When Faith Leads

Photo credit Ashlee Rezin of the Chicago Sun-Times

The photo above shows a masked ICE agent spraying David Black, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, directly in the face with pepper spray during peaceful protests outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. Before being sprayed, Pastor Black appeared to be praying, his arms outreached and palms open to the heavens.

In any other America, this photo would have been on the front page of newspapers nationwide. This is a far different America, one we hardly recognize. But still there’s reason to believe that faith leaders may be central to helping us find our way. Even as many evangelical Christian leaders align with the powerful few exerting brute force on the many.

We’ve Been Here Before

The brutality focused on immigrants is reminiscent of the racial brutality of the Jim Crow South. Fueled by hate, faces covered, attacks at night, disappearings, law enforcement officers unleashed on peaceful protesters.

The civil rights struggle, led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was non-violent resistance rooted in Christian teaching. Other civil rights leaders were clergy. Black churches across the South were the backbone of organizing. The movement also drew religious leaders of different faiths from across the country.

The fact that the civil rights movement was rooted in deep faith and led by clergy didn’t just matter to the faithful marching with them. It held up a moral mirror to a nation watching on network TV.

Moral Leadership for All

Faith leaders remind us that the struggle is about “right over might.” Even for those of a different faith or no faith. This may account for the overwhelming popularity of the Dalai Lama in the US, a country less than 1% Buddhist. Likewise, the popularity of Pope Leo XIV by both American Catholics and non-Catholics may be about more than just the fact he’s the first “hometown” pope.

Several months ago, I was asked to meet an immigrant in front of a DHS facility, where he was to appear for a scheduled appointment, in the event ICE showed up to arrest him. The other volunteer was a Rabbi from my town. Even though I’m not Jewish, I felt somehow bolstered by partnering with the Rabbi.

Faith Leaders and Courage

Faith leaders give us courage. Sometimes that means modeling courage. Like Rev. Hosea Williams who, along with John Lewis, stood at the front of marchers when they were met by a wall of Alabama troopers as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on “Bloody Sunday.” Or the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, DC, who with a soft voice spoke truth to power to a president from the pulpit of the National Cathedral as he scoured from the front pew.

Sometimes it’s just about the courage to hold onto faith when such dark forces seem to prevail. This week, my wife and I attended a march from the federal building in Hartford to the Connecticut State Capitol in support of expanded immigrant protections. It was organized by an interfaith action alliance and lead by clergy members from many faiths. Our Episcopal Bishop was there and when we greeted him, I found myself choked up and hardly able to speak. I managed to say that I felt comforted by his being there. But later I realized that being at the march with him gave me faith that right will prevail.