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This issue of A Public Witness explores a monument that upsets the political and historical stories being told (or not told) and challenges the religious claims we often make.

The Trump administration often speaks of protecting Christians from discrimination worldwide. But that concern seems to vanish when Israel is involved — even with a Baptist pastor serving as the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

The shape-note tradition emerged from New England’s 18th-century singing school movement that aimed to improve Protestant church music and expanded into a social activity.

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Videos

Church

The announcement comes less than two weeks before the election of the denomination’s next leader.

Pressler was one of the architects of the ‘Conservative Resurgence’ that took over the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s and 1990s. He was later accused of sexual abuse.

After losing nearly half its membership in just five years, the RCA’s General Synod will consider 10 proposals aimed at charting a path forward.

Nation

Most US religious groups remain broadly supportive of non-discrimination laws and policies toward LGBTQ+ people. Far fewer support gender-transition medical care for minors.

Leaders of the faith-based refugee resettlement organizations, which constitute seven of the 10 groups that partner with the government to perform the task, condemned the decision.

Marty was a giant in the study of American Christianity and the fundamentalist movement in major faiths around the globe. He was also a warmhearted friend, mentor and pastor to many.

World

AI is a growing interest for the U.N., as for national governments, multinational groups, tech companies, and others.

The U.S. continues to not only ignore the Convention on Cluster Munitions but also to ship the weapons to Ukraine. So this issue of A Public Witness uncovers the history of cluster bombs and the moral failure of nations that continue to utilize them.

The leaders are writing in response to a letter sent to Congress in June by religious groups and legislators asserting that the funds for the program were financing family planning and reproductive health programs, including abortion.

Editorials

Brian KaylorAttending church with a preschool child can improve one’s prayer life. I silently hope my five-year-old son won’t say anything embarrassing when the leader for children’s time asks a question. I pray

Brian KaylorBy the time our April issue lands in mailboxes, we might have a ninth U.S. Supreme Court justice for the first time since Antonin Scalia’s death more than 13 months ago. The

Brian KaylorSeventy-five years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order on Feb. 19, 1942 that excluded Japanese Americans from the West Coast. The next month, he created the War Relocation Authority

Word&Way Voices

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell believes we are teaching our young people a version of reading the Bible that resembles the game Operation. They often have little concept of “connective tissue” and can only pluck out quotations like the stylized versions of body parts in the board game.

Professor Greg Carey writes that hope is an essential strategy for Christians. As the apostle Paul said, three things abide: faith, hope, and love. Love may be the “greatest,” says Paul, but hope stands in the top three.

Terrell Carter writes that unfortunately, mass shootings and other acts of violence have become an ordinary experience in our world. Some might say that this upward trend in violence epitomizes the “ordinariness of suffering,” the fact that violent things regularly occur in the world.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness tackles Chicago Bears stadium pastor Rev. Charlie Dates and offers some postgame analysis about what went wrong with his recent prayer controversy.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the problems with recent public school chaplaincy bills by considering what a chaplain really is and what religious freedom actually looks like.

This issue of A Public Witness digs into recent data from Lifeway Research and the Land Center to see what we can actually learn about a significant evangelical denomination and why the framing of the report misses the mark.

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Recent Episodes

Books

Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt talks with Word&Way about his book 'The Love that is God.' He discusses his reasons for writing, the book’s main message, and why “love” is not a sentimental idea but central to what Christians believe about God.

Beth Allison Barr, author of The Making of Biblical Womanhood, talks about where the idea of biblical womanhood comes from, what she believes the Bible actually has to say about the role of women, and what it will take for

Women’s History Month may have ended weeks ago, but women’s impact on religion and spirituality goes on year-round. Here are 10 new nonfiction books, both forthcoming and released in the last year, that explore women's roles and influence in Christian

So-called “premium” Bibles aren’t new. And while they may not carry a steep price tag, a number of new and traditional Bible publishers are stressing the beauty of an old-fashioned book and the experience of slowing down to read at a