Do Not Obey in Advance: A Faith-Based Call to Action

Faith communities are opposing cabinet picks that would undermine the rule of law

I am back from some rest after serving as the national faith director for the Harris Campaign, and I am excited to return to my Substack.

I’ve been thinking about how to preserve the vestiges of democracy here in the U.S. even as we resist what Anne Applebaum calls “Autocracy Inc.–” the alliance of autocrats working with oligarchs and plutocrats to undermine democracy everywhere.

At first glance, this seemed impossible after MAGA had won all three branches of government. However, looking deeper, I realized that there are still non-MAGA Republicans in the Senate who are disturbed by Trump’s goals. All we need are four votes to sway the Senate. The Republican majority in the House is also narrow and often divided. By forming coalitions across party lines, we may still be able to block some of the illiberal MAGA agenda.

We must form a broad coalition to safeguard the democratic institutions and political ideals that allow us to shape our public policies and govern our lives.

The Rule of Law

The rule of law is one of the most critical. This is the political and legal ideal that everyone, including government officials, lawmakers, and judges, is subject to the same laws. The leader is above the law in autocracies and can act with impunity.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to go after his opponents, by which he means anyone who tried to hold him responsible for his crimes. By appointing extreme loyalists to law enforcement agencies, Trump signals that he seeks to be above the law and that anyone who questions him—including employees, civil society, and the media—may face retribution.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Trump nominated Kash Patel to run the FBI. Patel has stated his intent to prosecute Trump’s “enemies,” by which he means anyone who tried to hold Trump accountable for his crimes. Patel’s 2022 book, Government Gangsters, contains an enemies list of sixty people, including Lloyd Austin (defense secretary under Biden), Bill Barr (former AG under Trump), Mark Esper (former Trump sec of defense), Anthony Fauci (former chief medical advisor to the president), and many more.

We’ve Been Here Before

We have seen this before. The FBI was once used to silence citizens, and it had a significant impact on faith communities supporting the Civil Rights Movement.

In the 1960s, then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, with the approval of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and later with the encouragement of President Lyndon Johnson, illegally wiretapped Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. The 1975 Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities (a.k.a Church Committee, named after the senator that led it) investigated these abuses. It implemented numerous regulations and policies establishing guardrails to prevent the FBI and other intelligence agencies from unlawfully spying on Americans.

Texas GOP Attorney General Paxton Tries to Shut Down Catholic Migrant Ministries

This year, faith communities got a taste of what living under a politicized attorney general at the state level looks like. The Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently harassed the Catholic Charities of Rio Grande for months, conducting a lengthy and expensive “investigation” of the agency’s widely praised work in service of migrants. The baseless investigation grew so expansive that a judge ruled a request to depose the agency out of order this past summer. Paxton’s work is part of a broader right-wing effort to target nonprofits that service migrants.

Sr. Norma Pimental (center) leads the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande migrant respite center. Here, she talks to reporters and visitors at the height of the 2018 child separation crisis when the Trump Administration began separating children from their parents.

Not surprisingly, Attorney General Paxton was an early staunch supporter of Kash Patel for FBI director.

What can we do? Come join us at the Do Not Obey in Advance Seminar tomorrow night.

Call your senator and ask them to stand firm against appointing cabinet members who would abuse the Constitution. Tell them you will have their back as a constituent.

Our ability to live out our faith and apply our values depends on the rule of law. The rule of law allows us to act on our convictions as long as we do no harm to others and live according to just laws.

That may all change if unqualified hyper-loyalists take over our law enforcement and defense agencies. Only the U.S. Senate stands between us and a president who seeks to undermine the rule of law and use government agencies to shore up his power and control over citizens.

Only four senators are needed to derail a nominee, and many have voiced their concerns. MAGA is trying to get them in line, but if our voices are loud enough, they will fail. Even a delay is a victory. And the relationships we build will be helpful as we move forward.

Autocrats need citizens to be cynical, apathetic, and fearful so that we are compliant. This is called “obeying in advance.” Do not obey. Choose hope over fear. Commit to the idea that your actions–like a phone call to your senator–can make a difference.