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With Pete Hegseth resurrecting a Confederate memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, this issue of A Public Witness looks back at how prayer was used to bless its White Supremacy ideology.

‘A president with a true Christian agenda would be most concerned with uplifting those in our country who have been cast aside,’ said Rev. Shannon Fleck of Faithful America. ‘The most vulnerable among us are not billionaires. Those most vulnerable among us are not these manipulators of Christianity that are seeking nothing but power.’

Talarico, who is a student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, discussed the protest in a webinar Tuesday co-sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund and Interfaith Alliance.

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Videos

Church

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside Sunday’s Independence Day service at an influential megachurch to better understand the heretical danger of Christian Nationalism and its pervasiveness in our churches and culture.

Rowe compared the church’s challenges to the collapse of the steel industry, which had employed his grandparents, when he was growing up.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at an Episcopal Church resolution, a PC(USA) recommendation, and a regional UMC resolution to see how some mainline Protestant groups are wrestling — or not — with their own complicity in spreading Christian Nationalism.

Nation

Reviving a 1976 decision against a fundamentalist Christian school will likely fail, say legal experts. But if it succeeds, it could trigger conservative Christians’ ‘nightmare scenario.’

For years, churches and separation of church and state activists have been frustrated at the way the IRS has handled allegations of church electioneering.

For years, Rev. Shannon Fleck has been challenging Christian Nationalists in Oklahoma. Now, she’s ready to mobilize on the national level.

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

Bill WebbIn case you haven’t noticed, we’re coming down the final stretch of an election year.

Participate in the process and affirm you are exercising the right — if not the privilege —

Bill WebbJohn was well known for all the right reasons. His sons Michael and Mark gave testimony that he did not dishonor the family name. But he handled himself in all that he did to honor his

Bill WebbHospitality is often identified as a spiritual gift with the emphasis on receiving or having the gift. But as much as any other gift, the biblical reference emphasizes that a person receives

Word&Way Voices

Thomas Lecaque writes that the AR-15 has been claimed as the sword Christ will wield in the Apocalypse. It is not a tool for revelation, but it is certainly a tool of Armageddon. It is a gun that ends worlds.

Jeremy Fuzy writes that it is an American tradition to believe in the myth of redemptive violence — the idea that we can get violence under control by using more violence. But state-sanctioned killings, whether by police or the death penalty, do nothing to stop the underlying cycle of violence.

Professor Marcia Pally makes the case that in nations descended from Abrahamic traditions like the U.S., religion is not somehow conservative and anti-democratic while secularism is progressive and pro-democracy. Abrahamic principles are at the core of democracy.

E-Newsletter

We’ve once again asked several Word&Way writers to each offer two books perfect for curling up with at the beach, on your couch, or in your backyard as you listen to the singing of the cicadas.

“Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism” has officially launched — check out the conversation we had to celebrate with Dr. Diana Butler Bass, Rev. Adriene Thorne, and Dr. Andrew Whitehead.

As we mark the anniversary of a powerful confessional statement, this issue of A Public Witness considers how it still speaks to us today with a deep theological assessment of the dangers of uniting church and state.

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Books

Sarah Bessey and other contributors to A Rhythm of Prayer responded to the backlash with a statement Thursday evening, saying critics are missing the point of a controversial prayer by Chanequa Walker-Barnes.

Evangelicals who are questioning often do so in isolation — but some are now looking for community. And they’re finding it in book clubs, reading the growing market of deconstructionist and justice-oriented literature.

Maina Mwaura writes about interviewing pastor and theologian Timothy Keller about Keller’s new book out for Easter, ‘Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter.’

Before passing away last July, famed civil rights activist C.T. Vivian started working on his autobiography, which will be released next week. In the book, he reflected on his role in key civil rights moments. And he suggested the “origins”