Truth and Action Roundup 4.17.2026

View this email in your browser Welcome to the Truth and Action Roundup, your reliable weekly source for information, inspiration, and opportunities for action during the second Trump administration.  Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to continue receiving it. While we’re breathing a sigh of relief at the continuation of the ceasefire despite Trump’s Tuesday deadline, it’s important to reflect on the circumstances that led us to this moment. In Ecclesiastes, chapter 7 verse 9, we’re instructed to “be quick not to anger, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.” The wisdom of this verse has been demonstrated amply by Donald Trump’s actions and the resulting consequences the rest of the world has suffered. By lashing out in anger, however, Donald Trump has utterly revealed his foolishness in addition to harming the most vulnerable. The logic of white Christian nationalism has held that the love of the Gospel is a demand that stops people from being successful. Trump’s angry rhetoric, like his decisions to go to war with Iran, flows from this logic. But as we learn in Ecclesiastes, this is not right, and the American people understand this as well, as polling continues to turn against the belligerent approach of the Trump Administration. In rejecting the doctrine of foolish anger, we can model a Christianity that demonstrates the true love of the Gospel. Not only through rhetoric but in action by demanding an end to war and militarism. In challenging these assumptions of White Christian Nationalism, fueling not only our attacks abroad but the attacks on our loved ones, we demonstrate our wisdom and moral power. –Rev. Moya Harris and Chad Stanton, Sojourners In the News Here’s a look at what happened this week: Debates and legal challenges persist nationwide and at the federal level regarding the right to participate in the democratic process through voting. Virginia voters narrowly approved a Democratic plan to allow them to redraw the state congressional map for the remainder of the decade. Democrats characterized the plan as temporary and necessary to fight back against the Trump administration and GOP gerrymandering around the country. A judge in southern Virginia has barred the results from being certified, and Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones has promised to immediately appeal. President Trump, meanwhile, is claiming that the election, which benefits his political opponents, was rigged. As the federal voter suppression bill, the SAVE America Act, remains stalled in the US Senate, several Republican-controlled states are enacting similar legislation. For instance, the Florida SAVE Act incorporates many of the federal bill’s provisions concerning proof of citizenship. Voting rights advocates have consistently argued that these requirements address a largely nonexistent issue of non-citizen voting, while in practice, they disenfranchise minority, low-income, and elderly voters by imposing undue barriers to participation. The Trump Administration’s cruel deportation policies have continued under the leadership of DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. On Tuesday, Mullin warned that DHS lacks sufficient funds to pay its employees through May. The agency has been closed since mid-February, following Democrats’ refusal to provide funding without significant reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In response, Republicans have announced plans to use budget reconciliation to allocate up to $70 billion for immigration enforcement without Democratic support. According to a letter from the acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, during President Trump’s first year back in office, the administration arrested at least 343 DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers, and deported 174 individuals. Analysis from the American Immigration Council indicates that although daily ICE arrests in communities have decreased since the peak in Minnesota earlier this year, ICE continues to arrest approximately 500 people every day. The US-led or supported conflicts in the Middle East continued in various forms. President Trump ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” any Iranian vessel engaged in laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. This directive followed statements from Iran’s negotiator, who asserted that reopening the Strait was “not possible” due to “the blatant violations of the ceasefire” by the United States and Israel. Concurrently, the Pentagon denied a news report claiming that a senior Defense Department official had briefed Congress that clearing the Strait of Hormuz of mines could require six months. Democratic congressional staffers recently estimated the cost of the Iran war to be $50 billion to date. The Trump administration has declined to provide its own cost assessments to Congress, resulting in frustration among members of both the House and the Senate. On Wednesday, the Israeli military killed a journalist in southern Lebanon during a series of airstrikes that resulted in multiple fatalities. Israeli strikes in Lebanon, which are described as targeting Hezbollah, have continued despite the current ceasefire. Similarly, Hezbollah has launched attacks on Israel, characterizing them as responses to Israeli ceasefire violations. Take Action Tomorrow, on April 25th, Indivisible will host Communities Not Cages National Day of Action. We’re also continuing to call for an end to the military blockade of Cuba. What We’re Reading “20 More Bible Verses For President Trump to Read” | And ideally reflect on. (by The Editors) “Trump Admits That the U.S. Simply Cares About War More Than Kids” | Trump’s remarks are in line with the longstanding and distorted logic that the U.S. needs to prioritize military spending above all else. (by Adam Russell Taylor) Deep Breaths Beauty of Creation We have beauty to remind us of the glory of God’s creation. God has provided us with imagination and dreams to understand the cosmos. Ancestor James Weldon Johnson used his God-given imagination to paint a picture of Genesis. I encourage you to read this slowly so that you can envision Johnson’s interpretation of the sacred text the day after Earth Day. May this pause to experience the beauty of God’s inspired Word give you strength this weekend. ––Rev. Moya Harris, Senior Director of Programs, Sojourners The Creation By James Weldon Johnson And God stepped out on space, And he looked around and said: I'm lonely— I'll make me a world. And far as the eye of God could see Darkness covered everything, Blacker than a hundred midnights Down in a cypress swamp. Then God smiled, And the light broke, And the darkness rolled up on one side, And the light stood shining on the other, And God said: That's good! Then God reached out and took the light in his hands, And God rolled the light around in his hands Until he made the sun; And he set that sun a-blazing in the heavens. And the light that was left from making the sun God gathered it up in a shining ball And flung it against the darkness, Spangling the night with the moon and stars. Then down between The darkness and the light He hurled the world; And God said: That's good! Then God himself stepped down— And the sun was on his right hand, And the moon was on his left; The stars were clustered about his head, And the earth was under his feet. And God walked, and where he trod His footsteps hollowed the valleys out And bulged the mountains up. Then he stopped and looked and saw That the earth was hot and barren. So God stepped over to the edge of the world And he spat out the seven seas— He batted his eyes, and the lightnings flashed— He clapped his hands, and the thunders rolled— And the waters above the earth came down, The cooling waters came down. Then the green grass sprouted, And the little red flowers blossomed, The pine tree pointed his finger to the sky, And the oak spread out his arms, The lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground, And the rivers ran down to the sea; And God smiled again, And the rainbow appeared, And curled itself around his shoulder. Then God raised his arm and he waved his hand Over the sea and over the land, And he said: Bring forth! Bring forth! And quicker than God could drop his hand, Fishes and fowls And beasts and birds Swam the rivers and the seas, Roamed the forests and the woods, And split the air with their wings. And God said: That's good! Then God walked around, And God looked around On all that he had made. He looked at his sun, And he looked at his moon, And he looked at his little stars; He looked on his world With all its living things, And God said: I'm lonely still. Then God sat down— On the side of a hill where he could think; By a deep, wide river he sat down; With his head in his hands, God thought and thought, Till he thought: I'll make me a man! Up from the bed of the river God scooped the clay; And by the bank of the river He kneeled him down; And there the great God Almighty Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky, Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night, Who rounded the earth in the middle of his hand; This great God, Like a mammy bending over her baby, Kneeled down in the dust Toiling over a lump of clay Till he shaped it in is his own image; Then into it he blew the breath of life, And man became a living soul. Amen. Amen. 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 Senior Program Director: Rev. Moya Harris Digital Education and Outreach Specialist: Cortnie Brooks Policy and Action Assistant: Trinity Williams Donate Subscribe Copyright © 2026 Sojourners. 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