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James Ellis III reflects on how being a preacher these days feels different. It’s unsettling how many people are thoroughly consumed by rage — and we as Christians should know better.

Brian Kaylor didn’t expect World magazine to like his new book, "The Bible According to Christian Nationalists." But he did anticipate that if the influential conservative Christian publication reviewed it, they would at least do so honestly. Apparently, that was expecting too much.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at Lance Shockley’s extensive history of Christian leadership while in prison, as well as the role restorative justice should play in our criminal legal system.

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Videos

Church

Casting a pall over the gathering is the recent death of one of the most high-profile whistleblowers in the Southern Baptists’ scandal of sexual abuse.

Five churches organized the event out of a conviction of their faith, but as an invisible network.

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

Nation

The Republican plan, urged on by Trump, would crack the city’s urban core into three districts — with all of them converging at Independence Boulevard Christian Church.

'Those verses were not about the United States military,' said Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and author. 'They weren't really even about any imperial military force, and quite the opposite.'

This comes as several different religious freedom lawsuits have been filed against the Trump administration by Christian denominations, organizations, and other faith groups over immigration raids and canceled refugee resettlement.

World

This issue of A Public Witness explores what Trump’s outburst about taking over the Gaza Strip reveals about the oligarchic values of the new administration as well as the immorality of prominent MAGA Christians.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the evolution of the WHO, its religious connections, and why it matters in the face of Trump ordering the U.S. to leave the valuable global agency.

As Syria begins recovering from 50 years of autocratic rule by the Assad family, Christians and other religious groups expect their rights and freedoms to be preserved.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on recent violence between Israel and Hamas to argue that a ceasefire will not actually bring peace and justice to the people living in Gaza. Kaylor adds insights learned from Arab and Palestinian Christians.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on legislation pushing the teaching of the Bible in public schools. He explores significant church-state problems that would arise from such efforts.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on news that DNA evidence tested FOUR years after the execution of a Black man in Arkansas suggests the state killed an innocent man. Kaylor also highlights the Baptist prophet who tried to stop the execution.

Word&Way Voices

Exploring Advent in a time of dangerous pregnancies, Angela Parker reflects on Black mothers dying preventable deaths.

Exploring Advent in a time of dangerous pregnancies, Angela Denker reflects on how pregnancy is both incredibly vulnerable and incredibly powerful.

For our first devotional on Advent in a time of dangerous pregnancies, Susan M. Shaw reflects on how John and Jesus’s births did not come without cost to the women who carried and bore them.

E-Newsletter

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.

This issue of A Public Witness takes a stroll through President Donald Trump’s proposed Medicaid cuts and the deadly theology preached by a Republican senator from Iowa.

It really has been quite a year — and one that, unfortunately, showed how important it is for Christians to address Christian Nationalism in society and our churches.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In “American Christian Nationalism: Neither American nor Christian,” Michael W. Austin offers us a better form of civic engagement.

The upcoming election is certainly important, but the journey of addressing Christian Nationalism in our churches and nation will continue in the weeks, months, and years to follow.

In “Hope Is Here!: Spiritual Practices for Pursuing Justice and Beloved Community,” Luther E. Smith Jr. prepares us to engage racism, mass incarceration, environmental crises, divisive politics, and indifference.

Jerome Copulsky’s “American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberal Order” is a tour de force documenting the religious illiberalism that has challenged democratic values from the very beginning.