Civil disobedience is now a moral ­necessity. After the murder of Renee Nicole Good, our response must be greater, not quieter. We are funding our own terror. Through our federal taxes, we sustain a system that treats Black and Brown lives as disposable, fuels mass incarceration, militarizes communities and creates international chaos. 

Rather than funding education, healthcare, housing or climate research, that money is diverted to ICE raids, deportations, detention centers and militarized violence both in the U.S. and abroad. Resources that could support children, food aid and international community building are used to terrorize families, abduct neighbors and kill with impunity. This is a political choice that diminishes the well-being of our global family while expanding repression. 

In times of fascistic violence, some crumble and others refuse. We cannot afford to crumble. Refusal means building sanctuary in churches, neighborhoods and community spaces, documenting and disrupting ICE actions, blocking deportations and making systems of exclusion slower and costlier.

Because we fund this system with our federal taxes, we have power. We must reclaim that power by supporting the Mennonite Church USA Peace Tax Fund and providing mutual aid, bail funds and legal defense while exerting relentless pressure on elected officials. Not one more dollar for ICE or the military! Let’s continue to refuse, organize and build communities that are ungovernable by terror.

Harold A. Penner, Akron, Pa.