SNL, Congress, and a Newsletter
Join us as we celebrate five years of our ‘A Public Witness’ newsletter and highlight the best from the 115 pieces we’ve published over the past 12 months exploring the intersection of faith, culture, and politics.
Evangelical Broadcasting Group Asks FCC to Investigate ABC Over Jimmy Kimmel Joke
TV host Jimmy Kimmel joked about the first lady having ‘a glow like an expectant widow,’ during a sketch about the White House Correspondents' Dinner that aired two days before the actual reception.
That Viral ‘Pulp Fiction’ Prayer Story
The story about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reading a prayer based on a scene in a Quentin Tarantino film really did go viral in the U.S. and elsewhere. And it all started with our newsletter A Public Witness.
Hegseth Borrows Violent Prayer From ‘Pulp Fiction’ to Bless Iran War at April Pentagon Worship Service
Pete Hegseth, who likes to call himself ‘secretary of war,’ read a prayer during the latest government worship service that echoes a scene written by Quentin Tarantino calling for ‘great vengeance and furious anger.’
Taylor Tomlinson’s Netflix Special Is Too Ungodly for Many Churches. This One Welcomed Her.
Fountain Street Church, founded in 1869 through the merger of two Baptist congregations, has a legacy of rejecting dogma and pushing the envelope.
New Christian Artists Push Genre Boundaries With Rap, Afrobeats, and R&B
Often boosted by social media, many of them got their start with independent labels or by uploading self-made songs to streaming platforms. Now, bigger labels and streaming services are catching on.
Blessed Are the Pepper-Sprayers?
This issue of A Public Witness explores biblical ‘peacemaker’ rhetoric from the Trump administration and how it wildly misrepresents what Jesus actually taught.
Saying Ouch or Amen: How Druski’s Jokes Can Help the Church
Comedian Druski’s latest viral church parody contains some truth in its critique, however uncomfortable it may be. The Church and the Christians within it should face that openly.
What ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ Teaches Us About Religious Liberty Today
From the beginning, the U.S. has prided itself on being a haven for persecuted believers. But it has also demanded those believers demonstrate their loyalty in ways that blur the line between conscience and citizenship.
Faith-Based Entertainment Sees a Revival in Hollywood. Defining What It Is Can Be a Challenge
At the movies this fall, Josh O’Connor plays a hot priest with a complicated past, Keanu Reeves is an angel who lost his wings, and Elizabeth Olsen has a romantic dilemma in the afterlife. Hollywood, it seems, has found God.