Weekly Roundup: March 13
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. We examined a controversial execution stopped at the last minute in Alabama and reported on the latest government worship service at the Department of Labor.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
The Enemy Within: Apocalyptic Nationalism and the Corruption of Christian Witness. Michael Mellette reflected on the problem of Christianity becoming publicly associated with nationalist aggression and eagerness for war.
Review: Jubilee Economics. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Jubilee Economics: The Purpose, Practices, and Possibilities for a Better Future by Kelley Nikondeha.
Clergy-Led Activists Block Entry Into Kansas Senate in Protest Over Bathroom Law. Anna Kaminski reported on a faith-based protest in the Kansas Capitol.
Over 100 Latino Christian Leaders Say Trump Adviser Samuel Rodriguez’s Reach Is Misrepresented. Aleja Hertzler-McCain reported on growing criticism of the leading MAGA Hispanic pastor.
‘A Lie From the Pit of Hell’: Episcopal Leaders Push Back on Rumors of Fatal Decline. Bob Smietana reported on comments by Bishop Sean Rowe and others at the Episcopal Parish Network’s annual conference.
Dangerous Dogma
This week’s episode features a conversation between Brian Kaylor, Angela Denker, and Beau Underwood about the Iran war, Christian opposition to the war, and viral claims of military leaders claiming this will bring “Armageddon.” It also includes consideration of faith being invoked in politics by James Talarico in Texas and Adam Hamilton in Kansas. Listen to the audio version here (or wherever you listen to podcasts) or watch the video version here.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
A number of conservative commentators and politicians attacked New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani this week for hosting a Ramadan iftar dinner inside City Hall. Many comments were Islamophobic as his critics tried to connect the peaceful religious ceremony with the 9-11 attacks. But in addition to religious bigotry, the criticism also showed how Christian Nationalists don’t want religious liberty for all.
The same day Mamdani hosted the iftar, the Department of Labor held a sectarian Christian worship service and the White House Faith Office hosted Christian pastors to worship inside the White House. But the Christian Nationalists attacking Mamdani didn’t complain about those Christian services. Rather than being concerned about uniting religion and state, they want to ban the Islamic faith while using government power and resources to promote their brand of Christianity.
This all shows why I don’t think government leaders should lead religious services in government buildings. I’d prefer for the Pentagon and Department of Labor to stop hosting monthly Christian worship services. I’d like Trumpian Christians to stop thinking they’re having an extra special worship time because they’re singing in Caesar’s palace. And I’d prefer for mayors of any faith not to turn their city halls into a worship gathering.
Other News of Note
NPR’s 1A considered the “role of religion in the war on Iran,” with guest Katherine Stewart (author of Money, Lies, and God) mentioning Brian Kaylor’s reporting on Pentagon worship services.
KOMU reported on proposed legislation in Missouri to “ban Sharia law,” with comment from Brian Kaylor’s House committee testimony against two such bills.
A forum at a Texas church featured Republican politicians and religious activists pushing to ban Islam and deport Muslims. While Islamophobia is on the rise nationally, it’s particularly been pushed in Texas Republican primaries this year. Texas Monthly reporter Robert Downen appeared on Reign of Error with host Sarah Posner to talk about the rhetoric.
As GOP Sen. John Cornyn faces a runoff primary with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Cornyn announced a Faith Advisory Council that includes several Trumpian evangelical leaders — including Paxton’s own Southern Baptist pastor.
Tarrant County (Texas) commissioners signed a contract with a conservative Christian legal group to defend them if the county is sued for installing a new
graven imagemonument of the “Ten Commandments” on the courthouse lawn. Despite claims of the commissioners that this is the Ten Commandments, the monument actually includes a highly edited version not found in any Bible.Lawmakers in Ohio heard testimony on a bill to put spiritual “chaplains” in public schools, with several actual chaplains testifying against the proposal. Similar bills have been pushed across the country but usually do not include actual chaplaincy standards.
“For more than half a century now, conservative White evangelicals have been producing their own versions of the American past. … These alternative histories depict the founding as uniquely Christian.” —Kristin Kobes Du Mez in a USA Today article on the Christian Nationalist slant about U.S. history in the White House’s materials for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Daniel Silliman of The Roys Report reported on a businessman suing Christian Nationalist worship leader Sean Feucht, complaining that a donation was misused to buy personal property.
A United Methodist pastor in Missouri is under denominational investigation after news broke that she worked for Jeffrey Epstein, first as an administrative assistant in 2018 and then as a temporary property manager of his private island in 2019.
As Israel strikes southern Lebanon, Christians in the area are debating whether they should stay or flee to a different part of Lebanon.
Photo of the Week
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