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Federal courts have ordered more than two dozen school districts to not hang the posters, including on Tuesday when a judge ruled that the mandate violates the First Amendment.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the not-so-immaculate conception of Christ the King Sunday and the theological conflict today between different visions of Christ as King.

Leading Qur'anic scholar Gabriel Said Reynolds presents a revisionary account of how Islam emerged in dialogue with Christian traditions, challenging the dominant narrative that it came out of a predominantly pagan context.

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Church

Numerous faith leaders across the U.S. say the immigration crackdown launched by President Donald Trump’s new administration has sown fear within their migrant-friendly congregations.

This issue of A Public Witness explores Bishop Mariann Budde’s viral call for Trump to show mercy, the attacks on her and the Episcopal Church that followed, and the Washington National Cathedral’s history of advancing Christian Nationalism.

'It really has to be an all-hands-on-deck community engagement to rebuild and restore and return,' said one Los Angeles pastor.

Nation

'Those verses were not about the United States military,' said Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and author. 'They weren't really even about any imperial military force, and quite the opposite.'

This comes as several different religious freedom lawsuits have been filed against the Trump administration by Christian denominations, organizations, and other faith groups over immigration raids and canceled refugee resettlement.

‘Whatever he may have been in the past, he’s not fringe now,’ said Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and Wilson critic who wrote the forthcoming book ‘The Bible According to Christian Nationalists.’

World

As we mark the anniversary of a powerful confessional statement, this issue of A Public Witness considers how it still speaks to us today with a deep theological assessment of the dangers of uniting church and state.

‘A core practice of nonviolent resistance, including within our tradition, is economic non-cooperation with injustice,’ the Christian organizations wrote.

The incident underscored how the church’s official teaching bumps against the reality that there are gay priests and plenty of LGBTQ+ Catholics who want to be fully part of the life and sacraments of the church.

Editorials

Imagine a world where Christians — both those running for office and those just planning to vote — actually applied the Golden Rule. With that goal in mind, Baptist and other denominational leaders are calling for Christians to act Christlike, even in political conversations.

There’s a fascinating, oft - overlooked parable in Judges 9. It might be one of the most profound teachings about political power and who we trust to rule found in the scriptures.

When Zacchaeus met Jesus and recognized his sins, he did more than say a prayer. And a critical part of that story is the financial payments. But are we unwilling to let a Zacchaeus walk such a path of redemption?

Word&Way Voices

While Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lampooned sanctuary cities by sending buses full of desperate people seeking safety for themselves and their families, he did not anticipate that they would be received with open hearts, houses, and churches.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that the most color-shifting term in our political vocabulary is 'rights.'

Ryan Whitaker’s new film 'Surprised by Oxford,' based on Carolyn Weber’s memoir of the same name, explores what happens when our plans and expectations are thwarted by the vagaries of life.

E-Newsletter

Few people have thought as much about faith and politics as Danforth, who served as Missouri’s attorney general, special counsel for the DOJ, special envoy to Sudan, and ambassador to the UN for George W. Bush.

Katherine Stewart has created a collection of dispatches from the front lines of the current assault on American democracy.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at numerous sermons by Episcopal and other mainline preachers across the country as they reflected on Luke 4, Bishop Budde, and showing mercy.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In "Resisting Apartheid America: Living the Badass Gospel," Miguel A. De La Torre challenges readers and makes a strong case that EuroChristianity, defined by White Supremacy, is the greatest threat to the United States.

"Acting in the Wake: Prayers for Justice" emerged from different occasions where notable theologian Walter Brueggemann was called upon to offer prayers over the past quarter century.

The power of retrospectives to inform contemporary pursuits of justice motivated Sandhya Jha, a peace activist, community organizer, and Disciples of Christ pastor, to write "Rebels, Despots, & Saints: The Ancestors Who Free Us & The Ancestors We Need to

"Deliver Us: Salvation and the Liberating God of the Bible" by Walter Brueggemann is the first volume in a new series gathering the lesser-known works of one of the most influential figures in biblical studies and theology.