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How to Love Your Enemies, Even Fascists & Tech Bro Oligarchs

How to Love Your Enemies, Even Fascists & Tech Bro Oligarchs

Last updated on: February 4, 2025 at 11:27 am by Leah D. Schade

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How to Love Your Enemies, Even Fascists & Tech Bro Oligarchs 2025-02-04T11:27:25-04:00 Leah D. Schade

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“Love your enemies” sounds naïve when dealing with fascists and tech bro oligarchs who are attacking your country. But this religious teaching is actually a form of resistance.

hands extended with heart

Love your enemies. Photo by Alena Shekhovtcova, Pexels.com

I wrote in my previous piece that Romans 12:14-21 instructed early Christians to “bless those who persecute; bless and do not curse them. . . Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.”

This sounds a bit naïve, doesn’t it?

Especially given what we are facing in this country from fascists and tech bros oligarchs who are hijacking the National Treasury, breaking the bones of our nation, and tearing the flesh from our communities like jackals swarming a fresh kill.

How do we overcome this level of evil with good?

And where did Paul get this seemingly credulous idea?

These instructions are based on the teachings of Jesus. And they both drew on their Hebrew scriptures for this idea.

Here’s what Jesus said:

“But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Love your enemies, quote from the Bible

Love your enemies. Matthew 5:44

This teaching to love your enemies is in Matthew 5:43-48 and Luke 6:27-36.

At first, it sounds preposterous. How can we love someone who is persecuting us?

First, we need to clarify what Jesus meant by “love.”

This isn’t about gushy, romantic feelings. Or warm, cozy emotions.

The Greek word is agape, which means to act with good will towards another. In other words, you can act with good will towards another person, even if you don’t feel loving emotions.

But even still, how does one act with good will toward someone who is doing awful, no good things like hacking our country? And attacking immigrants and trans people? And threatening denominations that are helping millions of Americans through social services?

I admit, this teaching can feel confounding.

How can we love those who make laws that directly defy God’s law of ethics and compassion? How can we act in a loving way toward legislators and billionaire CEOs and media executives who exhibit corruption? Are we really expected to love those who sacrifice the weak for the sake of their own wealth and power?

How can we love our enemies, even fascists and tech bro oligarchs?

Here’s the thing. Loving our enemies is not about rolling over and allowing evil to have its way. In fact, it’s just the opposite. It’s about active and resistive engagement with our enemies.

How so?

Jesus is drawing on the Hebrew Scripture’s teaching that we must reprove, rebuke, and correct our neighbor when they are doing harmful things.

Here are two examples of this teaching.

Leviticus 19:17

Leviticus 19:17 says to refrain from hating anyone AND to reprove them when they’re doing wrong. Otherwise, we incur their guilt when we say nothing.

This verse teaches that confronting wrongdoing is an act of love, not hatred. It states that failing to correct someone could make you complicit in their sin.

If this is the case, then when the fascist tech bros and oligarchs are doing these awful things, the loving thing to do is to reprove, rebuke, and correct them.

In other words, resist and call them to account!

Ezekiel 3:18-19

The prophet Ezekiel cautions in 3:18-19 that when God warns the wicked that their actions are going to bring about their own demise, we need to amplify that warning. If we don’t, and they die (or cause the deaths of others), we are held responsible.

This passage underscores personal responsibility to call out wrongdoing. Failing to warn others makes one accountable before God.

This being so, those who claim to follow the Bible’s teachings are obligated to speak out against those who are doing wicked things.

This means clergy, ecclesial leaders, and people in the pews are responsible for saying something and doing something about what is happening right now in our country.

The fact is: fascists, tech bros, and oligarchs are our neighbors – even when they have also made us their enemies.

This is because we all share the same water, land, and air. They are human beings who have chosen the worst possible direction for our country. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to reprove, rebuke, and correct them.

But how? What are supposed to do with our neighbors who have made themselves our enemies and are trying to destroy us?

How do we love our enemies when they want us completely subjugated to their pathologically evil will? Or even want us dead?

I’ve wrestled with these questions, too.

And then a few years ago, I received a nugget of wisdom from what might be a surprising source, especially for an ordained Christian minister. But it’s some profound wisdom from the Muslim tradition that echoes Jesus’s and Paul’s teachings.

In the Manual of Hadith, which is like the interpretative companion to the Quran, the Prophet Muhammed [peace be upon him] says this:

“Help thy neighbor whether he is the doer of wrong or wrong is done to him.”

His companions said, “O Messenger! We can help a person to whom wrong is done,

but how could we help the one who is the doer of wrong?”

He said: “Take hold of his hand from doing wrong.”

(Hadith 2444, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.)

**Did you catch that? As people of faith, we must take hold of the hands of the wrongdoers.**

hand grabbing wrist

That is to say, stopping fascists and oligarchs from doing evil is the loving thing to do!

One of our own prophets in America had a similar instruction:

“I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.”

Those words were written by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Do you see how noncooperation with evil is the way to love our enemies?

**We must join hands with each other in order to stay the hand of those who are driven by a patriarchal, white supremacist, christofascist, kleptocratic agenda.**

Stopping your enemies from doing evil is how to love your enemies.

But how?

They have so much power, money, and control now. How can we stay their hand?

I agree, it feels overwhelming. The harmful laws and regulations that are being passed, as well as the existing laws and regulations that are being swept away, are immoral, unjust, unethical, and intolerable.

But it’s not too late!

Here’s what gives me energy and inspiration.

We’re seeing something rise up in response to this chaotic evil. It’s a wave of humanity that refuses to be cowed, duped, or compromised.

Just as the Civil Rights movement of sixty years ago could not have run without the power of the churches and synagogues, this new movement needs people of faith to give it moral and ethical authority. We need to frame these issues as a matter of faith.

And we need to join with other people of faith who are fighting back to defend their good work, their reputations, and their call to ministry.

For example, the Quakers have already filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. And now that Lutherans and Catholics have also been targeted, it would make sense for them to join this lawsuit as well.

Even small acts can make a difference.

For example, in a clergy group I’m part of, one pastor shared that they put the phone numbers to their elected representatives on the tables in the fellowship hall. The pastor reminded the congregation that as registered voters they have significant voices, and they should call their elected representatives to express their concerns. This is something every minister could – and should – do!

We must ignite the incredible power within our worshiping communities to call out these crimes and push our elected officials to fight for us.

Our churches, mosques, synagogues and other houses of worship can stand in solidarity with people who are mobilizing to put their lives on the line. We must work together to protect children, women, immigrants, seniors, people of color, LGBTQIA folks, people of religions beyond Christianity, and non-religious people of good will. pushing back

Pushing back. Photo by Keira Burton on Pexels.com

Some of you are already doing this work individually. And when we come together with a united voice and community, our power is multiplied.

In the spirit the persistent widow in Jesus’ parable, like David fighting Goliath, like Moses and Aaron confronting Pharaoh, like Gandhi confronting colonial imperialism, we know that justice and righteousness shall eventually prevail.

Yes, it will take everything we’ve got, and the struggle will be long and difficult.

But the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus’s teachings, Paul’s exhortations, the Prophet Muhammed, and many other religious teachings call us to live lives that honor God, honor all people, and honor Creation – especially those most vulnerable.

Admittedly, our task is not an easy one.

We are charged with taking hold of the hands that are doing wrong. This includes the people sitting in well-appointed offices. And it includes those who will call for us to stay out of politics and be relegated to the task of cleaning up and comforting after the perpetrators human rights violations have long gone.

Siblings in faith, we can no longer be satisfied with that role.

**Our task is not only to care for the afflicted, but to stay the hand of the one causing the affliction in the first place.**

This is what Bishop Mariann Budde did in her sermon where she directly addressed Donald Trump. She used her sermon to try to stay the hand of the one causing affliction, asking him to exercise mercy.

She has received vitriolic backlash. You may get push-back, too. You may be mocked and smirked at and patronized and politely dismissed. And some of us will feel the wrath of the powers because of our work for justice.

But we will be heard! Because we do not do this alone.

hands together

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

Our voices are being amplified across this nation. We are answering the call to justice and righteousness. So be encouraged!

Know that you stand in a long line of faithful people who take their faith outside their houses of worship and out into the world, helping to create on the outside what we proclaim on the inside.

This is exactly why people of faith, goodwill, and gritty resistance are so necessary for this time. “For such a time as this,” as Mordechai said to Esther (4:14).

So, attend to your tasks today with confidence, good humor, perseverance, fierce advocacy for justice, and great joy! Know that God is sending you and your siblings of faith in houses of worship to love your enemies in the fiercest and most faithful way possible.

We join others in classrooms and on the streets and in the forests and across the skies who support and encourage us. We create new coalitions and connect with existing ones. And we stay the hand of those doing evil because that is the way to love your enemy.

This is the Great Work of our time, and God is with us!

11 Lessons for Preachers from Bishop Budde’s Sermon

Mercy Plea by Bishop Budde Mirrors 3 Bold Biblical Women

[Are you a preacher in the U.S.? You can help me with my research studying ministry, preaching, and social issues by filling out this survey.]

[Thinking of addressing social issues in a sermon? Preachers can take this 5-minute assessment of their strengths and vulnerabilities here.]

Are you a clergy person looking to connect with other Christian leaders in the work of resisting and disrupting Christian nationalism? Check out the Clergy Emergency League, a group I co-founded in 2020.

The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is the Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky and ordained in the ELCA. She is a past president of the Academy of Homiletics. Dr. Schade does not speak for LTS or the ELCA or AOH; her opinions are her own. She is the author of Preaching and Social Issues: Tools and Tactics for Empowering Your Prophetic Voice (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024), Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, 2015). She is the co-editor of Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). Her book, Introduction to Preaching: Scripture, Theology, and Sermon Preparation, was co-authored with Jerry L. Sumney and Emily Askew (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023).

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