Michael Woolf

As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced a lawsuit against the city of Evanston’s first-in-the-nation municipal reparations program. The DOJ claims that Evanston’s reparations program is “race discrimination, pure and simple.”

Such an act taps into the country’s heritage of discriminating against African Americans. There are surely more constructive ways to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial, but in President Donald Trump’s America, our nation’s abysmal history of discrimination is not a point of embarrassment but a point of pride. The lawsuit is part of a broader effort to roll back protections for Black Americans.

The latest report from the Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations initiative was published in April, and what it revealed was striking. Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations is a “multi-faceted and longitudinal research project” dedicated to examining how churches in the U.S. responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, the long-term consequences of the pandemic on congregational life, and what congregational life looks like post-pandemic. For the first time since 2022, congregations saw a rebound in in-person attendance. Median in-person attendance jumped to 70 people, showing an increase from pre-pandemic levels, and the first increase for congregations in 25 years. 

The study, backed by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, echoes other reports that have pointed to modest increases in religious participation. As a pastor who also participated in the study, I can say that I have noticed this modest increase in religious participation in my own congregation. Congregational life seems to be on a modest upswing, but that does not erase decades of decline. 

On April 13, President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated image that seemed to depict him as Jesus Christ. There was immediate backlash, even among those who have been Trump’s staunchest allies. “This should be deleted immediately,” wrote Trump ally and conservative activist Sean Feucht on social media. So severe was the backlash that Trump deleted the post.

Later, Trump denied he was portraying himself as Jesus, saying that he thought it showed him as a “doctor.” Still, many were quick to denounce his actions as a bridge too far. What seems most clear is that Trump’s sharing of the image caught many by surprise.

It might seem like the mission to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement is unique, but there are important parallels between this movement and the 19th-century fight to abolish slavery. As we seek to follow the gospel and make a new world, it is worth turning to abolitionists from the 19th century as we look for examples of how to win the fight against tyranny and wickedness, even if it takes longer than our lifetime.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required U.S. marshals in free states to capture people who were attempting to liberate themselves from slavery. While the act was meant to assuage the Southern malcontent at the admission of California as a free state in the same year, it prompted widespread protests in Northern cities from abolitionists who sought to prevent the enforcement of what they saw as a fundamentally evil law.

The early seasons of Stranger Things hit different in 2025. I realized this as I rewatched the series ahead of the final season’s premiere. Watching federal agents sow mistrust and harm children no longer seems like a sci-fi nostalgia trip, and the creeping evil influence of the Upside Down feels more like commentary on current events than a Stephen King pastiche. In fact, in fighting for the world they want and practicing radical solidarity, the kids in Hawkins, Ind., teach us exactly the lesson we need for right now. Stranger Things might even be a modern-day parable.

When the show debuted in 2016, it was a smash hit and proved that Netflix could compete in the original-content arena. Following a group of teenagers and the adults they trust in a fight against the forces of evil, the show owes much of its success to ’80s nostalgia. The group has fought various monsters over its seasons, many of which took cues from Dungeons & Dragons, but Season 4 took a more psychological turn, focusing on a being that feeds on the ongoing trauma people in Hawkins have experienced in their personal lives.

On Oct. 28, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino sat before U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who had ordered him to appear in court after attorneys accused him of throwing tear gas into a crowd in the Little Village neighborhood. Bovino was selected by the Trump administration to lead its immigration raids in Chicago—dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.”

When I talk to clergy in my circles, morale is low. It seems like each day brings another new low in the American experiment. One pastor I spoke with said, “I can go to protests, but what is the point? The people in power don’t care, and it doesn’t change anything.” 

That got me thinking: What is the point of protest? For me, at least, participating in protests is about living in alignment with my values and bringing the considerable privilege that religious leaders have to bear on unjust situations.

We are in for a difficult four years as a country. During the first four years of Donald Trump’s administration, I did not hesitate to call him a fascist, and looking ahead to his next four years, I am so worried about vulnerable people in this country. I am worried about immigrants. I am worried about queer people and trans kids. I am worried, yes, but I know that even in the most difficult time, miracles are possible.

God’s first house — the tabernacle — is movable, following the Israelites as they wander from Egypt to Canaan (Exodus 40:34; Numbers 1:47-53). The theme of migration continues into Jesus’ life, where Matthew’s gospel tells us that he fled political violence and spent much of his childhood in Egypt (Matthew 2:13-23). Even when he is back in his own country, he is unwelcome in his hometown and “has nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).