×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×Robert Jones’ childhood church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Mississippi, was flanked by two flags ― an American flag and what’s called the “,” with a blue canton and a red cross on a white field. During Vacation Bible School, a summer kids’ program, Jones remembers that he and other children were taught to recite of allegiance ― to the American flag, the Christian flag and the Bible.Last week, an insurrectionist carried this Christian flag onto the Senate floor as rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol to...…×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×Robert Jones’ childhood church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Mississippi, was flanked by two flags ― an American flag and what’s called the “,” with a blue canton and a red cross on a white field. During Vacation Bible School, a summer kids’ program, Jones remembers that he and other children were taught to recite of allegiance ― to the American flag, the Christian flag and the Bible.Last week, an insurrectionist carried this Christian flag onto the Senate floor as rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol to...WW…

×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×Becky Madigan carried around her copy of Virginia’s sample election ballot for days. After a while, the edges of the pale yellow form began creasing. She highly suspects she spilled coffee on it at one point.Still, the 54-year-old from Leesburg read the ballot again and again, praying daily for clarity.Madigan is an evangelical Christian. For most of her life, she believed that meant she had to be a Republican. It’s why she voted for in 2016.Advertisement“It was this very deep programming,” she told HuffPost....…×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×Becky Madigan carried around her copy of Virginia’s sample election ballot for days. After a while, the edges of the pale yellow form began creasing. She highly suspects she spilled coffee on it at one point.Still, the 54-year-old from Leesburg read the ballot again and again, praying daily for clarity.Madigan is an evangelical Christian. For most of her life, she believed that meant she had to be a Republican. It’s why she voted for in 2016.Advertisement“It was this very deep programming,” she told HuffPost....WW…

×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×The published a passionate defense of Americans’ right to worship during the pandemic in a letter to county officials in Maryland on June 10. But the, which the Justice Department has failed to publicly correct.The DOJ was trying to make a point about a on the grounds of the Connie Morella Library in Bethesda on June 2. A , assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, informed Montgomery County officials that if they were going to support “hundreds of people packed into a...…×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×The published a passionate defense of Americans’ right to worship during the pandemic in a letter to county officials in Maryland on June 10. But the, which the Justice Department has failed to publicly correct.The DOJ was trying to make a point about a on the grounds of the Connie Morella Library in Bethesda on June 2. A , assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, informed Montgomery County officials that if they were going to support “hundreds of people packed into a...WW…

×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×A Louisiana pastor whose church has remained open during the urged his followers to donate their stimulus checks to evangelists like himself ― on the same day one of his elderly parishioners reportedly died due to the virus.Pastor Tony Spell, who leads Life Tabernacle Church in the suburbs of Baton Rouge, has been openly defying his state’s ban on large public gatherings, drawing hundreds to in-person worship services while insisting that “.”AdvertisementHarold Orillion, a 78-year-old member of Life Tabernacle...…×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×A Louisiana pastor whose church has remained open during the urged his followers to donate their stimulus checks to evangelists like himself ― on the same day one of his elderly parishioners reportedly died due to the virus.Pastor Tony Spell, who leads Life Tabernacle Church in the suburbs of Baton Rouge, has been openly defying his state’s ban on large public gatherings, drawing hundreds to in-person worship services while insisting that “.”AdvertisementHarold Orillion, a 78-year-old member of Life Tabernacle...WW…

×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×churches seek to open their doors for in-person services, a group of mostly evangelical Christian religious leaders is urging Congress to grant faith-based organizations legal immunity from -related negligence lawsuits.In a to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Tuesday, nearly 300 religious leaders said they’re concerned about facing a “swarm of lawsuits” from people who will claim they’ve contracted COVID-19 at a house of worship or while receiving services from a religious charity.AdvertisementAs a...…×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×churches seek to open their doors for in-person services, a group of mostly evangelical Christian religious leaders is urging Congress to grant faith-based organizations legal immunity from -related negligence lawsuits.In a to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Tuesday, nearly 300 religious leaders said they’re concerned about facing a “swarm of lawsuits” from people who will claim they’ve contracted COVID-19 at a house of worship or while receiving services from a religious charity.AdvertisementAs a...WW…

×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Black Voices. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×of testing at Bethany Baptist Church, a historic Black congregation in Brooklyn, New York, got off to a slow start. About 130 people showed up Wednesday for diagnostic tests at the temporary testing site, according to Rev. Adolphus C. Lacey.But by the next day, a socially distanced line stretched down the block outside the church half an hour before the site opened, Lacey said. More than 400 people signed up for antibody testing on Thursday, he said. Advertisement“We are swamped,” Lacey, the church’s...…×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Black Voices. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×of testing at Bethany Baptist Church, a historic Black congregation in Brooklyn, New York, got off to a slow start. About 130 people showed up Wednesday for diagnostic tests at the temporary testing site, according to Rev. Adolphus C. Lacey.But by the next day, a socially distanced line stretched down the block outside the church half an hour before the site opened, Lacey said. More than 400 people signed up for antibody testing on Thursday, he said. Advertisement“We are swamped,” Lacey, the church’s...WW…

×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×Several faith leaders are speaking out against President ’s while the country still battles the .According to the activist Rev. William Barber, Trump’s push contradicts a of the president’s Christian faith ― to love your neighbor as yourself.Advertisement“It’s a violation of loving your neighbor as yourself to do something that you know could put your neighbor in harm’s way,” Barber told HuffPost on Friday. “That’s a fundamental violation.” Barber pointed to that lash out at people who cling to religious...…×U.S. EditionPart of HuffPost Politics. ©2022 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved.×Several faith leaders are speaking out against President ’s while the country still battles the .According to the activist Rev. William Barber, Trump’s push contradicts a of the president’s Christian faith ― to love your neighbor as yourself.Advertisement“It’s a violation of loving your neighbor as yourself to do something that you know could put your neighbor in harm’s way,” Barber told HuffPost on Friday. “That’s a fundamental violation.” Barber pointed to that lash out at people who cling to religious...WW…