Last week, as events unfolded in Charlottesville, Va., my black Dominican father was pulled over by I.C.E.

In the face of an emboldened white supremacy movement, I find the defensive posture of some conservatives more and more trying.

The way forward is the way of the penitent and prophet.

“Changing the law would threaten the integrity and independence of houses of worship,” reads the letter faith leaders sent to protect church-state separation.

How do you continue to “bear witness” when every three or four days there is another crisis?

I have read about you in the papers and seen you on television. But the reality is I still do not understand you.