This is such a great metaphor, especially since it looks like the AI robot's name is Idol (apparently it's supposed to be AIdol but that was lost for me in the design). The AI Idol crashes & its handlers struggle to hide it behind a sheet. Babel has fallen! 😆

Nice speech & all but the people of Chicago also deserve better than Illinois State Police assisting ICE & pepperballing clergy (publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/baptist-pa...). Pritzker is part of the violence.

Went to #VeteransDay assembly at son's public school to watch him play in orchestra. Also heard guest speaker's #ChristianNationalist message. Said US great because founded on Bible & 10 Commandments, & quoted Bible to praise military. I wonder how many other schools preached similar message. Ugh.

Pete Hegseth — the man who likes to call himself “Secretary of War” instead of his official title as Secretary of Defense — thinks the key to peace is war. History is littered with examples of this philosophy failing.

Well, boo! Guy who tried to make state taxpayers fund a sectarian public school. Fortunately, courts rejected his #ChristianNationalist effort.

Today started as a holiday to celebrate the end of war. Now we celebrate war. publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/ending-wars

On Monday, we filed an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in Trump v. Illinois, supporting a ruling by a federal judge that prohibits the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard to Illinois. @democracyforward.org is providing us pro bono legal representation in the case.

My reflection for #veteransday: "Ending Wars" publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/ending-wars

Trump pardoned people who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss in state legislatures. One was Jenna Ellis, now a Christian radio host. She attacked @wordandway.bsky.social as a "bad actor" for reporting on her (publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/radio-liar). I don't put much stock in her assessment!

Every Sunday, the GOP posts a Bible verse on X. Today's is quite the self-own since the GOP is in power & people are hiding. Social media person didn't think this one through.

We have a problem as people aren't able to buy a house as young as previous generations did. But solution is *not* 50-year mortgage, which will increase total $ spent on home & basically create lifetime of debt laboring. That will exacerbate income inequality, which created this problem in 1st place

Restoring Confederate statues while removing memorial to Black soldiers proves Trump administration isn't driven by honoring history but White Supremacy

Texas AG Ken Paxton is suing a public school to force them to post the Ten Commandments. But does he even know the Ten Commandments? www.youtube.com/shorts/w7JLi...

New DHS video calling US "the last best hope of man on Earth" is pretty psychedelic (x.com/DHSgov/statu...). And it includes image of An Appeal to Heaven flag that's popular with Christian Nationalists. Fits with other DHS religious appeals (publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/the-bible-...)

UPDATE: Reached out to the Rev. Hannah Kardon, a United Methodist minister who was there that day and has been active in religious demonstrations at Broadview. “They are making it clear that they are scared of prayer … it speaks the truth that what they are doing in that building is evil.”

#ChristianNationalism like this confuses American & Christian identities. This is also the same argument that was used to put "under God" in Pledge in 1954. So let's also tackle that Christian Nationalistic history: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/70-years-u...

Good reflection from @sarahposner.bsky.social: "Traditional Media Never Took the Christian Right Seriously" talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/tradi...

A trillionaire shouldn't exist, especially in a world where children are starving. And the fact that such a man was given control of government programs earlier this year to cut lifesaving funds & doom millions of people shows the moral rot of our capitalist empire.

While James Madison thought the American experiment in church-state separation was teaching the world important lessons, he probably didn’t expect a House speaker would show up who claims to not know anything.

Today’s issue of A Public Witness unpacks the House speaker’s latest attack on church-state separation and a surprising voice singing some opposition to his Christian Nationalist worldview.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari has set up a table and this sign outside Speaker Johnson’s office.

Federal judge rules against ICE/Trump admin for shooting & gassing clergy (& other protesters). But this doesn't cover Illinois State Police who've also done it (as I reported Tuesday: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/baptist-pa...). Trump bound by injunction but Pritzker still free to shoot clergy.

There are many examples of Trump admin breaking law just to crap on people they don't care about, but didn't want this one to be missed: "Judge orders White House to restore sign language interpreters at briefings by Trump, Leavitt" www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

Saturday’s pepper-balling of Baptist pastor Michael Woolf is not an isolated incident. Several other clergy have been shot, teargassed, and violently arrested during peaceful protests, including Rev. David Black (PCUSA), Rev. Hannah Kardon (UMC), and Rev. Jorge Bautista (UCC).

How Christian Nationalist school board members in Texas campaigned vs. how they did

As usual, exit polling on religion last night was atrocious. Only question in VA was are voters White Evangelicals, which told us nothing! Of course they voted big for GOP. Doesn't tell us why Dem won big. Obsession with evangelicals is a problem: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/the-christ... 1/

Mamdani elected NYC mayor. Nice to see Islamophobia wasn't able to put sexual predator back in office! publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/the-finger...

Dem. Abigail Spanberger wins VA governor race. GOP nominee Winsome Earle-Sears had framed her campaign as spiritual battle against God's enemies (www.youtube.com/shorts/BbQt9...). That didn't work out!

Something to watch/listen to while you wait for election results? Just me? Join me, @briankaylor.bsky.social + Beau Underwood for a little monthly newscast we’re trying out for @wordandway.bsky.social ! youtu.be/K-JwwzzmhDA?...

The latest episode of our Dangerous Dogma podcast features a conversation between @briankaylor.bsky.social, @angeladenker.bsky.social, & Beau Underwood about religious attacks leading up to today’s elections in NYC and Minneapolis, the government shutdown impacting churches, & clergy protesting ICE.

Happy book publication day to @dianabutlerbass.bsky.social for 'A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance'! As always, a much-needed voice for these times. bookshop.org/a/110819/978...

Thanks to @wordandway.bsky.social for covering this - we have to continue to fight what is happening at Broadview. It is torture pure and simple.

Note: By my count, this brings number of clergy who claim to have been and/or have been *filmed* being hit with projectiles shot by ICE/DHS or Illinois state police to *7.*

Today’s issue of A Public Witness explores the story of @revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social, an American Baptist/Alliance of Baptists pastor who became the latest clergy to experience violent state tactics being used against peaceful protesters.

My latest report: Baptist Pastor Shot in Leg by Officer During All Saints’ Day March Outside ICE Facility publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/baptist-pa...

May his name be blotted out and forgotten. May the names of the innocents slaughtered for his greed live on forever.

While @briankaylor.bsky.social’s previous book unpacked the origins of Christian Nationalism, this new offering explores how certain political figures twist scripture to serve as a political tool and their own agendas, from misapplying passages to promoting violence. Get your copy today!

Rep. Mark Harris of North Carolina offered an over-the-top prayer for Trump during GOP event pushing shutdown narrative: www.youtube.com/shorts/h2nUi...

This video's gone viral today but it's actually from Sept (Hegseth posted it on X). I wrote then about it & other Department of War videos using Scripture: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/the-bible-... Videos show Christian Nationalists misuse Bible for political power: bookshop.org/a/110819/978...

Member of EU Parliament today posted Hegseth's militaristic "Lord's Prayer" video from September as call to war in Nigeria. As I noted, video perverts the prayer (www.youtube.com/shorts/81ICp...) & followed other Department of Defense videos co-opting Bible verses (wordandway.org/2025/09/09/d...)

Episcopal priest detained by ICE in Texas. The targeting of pastors & other Christians continues: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/when-trump...

Our news roundup features insights from @haydenroyster.bsky.social, @interfaithalliance.org, @americansunited.bsky.social, @endcn.bsky.social, @dougbockclark.bsky.social, @matthewboedy.bsky.social, @adamwillems.bsky.social, @mikehixenbaugh.com, @christabrown.bsky.social, @fjbg.bsky.social, and more!

Please enjoy this interview with Brian Kaylor, author of a new book titled “The Bible According to Christian Nationalists: Exploiting Scripture for Political Power“ @briankaylor.bsky.social

It’s time to announce this year’s themes for our award-winning Unsettling Advent series, which begins in one month: Advent in a time of religious nationalism, starvation, and soldiers in the streets.

The latest episode of our Dangerous Dogma podcast features Hannah Kardon speaking to @briankaylor.bsky.social about ICE actions at churches, the legal pushback against the Trump administration by various denominations, and the misuse of Bible verses by the Department of Homeland Security.

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been facing anti-Hindu rhetoric from Christian Nationalists ahead of next year’s election. During an event sponsored by Turning Point USA (the group Charlie Kirk founded), he was challenged for not being a Christian.

Politician who resigned last position in disgrace is desperate for comeback so using religious bigotry. I wrote yesterday about the dangers of such rhetoric (publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/the-finger...). Hopefully NYC voters will reject Cuomo.

Johnson does his usual lie by claiming he knows nothing (even though he was previously made aware of incident). So only conclusion here is that he is fine with DHS shooting pastors with pepper rounds. This shows he does not actually care about religious freedom but about Christian Nationalist power.

After finishing this conversation with Minneapolis mayoral candidate @dewayneforminneapolis.com - I felt the stirrings of something unfamiliar in relation to recent American politics. It was Hope. I hope you read and share this interview. angeladenker.substack.com/p/the-next-m...

Steve Bannon says Trump is "an instrument of divine will" & thus deserves a third term. But being an instrument of God doesn't always mean you're the good guy: www.youtube.com/shorts/Yrn8W...