Weekly Roundup: Feb. 27
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to a review of a new book on MAGA politics that is free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received a look at some unusual theology expressed in the State of the Union address.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Doug Wilson’s Wrong on Why I’m ‘Whizzed Up’ About His Pentagon Sermon. Brian Kaylor responded to a piece by Doug Wilson on church-state separation.
The Extraordinary Ordinariness of Black Female Laity. James Ellis III reflected on the often contentious issue of ordination in the Black Church.
Review: Reading the Bible on Turtle Island. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Reading the Bible on Turtle Island: An Invitation to North American Indigenous Interpretation by T. Christopher Hoklotubbe and H. Daniel Zacharias.
Hundreds of United Methodists Rally to Dismantle ICE Outside Capitol. Aleja Hertzler-McCain reported on a large faith-based protest.
Hegseth Frames Trump Policies As ‘Biblical’ in Address to Christian Broadcasters. Bob Smietana reported on comments by the Secretary of Defense to a conservative Christian group.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
Nurul Shah Alam was a legal refugee from Myanmar. He was nearly blind and didn’t know English yet, as he had recently come with his family to the United States while fleeing a genocidal government. Now, he’s dead because of inexcusable actions by the U.S. government.
U.S. Border Patrol agents in Buffalo, New York, briefly detained Shah Alam on Feb. 19, but they quickly learned they couldn’t legally deport him. So they released him. Well, that’s not the most accurate description of what they did. And their actions killed him.
Rather than just releasing Shah Alam, contacting his family or lawyer, or taking him home, agents instead drove him to a closed Tim Hortons restaurant north of Buffalo’s downtown and left him in the empty parking lot. While his family expected him to be released elsewhere, the agents dropped off the man who was almost completely blind, spoke almost no English, and didn’t have a phone with him. And they did this at night as temperatures fell below freezing.
Three days later, his lawyer reported him missing after learning he wasn’t still in custody. Another two days after that, Shah Alam’s body was discovered a few miles from where he had been ditched.
There’s simply no justification for such callous treatment of someone. The U.S. government took a man who fled here in search of safety and left him to die. And they did it in our names.
Other News of Note
Brian Kaylor appeared on the podcast Stuck in the Middle With You with hosts Mark Wingfield and Ben Cole to talk about Christian Nationalism.
Brian Kaylor appeared on the podcast Highest Power with host Rick Pidcock to talk about Doug Wilson and worship services at the Pentagon.
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention endorsed a bill in Tennessee that would allow the death penalty for women who have an abortion.
The “Bluebonnet” public school curriculum in Texas, which sparked controversy during its adoption in 2024 for its Christian content, is being redone after the state board of education voted to approve over 4,000 corrections. Meanwhile, the board is considering adding more Bible content in public schools.
The South Carolina House approved a bill that would mandate public schools post a highly edited version of the Ten Commandments and would also allow schools to have spiritual “chaplains.” Numerous other states have also considered bills mandating the edited commandments or pushing “chaplains.”
“The biggest action for White Christians, especially, is not to be found in the vocabulary of depolarization, common ground compromise, even civility, but truth and love and justice. We’ve got to build beloved community around those principles, and we don’t sacrifice them on the altar of unity.” —Robert P. Jones, speaking at the FaithWorks “Compassion and Justice” conference in Austin, Texas.
Kevin Frey of MS NOW reported on pastors running for office as Democrats this year.
Kayla Guo of the Texas Tribune profiled the churches of Democratic U.S. Senate hopefuls James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett.
Vice President J.D. Vance personally invited Pope Leo XIV to be in the United States on July 4 for the nation’s 250th anniversary. The Vatican later announced Leo will instead spend the day on an Italian island known for welcoming migrants.
Photo of the Week
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