“In the Living Laboratory of Christ:
When the State is Fascist, be an Enemy of the State.”

January 25, 2026 • Third Sunday after Epiphany
Scripture Lessons: Psalm 27 (From Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms by Norman Fischer) and Matthew 4:12-23 (The Message)
Rev. Alexandre da Silva Souto, Guest Preacher

[You can view the full worship video recording at: https://youtu.be/oLaD1UIL7xA]

What kind of political system are we in?

What kind of regime was Jesus born into,
and what systems and institutions did he operate in?

My questions are rarely rhetorical.
Therefore, you are highly encouraged to talk back at any time…

What kind of political state are we in?

What kind of regime did Jesus operate in?

Are there any parallels between Jesus’ time and our times?

More importantly…

How do we respond to times such as these?

I would argue that there are various ways one can respond, and Jesus matched his response to the occasion.

Gene Sharp, the political scientist, Dartmouth professor, and founder of the Albert Einstein Institution
argued that there are numerous ways to resist authoritarianism and bring about change.

To be more precise, there are “198 Methods of Nonviolent Action” categorized into protest, noncooperation (social, economic, political), and intervention.

The Albert Einstein Institution and the Global Nonviolent Action Database summarize them in three broad categories:

The first 54 ways are categorized as:

1. Protest and Persuasion:
These are symbolic acts of opposition.
• Formal Statements: Public speeches, signed public statements, and declarations.
• Public Communication: Leaflets, banners, and skywriting.
• Wearing symbols, prayer/worship, displaying flags, and marches.

Most progressive folks and liberal folks are well-versed in these strategies. And these days, there is no shortage of reasons to protest. I moved to this country for the protection of free speech, the right to public assembly, and the right to protest.

I became a priest because I believe in the power of symbols, statements, and declarations.

However, when these actions are not followed up by sustained Transformative Actions, they become Performative Actions.

Transformative actions don’t require that necessary statements, declarations, protests, and marches immediately change the circumstances one is trying to transform.

What I mean by transformative is that the root causes of suffering and the systems that produce life-denying destruction are examined, named, and addressed.

The second category comprises:

2. Methods of Noncooperation (55–153).
There are about 100 ways of refusing to participate in systems or social, economic, or political relationships.
• Social Noncooperation: Social boycotts, student strikes, and staying at home.
• Economic Noncooperation: Consumer boycotts, workers’ strikes, and embargoes.
• Political Noncooperation: Boycotting elections, administrative noncooperation, and judicial noncooperation.

Uncivil obedience, or Malicious Compliance, is the act of strictly following orders or rules to the letter, even knowing the result will be unproductive, inefficient, or chaotic, often highlighting flaws in management or policy.

It is a form of passive-aggressive, non-defiant, or subversive resistance used when employees feel unheard, undervalued, or micromanaged, often serving as a form of protest.

Disruptive Actions like Boycott, Divest, Sanction have proven to be a very effective strategy throughout the world, because most systemic evils are rooted in capitalist greed.

3. The third category is Intervention (154–198).

These methods directly disrupt or challenge the opponent’s power.
• Psychological Intervention: Fasting (hunger strike) and reverse trials.
• Physical/Social Intervention: Sit-ins, stand-ins, ride-ins, and alternative institutions.

So we can protest and try to persuade,
we can stop cooperating with systems of oppression,
and start disrupting destructive uses of power.

Which strategies did Jesus apply in the Living Laboratory of Christ?

Which strategies do you feel called to bring into effect?

Last night, I arrived from Minneapolis after the convening of MARCH (Multifaith, Antiracism, Change & Healing) with over 650 religious professionals to witness and protest the state-sponsored assassination of Renee Nicole Good, and ICE assaults, abductions, and disappearances of our neighbors.

We demanded that
1. ICE leave Minnesota immediately.
2. The officer who killed Renee Good must be held legally accountable.
3. No additional federal funding for ICE in the upcoming Congressional budget and ICE should be investigated for human and Constitutional violations of Americans and our neighbors.
4. We call upon Minnesota and national companies to become 4th Amendment businesses, cease economic relations with ICE, and refuse ICE entry or using their property for staging grounds.

One hundred local religious leaders knelt on the asphalt
in minus-15-degree weather
with wind chills of -25F
waiting to be arrested for protesting the actions of this Fascist Regime,
and the compliance of airline corporations,
and other companies benefiting from state-sponsored terror.
Dozens of supporting clergy and hundreds of local protestors gathered in witness.

At the same time, approximately 100 clergy colleagues staged a sit-in at U.S. Bank headquarters in downtown Minneapolis, demanding that the bank sever ties with ICE.

Reports indicate the CEO of U.S. Bank agreed to meet with our clergy colleagues following the demonstration.

Another 50 clergy patrolled a major street lined with businesses owned by Hispanic and Somali Americans — groups targeted by ICE.

In the afternoon, we all marched with tens of thousands of people demanding that ICE leave Minneapolis and every city they are occupying.

It was one of the most heartbreaking and heartmending experiences of my life.
Now, here is what moved me the most during my brief witness in Minneapolis.
The work of the people.
The work of the ordinary people in Minneapolis.
The labor of love of a neighbor,
taking care of ten people,
two families,
living under one roof.

Which strategies did Jesus practice?

Which strategies do you feel called to bring into effect in the Living Laboratory of Christ?

What moment are we in this Living Laboratory of Christ?

Does it feel that the Kin-dom of God is at hand?

Could the Kindom of God come to be through individual+collective justice-seeking practices, relational generosity, and shared accountability?”

What if we were to engage in the practices
our siblings in Minneapolis have been teaching us in the last five years,
since Mr. George Floyd Jr. was executed by a white police officer
just a few blocks from where Renee Nicole Good was assassinated,
not far from where Alex Pretti was shot
while trying to render aid to a peaceful protest?

The Kindom of God is the very opposite of the times and spaces we are living in.
At the same time, the Kindom of God is showing up
right in the midst of these tragedies
when neighbors are caring for their neighbors.

When neighbors are learning one another’s needs and strengths.
When neighbors are learning one another’s particularities
and histories as acts of resistance against fascism.
Because Fascism can only exist through the erasure of history,
the denial of truth, and the desecration of life.

There’s no room for fictitious triumphalist myths in the Kindom of God.
There’s no room for border walls in the Kindom of God.
There’s no room for hypersegregation
and hyper-individualism.

The Kindom of God is not going to be built with endowment funds, because Late Stage Capitalism is the cancer at the root of the problem. The kindom of God is at hand through the cooperation of neighbors with neighbor. The kindom of God is not secured by pension plans, but by meeting the needs that can be met today.

As controversial as he might’ve been at times… Michael Parenti, Political scientist, author, historian, activist prophetically stated:

“The essence of capitalism is to turn nature into commodities
and commodities into capital. The live green earth is transformed into dead gold bricks, with luxury items for the few
and toxic slag heaps for the many.”

The Kindom of God will not have a headquarters in Geneva or on a billionaire’s island.

The kindom of God is constituted of decentralized power structures where the dignity and divine worth of All Sentient and non-Sentient Beings are protected.

The kindom of God is not going to be ushered in by a single person, but by a collective of day-to-day people.

The kingdom of God is coming about through Joy with Teeth. The kindom of God is at hand because All Sentient Beings are held up by Mother Earth.

“Even a wounded world is feeding us.
even a wounded world holds us,
giving us moments of joy & wonder.
I choose joy over despair,
not because I have my head in the sand,
but because joy is what the earth gives me daily
and I must return the gift.”
~Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

The kindom of God is at hand because of Prevenient Grace, Preventive Grace, Unfuckwithable Grace.

I use these theological terms very intentionally, because we are living in an era of Satanic Fuckery.

I am not interested in provoking for provocation’s sake.

I use strong language because we need strong actions to transform the chaos produced by this
White-Patriarchal-Colonial-Empire.

Protest and Persuasion are important, but we have to move toward practices of Noncooperation and Noncompliance because the ruling class doesn’t listen to the people anymore, if they ever did.

The ruling class cares only about one thing:
money, equating their worth and power with how much they can hoard.

This Fascist regime is labeling teachers, medical professionals, librarians, artists, community organizers,
students, laborers, religious professionals, and caring neighbors as enemies of the state.

If the state is Fascist, the most faithful act is becoming an “alleged” enemy of the state.

Michael Parenti passed away yesterday at the age of 92, and I will close with his words…

“They who struggled against all odds
with all the fear and courage of ordinary humans,
whose names we shall never know,
whose blood and tears we shall never see,
whose cries of pain and hope we shall never hear,
to them we are linked by a past that is never dead
nor ever really past.
And so when the best pages of history are finally written,
it will be not by princes, presidents,
prime ministers, or pundits,
nor even by professors,
but by the people themselves.
For all their faults and shortcomings,
the people are all we have.
Indeed, we are they.”
~Michael Parenti, 1933-2026

Unfuckwithable Grace shall get us through this.
May Unfuckwithable Grace
be with you today and every day to come.

Blessed Be,
Axé,
Aho,
Ameen,
Svaha!

Commission & Benediction

Beloved siblings
the Kindom of God has come near
as our hearts break open…
even as our hearts break open.

The Cosmos is showing us The Way
through challenges
but clear paths.

Mother Earth is pissed off,
but She is showing us The Way.

Our ancestors
are showing us The Way.

Our Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Color siblings
continue to embody The Way.

Our Siblings in Minneapolis
and many other places
are living into The Way.

The Way of Christ
The Way of Peace with Justice
The Way into the Kindom of God.

Let us be Peace.
Let us go in Peace.
Let us practice all possible ways of Justice.

Copyright © 2026 - Rev. Alexandre da Silva Souto
All rights reserved.

Here is the link to my Substack publication containing the manuscript and my edited version of the video: “In the Living Laboratory of Christ: When the State is Fascist, be an Enemy of the State.”