Weekly Roundup: Nov. 7
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to a report on Illinois State Police pepperballing a minister that is free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received a look at an inaccurate attack on church-state separation.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Why I Am Protestant. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Why I Am Protestant by Beth Felker Jones.
Texas Episcopal Diocese Says One of Its Priests Has Been Detained by ICE. Jack Jenkins reported on a Kenyan priest legally employed in the U.S. being detained, adding to the list of clergy grabbed by ICE.
Trump Threatens Nigeria With Potential Military Action, Escalates Claim of Christian Persecution. Framing violence in the African nation in religious terms, the president pledged to go “guns-a-blazing.”
Pope Leo Calls for ‘Deep Reflection’ About Treatment of Detained Migrants in the United States. The Chicago-born pope challenged what’s happening in Chicago and elsewhere.
Four Years After Promising $10M for Racial Reparations, Virginia’s Episcopalians Have Little to Show. Aleja Hertzler-McCain and Fiona André reported on the lack of progress in an effort to repair the damage from slavery.
Dangerous Dogma
This week’s episode features a conversation between Brian Kaylor, Angela Denker, and Beau Underwood about elections, the government shutdown, and clergy challenging ICE. 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
Two headlines from yesterday (Nov. 6):
“Musk Could Become World’s First Trillionaire in New Tesla Pay Package”
“SNAP Recipients Go Without Food After Benefits Don’t Arrive”
And there is the moral rot of our capitalistic empire. A trillionaire shouldn’t exist, especially in a world where children are starving.
Even worse, the man set to become the first trillionaire was earlier this year given control of government programs. He used that power in the Trump administration to cut lifesaving food aid, medicines, and more. Millions of people will die preventable premature deaths because of this man’s actions, all while he continued to profit from government coffers.
And the problem isn’t just Musk. The 400 richest Americans now have a record $6.6 trillion in wealth. The poorest 50% of Americans (about 170 million people) only have a combined $4.2 trillion. That’s the picture of an ill society.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is illegally withholding funds for SNAP. Church and other food pantries are doing great work in response to the increased needs but cannot fill the gap. A woman in Georgia even waited in her car for 14 hours to receive free groceries from a church there. And then wealthy shareholders chanted “Elon! Elon! Elon!” after voting to create a trillionaire even while sales are down.
It’s inspiring to see churches working extra hard to feed our neighbors. But that’s only part of what’s needed in this moment. We must also prophetically speak against a Caesar who amasses more money while snatching food from starving children.
Other News of Note
The Ohio House Education Committee is considering a bill to push spiritual “chaplains” in public schools, following legislation already passed in four states.
An investigation in Oklahoma found that the former superintendent of public instruction tried to put “God Bless the U.S.A.” Bibles in public schools after Lee Greenwood promised to do press events if his Bible got the state contract. The effort to place the Bibles in classrooms has since been reversed.
Linda Jacobson wrote for The 74 about LifeWise, an evangelical program across the country working to provide offsite sectarian education to public school students during school hours.
Sarah Posner wrote for Talking Points Memo about how “traditional media never took the Christian Right seriously.”
After leaders of Turning Point USA (the Republican activist group founded by Charlie Kirk) falsely claimed math teachers in Arizona were celebrating Kirk’s death and doxed the teachers, the school and teachers were flooded with thousands of death threats. Even when confronted with the facts, TPUSA leaders refused to apologize.
“We must continue to call for peace through nonviolence. True peace which is realization of the order of God could not be achieved by force but only by mutual understanding, dialogue, and care for each other.” —Catholic Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Japan as he criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for saying he wants to resume tests of nuclear weapons.
Mark Wingfield of Baptist News Global reported on the annual gathering of Baptist Women in Ministry.
United Methodists ratified a new governance structure to equalize the authority of the global denomination’s geographical regions.
Kate Shellnutt of Christianity Today reported on Jamaican Baptists working to rebuild the churches damaged by Hurricane Melissa.
Photo of the Week
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