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Restrictions imposed by Israel against large gatherings due to the Iran war is casting a long shadow on Easter celebrations, but Palestinian Christians may be feeling it most acutely.

Editor-in-Chie Brian Kaylor reflects on a recent violent prayer by Pete Hegseth during a Christian worship service at the Pentagon and Mark Twain’s satirical work “The War Prayer.”

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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Church

Overall, besides worship services, participation in other religious activities and programs has increased or remained the same in the last five years.

The Rev. Tanya Lopez says a masked man pointed a weapon at her while she was filming a group of unidentified men detaining a man in her church's parking lot.

A vote to abolish the SBC’s public policy arm, known as the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, also failed on Wednesday afternoon.

Nation

Hundreds of clergy from around the country gathered in Minneapolis to learn from Minnesota faith leaders how to protest against ICE enforcement. Then they took to the streets and helped block the city’s airport.

The faith leaders, who hail from across the country and represent a range of religious traditions, deployed to neighborhoods with significant immigrant populations, where DHS agents have been most active.

Viral video of the protest shows activists standing up during the middle of a service at Cities Church and calling for the ousting of David Easterwood, a pastor at the Southern Baptist church who is also acting director of the St. Paul ICE field office.

World

Protests broke out on Sunday at the New Georgia United Methodist Church in Monrovia over the suspension of an outspoken critic of same-sex marriage. The protests spread to other churches in the capital, prompting riot police to intervene.

The Ulmer Münster in southern Germany is the world's tallest church. For now, anyway. The Gothic-style Lutheran church's reign — begun in May 31, 1890 — could end in 2025.

Christians in Jordan compose about 2% of the population and many are committed to the boycott, driven by ethical principles and a desire to show empathy and a shared sense of humanity with suffering Palestinians.

Editorials

There’s a famous line in C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe where a character laments that because of the White Witch’s rule over the land of Narnia, it is “always Winter but never Christmas.” But, what about a Spring without Easter?

In the disorienting last few days, it feels our society is reading Exodus 32 backward. We’ve started with a plague, moved to inappropriate revelry, and now seek to worship a statue of a cow.

Despite people hoarding toilet paper as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, I see hopeful signs that suggest deep down we know we’ve not been doing right as a society. We might call these moments of Jubilee.

Word&Way Voices

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy offers a unique rhetorical critique of how Trump acts and the danger this puts in the lap of his evangelical followers.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy explores the various meanings behind Trump’s recent endorsement of Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA Bible.’

On April 2, Oklahoma’s Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could allow a Catholic charter school to open — which critics say would demolish the line between church and state in education.

E-Newsletter

We’ve once again asked several Word&Way writers to recommend books perfect for wherever you find your happy place this summer.

While reporters and peaceful protesters were accosted on Pentecost by militarized forces, tanks have been rolling into the nation’s capital so President Trump can enjoy a military parade on his birthday this Saturday.

This issue of A Public Witness takes a stroll through President Donald Trump’s proposed Medicaid cuts and the deadly theology preached by a Republican senator from Iowa.

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Recent Episodes

Books

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.

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.

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.

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.