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This week’s Summit for Religious Freedom, organized by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, struck a tone of joyful resistance.

The CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute makes the case that there is simply no evidence to suggest Americans are becoming more religious, either in their affiliation with a particular faith tradition or in terms of attending religious services more regularly.

The encounter between Christianity’s two most famous religious figures would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, given the divisions between their two churches over women’s ordination.

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Church

While some view the work of faith-based organizers and groups as part of a surge in activism by a new 'religious left,' others say the Black church and leaders rooted in its traditions don’t fit neatly within one pole or the other.

‘Just as Christ’s work on the cross was countercultural, this service is a counternarrative,’ said Bishop LaTrelle Easterling, who leads the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Episcopal Area.

New York Episcopalians profited from the transatlantic slave trade and were 'uniquely implicated in the odious institution and in anti-Black policies and practices that extend through generations,' according to a new report.

Nation

Notably absent from the lineup are representatives from other non-Christian faiths, such as Islam or Indigenous spiritual traditions, or leaders from mainline Christian or historically Black denominations.

The ruling sets up a potential clash at the U.S. Supreme Court over the issue in the future. Arkansas and Louisiana have passed similar laws, which have also been challenged in courts.

‘If they wanted this to be a unifying American project, there would have been a whole lot more attention to getting political diversity and ideological diversity,’ added Brian Kaylor of Word&Way.

World

He said God doesn't listen to the prayers of those who make war or cite God to justify their violence, just after Israeli police prevented the Catholic Church’s top leadership from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Sarah Mullally's appointment instantly makes her one of the most recognized Christian figures in the world, alongside the pope.

In lieu of the Palm Sunday procession, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem called on Christians around the world to commit to a moment of prayer for the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Editorials

The remarkable part of the Christmas story is that God decided to come as one of us. The incarnation means Jesus cried out at birth, announcing the breath of life in the one who breathes life into us.

For the first entry in our series this year, Word&Way president and editor-in-chief Brian Kaylor reflects on this week’s theme: Advent in a time of religious nationalism.

On Saturday (Oct. 18), millions of people attended “No Kings” rallies at about 2,600 locations across the country. Here are the remarks by Brian Kaylor at No Kings rally on the steps of the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City.

Word&Way Voices

From the beginning, the U.S. has prided itself on being a haven for persecuted believers. But it has also demanded those believers demonstrate their loyalty in ways that blur the line between conscience and citizenship.

In our familiarity with the birth narrative, we often do not consider the long-term consequences for the secondary figures in the story. It was an unsettling time that left long and permanent scars on their lives.

Advent reminds us that God comes into a world already organized by power and exclusion — and does not accept its terms. If Christianity is used today to justify separation, the gospel calls us back to its center.

E-Newsletter

Rev. Caleb Morell, a Southern Baptist, offered an evangelistic message about the resurrection of Jesus that stopped just short of a formal altar call as he urged government workers to follow Jesus.

This issue of A Public Witness considers how the military chaplain who authored a war prayer and the secretary of defense who appropriated it for himself performed violence against Scripture to justify violence against people.

In this edition of A Public Witness, we dig around between the couch cushions to explore the relationship between religion and politics as American Christians are confronted with what belongs to God when Caesar becomes more demanding.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Indigenous scholars Chris Hoklotubbe and Danny Zacharias explore what it means to read the Bible from the lens of Indigenous peoples in North America.

Political theorist Laura Field provides an intellectual tour of the MAGA New Right, a movement that has twice carried Donald Trump into the White House.

Combining gifted storytelling with keen analysis, Ryan Davis illuminates lived experiences within the LDS community and offers thoughtful reflections on what it might mean to share one heart and one mind in today’s polarized world.

Jennifer Houston McNeel explores the literary, historical, feminist, and theological significance of mothers and motherhood in the New Testament.