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In life and in death, Charlie Kirk represented the worst of American politics. He stoked dangerous conspiracies, attempted to silence voices he disagreed with, and utilized violent rhetoric mixed with a godly veneer. Then, someone decided to respond with evil by picking up a gun to silence a life.

Although researchers have long discussed Christian Nationalism, it’s fairly new to public discourse. Let’s clarify some points that are often misunderstood so we can have an effective, organized response.

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.

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Videos

Church

Robinson responded in an Instagram story, saying that ‘perhaps God is sending me a message.’

Years of controversy during the Trump era have some Southern Baptists arguing that the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is more trouble than it is worth.

Ben Boswell promises his new church will ‘dismantle systems of oppression and create justice, equity, and freedom for everybody — for all people.’

Nation

Sixteen volumes go missing after a Kentucky church urges members to check out then never return library books about LGBTQ+ people.

Clergy are accompanying immigrants to court appointments to provide comfort and information and, in cases where their worst fears are realized, to pick up the pieces of a shattered American dream.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at how one Calvinist voice with connections to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is publicly doing violence to Scripture to justify some disturbingly unChristlike behavior.

World

The Pew Research Center’s annual report on government restrictions on religion highlights that governmental attacks on religion and social hostility toward religion usually ‘go hand in hand.’

Homes were set ablaze, claiming the lives of two children, ages 2 and 4, of the overseer of a United Methodist school and nursery. Another 10 church members were reported injured.

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

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reacts to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on coronavirus restrictions and worship. He argues a majority of the justices wrongly compare worship gatherings to commercial activities.

Editor Brian Kaylor reflects on getting his second COVID-19 vaccine and recent polling showing that White evangelicals are the least likely demographic to get vaccinated. Thank God, love neighbors, and get vaccinated!

Editor Brian Kaylor tells the Good Friday story as if set this year in Richmond, Virginia. As the Bible tells the story, Barabbas and the two men crucified along with Jesus are insurrectionists (not thieves).

Word&Way Voices

Faithful America’s executive director argues that since Trump and the religious right distort faith for their own gain, calling them out is not an attack on religion but rather a necessary democratic and Christian action.

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.

E-Newsletter

The oldest interdenominational religious press association in the U.S. also gave four awards to Word&Way, including two first place honors for A Public Witness.

After lighting four birthday candles, this issue of A Public Witness reflects on our newsletter highlights from the past year as we look forward to four more years (and beyond).

This issue of A Public Witness opens up the Aitken’s Bible to consider the tale of a flop and how Christian Nationalists misleadingly repackage it as ‘a Bible approved by Congress.’

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Recent Episodes

Books

In “Hope Restored: Biblical Imagination Against Empire,” Walter Brueggemann points us toward understanding hope not as easy optimism but as an honest facing of the unjust structures that human beings have created and a call to lean into Scripture for

In “The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story,” Christopher B. and Richard B. Hays — son and father — take us on a journey through the Bible, helping us gain a better perspective on God and LGBTQ+

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.