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Civil rights advocates on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Texas law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments, teeing up a potential new test of state-sponsored religious expression in classrooms.

This issue of A Public Witness reports on how pastors are responding to news that undercover federal agents secretly spied on them, and includes updates about more incidents revealed at a Baptist church that is covered by a federal injunction blocking such warrantless DHS actions.

The Department of Defense is introducing a course centered on Western civilization and Christianity this fall in the schools it operates for military families, part of an effort by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to redirect the education system toward patriotic values and classical learning.

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Videos

Church

Led by Zach Lambert, Restore church is part of a small but growing countertrend.

From encrypted apps to legal clinics: How an immigrant-majority church is responding to protect its congregation.

In an open letter, a group of survivors and advocates say that comments by SBC President Willy Rice and Texas pastor Jack Graham make it harder to address the issue of abuse in churches.

Nation

In light of advocacy from figures like Doug Wilson and Micah Beckwith, it’s worth remembering why the American experiment includes a ban on religious tests for office.

With a record-setting fundraising haul, Hamilton still faces an uphill battle to become Kansas' first Democratic senator in nearly a century.

Other attempts under federal law to prohibit the display of a highly edited version of the religious text in public schools — primarily the First Amendment’s guarantee of separation of church and state — have been unsuccessful so far.

World

The Greek Orthodox leader expects to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this month.

‘The old city is not merely a residential area,’ the clergy said in a statement. ‘It is the historical and human heart of Tyre, home to thousands of civilians, including families, children, and the elderly.’

Among the hundreds of objects already found: a fourth-century coin stamped with the face of the Emperor Constantine, and shards of medieval pottery painted on the inside with marks no expert has yet deciphered.

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

For the inaugural entry in a series on religion and AI, a biblical scholar and ethicist considers what the Christian tradition has to offer this topic — not as a set of answers, but as a way of asking better questions.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell shares a bit about her new Theo(logy) of noticing found in a book by Allen Levi called 'Theo of Golden.'

The commercialized American church has arrived at a form of religious life in which institutional maintenance and spiritual fidelity become indistinguishable, and where questioning the institution is easily recoded as questioning God.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness documents several outlandish events beyond those named in a recent church-state lawsuit by employees or a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

This issue of A Public Witness treks to The Six to cover the recent gathering of the Baptist World Alliance.

Trump’s ‘Religious Liberty Commission’ is now receiving public comments that it will review before issuing a final report. While they will not repent of their Christian Nationalism, it can still be an important sign of how unpopular their agenda is if they are swamped with public opposition.

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Books

For this issue of A Public Witness, we offer our fifth annual list of books recommended by Word&Way writers that will be perfect for wherever you find your happy place this summer.

Author and pastor MaryAnn McKibben Dana delivers a powerful critique of society’s restrictive expectations while offering a transformative vision for human flourishing.

Matthew Sutton’s expansive new book is the perfect resource for understanding what the United States has been over the past 250 years, not what some people wish it would be.

Bringing together a love of storytelling and decades of experience in pastoral ministry, Frank G. Honeycutt invites readers to explore the spiritual twists and turns in their family trees.