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This issue of A Public Witness hits the streets to consider what some recent creative protests can teach us about how to prophetically resist authoritarianism.

The directive last year from former Superintendent Ryan Walters drew immediate condemnation from civil rights groups and prompted a pending lawsuit from a group of parents, teachers, and religious leaders.

While some scholars argue over which theological positions to include in a definition of “evangelical,” religious studies professor William Stell finds such “belief-based models” too vague and problematic.

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Videos

Church

Leaders from a variety of denominations and organizations gathered on International Human Rights Day to call for Christians to stand for justice and dignity for Palestinians.

Even if members are politically active and many leaders are often outspoken about issues and candidates they support, most congregations make great efforts to keep politics out of the church when they gather.

Abuse survivors involved in the initial investigation continue to call on the university to prioritize student safety and healing over correction.

Nation

The opening chapter to “The Bible According to Christian Nationalists,” which officially releases in eight weeks, is fortunately (and unfortunately) quite timely. We are sharing an excerpt from it here.

The ruling overturned a decision by a lower court where a plaintiff argued World Vision had discriminated against her marital status, sex, and sexual orientation.

Hegseth recently made headlines when he shared a CNN video on social media about the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, showing its pastors arguing women should not have the right to vote.

World

Dmitry Safronov held a memorial service by Navalny’s grave in Moscow on March 26 to mark 40 days since the politician’s death, an important ritual within Russian Orthodox tradition.

The starring role in a June auction at Christie's will be taken by the Crosby-Schoyen Codex, the oldest known book in private hands. Written on papyrus in the Coptic language, it contains the oldest complete version of the First Epistle of Peter and the Book of Jonah.

The Rev. Hkalam Samson is a prominent advocate for the human rights of ethnic and religious minorities in Myanmar and in 2019 was part of a delegation that met President Trump at the White House.

Editorials

We really are living in a more profane age. And it’s not just the four-letter words or the using of God’s name in vain. The Bible clearly teaches us that our words matter.

Last week, Alabama Republican Governor Kay Ivey apologized for performing in blackface 52 years ago while a college student at a BSU party, an incident she couldn't recall. If, like Ivey, we can’t remember what our Baptist churches and institutions did in the past, how can we really improve things

As Christians, we are to be people of the Truth. We are to people who speak truthfully, who bear truthful witness about neighbors. And part of that requires us to be willing to call a thing a thing, to call racism racism.

Word&Way Voices

The recent Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) General Assembly demonstrated the growing commitment within the denomination to social justice and inclusion as key Gospel mandates.

At the 2023 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the smallest Mainline denominations met to discuss some of the church's biggest issues.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy argues that Southern Baptists are engaged in a long slow return to Rome in a couple of very particular ways: one pagan and one religious.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness offers short highlights from four notable reflections on the life of James Earl Carter Jr.

This issue of A Public Witness reflects on the moral exemplar Jimmy Carter offered not only after his presidency but also during his underappreciated time in the Oval Office.

In this review of 2024, we count down our most popular pieces and reflect on some other highlights from the year.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President" by Allen C. Guelzo. This new book, an updated version of the 1999 first edition, offers one of the best portrayals of Lincoln the thinker, politician, and war-time leader.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "The Church After Innovation: Questioning Our Obsession With Work, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship" by Andrew Root. This book is a philosophical conversation about whether being innovative and creative is the best way to be faithful as Christians.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "The Scandal of the Gospel: Preaching and the Grotesque" by Charles L. Campbell. This book challenges us to look beyond the safe path and embrace the less orderly and more chaotic realities of the grotesque, which

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "A Gift Grows in the Ghetto: Reimagining the Spiritual Lives of Black Men" by Jay-Paul Michael Hinds. This book reimagines the ghetto, a place of separation and abandonment, in terms of the wilderness that Ishmael experienced