While our commitment to good writing and thoughtful reflection prevents us from offering instantaneous hot takes, at the Century we know it is vitally important to discuss the moment in which we live. To look for hope, faith, and love while squarely facing whatever injustice and violence threatens our neighbors. No such threat feels more pressing, for many of us, than the recent activities of ICE in the US.
I’m grateful for two new pieces about this disturbing phenomenon. Tom Fate, who has been taking part in protests at the ICE facility outside Chicago, separates firsthand fact from DHS’s propagandized fiction. Phil Christman makes the case that not only is ICE unacceptable but, insofar as it mirrors our “normal” justice system, the whole system is due for an overhaul.
If you’re up to date or aren’t up for reading about the ICE crisis, you can scroll down for other great content. We have an interview with scholar Sarah Ruden about the sensationalistic second-century martyr Perpetua, a new column from Peter Choi about types of knowledge and Psalm 62, and a book review about a punk-Orthodox movement. Plus even more below.
Jon Mathieu Email me: Do you know anyone affected by ICE raids or the fear of them?
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“There were a thousand protesters there, but there was no violence and no riot. This was not an angry mob, just a bunch of regular people who have jobs and families and busy lives. We showed up because of our growing concern about the war our government is waging against immigrants.”
“There’s no need—ever—for a swollen federal agency with a settled internal culture of sadism, secrecy, deception, and racial profiling, an agency that understands itself to operate under no legal or moral constraints, to exist at all.”
“There were paid positions in local churches, and the men wanted those positions—so they wanted to shut the women up. But martyrdom was a public role that continued to be open to women like Perpetua.”
“Cultural anthropologist Johannes Fabian’s work on knowledge deepens my reflection on Psalm 62. I begin to see how much my faith rests on insecure, untested knowledge—knowledge as possession.”
