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This issue of A Public Witness considers the danger of letting government outlaw a religion and the warnings about who could be next on the target list after Muslims.

Fountain Street Church, founded in 1869 through the merger of two Baptist congregations, has a legacy of rejecting dogma and pushing the envelope.

When Christianity becomes publicly associated with nationalist aggression and eagerness for war, it presents a face to the world that is, by any honest reading of the New Testament, a misrepresentation of the faith.

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Church

It's at least the second lawsuit challenging the federal government's policy of barring faith leaders from accessing some Department of Homeland Security facilities.

Rev. Jorge Bautista is seeking $5 million in damages from the federal government and plans to sue the unnnamed agent individually.

The statement’s signers include a mix of denominational leaders, seminary presidents, scholars, and leaders of prominent congregations.

Nation

Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas all have enacted similar laws — and as such, each mandate has faced legal challenges that many expect to eventually be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This issue of A Public Witness considers the danger of letting government outlaw a religion and the warnings about who could be next on the target list after Muslims.

While organizers claim the government-run church services are for everyone, the March event particularly demonstrated that this was a program crafted by and intended for Catholics.

World

U.S. President Donald Trump has alleged without evidence that Christians are the primary targets in Nigeria. While Christians have been among those targeted, analysts say the majority of victims of armed groups are Muslims.

The worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in the U.S., has no formal head, but the archbishop traditionally has been seen as its spiritual leader.

This issue of A Public Witness highlights important voices of opposition to imperial plotting from a variety of religious groups, ranging from Lutherans to Baptists, Anglicans, Catholics, and others.

Editorials

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.

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.

Somehow, the plan allegedly rooted in faith values to represent Christians means driving out of office one of only three ministers in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Word&Way Voices

The cruel spectacle churns on for now, but Advent prepares us to see anew that there are countless ordinary acts of love happening quietly, out of sight, more than you and I will ever know.

It must have seemed hopeless in first-century Palestine for plenty of people, but that is where the light of the world chooses to be born. God is still coming into being, even amidst the cruelty of ICE and the terror of state violence.

A difficult pregnancy made it feel like darkness was closing in. But still, there was a tiny burning ember of hope that kept glowing. In the midst of actual and metaphoric scar tissue from years of losses, something miraculous happened.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness explores the theology behind viewing the United States as a nation that God asks to perform miracles, as expressed in the State of the Union address on Tuesday.

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.

The head of the Missouri Senate Education Committee thinks we should force public schools to teach that the Constitutional Convention prayed after Benjamin Franklin said they should — even though it very much never happened.

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Recent Episodes

Books

C.W. Howell’s book documents what transpired, unpacks the broader meaning, and illuminates the effects of the “Intelligent Design” movement that sought to shake the foundations of the scientific establishment.

Writing in a clear and accessible style, scholar Mark Goodacre takes a unique approach to showing that John knew and used the narratives of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

This new book from Diana Butler Bass offers an essay for every week in the seasons of the Christian year — from Advent and Christmas to Lent and Easter, through the entire calendar.

William Schultz, a historian of American religion at the University of Chicago Divinity School, makes a compelling argument that there was a moment where Colorado Springs was a place of enormous cultural influence.