“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed.” — Isaiah 10:1-2

I have to admit that I was overwhelmed with shock, disbelief, and despair at the speed and extent of the present U.S. administration’s dismantling of the federal government. Black History Month reminds us of the power of organized resistance by the public.

And yet, I’m feeling more hopeful this week because the public is standing up to much of the nonsense, lies, and window-dressing of DOGE, Elon Musk’s so-called Dept. of Government Efficiency—an Orwellian term if ever there was one—as well as the many executive orders being challenged in the courts, and countless other measures calculated to “flood the zone” and make it impossible to resist for its sheer volume.

UCC minister Rev. Cameron Trimble, writing on Substack (my latest online discovery), said last week:

“While I don’t think we have ever seen the level of contempt for democratic values we see now, I do recognize that history is filled with moments when leaders broke the social contract, wielding power like a weapon instead of a responsibility. And every time, the antidote has been the same: ordinary people stepping up, choosing connection over chaos, truth over convenience, and courage over complacency.” (“Piloting Faith,” Feb. 21, 2025)

On Monday in her Substack newsletter, Heather Cox Richardson related a shift that Yale historian Timothy Snyder, author of “On Tyranny” and its sequel, “On Freedom,” has observed of late: “They are still breaking things and stealing things. And they will keep trying to break and to steal. But the propaganda magic around the oligarchical coup is fading.” (“Letters from an American,” Feb. 24, 2025)

And Joyce Vance, University of Alabama law professor and legal analyst, also wrote on Substack on Tuesday acknowledging that the panic we’ve been feeling is something essayist and U.S. founding father Thomas Paine observed in 1776, when the Continental Army was fleeing the British, and it resulted in a good deal of what Snyder warned against: obeying in advance.

But after the initial overwhelm came the public’s outrage: over transgender bans, deportation orders, and the mass firings of federal workers, to name a few things. And there were enough mistakes in firings, and attempts to hire back workers like those working to prevent the spread of bird flu, for example, to reveal how random the firings were and how incompetent DOGE actually was. Just like TV during the Civil Rights era, the light of facts exposes lies.

The result is more hope this week, in congressional town halls across the nation, as constituents jam meeting venues and demand that representatives stand up to these unjust orders if they want to be reelected in the midterms.

Cameron Trimble says chemist Ilya Prigogine saw islands of coherence in nature: “He studied how complex systems behave under stress and found that when chaos increases, small pockets of order…can stabilize the whole system.”

Examples are a congregation organizing a mutual aid fund for laid-off workers; neighbors forming community defense networks; teachers creating safe, honest spaces for students amid book bans and curriculum censorship; communities protecting their LGBTQ+ citizens; even a circle of friends committing to honest, thoughtful conversations in a time of spin and propaganda.

We saw many islands of coherence form in the wake of 2020’s George Floyd murder and the pandemic shutdowns. And the same thing has occurred at other points of upheaval in history, in the U.S. and elsewhere. Once again, we are witnessing a “leaderless revolution,” powered by individuals and groups organized and informed by their faith’s teachings and by ethical humanism, all in pursuit of common cause to stand up to tyranny.

Have you decided what your focus is going to be? Climate justice? Trans rights? Immigrant rights? Don’t “flood your own zone,” but decide what your passion is, and what impacts you directly or those near and dear to you. Then find others, and ACT.