In the News

Rev. Jen Butler in Word & Way Local faith leaders gathered at the First Baptist Church of Madison Tuesday to discuss their role in countering white Christian nationalism. Members say Christian nationalism is becoming a resurgent problem throughout the nation. They say Christian nationalism runs contrary to all of their faith traditions and want to do what they can to unite against it.

Rev. Jen Butler in Sojourners For the past seven years, Sojourners has celebrated Women’s History Month by highlighting women whose work who has inspired us with their visions for a more just world — and church. The women in this year’s list include authors and reporters; activists and advocates; professors and pastors, but they’re all united by their commitment to tell radical, inclusive stories and their belief that shaping the church and world starts in one’s own community. These women teach, speak, podcast, and organize on behalf of many causes and communities, including reproductive health rights; multi-faith, multiracial democracy; garment workers; and Black liberation. We offer gratitude for their public leadership and passionate witness. We asked each leader to share why their work is so important, describe their vision of justice, and offer a prayer or blessings for 2023. We hope you’ll be blessed by their prayers and encouraged by their work.

Rev. Jen Butler in Raw Story For three days this week, the Rev. Jennifer Butler has toured Wisconsin, warning against the resurgence of white Christian nationalism in politics and religion alike. White Christian nationalism is as old as the nation, says Butler. “It’s a deliberate attempt to conflate religious identity with ethnic and national identity,” she says, “to say that America is a nation that was founded by and for white Christians, and primarily for men to be in charge.”

Faith in Democracy Tour on WKOW Local faith leaders gathered at the First Baptist Church of Madison to discuss their role in countering White Christian Nationalism

Rev. Jen Butler on WKOW Local faith leaders gathered at the First Baptist Church of Madison Tuesday to discuss their role in countering white Christian nationalism. Members say Christian nationalism is becoming a resurgent problem throughout the nation. They say Christian nationalism runs contrary to all of their faith traditions and want to do what they can to unite against it.

Rev. Jen Butler in The Wisconsin Examiner For three days this week, the Rev. Jennifer Butler has toured Wisconsin, warning against the resurgence of white Christian nationalism in politics and religion alike.  White Christian nationalism is as old as the nation, says Butler. “It’s a deliberate attempt to conflate religious identity with ethnic and national identity,” she says, “to say that America is a nation that was founded by and for white Christians, and primarily for men to be in charge.”

Rev. Jennifer Butler with the Auburn Senior Fellows for Red Letter Christians Political pundits will fine tooth comb the January 6 committee’s highly anticipated report. As faith leaders, that is not our job. Our work is to reach into the moral conscience of our country, into the core values we share. Among those is freedom and among those blessed freedoms, our much-cherished freedom of religion. Freedom of religion thrives in a strong and vibrant democracy and ours is currently under assault by an authoritarian faction that claims to value freedom of religion—as long it’s theirs. Cloaked in the cross, white Christian Nationalists were visible and violent during the January 6 Capitol Hill insurgency against the peaceful transfer of power. They have made it abundantly clear that they are willing to take away a breathtaking range of rights in the name of their faith. That is neither religion nor is it freedom.

Rev. Jennifer Butler for Word and Way “This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” (Matthew 3:3) Advent begs us to notice how God’s power shows up most for people in the wilderness rather than those ensconced in the halls of power. This text calls John the Baptist a voice in the wilderness. He is not only preparing the way for the Lord Jesus but also teaching his followers that all of us pave God’s entry by standing with those who weep with no place to call home. Later in the passage, John criticizes religious leaders who have aligned their interests with Rome’s brutal empire, rather than with those who have been marginalized by such regimes.

Rev. Jennifer Butler for The Philadelphia Inquirer The first thing I saw as we entered the grounds of the ReAwaken America Tour were dozens of signs plastered across the Pentecostal church property saying, “No Guns, No Knives.” Not the typical Christian revival welcome, but this was no typical Christian revival.