National Council of Jewish Women, and other faith-related groups.

This issue of A Public Witness documents several outlandish events beyond those named in a recent church-state lawsuit by employees or a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

World

A group including leaders from the World Council of Churches, the Anglican Communion, the World Methodist Council, and the PCUSA recently paid a solidarity visit to Cuba, aimed at highlighting Cuban suffering and condemning U.S. sanctions.

Faith leaders say they would welcome migrants deported from the United States but question the decision to send vulnerable people without ties to a nation still healing from years of sectarian violence.

The Greek Orthodox leader expects to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this month.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor responds to Doug Wilson’s defense of Pete Hegseth holding Christian worship services in the Pentagon, including the one Wilson preached at earlier this month.

After President Donald Trump rambled, lied, and cursed for 77 minutes at the National Prayer Breakfast, a prominent Christian musician went to the piano to bless it.

In 1845, a group of pro-slavery Baptists created the Southern Baptist Convention to defend enslavers serving as missionaries. One hundred and eighty years later, SBC leaders defend a pastor serving as an ICE leader. Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on this through line.

Word&Way Voices

A new Netflix series captures the edginess of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books while also reconsidering the narrative in the face of frontier America’s actual history.

James Talarico’s attempt to make the election about ethos — character, credibility, and integrity — throws a Nolan Ryan fastball at Ken Paxton and MAGA and showcases their departure from 1990s conservative Christianity.

The Israel-U.S.-Iran conflict has seen an appeal to scripture from many of the involved leaders. But the moment God is invoked as argument rather than moral motivation, the willingness to be wrong is surrendered.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness treks to The Six to cover the recent gathering of the Baptist World Alliance.

Trump’s ‘Religious Liberty Commission’ is now receiving public comments that it will review before issuing a final report. While they will not repent of their Christian Nationalism, it can still be an important sign of how unpopular their agenda is if they are swamped with public opposition.

This issue of A Public Witness strikes at the heresy in Trump’s Fourth of July remarks and thunders some disapproval for similar rhetoric recently offered by Speaker Mike Johnson.

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Recent Episodes

Books

This groundbreaking study digs beneath the surface of one of early Christianity's most enigmatic documents and finds there two texts hidden side by side for nearly two millennia.

Warren Throckmorton, whose fact-checking of David Barton's book 'The Jefferson Lies' convinced the publisher to pull it from the shelves, picks a fight with fables told about the past by those who are trying to erase the separation of church

Drawing from personal experience, theological insight, and psychological depth, Richard Beck challenges the fear-based, legalistic interpretations that have long dominated many Christian traditions.

In his new book, acclaimed sociologist Robert Wuthnow seeks to both illuminate what has been hidden and to add complexity where a story has been too simply told.