Weekly Roundup: April 24
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to a look at how our Pulp Fiction prayer report went viral that is free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received an analysis of a particularly problematic part of a court ruling this week about the “Ten Commandments” in public schools.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Trapped Between ‘The Art of the Deal’ and ‘The Art of War.’ Rodney Kennedy argued that President Donald Trump is, with the Iran war, again proving to be a demolition expert, not a deal maker.
Review: Witness — Converting Worlds. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Witness: Converting Worlds by Amos Yong.
A TPUSA Tour Stop Triggered a Pro-LGBTQ Event at Baylor. Then Came the Baptist Blowback. Kathryn Post wrote about the controversies surrounding dueling events at a Christian university in Texas.
Supreme Court Will Hear From Religious Preschools Challenging Exclusion From Taxpayer-Funded Program. An effort by Catholic preschools in Colorado to receive taxpayer funding will head to the U.S.’s high court.
Hegseth, Barron, Evangelical Leaders to Join Trump Event Rededicating America to God. Jack Jenkins previewed next month’s worship event on the National Mall to supposedly mark the U.S.’s 250th anniversary.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
On Tuesday (April 21), the U.S. Justice Department announced an indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights group that has led efforts to expose the KKK and other extremist organizations. Many rightwing groups, including Religious Right organizations like the Family Research Council, have long attacked the SPLC because of its efforts to fight hate groups. So the charges quickly excited the MAGA base.
Many legal experts quickly called the case quite dubious and expect the charges to eventually be tossed out by the courts. In the meantime, this means the DOJ is essentially taking the side of the KKK while in an Alice-in-Wonderland way claiming that a group fighting the KKK was actually helping it.
And all of us should be concerned by this. As Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, warned, such efforts to retaliate against civil society organizations put all of our rights at risk.
“A thriving civil society is not incidental to religious freedom — it is the condition that makes religious freedom possible,” she explained. “When the government uses its prosecutorial authority to target civil society organizations with which it disagrees, it does not merely threaten those organizations; it narrows the civic space in which all of us — every faith community, every person — is free to operate. We stand in solidarity with every organization that does the hard work of keeping our democracy and our pluralism alive. For faith to remain free, civil society must remain free.”
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Other News of Note
Brian Kaylor wrote a Religion News Service column on President Donald Trump reading 2 Chronicles 7:14 during a national Bible reading effort in Washington, D.C.
Peter Smith of The Associated Press reported on Trump’s participation in the “America Reads the Bible” effort, with quotes from Brian Kaylor and Jemar Tisby.
Former Vice President Mike Pence blasted President Donald Trump’s AI image of himself as Jesus, calling it “offensive.” Pence also criticized Trump for attacking Pope Leo XIV and defended the pope’s right to speak out.
U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who started monthly worship services in the Labor Department’s headquarters, resigned this week amid scandals alleging she had an affair with a staffer, mistreated other staffers, and misused agency funds.
Mark Wingfield of Baptist News Global reported from the “All Are Neighbors” event at Baylor University in Texas that was organized as an alternative to a TPUSA event on campus. Speakers at the “All Are Neighbors” event, which drew a larger crowd than TPUSA’s, included Rev. Paul Raushenbush of Interfaith Alliance and Kelley Robinson of Human Rights Campaign.
“Our schools, teachers, and students are in danger, but not from inside the schoolhouse walls. They are in danger from those seeking to dismantle public education, discard the common good, and tear down the wall separating church and state. It is time for us to stand up, speak out, and step forward for public education.” —Rev. Mitch Randall, in remarks to the Mainstream Coalition in Kansas.
Pentecostal preacher Mike Bickle, who was ousted from his Kansas City megachurch amid a sex abuse scandal, has started a house church and is sparking controversy for urging a fast to help his comeback.
The general assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) this summer will include consideration of a proposed new confession to “strengthen the witness of the PC(USA) in the world.”
Mark Wingfield of Baptist News Global reported from the annual gathering of the Alliance of Baptists in Illinois, which included remarks by Rev. Kelly Brown Douglas and Rev. Michael Woolf.
During a visit to Angola, Pope Leo XIV prayed at a Catholic shrine that was part of the Portuguese slave trade.
Russell Contreras of Axios reported on how the Vatican is increasing its efforts to create guardrails against AI.
With the Kansas City Royals announcing the location of their new stadium, parishioners of a Catholic church are excited they will be neighbors to the new ball field.
Photo of the Week
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