Weekly Roundup: Feb. 14

Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to a look at Lutheran Republican politicians failing to defend Lutherans from Elon Musk and a report on a protest march against Christian Nationalism that are free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received an analysis of litigation seeking to block immigration raids in houses of worship.

When a Politician’s Party Trumps Their Church

Protesting Sean Feucht Down in New Orleans

Challenging ICE’s Chilling Effect

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Top 5 at wordandway.org

1. The Best Response to Dominionist Christianities Is To Testify. Greg Carey wrote about how we can articulate our most basic Christian values in ways that are affirmative rather than defensive.

2. Review: The Wounds Are the Witness. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed The Wounds Are the Witness: Black Faith Weaving Memory into Justice and Healing by Yolanda Pierce.

3. Pope Rebukes Trump Administration Over Migrant Deportations, and Appears To Take Direct Aim at Vance. After U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance urged people to “just google ‘ordo amoris,’” Pope Francis said forget Google and let him explain it.

4. As Trump Officials Demonize Faith-Based Partners, Government Grants Are Called Heresy. Bob Smietana reported on debates about funding for religious groups and inconsistent attacks from some Trumpian Baptists.

5. Wheaton College Caught in Dustup Over Alumnus Russell Vought, Project 2025 Architect. Kathryn Post reported on a controversy that erupted after an evangelical school congratulated a polarizing activist pushing Christian Nationalism.

Dangerous Dogma

This week: Countering Sean Feucht with Karrie Gaspard-Hogewood

by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief

This week, the White House started banning the Associated Press. What did the prestigious journalism outlet do? They continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as, well, the Gulf of Mexico.

Among President Donald Trump’s first actions in office last month was an executive order to rename the large body of water the “Gulf of America.” There’s just one problem: He doesn’t have that authority.

“Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States,” the AP explained shortly after the executive order. “Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change. The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. … As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.”

Yet, in an Orwellian censorship move that represents an attack on press freedoms, the White House now insists news agencies must use the new name even though it is not the internationally recognized name. It may seem like a minor thing, but AP’s refusal to comply is important. If they cave on this, then they set a precedent to give in on future demands. Others, sadly, have submitted. Google, for instance, now shows the water with the incorrect name (though there is a way for users to send feedback and complain about the inaccuracy).

At A Public Witness, we generally follow the AP stylebook (other than a few purposeful deviations). We support the AP in this decision. We reject authoritarian efforts to claim power over all things (and bodies of water). And we reject governmental attacks on First Amendment rights.

Other News of Note

• Stephen Healey, chief executive officer of Cambridge College, wrote a review of Baptizing America in The Christian Century.

• A House committee in North Dakota recommended against a resolution declaring “the kingship of Jesus Christ over all the world,” but it could still receive a vote from the full House.

• There have been a host of state bills this week pushing Christian Nationalism in public schools, including:

  • A proposed Alabama bill would require schools to lead students in daily prayer.

  • Lawmakers in Texas filed bills to require the display of an edited version of the Ten Commandments and to create daily prayer and Scripture reading time.

  • The Indiana Senate Education and Career Development Committee heard a bill pushing school chaplains, and another such bill is moving in Tennessee. As noted in last week’s roundup, this legislation is popping up in several states.

  • The Iowa Senate Education Committee passed a bill to create a Bible class in high schools (which is an effort pushed in numerous states in recent years).

  • A proposed Wisconsin bill would mandate posting “In God We Trust” in all public school classrooms (which is also an effort pushed in numerous states in recent years).

• Judges on a Texas appeals court seemed skeptical during a hearing about Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s effort to depose the head of a Catholic Charity he opposes because it assists migrants.

“The single biggest threat to religious freedom for all people in America today is the rise of Christian Nationalism. … There is no widespread anti-Christian bias in this country. In fact, they are the ones who are spreading a certain kind of anti-Christian bias.” —Amanda Tyler of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty during a webinar hosted by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, The New Republic, and the Rachel Carson Council.

• Emily Belz of Christianity Today reported on Kevin Burns, a death row inmate in Tennessee who became a minister and leads Bible studies with others on death row.

• Deann Alford wrote for AG News about “micro-churches.”

• A Black church in Washington, D.C., that successfully sued the Proud Boys for vandalism and now controls the Proud Boys name and logo is selling t-shirts with slogans like “Stay Proud, Black Lives Matter.”

Photo of the Week

Leaders of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo and the Church of Christ in Congo meet with the leaders of a rebel group that seized control of Goma, Congo, after years of fighting Congolese forces. The representatives from two of the largest church bodies in the African nation are working to bring peace. (Moses Sawasawa/Associated Press)

Thanks for reading!