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Featured
Parents on Both Sides of Maryland LGBTQ+ Books Lawsuit Say Religious Beliefs Guide Their Positions
The Supreme Court is deciding a case brought by parents who say books taught in school violate their religious rights.
Veterans Affairs Asks Employees in Email To Report ‘Anti-Christian Bias’
The email, prompted by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February, makes no mention of how to report bias or discrimination against other faiths.
Black Churches Back Embattled Smithsonian African American History Museum After Trump’s Order
In a March 27 executive order, Trump alleged that Smithsonian exhibits had disparaged the nation's history via a ‘divisive, race-centered ideology.’
Church
Jimmy Carter’s D.C. Church Honors Him With Special Service
First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C., Carter’s primary place of worship throughout his presidency, hosted an evening service that celebrated his life and played a recording from his final Sunday School lesson there.
Sunday School Class With Jimmy Carter: What It Was Like
No matter how many times one crammed into the modest sanctuary at Maranatha Baptist Church, there was always some wisdom to be gleaned from the measured, Bible-inspired words of Jimmy Carter.
Churches Consider What Sanctuary Might Look Like in Trump’s Second Term
The news that Trump may rescind a policy discouraging immigration officials from arresting people at churches is making some church leaders reconsider sanctuary.
Nation
Rebel on Main
Historian David Swartz unpacks his new seven-episode narrative podcast series on conversations in his Kentucky community about a local Confederate statue.
Evangelical Groups Hold Vigil Against Trump and Musk’s Foreign Aid Cuts
The hope, said one faith leader, was to dispute the idea that Christians, ‘including those that come from more conservative or evangelical leanings,’ support cuts to USAID.
Missouri Senator Attacks My Baptist Credentials
This issue of A Public Witness mounts a bully pulpit to warn about the dangerous Christian Nationalistic targeting of public schools.
World
John Lennon’s Inspiration for ‘Strawberry Fields’ Bears New Fruit for Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is exploiting a connection to the Beatles to draw more visitors to fund its mission and encourage people who would never consider stepping inside a church to find out about Christianity.
Ukraine’s Parliament Approves Ban on Moscow-Linked Religious Groups. One Church Is Seen as a Target
A large majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox, but they are divided between two main groups with similar names: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Nearly Half of World’s Migrants Are Christian, Pew Research Shows
US migrants are much more likely to have a religious identity than the American-born population.
Editorials
The Ellipses of Cheap Grace
Before janitors could even remove the litter and excrement from the Capitol after last week’s attack by a pro-Trump mob, some politicians and preachers started issuing calls for unity and reconciliation. But, Editor Brian Kaylor argues, skipping past truth-telling and accountability would be an injustice.
Franklin Graham & the Sons of Samuel
After the Oklahoma City bombing, Billy Graham offered words on hope and justice. A quarter-century later, his son instead inflames partisan divides following an attack on the U.S. Capitol. Like the sons of the biblical prophet Samuel, Franklin appears unable to carry the mantle of his father.
Time for Al Mohler to Resign
After White Supremacists stormed the U.S. Capitol, waving both Confederate and Christian flags during their insurrection, the nation needs Christian leaders who can bring healing, truth-telling, and justice. Al Mohler is not such a leader for this moment. He needs to step aside.
Word&Way Voices
Unsettling Advent 2023, Day 20
Azar Ajaj, president of Nazareth Evangelical College, brings our attention to overlooked Middle Eastern Christians as instruments that God is using to bring peace to the region.
Unsettling Advent 2023, Day 19
Christmas reminds us it is precisely in the midst of the darkness of hatred that it is time for love to be born.
Unsettling Advent 2023, Day 18
What does it mean to enter the Christmas story anew in these moments, as so many are desperate for God’s saving presence? To wrestle with this question is to live into this sacred season.
E-Newsletter
Former President Jimmy Carter Dies at 100
This issue of A Public Witness reflects on the moral exemplar Jimmy Carter offered not only after his presidency but also during his underappreciated time in the Oval Office.
2024 in Review
In this review of 2024, we count down our most popular pieces and reflect on some other highlights from the year.
‘Perverted Justice’
Clergy blast Missouri Gov. Mike Parson for freeing the police officer who was convicted of killing 26-year-old Cameron Lamb.
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183. Shannon Fleck of Faithful America
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Shannon Fleck, the new executive director of Faithful America. She discusses Christian Nationalism in Oklahoma and nationally. You can watch a video version of his conversation on YouTube. Fleck's predecessor, Rev. Nathan Empsall, previously appeared on episode 61 of Dangerous Dogma. He also wrote several columns… -
182. Ruth Braunstein on When the Wolves Came
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with sociologist Ruth Braunstein about her documentary podcast When the Wolves Came. You can also find her writings at her Substack newsletter Democracy Is Hard. Mentioned in the episode is Caleb Campbell, who previously appeared on episode 150 of Dangerous Dogma. Note: Don't forget to subscribe to… -
181. Angela Denker on Disciples of White Jesus
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with journalist and Lutheran minister Angela Denker about her forthcoming book Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood. You can watch a video version of this conversation here. You can also hear an earlier conversation with Denker in episode 68, and a conversation with Caleb Campbell… -
180. David Swartz on Rebel on Main
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with historian David Swartz about his new narrative podcast project Rebel on Main, which offers a historical and contemporary exploration of a Kentucky county and its unusual Confederate statue. You can watch a video version of this conversation here. (You can also hear an earlier episode with… -
179. Munther Isaac on Christ in the Rubble
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Rev. Munther Isaac, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, about his forthcoming book Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza. He also talks about Donald Trump's plan to "take over" Gaza, the importance of using the terms "genocide"… -
178. State Senator Shows How NOT to Read Proverbs
On Tuesday (Feb. 25), a session of the Oklahoma Senate transformed into a spontaneous Bible study. Or perhaps more of a Bible study cosplay demonstrating how not to read the Bible, specifically how not to read the Book of Proverbs. In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor unpacks the errors in how Proverbs was cited… -
177. Countering Sean Feucht with Karrie Gaspard-Hogewood
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Karrie Gaspard-Hogewood, a sociology doctoral fellow at Tulane University, about a protest march she organized to counter an event by Christian Nationalistic musician Sean Feucht in New Orleans on Feb. 8, 2025. You can learn more about Feucht at A Public Witness, including reports on his… -
176. Paul Raushenbush & Trump's Targeting of Christians
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Rev. Paul Raushenbush, president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance, about various ways the Trump administration has targeted Christian groups, including Episcopalians, Catholics, and Lutherans. You can read more about the recent attacks on Lutheran charity work in a report at A Public Witness and in a memo from… -
175. Mariann Budde, John Danforth, & Prophetic Preaching
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with John Danforth, a former U.S. Senator and Episcopal priest, about the controversy over Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde's sermon during an inauguration prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral. You can read more about the issue at A Public Witness, including a report on the sermon, a look… -
174. Joe Blosser on To Love Our Neighbors
Joe Blosser talks with Word&Way President Brian Kaylor about her new book To Love Our Neighbors: Radical Practices in Solidarity, Sufficiency, and Sustainability. He also discusses understandings of how a neighbor is, church food pantries, and economic neoliberalism. Note: Don't forget to subscribe to our award-winning e-newsletter A Public Witness that helps you make sense…
Books
Review: The God of Monkey Science
In her book "The God of Monkey Science," science educator and evangelical Janet Kellogg Ray reveals the dangers of science denialism to the future of our planet and to the Christian faith itself.
Review: Defending Democracy From Its Christian Enemies
In "Defending Democracy From Its Christian Enemies," David P. Gushee calls us to preserve key democratic norms — even as many Christians take a reactionary and antidemocratic stance.
Review: The A to Z of the New Testament
In "The A to Z of the New Testament: Things Experts Know That Everyone Else Should Too," James F. McGrath cuts through common myths and misunderstandings of problematic Bible passages.
Review: Walter Brueggemann’s Prophetic Imagination
In "Walter Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography Paperback," Conrad L. Kanagy peers deeply into the theologian's interior life, about which little has been understood by even those closest to him.