Word&Way News: Jan. 31
Here’s the weekly roundup from Word&Way. This week at A Public Witness, we published a look at sermons across the country about Luke 4, a review of a new book about Christian Nationalism, and a conversation with John Danforth about prophetic preaching.
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Top 5 at wordandway.org
Keep Marching. Sarah Blackwell reflected on how we can continue to move forward when equality, respect, and truth seem like they are evaporating.
Jordan Hosts Landmark Conference on Christian Zionism’s Impact on Middle Eastern Christians. Daoud Kuttab reported from a conference with a keynote presentation by Miguel A. De La Torre on the dangers of using religious texts to justify oppression.
Review: Journey to Eloheh. Robert D. Cornwall reviewed Journey to Eloheh: How Indigenous Values Lead Us to Harmony and Well-Being by Randy and Edith Woodley.
Anglican Priest Calvin Robinson Defrocked Over Nazi-Like Salute. Kathryn Post reported on a controversy after a rightwing priest speaking at an anti-abortion event followed Elon Musk in giving a Sieg Heil salute.
Black Ministers Denounce Project 2025, Urge Collective Black Resistance. Adelle M. Banks reported on a clergy statement blasting efforts to enact White Christian Nationalism.
Dangerous Dogma
This week: Mariann Budde, John Danforth, & Prophetic Preaching
Other noteworthy programs this week:
Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush of the Interfaith Alliance appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal to talk about the role of faith leaders in politics.
Jason DeRose of NPR spoke with people from Community United Methodist Church of Pacific Palisades, California, after the destruction of their building in recent wildfires.
by Brian Kaylor, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief
On Wednesday (Jan. 29), President Donald Trump issued two executive orders on public education. While the president cannot actually control public education as much as the orders suggest, religious liberty advocates criticized both orders as attempts to undermine public education and push Christian Nationalism.
Regarding an order demanding “patriotic” education and opposing more diverse curriculum, Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (where I serve on the national board of trustees), criticized the move for trying to present a “white-washed American history.”
“Trump’s executive order is an attack on our public schools and seeks to turn them into re-education camps for White Christian Nationalist disinformation,” added Laser. “Our public schools are the cornerstone of our communities and our democracy. These students are the future leaders of our country, and we must teach them the truth about America’s past, both good and bad.
Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, similarly criticized an executive order encouraging school vouchers that could send taxpayer funds to private sectarian schools.
“Students across the country rely on public schools as the only education system where their freedom of religion and other civil rights are guaranteed,” Tyler explained. “Public funds should be for public uses. The government should not compel taxpayers to furnish funds in support of religion, regardless of whether they adhere to that religion or not.”
“Religious education is best left to houses of worship and other religious institutions that are funded with the voluntary contributions of adherents of those faiths, free from federal funding and the accompanying strings,” she added. “This order does not advance the educational needs of our country but is another example of the Trump administration making a grab for power that puts specific private interests over public interest and violates our constitutional order.”
Unfortunately, public education is often the top target of those pushing Christian Nationalism. Those of us who care about religious liberty and for quality education will need to work even harder to protect public schools.
Other News of Note
Fletcher Mantooth of the Columbia Missourian reported on a Missouri House committee hearing about a bill to push guns in houses of worship, which includes a quote from Brian Kaylor’s testimony against the legislation.
A Republican senator in Kansas refused to allow a Catholic nun to testify against an anti-immigrant bill because she did not give 24-hour notice of wanting to appear — even though the public hadn’t been notified about the hearing by that point. In a written statement, Sister Therese Bangert criticized the “dehumanizing” rhetoric used by supporters of the bill who were invited to testify.
Eric Killelea and Faith Bugenhagen of the Houston Chronicle reported on bills in Texas attempting to push more Christianity into public schools.
Ruth Graham of the New York Times reported on conservative Christian homeschool moms supporting anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he’s been nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Rev. Peter Storey, the former head of the Methodist Church in South Africa who advocated against the apartheid regime, praised Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde for her prophetic sermon during an inauguration service.
The Episcopal News Service reported on some people who decided to visit a local Episcopal church because of Bishop Budde’s sermon.
“The church could learn a lot from unhoused people.” —Rev. Kathleen Wilder, pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in St. Louis, Missouri, talking in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about her church working with people who are battling homelessness.
A Mennonite church closing in Kansas City, Kansas, gave away its building to become a place to serve youth in the community.
Angela Youngman reported for Religion Unplugged on cathedrals in the United Kingdom using light shows to attract visitors.
For the first time, a woman is leading a Vatican office after Pope Francis picked Sister Simona Brambilla to head the department in charge of religious orders.
Christian leaders in Zimbabwe are expressing opposition to a proposal to remove term limits for the nation’s president.
Melissa Florer-Bixler wrote at her Substack newsletter The Leavings about Mennonite support for Donald Trump:
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