Weekly Roundup: July 10
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. This week, we published a look at problematic rhetoric on the Fourth of July and an opportunity to speak out for church-state separation.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Not Your Mother’s ‘Little House.’ Juliet Vedral reviewed a new Netflix reboot of Little House on the Prairie.
Let’s Make Texas Senate Race About Character. Rodney Kennedy reflected on faith, moral character, and the U.S. Senate matchup between James Talarico and Ken Paxton.
Review: The Didache Discoveries. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed The Didache Discoveries: Recovering the Apostolic Decree and the Missing Epistle of John by Allan Garrow.
Between July 4 and Nov. 3, Faith Leaders Seek Fair Access to the Voting Booth. Adelle M. Banks reported on efforts by an interfaith coalition in Minnesota to ensure fair elections.
Reeling From Venezuela’s Earthquakes, Churches Rush to Inspect Buildings, Distribute Supplies. Aleja Hertzler-McCain reported on how various Christian groups are helping after deadly twin earthquakes hit an already struggling South American nation.
by Jeremy Fuzy, Word&Way Digital Editor
I’ve been having a blast following the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup — particularly because my home, Kansas City, is still in the midst of hosting matches and serving as base camp for several teams. It has been weeks of Colombian chants on the streetcar, Argentinian banderazos in the park where I run, and Ghanaian songs echoing outside the knockout game I attended. Truly the best of humanity in its liveliest manifestations.
I’ve kept my eye out for a religion angle that I could write about. There has certainly been plenty of religion — from a Sikh player making history to the Pope reminiscing about football — but not much has been specifically Protestant. Until this week.
On Wednesday, an article by Stephen Gibbs for The Times was published titled, “‘If we pray like a gringo, then we play like a gringo’: Disappointed Brazilians see the hand of God in their World Cup exit, blaming Protestant players and the import of born-again Christianity from the US.” The story details the theory that some Brazilians believe they lost due to the recent growth of evangelicalism over Catholicism in their country.
This is certainly a real trend we have written about before, with the evangelical population growing from 15% of the population in 2002 to over 25% today and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro sharing numerous similarities to Donald Trump with Christian Nationalist evangelical support. And at least 20 out of 26 players on Brazil’s squad are indeed evangelicals. But it is still a wild soccer theory.
Beyond the vague notion that conservative evangelicalism might shift the team focus from the community to the individual, we get some humorous quotes within the article like “evangelical Protestant sterilization has flattened their ball, ruined their samba, and obliterated their swag” and “I wish so much that the players of the Brazilian national team had Catholic guilt … the evangelical guilt is too conformist and permissive; they outsource everything to God and take responsibility for nothing.”
While I’m not so sure this theory is good for much beyond a chuckle, I am still legitimately reeling from the United States team exiting the tournament in a spectacularly embarrassing fashion on Monday. So maybe if we want our men’s team to ever win a World Cup in the future, we might have yet another reason to fight the Christian Nationalism coming from our Protestant countrymen.
Other News of Note
Stephanie McCrummen of The Atlantic reported on charismatic Christians waging spiritual warfare, with a focus on a couple that targeted a bookstore in Tennessee.
NPR’s Leila Fadel interviewed Doug Wilson (the controversial head of the denomination that Pete Hegseth is part of) about his hopes for a theocratic state where most women and non-Christians wouldn’t be able to vote. Wilson preached at the Pentagon in February, which A Public Witness broke the news about.
Jonathan Larsen wrote about Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York repeatedly pushing a false claim about the U.S. founders saying they created the United States as “God’s noble experiment.”
A controversial Christian ministry leader known for telling tall tales and talking about killing people won the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Colorado.
Rev. Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist pastor running in Kansas as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate, broke a state record for the most money raised by a new candidate. In his first two months campaigning, he raised more than $3.6 million.
“Respecting the dignity of every human being means being sure that every eligible voter is able to exercise their voting rights in a way that works for them.” —Rev. Betsey Monnot, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, during a rally where Iowa clergy urged protections for voting rights.
The South Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church overwhelmingly passed a resolution affirming voting rights and encouraging churches to advocate for voter access.
Inside Higher Ed reported on how new rules from the Department of Education could hurt religious colleges by cutting off access to Federal Pell Grants.
A new study found that most megachurches have rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States, spent the Fourth of July on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa to pray at a migrant cemetery and hold a mass for residents and migrants.
Photo of the Week
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