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Indigenous scholars Chris Hoklotubbe and Danny Zacharias explore what it means to read the Bible from the lens of Indigenous peoples in North America.

Political theorist Laura Field provides an intellectual tour of the MAGA New Right, a movement that has twice carried Donald Trump into the White House.

Some Christian users said they planned to stop using Hallow because of its partnership with Carlson, while others praised the collaboration. Multiple users called for boycotts of the app and other sponsors.

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Videos

Church

Learn about how the earliest followers of Jesus did not commemorate his birth, the acts of kindness of a fourth-century saint that inspired Santa, and the Japanese tradition of eating KFC.

The pastor, celebrating 50 years in his pulpit, has never had more influence than he does under the current presidential administration.

‘We know that Jesus was born into a Roman imperial occupation, and pretty much immediately becomes a refugee in Egypt, has to flee, and faces political violence,’ the Rev. Michael Woolf said.

Nation

Given the importance of promoting religious liberty and addressing religious bigotry, this issue of A Public Witness delves into the debates swirling around the White House’s “Religious Liberty Commission.”

Leon Benjamin, a charismatic preacher who frequently spoke at the ReAwaken America Tour, attended the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally on Jan. 6, 2021, and even walked with the crowd to the Capitol grounds.

DHS has openly mocked the largely mainline Protestant protesters. A spokesperson referred to a minister as ‘pastor’ in air-quotes, and the agency referred to demonstrators at a faith-led protest as ‘imbecilic morons’ who needed to ‘get a job.’

World

While Christians are among those targeted, analysts say the majority of victims of armed groups are Muslims in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north, where most attacks occur.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is being phased out, said Samaritan's Purse CEO Franklin Graham. Johnnie Moore, the evangelical PR guru who has served as GHF chairman, recently stepped down.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has been trying to rally fellow evangelical Christians and urge Congress to designate Nigeria as a violator of religious freedom with unfounded claims.

Editorials

The thinning of the UMC’s conservative ranks makes this week’s conference a perfect time to address the issue.

Missing in all the jokes and news reports about the Trump Bible is that this isn’t the first time a presidential stamp of approval was sought for the Good Book.

Brian Kaylor reacts to claims that God is sending a message through a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook the northeastern part of the U.S. on Friday or a solar eclipse going across much of the U.S. on Monday.

Word&Way Voices

The good news of Advent is this: Christ entered the violence of human life, the very violence that says some folks are more valuable than others, and took on these abstractions.

Advent teaches us that a shiny, gilded facade only serves to cover up the other side of the story. If we keep our focus on the child sleeping in an animal feeding trough, we might be unsettled — but the truth we see will compel us to live differently.

Advent reminds us we are called to help bring the empire of God — not of any power or principality — into being. And as the Lord’s Prayer exhorts, resist the temptations and trappings of the unjust.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness looks at criticism of the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela by various Christian denominations and organizations, as well as pleas for peace by Venezuelan Christian leaders.

We’re a small outlet, but we’re having an impact and covering stories that would otherwise not receive the attention they need. Here we count down our most popular pieces and offer some highlights from the year.

The fake ‘war on Christmas’ examples ginned up by culture war talk show hosts in recent years are nothing compared to misusing the birth of Jesus — and Christmas celebrations in general — to justify anti-immigrant policies.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In this new book, Brian Kaylor exposes the ways Christian Nationalism distorts scripture through seven different problematic approaches to interpreting and applying the biblical text.

Greg Carey, scholar of the New Testament and apocalyptic literature, invites readers to reconsider the Book of Revelation as a text that can speak meaningfully to contemporary resistance movements.

How do we make sense of our confusing political moment? Scripture is constantly warped to advance purely partisan agendas. The underlying goal is advancing power at seemingly any cost. Luckily, we have a new book that deciphers it all.

In this timely book, young adults voice their concerns and laments about the church’s past and present, as well as their hopes and dreams for its future.