Happy Reformation Day! Here’s the weekly roundup from A Public Witness. In addition to an announcement about this year’s Unsettling Advent that is free for anyone to read, paid subscribers to A Public Witness received a look at religious bigotry directed against Republican and Democratic politicians.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
When a Christian Leader’s Visit to His Own Holy Site Becomes News. Daoud Kuttab wrote about U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Review: Contesting the Body of Christ. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Contesting the Body of Christ: Ecclesiology’s Revolutionary Century by Myles Werntz.
At Bay Area Protest, a Second Pastor Is Shot by Federal Agents With a Pepper Round. Hayden Royster reported on an attack against Rev. Jorge Bautista, a United Church of Christ minister peacefully protesting in Oakland, California.
Faith Leaders Join Democrats to Decry Health Care Cuts, Expiring SNAP Benefits. Jack Jenkins wrote about advocacy by Rev. William Barber II and other ministers.
‘Exvangelical’ Women Are Leaving Their Churches. But Is It Decline or Renewal? Malcom Foster wrote about women who grew up evangelical but started deconstructing their faith as they watched their churches cover up sexual abuse and embrace Donald Trump.
Dangerous Dogma
This week’s episode features a conversation Hannah Kardon, a United Methodist minister in the Chicago area who was violently arrested during a protest outside an ICE facility. 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
Last night, I met virtually with a local group in Florida to talk about Christian Nationalism. They were eager to learn more and to dialogue about ways they can work in their community and state to push back against this dangerous ideology. It’s inspiring to see groups of people like this wanting to make a difference, protect the rights of their neighbors, and offer an alternative vision of what it can mean to be an American and to follow Jesus.
There are many organizations providing resources and helping people take action locally — including Christians Against Christian Nationalism, Interfaith Alliance, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. We don’t have to do this work alone. And while it’s hard to impact what’s happening in Washington, D.C., we can actually make a difference in our state and especially our community.
I’m not ready to give up on this experiment in democracy. And I’m definitely not willing to cede Jesus or the Bible to those co-opting what’s sacred for political power.
Other News of Note
Doug Bock Clark of ProPublica reported on the powerful chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, a conservative Christian activist who has empowered Republicans in the state and nationally.
Steve Bannon said Donald Trump is “an instrument of divine will” and therefore should get a third term as president.
Lauren Costantino of the Miami Herald reported on the weekly Sunday prayer vigils offering a protest outside the “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention center in Florida.
Catholic leaders in South Dakota criticized U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for praising the soldiers who participated in the 1890 massacre of Lakota people at Wounded Knee.
Harvest Prude of Christianity Today reported on how the government shutdown is increasing demands on church and community food pantries.
“Turning Point may have a bigger platform tonight, they have a bigger arena, but tomorrow they’ll be in the minority. … Their political positions, their policy agenda, Christian Nationalism is a minority movement.” —Matthew Boedy, author of The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy, during an event countering a nearby Turning Point USA rally at the University of Mississippi featuring J.D. Vance.
Adam Willems of the London Guardian reported on an ex-Intel head seeking to create a Christian AI to “hasten the coming of Christ’s return.”
Rishabh Jain wrote for Religion Unplugged about Christians in India leading that nation’s “green revolution.”
An NBC News investigation uncovered “a 50-year pattern of sex abuse, silence, and cover-up” in the Assemblies of God.
Christa Brown wrote for Baptist News Global about the message sent by a prominent Southern Baptist church hiring a minister who pled guilty to lying to the FBI in a sexual abuse investigation.
David Burke of the Great Plains United Methodist Conference wrote about Brian Kaylor’s presentations to conference clergy on Christian Nationalism.
Brian Kaylor appeared on the Faith & Justice Book Group podcast to talk about The Bible According to Christian Nationalists:
Photo of the Week
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