To the editor:
It is time to sound the alarm! Too many of our fellow citizens are apathetic or unconcerned about what is happening in our nation and around the world at the behest of the Trump Administration. To protect democracy and preserve the rule of law in our nation we must raise our voices and act now to stem the tide of authoritarianism, oppression, and injustice that has been unleashed.
This is not the time to sit back and remain silent. We must stand up and speak out. If you support the Administration, call the White House or your member of Congress and let them know. However, if you are disturbed by the actions and policies that desecrate our nation’s values of justice and freedom, then speak up, and resist faithfully and non-violently.
Christians live by Jesus’ commandment to “love God and love neighbor.” Right now, our neighbors near and far are in peril. Immigrants, transgender neighbors, government workers, lawyers and judges, journalist and the free press are among those who are targeted by this Administration. Health and food programs that keep people alive are being cut. Countries that have long been U.S. allies are berated and tariffed. Meanwhile, our national leaders spout the talking points of the world’s authoritarian dictators. Lives and livelihoods are at risk, in this country and around the world.
It is easy to believe that these actions do not impact us. Often they don’t. But that is the point. While these actions may not impact us directly, they do impact our neighbors. Dietrich Bonhoffer, a German pastor who stood up to and was murdered by Hitler, put it well when he said: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak.”
The post-World War II poem “First they came…” by Martin Neimoller is frighteningly relevant today. Here it is, paraphrased for our time.

First, they came for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
And I didn’t say much, because DEI policies don’t apply to me.
Then they came for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
And I didn’t say much, because I’m not an immigrant, refugee, or asylum seeker.
Then they came for the government civil servants and military who were not straight white males.
And I didn’t say much, because I’m not a civil servant or a member of the military.
Then they came for homosexuals and transgender people.
And I didn’t say much, because I’m not a homosexual or a transgender person.
Then they came for the women who dare to work and serve outside the home or who resist the ideological effort to repopulate the country with white babies.
And I didn’t say much, because I’m not a woman.
Then they came for people of faith – especially Muslims and non-Christians and even Christians whose Biblical interpretations vary from theirs.
And I didn’t say much, because I thought that everyone shared the basic Christian values of compassion, mercy, justice, and love.
Then they came for white cisgender Christian men who do not think or act as they do or who dare to speak out against them and their leader.
And there was no one left to speak out for me.

In these difficult and troubling times for our nation, we must raise our voices against injustice and the oppression of our fellow human beings who are our neighbors. It may not seem like much. However, as citizens, our voices are the best tool to counteract our government’s unjust, unreasonable, and oppressive policies and decisions. Join a protest. Write to your member of Congress and state legislator. Attend a town hall. Fact check and post the truth on social media. Call a friend or neighbor who is being vilified and attacked.
Speak up! Speak up now! Raising our voices and resisting evil is part of our democratic witness. And, for those of us who are Christians, it is also part of our call to discipleship.

Steve Robertson
Hastings