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Stanley Hauerwas writes that ‘war is America’s central liturgical act necessary to renew our sense that we are a nation unlike any other nation.’ Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy connects this idea to our TV habits.

This issue of A Public Witness considers the danger of letting government outlaw a religion and the warnings about who could be next on the target list after Muslims.

Fountain Street Church, founded in 1869 through the merger of two Baptist congregations, has a legacy of rejecting dogma and pushing the envelope.

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Videos

Church

The church's pastor said selling the shirts with the logo is an effort to ‘turn evil to good.’

Faith groups have long received government grants to feed the hungry, respond to disasters, and assist those in need — but recent comments from Trump administration officials have cast such grants in a bad light.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’s refusal to defend her fellow Lutherans is quite telling for understanding how some politicians are prioritizing politics and religion today.

Nation

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.

The Center on Faith & Justice at Georgetown University recently launched a campaign encouraging people to pledge not to shop on Amazon during this Advent season — and A Public Witness is one of the official partners.

'I've got bruises all over my body,' the Rev. Michael Woolf, who was thrown to the ground and arrested by police, told RNS.

World

'Israel’s right to self-defense has been invoked to justify that this operation is proportional, but with 30,000 dead, it’s not,' said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state.

With a bloody cleric adding Valentine’s Day to his culture (and literal) wars, this issue of A Public Witness looks deeper into the subversive mythology behind St. Valentine.

If approved by Parliament, the law will allow the government to “disapply” sections of U.K. human rights law when it comes to Rwanda-related asylum claims and make it harder to challenge the deportations in court.

Editorials

Brian KaylorAs a journalist, there are stories I love to write. Like the stories from the annual gathering of the Baptist World Alliance last month in Bangkok, Thailand. These types of events inspire

Brian KaylorIf Baptists have a guiding word it would likely be “cooperative” — at least in theory. Yet, it seems we no longer believe in the c-word. Many Baptist churches have a denominational

Brian KaylorA couple local public school ballot initiatives recently inspired me to go door-to-door with my wife and five-year-old son. I told my son to say “vote for J & C” to indicate

Word&Way Voices

We often imagine maturing in faith means putting aside more "childish" ways of viewing God. But Kelly Fremon Craig’s film adaptation of Judy Blume’s "Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret" shows that what's often needed is a more childlike approach so we don't mistake a means to God for

Much like the evangelical megachurches that have since taken over many a suburban mall movie theater, shopping malls initially catered to middle-class America during the height of White flight and represent an interesting case study of social stratification and culture.

For Earth Day, Lauren Graeber reflects on the spiritual practice of working the land and the deep wisdom it can offer about where and how to encounter a life of faith.

E-Newsletter

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.

Amid the vitriol against Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde from Trump and other Republicans this week, a few proposals stick out since they attempt to empower the federal government to decide which religious beliefs should be allowed or not.

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Books

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "Theology and the Star Wars Universe" edited by Benjamin D. Espinoza. This book is part of a larger series of academic studies that explore the relationship between theology/religion and pop culture. The idea here is to

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "Pathways to Hindu-Christian Dialogue" by Anantanand Rambachan. This book provides an accessible foundation for Hindu-Christian relations that are often underdeveloped. Rambachan outlines barriers to relationships and understanding that both communities present to the other which can

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "Encountering Mystery: Religious Experience in a Secular Age" by Dale C. Allison Jr. This book seeks to help those who have had spiritual experiences that are not easily explained by sorting these occurances out instead of

Robert D. Cornwall reviews "Reading Theology Wisely: A Practical Introduction" by Kent Eilers with art by Chris Koelle. This book, written for the student or layperson, makes the case that theology is more than dry intellectualism because how we see