Weekly Roundup: Oct. 17
Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to a report on a legal battle involving religious liberty and an excerpt from a conversation with a religious studies professor are free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received a look at recent and upcoming protests against the current administration.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
God Is Our Anchor. James Ellis III reflected on how being a preacher these days feels different as many people are thoroughly consumed by rage.
Review: Rooted in Faith and Justice. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Rooted in Faith and Justice: Christian Calls to Conscience & Cries for Peace in Palestine edited by Rebekah Choate, Krista Johnson Weicksel, and Peter Makari.
New Oklahoma Schools Superintendent Rescinds Mandate for Bible Instruction in Schools. With Ryan Walters gone, some of his Christian Nationalist policies are coming to an end.
Nearly All State Funding for Missouri School Vouchers Used for Religious Schools. While most of the private voucher money went to Catholic schools, taxpayers are also funding Jewish and Islamic schools.
This Is Why the Story of Abraham Is Coming Up in the Push for Middle East Peace. With the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Peter Smith offered an explainer on how a biblical patriarch is invoked today.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
“We’re saving Christianity. We’ve saving God. We’ve saving the family unit. We’re saving this nation.”
That was the claim of Eric Trump this week on a Trumpian podcast as he listed what he sees as the work of his father and the MAGA movement. Yes, he didn’t just say “saving Christianity” but also “saving God.” I didn’t realize God needed saving. But it’s wild to see how we’ve shifted from claims last year that “God saved Trump” to now boasting that Trump’s “saving God.”
While Eric’s comment is absurd, it’s important not to overlook how blasphemous it is. I mean, what kind of “God” is so puny that a political movement is needed to “save” that “God”? If MAGA saved God, then God is now expected to serve like a magical genie working at the behest of MAGA. Eric’s treating God like a tribal deity that can be controlled. He’s almost like Rachel in Genesis stealing her father’s gods in order to have the divine protection and blessing.
Eric’s comment turns God into an idol. That not only does not save God, it also does not save Christianity. Instead, remarks like this attempt to take our faith and downgrade it into just another partisan weapon. While God does not need us to save God, we do need to speak up and defend the Christian witness against such distortions.
Other News of Note
Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global wrote about Brian Kaylor’s new book, The Bible According to Christian Nationalists.
The lieutenant governor of Virginia framed her gubernatorial campaign as a “spiritual battle” against the Lord’s enemies. However, she used the KJV’s mistranslation of Isaiah 59:19 to make the argument.
Renee DeLuca of the United Church of Christ wrote about UCC ministers running for political offices.
A judge in Massachusetts blocked an effort by the mayor of Quincy to install two statues of Catholic saints at the entrance of a new government building.
A Baptist church in Florida unveiled a memorial to Charlie Kirk, honoring him as a martyr for “faith, freedom, and truth.”
Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global wrote about the controversy surrounding “Charlie Kirk Day” this week (with a quote from Brian Kaylor).
“To use scripture in order to promote domination and dehumanization, I find, is probably one of the most egregious and abhorrent uses of scripture that one can do.” —Rev. Quincy Worthington of Highland Park Presbyterian Church in the Chicago area, talking on NPR about the Department of Homeland Security co-opting Bible verses. Worthington also spoke about participating in anti-ICE protests.
Catholic clergy and supporters protested outside an ICE facility in a Chicago suburb after officials denied a request to serve communion to people detained inside. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio praised ICE for “doing the Lord’s work.”
Amid funding cuts because of the government shutdown, churches are stepping up to fill in the gaps.
In legal battle over control of a church building, singer Amy Grant and her family will regain control from controversial minister.
Less than a year after being named to the role, the president of Northern Seminary in Illinois is leaving — a move that came one day before what was supposed to be her formal installation ceremony.
KCUR reported on a Presbyterian church in Kansas City that’s working to turn guns into garden tools.
Photo of the Week
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