Maybe you hate ICE agents. But is nurturing that hate good for your soul? How can you keep love warm and not turn cold in this ICE age?
If we’re honest with ourselves, sometimes our emotions get the better of us. We read the headlines and see what Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are doing under Trump’s administration, and it makes us angry. If unauthorized searches, zip-tying and caging of children, separation of families, detainment and deportation of U.S. citizens, and racial profiling weren’t enough, now the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti add to their atrocities. So, if you’re feeling a bit spicy right now, your feelings are justified. If you quit doom-scrolling and news-watching and say, “I can’t even…” keep reading. We’ll talk about how to deal with these feelings.
So…I’ll Start with a Confession
My confession is that when I first read about the second ICE murder in January, I wanted to rage-post on all my social media platforms. I wanted to print a retraction of my article, “Moral Injury & ICE: When Doing Your Job Breaks Your Soul,” which I wrote before Good or Pretti were killed. In that article, I say, “As we protest ICE activity, let’s remember agents’ humanity and the moral injury some suffer. ‘Loving your neighbor’ includes these guys.” I talk about doing as Jesus said—loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute. And I suggest that some ICE agents may feel moral injury if they are asked to do things that do not align with their values. In that article, I list ways that progressive Christians can love ICE agents who are trying to quit their jobs. But I confess that when I read about Pretti’s murder, I wanted to print a retraction.
Love Rather Than Rage
That article generated a lot of negative feedback on social media from people on the left who, like me, feel consumed with anger over what’s happening to our country. Many came back with comments like, “They’re monsters who don’t deserve our sympathy,” or “ICE agents don’t feel moral injury—they’re all racists who joined the goon squad so they could beat up on people.” I promise you that I understand these sentiments. I feel these things myself regularly. But we get to choose which emotions steer our ship. And I’d rather be guided by love than rage.
Choosing love over rage is a difficult battle. A full-grown adult whom I baptized as a teenager just posted, “If you don’t like the fact that I support Trump and I support ICE then please remove yourself from my page so it can go back to race cars, big rigs, and motorcycles.” And, you know what? I almost unfriended him. I’ve put up with a lot of his MAGA rhetoric over the years and was ready to comply with his wishes and be done with him.
In fact, I fantasized about creating an Instagram video in which I donned my old clerical robes and spoke into the camera: “You know, I’ve baptized a lot of people over my decades of ministry. If I baptized you and you still support Trump and ICE [making the sign of the cross into the camera], then I hereby unbaptize you. You are NOT a Christian.” But I didn’t do that. I chose love over rage.
Hate Cannot Drive Out Hate
Instead of posting that video, I thought, “Wait a minute—he’s asking for those who disagree with him to unfriend him so he remains in his own echo chamber, never hearing opinions that differ from his own. If I ever loved him, then it’s my duty to challenge his viewpoints lovingly. And, if he wants to unfriend me, that’s his prerogative. But, until then, I’m going to show him the kind of love that transforms.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr famously said:
“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
A similar saying, often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, but not reliably traced to him, is:
“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth leaves the whole world blind and toothless.”
And, Jesus’s brother James said:
“Human anger does not bring about God’s righteousness (James 1:20).”
No matter how you say it, the fact is that violence only breeds violence—verbally and physically. Jesus taught that only love de-escalates.
Healthy Ways to Deal with Feelings
So, what’s a healthy way to deal with your feelings? Work for positive change. Doom-scrolling and re-posting only go so far. If you’re feeling hopeless, you can become an agent of hope. Volunteer at your local shelter, clothes closet, or soup kitchen. Drive immigrant friends to work to ensure they get there safely. Contact your elected officials and make your voice known. Read the Activist Handbook and plan to attend or organize an event (here are some tips for how to do that safely). By taking action, you’re not waiting for others to fix the world—you’re stepping in to do it yourself.
Another healthy way to deal with your feelings is to express them through words, art, and other means. Between suppressing your outrage and just being nice to everyone on the one side and giving full vent to your anger on the other, there is a third way. Constructively share your emotions with a trusted friend, partner, or counselor. Create works of art to express your emotions. Turn on some music that expresses your mood—or, if you’re musical, get out your instrument and play. Physical exercise can give you an outlet for the rage-energy that you feel. Journal your feelings. That way, instead of hurting somebody with your anger, you help yourself. For me, blogging helps deal with my feelings. Instead of doom-typing on the same day of a difficult event, I take my time to form my thoughts—to respond instead of react.
A Damascus Road Experience
Last week, instead of rage-posting, I wrote a plea designed around the Feast Day of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle (also called Saul). In “MAGA Churchgoers – Please Convert to Christ,” I begged those supporting Trump and ICE to “please read the conversion of Paul in light of immigration raids. Could it be Jesus that you are persecuting?” Just as Saul was complicit in the murder of Stephen, I said that those who support immigration enforcement remain close enough to keep the coats clean while others do the violence.
But the risen Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, temporarily blinding him and reminding him that it was really Christ that Saul was persecuting. In that article, I said that many who still support Trump’s policies need a Damascus Road experience themselves. They need to come to terms with their own spiritual blindness and ask God to restore their sight. But just as Saul (who later changed his name to Paul) needed human help as well as divine, we cannot expect MAGA churchgoers to convert to Christ on their own. God calls progressive Christians to show them the way of peace. Which leads me to the example of Ananias…
The Example of Ananias
God calls Ananias to minister to Saul, whose friends have taken him to a safe place to recover from his Damascus Road experience. They have no idea what happened to their companion—he was speechless after his roadside trauma. Fasting and praying, Saul was processing everything Jesus had said to him. He was going through his own religious deconstruction and reconstruction. Meanwhile, God was preparing a progressive Christian to minister to him. Acts 9:10-19 says:
Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
He said, “Behold, it’s me, Lord.”
The Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying, and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight.”
But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem. Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”
But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
Ananias departed and entered into the house. Laying his hands on him, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he received his sight. He arose and was baptized. He took food and was strengthened.
Saul stayed several days with the disciples who were at Damascus.
Before You Hit Unfriend—Wait
To put it in a modern sense, God was telling Ananias, “Before you hit unfriend, wait—I might have a job for you to do.” And maybe God is telling you the same thing.
That’s radical stuff—I get it. Ananias thought it was radical, too. So radical that he double-checked the spirit of Jesus to make sure he knew what he was talking about. “You know you’re talking about Saul, right—the one who’s following his political and religious zeal to arrest and even kill those he thinks don’t belong. You want me to minister to him?”
Sounds like the conversation I had with God before I decided not to unfriend that guy I baptized years ago. And maybe it’s the conversation you’re having with God right now about that MAGA churchgoer that you want to excoriate. You can’t see anything redeemable about them. But the good news is, you don’t have to. That’s why Jesus is their redeemer—not you.
Your Mission—Should You Choose to Accept It
Your job, progressive Christian, is to keep on loving, to keep on giving grace. That doesn’t mean you stand for their continued injustice. It doesn’t mean you overlook evil done in the name of Empire. What it means is that, like Ananias, God has a task for you to do. And when you do your job right, conversion is possible.
Saul, converted to Paul, transformed from a fundamentalist persecutor of marginalized people into a powerhouse for good. Maybe what the country needs is a few ICE agents and MAGA churchgoers who truly convert to the Way of Christ. Their experience and perspective may be just what’s needed to transform the hearts of people who claim to be Christians but haven’t been following the spirit of Jesus.
Your mission—should you choose to accept it—is to relentlessly pursue peace, justice, and love. It’s to never give up on what God might do through the conversion of those you might never expect. And it’s to consider what part your love may play in their embracing the grace of God. What if we truly are on the cusp of real justice in the United States? What if that sweeping change is going to come about because some neo-fascist powerhouse has a Damascus Road experience and encounters you as their Ananias? What could God do with that kind of change?
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