Blessed is the State?

These last several weeks have been difficult to comprehend and to process. Our hearts are daily broken, not merely by a bad headline or drummed up partisan talking point, but by personal accounts and live video footage of unlawful, dehumanizing, and violent activity being conducted, not by gangs, but by “law enforcement” itself. Our local police departments decry the aggression of the federal personnel in their own jurisdictions, and chaos abounds. The world feels upside down in many ways, and folks in many parts of the city feel as if we are under occupation from a foreign power that does not seek our good nor that of our neighbors whom we love. 

Friends of mine who have committed no crime and have the same legal status as I do to exist in this country are locking their doors this evening and keeping their kiddos inside, asking for prayer for protection—not from gang or criminal violence, but rather, from state-sponsored violence. Why are they being targeted? One would have to ask the federal government, but ostensibly, it’s because some folks who look like them have committed some crimes (as humans of all backgrounds do). The targeting is saddening but not surprising. Ideologically protectionist governments expose their insecurities by seeking the next “enemy” to identify and then eliminate, whether foreign or domestic. The surprising (and deeply disappointing) part is how many self-described Christians are supportive of the racial targeting—and even the violence.

“But it’s not about race! It’s about crime and fraud!” If that is the case, then the traditional route is to prosecute the criminals. However, when any particular group of folks is subjected to house-to-house visits from law enforcement personnel or stopped as they drive home from work,1 or frisked at their place of employment, simply for some intrinsic quality about them that is identified in some criminals, this is nothing short of racial profiling and group punishment.2 It is a classic example of a state (and perhaps a culture) seeking a scapegoat to punish in an effort to alleviate its own insecurities. One could only imagine the outrage if authorities started showing up at people’s homes who look like me—a person of Scandinavian origin. After all, by the logic of those who are in favor of the current group profiling, there would be plenty of justification for targeting folks who look like me. The vast majority of school shooters and the last several major political assassinations and attempts were made by young men who look like they could be my near-blood relations.3 So, if we are being consistent, why have the authorities not visited me at my front door? Why not yours, if you look like me?

The allure of the human urge to scapegoat is that it works

I’m afraid we know the answer. There seems to be an unstated, and indeed, an unexamined assumption in spaces of our culture at this moment, that folks of European descent are to be treated individually, while “those people” [insert scapegoated group here] should be subjected to group identification, with the most criminal of the crew taken as the representatives of the entire group. It’s gross, yes, but it feels less gross if those at the highest levels of power (and our church friends) are all doing it. The allure of the human urge to scapegoat is that it works! It really does have a cathartic effect on the group that performs the violence. So, I suppose we can all just forget about Jesus since we’ve found a better way—good old-fashioned tribalism will do the trick. We will just segregate ourselves from “those people,” and we will all be OK in our fragile little insular corners.

Of course, we don’t allow ourselves to think soberly at this point about the fact that we are collectively committing this scapegoat expulsion like a band of baboons. We swallow the party line from the Benevolent State like it’s a feeding tube and we are on life support. We hop on social media and spin baby spin until we’ve gaslighted our own eyeballs into subjection. We feel quite comfortable with the State propaganda because, well, this is the government we evangelicals preferred.4 To admit the wrongdoing of the State is to admit our collective wrongdoing in giving wicked men power in this democratic republic. That’s too much to bear for many of us, so instead, we spin like we’re Ilia Malinin—justifying every unjust act of our beloved Big Brother.

Romans 13 comes flying off the shelf faster than you can say “justice for Renee Good and Alex Pretti”

One particular phenomenon has caught my attention recently—when someone publicly critiques or denounces State violence, Romans 13 comes flying off the shelf faster than you can say “justice for Renee Good and Alex Pretti.” It’s ironic, of course, because Romans 13 was nowhere to be found on our lips when we evangelicals didn’t like mandated vaccinations just a few short years ago. I recall like it was yesterday all of our Facebook posts and religious exemption requests quoting Scriptures of a quite different flavor: “we must obey God rather than man.” Remember that? I do. Now, “be subject to the governing authorities” is more en vogue, and it is being used as a battering ram to silence any disagreement with the State and condemn civil disobedience of any kind. Christians who publicly express dissent to state violence are labeled immature or even unfaithful. I have a profound sense of bewilderment, having grown up in an evangelical world where the Jew-hiders in the Third Reich were held up as some of the world's greatest heroes (they were!). Now, if you advocate for the “Jews” of our time (whatever the scapegoated group is), you may be told by your Sunday school teacher or your dearest friend that you are being rebellious and are sinning. “Be subject to the authorities” has conveniently become, “agree with and be allegiant to the State.”

I came of age in my early twenties cutting my teeth on George Orwell,5 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,6 and even Jordan B. Peterson.7 I was trained to pay attention to the use of words and to be wary of the subtle shifting of language being employed for propagandistic purposes. We have seen over the last several years (across multiple administrations), the Ministry of Truth subtly shifting the usage of words to support its interests: anti-Zionism (critique of a state) is labeled anti-Semitism (hostility toward a group of people).8 This move conveniently forces people to agree with our government’s vicious foreign policy at risk of being socially shamed and ostracized as a bigot. Genocide is redefined as war, war redefined as defense, piracy as police action, resource exploitation as strategic planning, murder as airstrike, and execution as neutralization. Protesters (unless they are in a country whose government we don’t like) are dubbed domestic terrorists (no matter if they do no violence). The forced deposition of world leaders is aggression when other countries do it and national security when we do. Refugees and asylum-seekers are redefined as non-residents or aliens, then are easily misidentified by political zealots as not having legal status to be here. In our town, my Somali friends are described as “garbage” by POTUS because of the crimes of some, and the entirety of the group is intentionally slandered as being suspect or dangerous.9 

Justifying, defending, or otherwise doing apologetics for State violence is living by lies

We could carry on, but the point is clear—the powers of the world see themselves as sovereign, as supreme, and language is simply a tool for the advancement of State interests, State religion. This totalizing impulse to subject all things to the legitimization of the Empire is neither new nor is it unique to our government. But I think it is incumbent on Jesus-worshippers in each nation-state to heed Solzhenitsyn’s admonition to “live not by lies,” resisting the all-consuming lie that national identity, state sovereignty, and empire supremacy demand we perpetuate. To speak forthrightly—justifying, defending, or otherwise doing apologetics for State violence is living by lies.

I’ve found it genuinely puzzling to see a number of my self-described Christian loved ones willingly and enthusiastically tow the party line, acting as faithful foot soldiers of the State whose violence harms the very image bearers our Lord taught us to love. In my country, Evangelical Christians tend to be “conservative” (for one reason or another). I’ve noticed that when perceived “progressives” have power in our federal or state governments, my fellow Evangelicals get rather amped up in their resistance to the State propaganda (just recall your social media feed during the COVID-19 pandemic). But when “our people” get power, Romans 13 enters stage right and we nod along like docile sheep, carrying a disposition, not of the prophets, but of yes-men. We may not verbalize, “yes, sir, thank you sir—may I never betray thee,” but the general vibe of our public stance is communicated in every other way short of this public confession of allegiance.

We Evangelicals tend to think of the Empire as friend when “our guy” wins and enemy when he doesn’t. However, I would contend that the Biblical authors had quite a different view of the State altogether. Now, while the concept of the nation-state with sovereignty and fixed borders did not exist as a concept until at least the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, nations of some fashion or another certainly did exist in biblical times, and the biblical authors had thoughts.

The ancient Hebrews held the belief that the nations of the world were given over to the other “gods” (what modern Christians would call “demons”).10 This belief is maintained in later Jewish writings, like in Daniel 10:13,11 where the link between a nation and its animating dark spiritual force is made quite explicit. In the gospels, we are not surprised to see the same theology in play when the Adversary offers Jesus the “nations” (which implies, of course, that they were under its control). Paul sees it the same way—he is comfortable listing spiritual and governmental powers together as if they are related realities.12 The author of Revelation explicitly leans into this understanding—depicting the Roman emperor and empire as indistinguishable from the Adversary itself (the “first beast” in Revelation 13).13 The point is, according to the Christian tradition, the State is not really our friend. It never has been. It can do good, for sure, and we can even be thankful for the good it does in restraining evil at times, but it often itself commits grave evil, and it does not advance God’s kingdom. In fact, it is often directly opposing God and his people. Insofar as it harms its national “enemies,” it harms God's image on earth; insofar as it kills Christians (of any citizenship), it is opposing Christ’s church. 

Though we do not seek the violent overthrow of our government… we certainly don’t always obey it

As followers of Jesus, we have no other and no higher obligation than to be the body of Christ on earth. We have no obligation to prop up or otherwise legitimize the oppressive power structures we’ve inherited, or even the nations and states we happen to be born into. We have an obligation only to pray for all those with authority, to do good to all, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to care for the “least of these,” and yes, the big bad one—to love even our national enemies. The State is OK with many of these obligations, but that last one it cannot accept. When the State identifies an enemy, villainizes it, and then scapegoats it in an attempt to form group cohesion through hegemony and allegiance through fear, we have an obligation to tell the truth. That is why the community of Jesus will always, at some stage, be considered an enemy of the State, insofar as it remains faithful to the way of Christ. We are a different political reality that gives allegiance to a different King. The State cannot allow allegiance to another Lord who commands the love of the same enemy it seeks to destroy. 

So, though we do not seek the violent overthrow of our government (that is, in fact, the meaning of “be subject” in Romans 13), we certainly don’t always obey it. When it commands we disobey our Lord, we firmly yet meekly say, “no” and we carry on as usual—loving the neighbor that the State is trying to harm. Right now in my town, the worldly powers seek the dehumanization and demonization of Muslims, Somalis, refugees, leftists, and others. We say “no” to the scapegoating drumbeat because our Lord called us to seek the good of these folks. We adamantly do no violence in our resistance to the State, because that is to live by the same lie that the State believes—that life must be built in death. On the contrary, we bear the consequences of our nonviolent resistance in our own bodies if need be—not in the bodies of others. In that way, our communal life of radical obedience to Jesus acts as a voice of prophetic critique to the State’s propaganda, and we render its totalitarian demands powerless in the life of the body of Christ. 

We are not the church in 1942 Germany. But we may be daydreaming listlessly into our own hell

I am left contemplating the famous confession of the Lutheran pastor, Martin Niemöller,14 swapping out the scapegoated groups of 1930s Germany for some of those in our moment:

“First they came for the undocumented immigrant
And I did not speak out
Because I was not an undocumented immigrant

Then they came for the Muslim
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Muslim

Then they came for the refugee
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a refugee 

Then they came for the leftists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a leftist

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me” 

We are not the church in 1942 Germany. But we may be listlessly daydreaming into our own hell (it already is that to many folks). Auschwitz wasn’t built overnight with great fanfare from Christians. It was allowed in the ‘30s by one ordinary day after another of submitting to the National Socialist propaganda—propaganda that selected, then scapegoated, then punished, then indeed, genocided entire groups of God’s children. We mustn’t wait until Alligator Alcatraz is equipped with guillotines to stand up to the great lie of the State. 

As restored people, we showcase the world to come in our communities. Until that Day, our relationship to the State will never be that of fan, friend, or fidelity. It will always be one of nonviolent, peacemaking resistance to its worst impulses and prayer for its leaders to repent—showing the way to a wholeness and peace not found in the State but in the body of Christ. According to the Scriptures, the totaling State has no future, and therefore it can provide us no identity. And if the State provides us no identity, we do not need to defend its violence or do apologetics for its wickedness. The meek inherit the earth—not the violent—and certainly not the State.

NOTES:

1 Corin Hoggard, “Off-Duty Minnesota Officers Allege Racial Profiling by ICE,” FOX 9 Minneapolis–St. Paul, January 20, 2026. https://www.fox9.com/news/offduty-minnesota-officers-allege-ice-racial-profiling-jan-2026.

2 Josh Marcus, “US Citizen Sues After Federal Agents in Minnesota Threw Him in Unmarked Car and Refused to Let Him Go Despite Seeing Passport,” The Independent, January 16, 2026. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ice-minnesota-us-citizen-racial-profiling-b2901610.html.

3 Statista Research Department, “Mass Shootings in the United States by Shooter’s Race,” Statista, last modified 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/476456/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-race/.

4 Gregory A. Smith, “White Protestants and Catholics Support Trump, but Voters in Other U.S. Religious Groups Prefer Harris,” Pew Research Center, September 9, 2024. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/09/white-protestants-and-catholics-support-trump-but-voters-in-other-us-religious-groups-prefer-harris/.

5 George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Penguin Classics ed. (London: Secker and Warburg, 1949; London: Penguin Classics, 2021).

6 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago, trans. Thomas P. Whitney (London: Vintage Classics, 2018).

7 "Tell the truth, or a least don't lie" was Peterson's version of Solzhenitsyn's "live not by lies." Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (New York: Random House, 2018).

8 Sean L. Malloy, “From the ‘New Antisemitism’ to the IHRA Definition,” Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism, accessed January 25, 2026. https://criticalzionismstudies.org/from-the-new-antisemitism-to-the-ihra-definition/.

9 PBS NewsHour, “WATCH: Trump Says He Doesn’t Want Somali Migrants in the U.S., Calls People ‘Garbage,’” YouTube video, January 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veYM4-1PsSo.

10 Deuteronomy 32:8–9 (NRSV). Available at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nrsv/deu/32/8-9/s_185008.

11 Daniel 10:13 (NRSV). Available at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nrsv/dan/10/13/s_860013.

12 Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 2:15 (NRSV). Available at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nrsv/eph/6/12/s_1103012 (Eph 6:12) and https://www.blueletterbible.org/nrsv/col/2/15/s_1111015 (Col 2:15).

13 Romans 13:1–7 (NRSV). Available at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nrsv/rom/13/1-7/s_1059001.

14 Martin Niemöller, “First They Came,” postwar prose statement (1946–1947), cited and archived by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists.