Truth and Action Roundup 6.13.25

View this email in your browser Welcome to the Truth and Action Roundup, a reliable weekly source of information, inspiration, and action for the second Trump administration. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to continue receiving it. This past weekend, the Trump administration used protests in Los Angeles as a pretext to escalate its abuse of executive power. The Trump Administration has already arrested the head of a labor union, deployed the National Guard against the expressed wishes of California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), and escalated community tensions by deploying Marines to the streets.  This authoritarian overreach cannot stand. As a faith community, we must be clear in our demands to end state-supported violence against communities throughout the country. President Donald Trump’s cruel policy targeting our neighbors, family, and friends is already pushing the bounds of our communities and democracy past its breaking point. In this moment, it’s important to remain committed to justice and consider how we can take small steps to stand up for the people we love and the world we’d like to see.  — Rev. Moya Harris and Chad Stanton, Sojourners  P.S. We’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge you, our readers, and extend a special hello to the many of you who have recently joined.  We’re grateful to share these weekly updates and actions we can take together as people of faith dedicated to creating a more caring and loving world.  As a token of our gratitude, we’re offering you a special discount on Sojourners magazine to fuel your sacred resistance against anti-democratic values and authoritarianism. You can receive four years of our magazine for only $60—a 62% discount. We stand in solidarity with all who are resisting anti-democratic values and authoritarianism. Subscribe today. In the News Here’s what’s been happening this week: 1) The Trump administration has deployed thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of U.S. Marines to Los Angeles—over the objections of state and local officials—to crack down on protestors opposing the administration’s deportation regime. Thus far, 500 National Guard troops have reportedly been trained to accompany Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on immigration actions. ICE actions have also been reported this week throughout California’s agricultural heartland, including the Central Coast and the San Joaquin Valley. Demonstrations opposing ICE actions have spread to cities around the country, with more planned for this weekend to coincide with Trump’s birthday military parade in Washington, D.C. These developments have escalated with Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) being forcibly removed from a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem where she announced the administration would "liberate" people through the federal deployment. 2) The administration continued its executive overreach in several ways: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed every member of a key scientific committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the use of vaccines, and has swiftly moved to replace them with his own picks. Kennedy claimed in an op-ed that “a clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science.” Critics of the move warned that it could lead to an increase in vaccine-preventable diseases, making families less safe. The National Park Service plans to post signs throughout its sites this month asking visitors to report “any signs or other information that are negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features,” according to a sign leaked to NPR. The signs are linked to implementing Trump’s March 27 executive order seeking to whitewash and sanitize American history. Trump gave an overtly political speech to assembled troops at Fort Bragg, N.C., in which he attacked Newsom and other California leaders including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), drawing approving reactions from the crowd. The troops were reportedly pre-screened for both physical appearance and political allegiance. Experts on civil-military relations warned of the dangerous precedent set by Trump blatantly blurring the line between the military and partisan politics — and the military’s acquiescence. 3) As negotiations over Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” continued in the U.S. Senate, health policy experts warned that the bill’s cuts to Medicaid will especially hurt rural communities by hurting the financial security of rural hospitals, potentially leading to increased rural hospital closures. Medicaid is hugely important to these hospitals’ ability to stay in business—for example, the program currently pays for more than half of births in rural areas. 4) Overnight, Israel launched strikes targeting Iran, killing many of it's nuclear development leaders and raising tensions in a region already strained by multiple ongoing conflicts. Take Action Tomorrow on June 14, Indivisible will be hosting “No Kings Day” protests with local partners around the country. As we continue to witness Trump’s attack on our democracy, hundreds of communities are planning to come out and push back. Find an event near you if you’re interested in participating. Join us in demanding senators reject increased funding for Trump’s deportation machine. While the Trump administration is using immigration enforcement to target vulnerable communities, Congress is debating billions more in funding for detention. We cannot afford to take health care and food away from the poor to build more prisons for our neighbors. What We’re Reading “The ‘Dangerous Oddness’ of Walter Brueggemann” | The late theologian saw the direction the country was headed, and he knew the key to fighting it was to start dreaming bigger. (by Adam Russell Taylor) “Bible Verses About Justice Every Christian Should Know” | Some people with a low opinion of social justice advocacy try to bend the Bible to agree to their criticisms. But while many parts of the Bible leave room for healthy debate and nuance, it is very clear about justice. (By Tyler Huckabee) Deep Breaths  On this weekend, which is likely to be full of protests, I thought it might be helpful to hear from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King on the power of nonviolent resistance. You can read his speech, given at Brandeis University on April 3, 1957, in its entirety here. This is one way to seek justice, through violence, but it seems to me that the weakness of this method is its futility. It creates many more problems than it solves. But there is an alternative to violence. We may think of this alternative as a method of nonviolent resistance, for you see it as possible to achieve justice through nonviolence. It's not a method to be used by persons filled with fear or persons who are merely lacking in weapons of violence. It is not a method of cowardice. As Mahatma Gandhi used to say, "If the only alternative is between violence and cowardice, I would say use violence," but it's good that there is another alternative. Now it is true that this method is passive in the sense that the nonviolent resistor is not aggressive toward his opponent in a physical sense with physical violence, but the mind and emotion are always active, at every moment seeking to convince and persuade the opponent that he is wrong. This method is passive physically but strongly active spiritually. It is non-aggressive physically, but dynamically aggressive spiritually. There is a second thing  (in that) it does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding. I think this is … one of the basic distinguishing points between violence and nonviolence. The ultimate end of violence is to defeat the opponent. The ultimate end of nonviolence is to win the friendship of the opponent. It's necessary to boycott sometimes, but the nonviolent resistor realizes that a boycott is never an end within itself. It is merely a means to awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor, but the end is reconciliation. The end is redemption. So the aftermath of violence is bitterness, but the aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community. The aftermath of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation. This is a method that seeks to transform and to redeem and win the friendship of the opponent, and make it possible for men to live together as brothers in a community and not continually live with bitterness and friction. The third thing that we can say about this method is that it directs its attack at systems of evil rather than individuals who may be caught up in the system. In other words, this method seeks to defeat evil rather than individuals who may happen to be evil, who may happen to be victimized with evil.  May God bless you and keep you safe as you stand for justice in pursuit of the beloved community. — Rev. Andrea Saccoccio, Director of Congregational Engagement and Outreach, Sojourners The Truth and Action Roundup is compiled by Sojourners staff: President: Rev. Adam Russell Taylor Senior Research Associate: J.K. Granberg-Michaelson Digital Content and Community Specialist: Kassandra Tapia Chief Program and Impact Officer: Bryan Epps Political Director: Chad V. Stanton Director of Racial Justice: Rev. Moya Harris Director of Congregational Outreach & Education: Rev. Andrea Saccoccio Digital Education and Outreach Specialist: Courtnie Brooks Mobilizing and Policy Assistant: Miriam Tellez Senior Director of Marketing: Sandra Sims Copyright © 2025 Sojourners. All rights reserved. Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842