Trail West Dispatch #4

Trail West Dispatch #4                                                                      September 27, 2025

“Take responsibility for the face of the world.  The symbols today enable the reality of tomorrow.  Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate.  Do not look away, and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself, and set an example for others to do so.”                                                    --Timothy Snyder

Making sense of these instructions for our time is challenging, even if we understand the two examples that Snyder used:  1.  On the way to collectivizing all farm property, Stalin’s government posters depicted wealthy farmers as pigs (thus destined for slaughter). 2.  On the way to having Jews sent to gas chambers, Hitler first imposed a label on all Jewish-owned businesses.  But what parallels do we have now in America?  Which faces of today’s world should we take responsibility for?

We find some help when we realize that the word “labels” could likely replace “symbols” as “signs of hate” in Snyder’s writing.  I remembered Arthur’s sentiments, when he said in church several years ago that he and others were trying hard to avoid using the term “homeless” when speaking of those they hoped to serve at the Coffee Corner. This serves as an example of what it means to take responsibility for the face of the world as it relates to people who lack housing. To some, “homeless” means “evil or unworthy.”

Consider these recent events as an illustration of the harm that can come to people who have been indicted by their “homeless” label.  In Washington, D. C. in August 2025, it began in earnest with words like this, coming from the chief executive of the US: "The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY." "We will use every tool... to get the homeless off our streets." He called the city a "wasteland" of "tents, squalor, filth, and Crime". He linked the homeless to disorder by lumping them in with “drugged-out maniacs.”  After this, signs went up, and the National Guard and the bulldozers and garbage trucks went to work.  The White House now boasts of having “already purged roughly 70 tent encampments from the Washington area,” adding the warning that those who do not go to shelters “will face punishment in the form of fines and jail time.”  Jails and shelters are already overcrowded, and basic living expenses cannot be covered with funds from a fulltime minimum-wage job.  When we use the word “homeless” carelessly, some people will mentally connect the term with what has happened in D. C. and assume that we approve. 

The inhumane process that begins with labeling has been going on in the US far too long.  Examples:  Label immigrants as criminals, rapists, gang members, and vermin, and thus any brown or black person who speaks with an accent can be abducted without warrants—by people wearing masks and no identification, incarcerated in inhumane conditions with no access to legal counsel or the courts and no contact with their families, and finally, be disappeared or deported to unknown destinations.  Label occupants of small fishing boats as drug smugglers (Venezuelans), and the US miliary can destroy them with missiles, leaving no evidence behind.  Label comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s show as making "a major illegal campaign contribution" and his media host faces a lawsuit and threats of having their FCC license revoked.  Label a former FBI chief (James Comey) a “dirty cop” because he uncovered evidence of Russian campaign interference, and an indictment follows, along with “I hope there will be many others.” Label any person or group as a criminal or terrorist or being guilty of defamation--if they are perceived as an enemy, and the force of law (or at least an executive order) can be brought down on that person or group.  Antifa (anti-fascist) is the latest example, despite no organized group like that existing. 

Christians know that love is paramount, and using labels that intend harm is not loving.  Furthermore, when we internalize dehumanizing labels, our conscience is damaged, and Jesus’ name suffers reproach.

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Note:  I am not committed to making a second page a regular feature of this column, but I didn’t want anyone to miss out on the article linked here, written by a member of our church’s leadership team.  Feel free to alert me if you’d like to highlight your own writing or you’d like to elevate the writing of someone else.

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Here is a recent article written by Ellis Miller, shared here by permission.  https://tinyurl.com/MourningKirkAndAnabaptists