The criminal fascist Trump regime is murdering people. The most recent was an innocent woman who was gunned down in broad daylight in front of witnesses by a fascist ICE agent. In response, the leader of the Department of Homeland Security put a placard on her podium that read, “One of Ours All of Yours” which is a brazen display of fascist propaganda and a direct threat to anyone who dares stand in their way. Noem, a woman so vile that she was barred from all Indigenous lands in South Dakota, is essentially saying that the regime can murder its opponents with impunity. She has lost the plot completely and deserves to be tried for crimes against humanity.

That evangelical Christians supported Trump in his election bids is not news. It’s not even a shock considering that so much of American evangelicalism is authoritarian and has historic roots in white supremacy and the enslavement of African descended peoples. These Christians have rejected Jesus’ teachings in favor of power and control. With each passing day under the regime though, they are running out of excuses to justify their continued support. Everything the regime does is literally anti-christ and yet Trump supporting Christians still have the temerity to post things like this:

Contrast Scholmann’s disgustingly anti-christ post with the words of the Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld, the Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire told clergy in his state that they must get their affairs in order, write their wills, and be prepared to become martyrs if need be in the resistance against ICE and the Trump regime. He stated, “I have told the clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness. And I’ve asked them to get their affairs in order to make sure they have their wills written because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable.” This is what it looks like when a minister takes Jesus seriously when he said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”

He has been speaking out against the regime like many Christians have, but Hirschfeld said, no matter how eloquent, those words have not moved the needle. I, myself, have made that same statement so many times in the past several years as a writer and public theologian. Often, I have felt like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the mountain as I wrote or spoke out against Trump and his fascist regime. Sunday as I walked in a local park, I prayed for discernment about my role in meeting this moment. My work as a public theologian has barely moved the needle and I am discerning how I can help meet this moment in a way that does move the needle. As I do, I will continue to write and use my public platform to stand with my immigrant neighbors, my LGBTQIA neighbors, my Black neighbors, my Indigenous neighbors, and all other neighbors whom this regime is making a target.

The nation and the world cannot afford to have the American people sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how things turn out or simply being ambivalent about what’s happening. I’ve read multiple times that in Nazi Germany, 1/3 supported Hitler, 1/3 stood against him, and 1/3 did nothing. We must not make that mistake here. I pray that I will have the strength, the fortitude, and resilience to stand firm despite the anxiety and fear that comes from living at such a time. I pray that you will too.