I turn on the news or scroll through social media and see one tragedy after another. 

People continue to die in Gaza, Ukraine, and countless other parts of the world. Hunger, homelessness, and poverty persist. Clean water remains inaccessible to over 2 billion people worldwide.

The scale of suffering is overwhelming and helplessness fills our lives. Brokenness has become the defining feature of our global reality and state of mind.

When we think of violence and war, we often imagine distant lands engaged in murder and foreign conflicts, taking innocent lives. Yet the realities of brutality and loss are no longer far away. They are unfolding on American soil right before our eyes.

Recent killings in Minneapolis have shaken communities to their core, exposing not only individual acts of violence but also the deeper systemic failures that allow such harm to continue. These tragedies force us to confront an uncomfortable truth: The conditions that enable violence are embedded within our very social and political structures.

The daytime shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent while she sat in her van was horrific. More recently, the fatal shooting of Alex Jeffrey Pretti by another ICE agent on the street for trying to help a woman has further intensified fear and anger.

Last year, 32 people died in ICE custody. All these deaths raise urgent questions about power, accountability, and whose lives are deemed expendable. 

Many are comparing the actions of ICE to those of the Gestapo in Germany. It is frightening and unsettling to make such comparisons and to witness something this tragic so close to home.

What we are witnessing is the normalization of authoritarian practices in the United States and around the world. Institutions established in the name of public safety increasingly rely on fear, surveillance, and force to advance their agendas.

An Old Movement Emerges

These developments echo the core features of fascism. This far-right, authoritarian, and nationalist ideology emerged in early twentieth-century Europe, most notably in Italy during and after World War I under Benito Mussolini. State power is used to intimidate and control rather than to ensure accountability and justice.

Fascism is marked by centralized power, the suppression of dissent, and rigid social and economic control. Fascist movements elevate the nation above individual rights, using militarism and a cult of personality around a supposed strong leader.

It promotes violence as a tool of state power and highlights military strength. It is characterized by extreme nationalism, the use of surveillance to silence opposition, and the glorification of domination. Global conflict, climate crises, economic precarity, and social fragmentation have created fertile ground for fascism to emerge and grow.

In such a time, we can become overwhelmed by grief and despair and feel helpless to do anything to fight fascism. Yet despair cannot be our only option. History teaches us that ordinary people, faith communities, and civic movements have the power to resist dehumanization and fascism.

We are not helpless witnesses to violence and injustice. We can name evil clearly, demand accountability, protect the vulnerable, and insist that human dignity guides our individual and public lives.

A Call to Courage

The brokenness of our world calls for moral courage, solidarity with the marginalized, and faith in God. In such difficult times, we are called to reject indifference, challenge systems that normalize violence, and speak out for those who are unable to do so. Moving forward will not be easy, but the alternative—silence and resignation—is far more dangerous.

In times like these, we must commit ourselves to justice, compassion, and the hard work of building a more humane world. We remember Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was part of the German resistance against Hitler. He knew what was happening to the Jews, and he could not stand by silently and allow such atrocities to continue.

He joined the resistance movement and even plotted against Hitler. Once Hitler discovered this, Bonhoeffer was arrested, imprisoned at Flossenbürg concentration camp, and then executed by hanging.

We must stand up to protect immigrants and ordinary Americans who are being threatened, arrested, and murdered. As we continue to lament the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti, we remember their courage in seeking to protect the vulnerable in society.

We, too, need to be courageous and stand up against fascism. Their horrific and untimely deaths are reminders that silence will only breed more fear and enable further harm. In response, we are called to come together and stand for justice.