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Monday’s ruling came just over 24 hours before TPS status was set to expire for some 350,000 Haitians. The U.S. district judge wrote that DHS Secretary Noem’s ‘approach is many things—in the public interest is not one of them.’

The Justice Department’s swift investigation into the church disruption stands in contrast to its decision not to open civil rights investigations into killings by ICE officers.

This issue of A Public Witness explores what the Foursquare Church, a Pentecostal denomination, could learn from how United Methodists, Southern Baptists, and Catholics have spoken out against immoral politicians who sit in their pews.

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Church

Churches across Chicago braced for Trump’s threat of a National Guard deployment and apocalyptic force, even as Chicago’s rates of violent crime have dropped substantially in recent years as part of a national trend.

A report from the Louisville Institute found that the kinds of discrimination faced include gender bias, limited opportunities for leadership, and adverse expectations related to work/family balance.

‘I never thought I had one day to cancel Sunday worship because it is not safe for our Latino siblings to come to church. But here we are … ,’ wrote one pastor on Facebook.

Nation

The question of offering pastoral care to immigrant detainees has become a theological and legal flashpoint since President Donald Trump launched his mass deportation effort last year.

The faith-based networks, which developed organizing infrastructure and relationships during the Floyd era, are joined by newcomers as resistance efforts have intensified since Good’s shooting.

With the growth of worship services by leaders in a Christian Nationalist administration, it’s worth revisiting the most significant previous effort to craft religion within the federal government: the church of Nixon.

World

This issue of A Public Witness explores a monument that upsets the political and historical stories being told (or not told) and challenges the religious claims we often make.

Christian leaders stress that the council and its anniversary still have relevance in the modern day, despite theological divides.

Joining this year are dozens of leaders from different Christian denominations, making the journey not only an expression of personal devotion but a public show of unity and spiritual leadership in a region challenged by political instability, poverty, and insecurity.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on the choice of Robert Jeffress as the keynote preacher for the 2021 Missouri Baptist Pastors’ Conference organized with the theme of Romans 12:2, a passage where Paul warned against conforming to the patterns of this world.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on the call to “never forget” 9/11, as well as the ways we seem to struggle to even remember or acknowledge deaths today.

Now that the trustees at Southwest Baptist University dropped their push for new governing documents, Brian Kaylor offers six next steps that leaders of the school and the Missouri Baptist Convention should take.

Word&Way Voices

Exploring the politics behind a new commission built on Christian privilege reveals competing understandings of religious liberty that have consequential implications for public schools.

Since the popular screen adaptation of “Pride & Prejudice” is back in theaters for its 20th anniversary, it is worth thinking about how this enemies-to-lovers story can offer us a unique glimpse into peacemaking.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that there is more to the recent Pete Hegseth national security breaches than just political blunders — we are experiencing a shift in the moral universe of right and wrong.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness looks at four recent promotional videos created by the DoW that co-opt Bible verses to glorify the U.S. military.

How do we make sense of our confusing political moment? Scripture is constantly warped to advance purely partisan agendas. The underlying goal is advancing power at seemingly any cost. Luckily, we have a new book that deciphers it all.

Before the memorial service started, two hours of songs from the biggest worship artists today served to frame everything that followed as part of a church service — sending the message that Kirk’s politics were from God.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Joe Blosser’s recent book is challenging because it takes seriously the idea that the only way to love God well is to love our neighbors more by re-evaluating how much we’ve fallen in love with ourselves.

In “Bring Back Your People: Ten Ways Regular Folks Can Put a Dent in White Christian Nationalism,” preacher and Poor People's Campaign leader Aaron Scott offers a practical guide to resisting and organizing.

In “Trust in Atonement: God, Creation, and Reconciliation,” Teresa Morgan offers a fresh exploration of what it means to restore a right relationship with God.

In “The Wounds Are the Witness: Black Faith Weaving Memory into Justice and Healing,” Yolanda Pierce, dean of Vanderbilt University Divinity School, weaves together her own memories, vignettes from Black life, and scenes from scripture.