Weekly Roundup: April 18
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to a conversation with the new head of an advocacy organization and a look at an effort to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S.’s independence that are free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received a report on Christian schools impacted by the Trump administration’s targeting of international students.
Support our journalism ministry by upgrading to a paid e-newsletter subscription today!
Top 5 at wordandway.org
Review: Becoming the Pastor’s Wife. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry by Beth Allison Barr.
Joan Brown Campbell, Global and National Ecumenical Leader, Dies at 93. Adelle M. Banks wrote about the first ordained woman to lead the National Council of Churches.
African Church Leaders Defend Migrants After Libya Bans Humanitarian Aid Agencies. Fredrick Nzwili reported push back against a northern African nation cracking down on refugees fleeing war and persecution.
Why Did Jesus Die? Churches Grapple With the Mystery of Atonement. Kathryn Post wrote about progressive and mainline churches offering an Easter theology without a doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement.
From 65 Feet Above the Altar, Ukrainian Master Races To Finish Texas Church’s Easter Icon. Marissa Greene reported on an iconographer working to finish an Orthodox church’s dome with a representation of the ascension of Jesus.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
During Holy Week we remember the sham trials, unjust treatment, and execution of Jesus by an imperial government backed by religious leaders. This year during Holy Week a leading story in the news has been the plight of a man wrongly deported and unjustly detained by an imperial government backed by religious leaders.
The U.S. government admitted in court that it illegally deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia last month. Yet, government officials have tried to wash their hands of the ordeal by insisting there’s nothing they can do. Even after multiple judges — including conservative ones — have ordered the administration to have Garcia returned to his family, the administration has refused.
The administration has also lied about Garcia, falsely claiming he’s a gang member. The “evidence” is that he was seen wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie — and thus he was accused of gang ties by a police detective who later pleaded guilty to giving confidential information about a case to a sex worker he was paying for sexual acts. In reality, Garcia first came to the U.S. to flee threats from the gang the administration wrongly says he’s part of. Yet, the administration continues to defame the imprisoned Garcia, often with spokespeople lying about him while wearing a gold cross necklace. What is truth, after all?
Meanwhile, some Republican members of Congress flew to El Salvador this week not to visit Garcia but to pose for pictures in front of others deported by the administration to be detained indefinitely. Rep. Riley Moore of West Virginia, who describes himself in his X bio as “Father, Husband, Roman Catholic,” posted a picture of himself on X during Holy Week giving two thumbs up in front of a jail cell overcrowded with people who had been deported. No word yet on whether he cast lots for anyone’s clothes while there.
In light of all of this, I can hear the words of the detained, tortured, crucified Jesus reminding us, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”
Other News of Note
Brian Kaylor appeared on the Telling Jefferson Lies podcast with host Warren Throckmorton to talk about Speaker Mike Johnson’s inaccurate claims about reading “Thomas Jefferson’s prayer.”
Aaron Zitner of the Wall Street Journal profiled televangelist Paula White-Cain, Donald Trump’s primary spiritual advisor and head of his White House Faith Office.
During an Easter event at the White House on Wednesday (April 16), evangelist Franklin Graham claimed Donald Trump ended the “spiritual drought” in that building that existed when Joe Biden was president — although unlike Trump, Biden regularly attended church.
The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring that “Christ is King” despite opposition to such government endorsement of religion.
A bill pushing chaplains in public schools passed the Arizona House of Representatives this week, though it remains to be seen if Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs will sign it or not. This type of bill is moving in several states right now.
Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill mandating the posting of an edited version of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. Arkansas joins Louisiana with this legislation, though it is also being pushed in numerous other states.
“News flash: The Ten Commandments are actually religious in nature.” —Mark Chancey, professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University, during a panel on Christian Nationalism at a religion journalism conference at SMU as he noted problems with state legislation to require an edited version of the Ten Commandments in public schools.
Proving he does not actually believe in religious liberty, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is trying to block the construction of a mosque.
Christian Afghani asylum seekers are worried after being told they must leave the country or be deported.
Joseph San Mateo wrote for Crux about how relatives of victims killed during the drug war waged by former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte remembered their loved ones during a Palm Sunday service.
Photo of the Week
Thanks for reading!