Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to a report on how ICE is targeting pastors and churches that is free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received a look at the historic faith support for a controversial Confederate memorial that’s coming back.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
‘The Bad Guys 2’ Offers a Second Chance at Redemption. Juliet Vedral reviewed the new movie based on the characters from The Bad Guys children’s books.
Review: Some of the Words Are Theirs. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Some of the Words Are Theirs: The Art of Writing and Living a Sermon by Austin Carty.
Church Membership May Be Declining, but Many Churchgoers Are Double-Dosing. Nearly half of U.S. churchgoers attend church in multiple locations in person and/or online.
Trump Energizes Conservative Christians With New Religious Policies. Peter Smith wrote about reactions to various Trump administration moves this year.
Texas Rep. James Talarico Calls Democrats’ Redistricting Exodus an Act of Faith. Adelle M. Banks wrote about an online event featuring a Texas politician reflecting on faith and politics.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
“Why would Arkansas pass an obviously unconstitutional law?”
That’s a question U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks posed in a ruling this week as he blocked implementation of an “obviously unconstitutional law” that attempted to mandate public schools post a highly edited version of the Ten Commandments. Brooks also answered his own question: “Most likely because the state is part of a coordinated strategy among several states to inject Christian religious doctrine into public-school classrooms.”
The judge is right that there’s a coordinated strategy. Christian Nationalists, like pseudo-historian David Barton, have been pushing such legislation in more than 20 states. And Arkansas lawmakers should’ve known they were not only wasting their time voting on the bill but also wasting taxpayer money defending it. The same law had already been blocked in Louisiana (and similar litigation in Texas is ongoing).
The judge is also right that the law is unconstitutional. The law is an attempt by the government to pick winners and losers when it comes to religion, which clearly violates the religious liberty rights of students and parents. With much of the Christian Nationalistic agenda finding support from justices seeking to undo church-state separation, it’s good to celebrate the wins that come.
Other News of Note
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is running a longshot campaign for reelection, held an event with faith leaders who compared him to various biblical heroes, including Moses and Gideon. Adams has a history of such aggrandizing religious rhetoric about himself.
Amanda Marcotte of Salon wrote about Trumpian activist Charlie Kirk’s shift from a secular Republican to a Christian Nationalist, noting how he uses religion to justify his racism.
Brian Fraga of the National Catholic Reporter wrote about a “trad Catholic” and Nazi sympathizer running for governor of California.
Speaker Mike Johnson claimed he takes the Bible “literally” by supporting Israel militarily, but did so while literally misquoting the Bible.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a second lawsuit accusing a federal agency of not cooperating with a records request about actions taken to stop alleged “anti-Christian bias.”
“The times demand us to do things that may be uncomfortable at first, but it’s what we’re called to do, so let’s do it. It makes me feel so much comfort and joy to wake up and say, ‘Well, the news is awful, but at least we’re here, trying to do something about it.’” —Peter Burkholder, a Mennonite who founded the Rapid Response Choir this year to perform at rallies opposing the Trump administration, talking to Sojourners about the effort.
Plans for a solar farm mean the Vatican will become the world’s first carbon-neutral state.
Botrus Mansour wrote for Christianity Today about struggles with corruption and violence in Nazareth, Israel.
Photo of the Week
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