“We live in a world… that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.” Many of you have probably read these words uttered by Stephen Miller, President Trump’s top aide and increasingly the architect of much of Trump’s domestic and foreign policy. This reliance on naked power can be seen on the streets of Minneapolis, in the seizing of Nicolás Maduro, and in threats against Greenland, Iran, and other nations. Miller’s (and Trump’s) worldview is deeply cynical, but the great faiths of the world have repeatedly held out a radically different vision–one based on the subjugation of the ego’s desire for power and attention TO a higher good which is both communal and spiritual. And this taming of the ego is not to be done in a grim spirit of self-abasement but out of love–a love that knows no bounds and that never stops.
The great world religions are always calling us out of ourselves and into a deeper communion with what actually is, and, however poorly they have sometimes acted on it, they seek not dominance and power, but justice and peace. And they are all clear that we practice our religion at every moment of the day, no matter what it is we are doing – we cannot be an ICE agent executing Alex Pretti one minute and a devout Christian taking communion the next. There is no real separation between the realm of the divine and the everyday world where we live our lives. As persons of faith, the best thing that we can do to stand up to this administration and the grievous wrongs that it is committing is to do our best to live out our particular faith. To love, to serve, to worship a higher power (however we define it), and, yes, to act.
Philip Petrie, Co-Chairperson, ICEJ | 
