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Churches across Chicago braced for Trump’s threat of a National Guard deployment and apocalyptic force, even as Chicago’s rates of violent crime have dropped substantially in recent years as part of a national trend.

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.

This issue of A Public Witness dons a mask before carefully treading into the dangerous medical — and religious — anti-vax world of Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo.

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Church

When faculty and staff at Sterling College received an updated employee handbook in August 2023, they were quickly alarmed by changes made without their input. Those concerns sparked a year of frustration with president Scott Rich’s leadership, frustration that continues as a new school year approaches.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and the pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, voiced criticism of Trump during a session of the PNBC meeting.

Substantial time was devoted to discussing policies embraced by the Biden-Harris administration that oppose Republican proposals, including Project 2025.

Nation

While reporters and peaceful protesters were accosted on Pentecost by militarized forces, tanks have been rolling into the nation’s capital so President Trump can enjoy a military parade on his birthday this Saturday.

This issue of A Public Witness takes a stroll through President Donald Trump’s proposed Medicaid cuts and the deadly theology preached by a Republican senator from Iowa.

The group Freedom From Religion condemned the ruling, saying that ‘treating religiously affiliated nonprofits the same as all other nonprofits is not a violation of the First Amendment.’

World

‘We can be accidental accomplices in keeping people poor,’ TV travel host Rick Steves said he learned from Simon.

Leaders of Jordan’s Council of Churches issued a similar statement on Nov. 5, calling for the cancellation of Christmas celebrations in the kingdom.

Church leaders are conducting weekly workshops to train traditional and church leadership in how to promote peace in their communities.

Editorials

Brian KaylorLast month, news headlines called the shooting in Las Vegas the “deadliest mass shooting in US history.” That’s the fifth time in my life that such a tragedy claimed that title —

Brian KaylorI recently lost a tooth. And the tooth fairy didn’t even bother to give me a quarter — or whatever the going rate is these days.

Brian KaylorA popular myth surrounds the hymn “Amazing Grace.” It illustrates that how we tell a story matters, because the details teach us the moral of the story. The simple version makes it

Word&Way Voices

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy argues that the bully pulpit of yesteryear has effectively been replaced by bully politics — but we will never fully understand how this happened until we examine how cruelty is often disguised as a form of humor.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that this MLK day, we should honor his great teacher Dr. Howard Thurman by walking in nature, sitting in reflective silence, looking at the ways creation works together, and then applying these lessons to our lives. We might even find ourselves talking to

Rev. Nathan Empsall of Faithful America reflects on why he sought to provide a Christian witness against the unholy and heretical political ideology of Christian Nationalism that helped inspire the deadly attack on the Capitol two years ago.

E-Newsletter

Some public figures also regularly tweet a random Bible verse on Sundays. And sometimes that creates an incongruity with the news. So this issue of A Public Witness gets biblical online to look inside this practice of tweeting the Bible.

This issue of A Public Witness shows up like a hotdish with, dontcha know, a look at Minnesota Nice Lutherans and why, gosh darn it, the attacks on Walz’s church are worse than Wisconsin.

This issue of A Public Witness grabs some tinsel and some lights to unwrap some recent seasonally inappropriate “War on Christmas” rhetoric and rake the problematic attacks over the coals.

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Books

Robert D. Cornwall reviews On the Spectrum: Autism, Faith, and the Gifts of Neurodiversity by Daniel Bowman, Jr. The book was recently chosen by the Academy of Parish Clergy as its 2022 Book of the Year.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews the book The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr. Part memoir and part history, the book serves as a strong rebuttal to patriarchalism and complementarianism.

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief by David Bentley Hart. He argues that the book challenges our certainties and pushes our buttons, but with the war in Ukraine raising the profile

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Living Under Water: Baptism as a Way of Life by Kevin J. Adams. Cornwall makes the case that this book can help us gain a better sense of what baptism means so that we can live