Brutality and solidarity

Progressives (like me) are good at reciting pithy slogans that don’t seem to affect reality: defund the police; not my president; most recently, abolish ICE. (To be sure, conservatives have their own terrible refrains, as I can still hear in my mind lock her up these years later.) But however half-baked or ineffective our catch phrases might be, sometimes they are what we must say. As Phil Christman writes in our February issue, abolishing ICE feels like the bare minimum at this point.

Christman’s essay has been on our website for a few months, but take a look if you haven’t yet seen it. We also have brand new articles about ICE’s activity—and some courageous people’s responses to it—in Minneapolis and Chicago. Julian DeShazier describes the ways that being a Black man in the South Side of Chicago prepared him for this type of pastoral work. Alejandra Oliva shares about the generous support of those donating funds to bail out detained immigrants. A news story from Yonat Shimron reports on rabbis traveling to Minneapolis to protest.

If you just need a break from everything ICE-related, we have other articles for you. Daniel Pioske considers the endgame of Luther Seminary and the entire ELCA. Brandon Ambrosino cautions Christians to cool it down with all the hot takes. Plus even more great new content below.

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Pastoring in a city under siege

“This is all proof that the church is still ‘the church,’ that people still matter, and—as an intern recently reminded me—that peacemaking requires sacrifice.”

by Julian DeShazier

Irrevocable harm and irrevocable good

“We were getting tens of thousands of dollars each day—a tidal wave of people opening their wallets because there was a chance it would help get people home.”

by Alejandra Oliva

Luther Seminary’s death mask

“The ELCA is not alone among deteriorating church bodies, nor is my generation alone in the sense of loss it confronts. But what is unique to our experience is that as we watch the wreckage rise around us, holding the hand of Walter Benjamin’s angel of history, we are told to understand such developments as nimble, strategic, and bold.”

by Daniel Pioske

In the Lectionary for February 1 (Epiphany 4A)

In life, death, and resurrection, nothing is lost—no one is lost.

by Paul Lutter

The smoke screen of “speaking the truth in love”

“Christians have strong opinions about everything. In the last few decades, we’ve been brainwashed into believing the only way to be a true Christian is to broadcast those opinions loudly and proudly, without apology, finesse, or sensitivity.”

by Brandon Ambrosino

US rabbis head to Minneapolis to join protests against ICE raids

“Jewish Community Action has trained more than 1,000 Minnesotans in nonviolent direct action, provided briefings for Jewish community members about how to get engaged, and participated in mutual aid and support for undocumented people at risk of arrest.”

news story by Yonat Shimron