They point to a lack of DNA evidence and racial bias in the conviction of Imam Marcellus 'Khaliifah' Williams, who has maintained his innocence for over two decades.
This issue of A Public Witness shares some of the meaningful insights we’ve learned from Unsettling Advent this year on the topics of state executions, political anxieties, and bloodshed in Israel.
The Rev. Jeff Hood, spiritual adviser to Kenneth Smith, argued the restrictions imposed during the execution would violate Hood’s right to the free exercise of religion.
Rev. Lauren Bennett reflects on her experience with a state execution this year and how faith requires us to bring softness to hard places while opening ourselves to meet Jesus in unlikely faces.
Many things have changed since ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her’ was written, but not who receives the harshest punishments: those with the least social power.
Pastor and hospice chaplain Melissa Bowers reminds us that in the long, horrifying legacy of state-sanctioned murder in the United States, a tiny pinprick of light has broken through.
Rev. Carlos L. Malavé of the Latino Christian National Network contrasts our propensity for fear and fighting violence with more violence with an alternative reality revealed to us through this liturgical season.
Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood reflects on how there is nothing pure about the death penalty process. It ensnares us all. So, where does hope fit in?
Brian Kaylor reflects on state executions during Christmastime and the modern parallels with a biblical character we often leave out of our nativity sets and pageants.
We’re excited to announce that Unsettling Advent is coming back again with new themes. Once again, we’ve assembled a fantastic group of writers to help us all consider Advent in light of issues from the news this year: state executions, political anxieties, and bloodshed in