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A survey released Tuesday (Oct. 20) found that Republicans and evangelicals increasingly see empathy as a danger that can lead society away from God. The survey found that more than half of Americans see President Trump as a threat to democracy.

Kansas has long been known as the launching pad for a fantasy story about the “Wizard of Oz.” But last night, the Sunflower State provided the setting for a show even more bizarre than one about witches, flying monkeys, and a talking (and singing) lion, scarecrow, and tin man.

Beyond supporting families in distress, the group hopes to activate Christians — especially White or English-speaking evangelicals — who have been sitting on the sidelines in aiding immigrants as mass deportations have ramped up.

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Church

This issue of A Public Witness looks at how some Republican politicians are attacking the faith of mainline Christians and how United Methodists are pushing back against the bigotry.

A national, faith-based movement called “Guns to Gardens” has the goal of getting guns off the streets and giving people a safe way to dispose of them.

As a Christian minister with a Muslim father and a mother of Jewish heritage, Bishop Adam Shoemaker hopes to use his background to facilitate more reconciliation, integration, and 'the understanding that we are inextricably linked.'

Nation

This issue of A Public Witness pulls back the curtain to explore self-defeating efforts from the religious right in Washington and Iowa.

One of the most prominent centers of theological education in the country, Vanderbilt Divinity School has been known for its social justice advocacy. Now students, faculty, and alumni wonder what the future holds.

By the time Bakker and his first wife, Tammy Faye, were forced to give up their Praise the Lord ministry — known as PTL — in 1987, they were a well-known television couple with a loyal following.

World

Churches are calling for restraint, humanitarian support, and law and order as xenophobic unrest deepens.

Despite the fact that many Venezuelan faith leaders have been impacted themselves by the ongoing disaster, they’ve sprung into action to provide food, psychological support, and other basic needs to the large population of victims.

‘For three years, the police saw me as a nudnikit (pest),’ said Yisca Harani, founder of the Religious Freedom Data Center, which tracks and aims to prevent incidents targeting Christians in Israel. ‘After the incident with the nun, I feel they are taking me a little more seriously.’

Editorials

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.

When Jesus said to go pray in a closet, he didn’t mean you should then show it off to Fox News or The Associated Press.

A chaplain is not just a pastor or a Sunday School teacher or a street preacher shouting through a bullhorn. This is a unique role, often in a secular setting that requires assistance with a variety of religious traditions.

Word&Way Voices

The Israel-U.S.-Iran conflict has seen an appeal to scripture from many of the involved leaders. But the moment God is invoked as argument rather than moral motivation, the willingness to be wrong is surrendered.

Set in modern-day Tehran, the new film premiering in Chicago this weekend is both a forbidden love story and a depiction of the steadfast faith of the Baha’i community amidst ongoing oppression.

We live in an era saturated with more means of communication than ever before, and yet we also face unprecedented threats to our genuine human connections.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside a recent conference that celebrated America’s heritage of religious freedom, with a special Seventh-day Adventist flavor.

As the Trump administration claims ‘anti-Christian bias’ under Biden, activists and mainline Protestant denominations are pushing back against ‘church invasions by ICE.’

The Department of Homeland Security insists its surveillance at University Baptist Church and other houses of worship was only about alleged criminal violations unrelated to immigration.

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Recent Episodes

Books

This groundbreaking study digs beneath the surface of one of early Christianity's most enigmatic documents and finds there two texts hidden side by side for nearly two millennia.

Warren Throckmorton, whose fact-checking of David Barton's book 'The Jefferson Lies' convinced the publisher to pull it from the shelves, picks a fight with fables told about the past by those who are trying to erase the separation of church

Drawing from personal experience, theological insight, and psychological depth, Richard Beck challenges the fear-based, legalistic interpretations that have long dominated many Christian traditions.

In his new book, acclaimed sociologist Robert Wuthnow seeks to both illuminate what has been hidden and to add complexity where a story has been too simply told.