Religion on the Mind – Episode #375: An Update from Minneapolis with Mason Mennenga
Aired: January 26, 2026
Host: Dan Koch
Guest: Mason Mennenga

Episode Overview

This special “Religion on the News” edition features Dan Koch in conversation with Minneapolis-based pastor and writer Mason Mennenga. They discuss the ongoing ICE raids and federal actions in Minneapolis, the city’s unique history of community organization, the psychological impact of these events, the role of faith-based resistance, and the deepening divides within American Christianity. The tone is candid, at times profane, and deeply personal, reflecting a mix of outrage, hope, confusion, and the search for action.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Minneapolis Under Siege: Mason’s Eyewitness Perspective

• National & Global Attention: The city again finds itself center stage, recalling the 2020 George Floyd protests, but with new layers of crisis involving ICE and federal enforcement ([06:59]).
• Daily Life Amidst Crisis: Mason recounts living everyday life—groceries, friends, church—while ICE raids and violence unfold around him ([08:02]).
• Community Response: “On a couple Sundays ago, I was literally driving to church, and there was a raid happening a block away...” – Mason ([09:20]).
• Technology & Resistance: Community organizing via encrypted apps (Signal) helps warn and protect vulnerable residents during raids ([09:22]).

2. Community Organizing & Faith-Based Action

• Twin Cities’ Activist DNA: Minneapolis is among the best organized cities in the U.S. for activist response. Organizing via local progressive faith communities—Lutherans, Episcopals, and other left-leaning religious groups—is emphasized ([11:19]).
• Hope Amid Darkness: Mason finds hope in the solidarity and mutual aid networks: “What I think is really cool… is the community coming together to protect neighbors...” ([10:47]).

3. Moral Shock & Powerlessness

• Host’s Perspective: Dan expresses deep frustration, feeling two types of powerlessness: inability to effect on-the-ground change and a growing realization of fundamental divides in moral language and worldview ([12:04]).
• Shifting ICE Policy: Both speakers agree what’s happening far exceeds “border enforcement,” directly targeting established, legal immigrant families under questionable pretenses ([14:38], [16:07]).
• Moderates Reacting: Polls show a national majority disapproves of harsh, punitive actions; even some who previously saw ICE as necessary are shocked ([17:54], [18:51]).
• Mass Deportations as Political Retribution: Mason speculates this may be “retribution against Tim Walls,” Minnesota’s governor, underscoring the personalized nature of current federal policy ([21:24]).

4. Polarization Within Christianity

• Irreconcilable Interpretations: Both wrestle with observing the same events—like the viral video of Renee Goode’s killing—and realizing Christians interpret them with “mutually incompatible religions” ([27:59], [29:30]).
• Biblical Cherry-Picking: “We all sort of cherry pick as Christians… the Bible says lots of different things. You’re gonna be able to make a pro argument and an anti argument all from the Bible.” – Mason ([36:16]).
• Scripture as Propaganda: Mason notes each Gospel and biblical author had unique agendas, making Scripture capable of supporting radically different policies and ethics ([36:05]).

5. Deeper Psychological/Existential Questions

• Facing Reality vs. Avoidance: Dan references existential psychology, asking if it’s time to “just call a spade a spade” and admit there are now divergent religions within “Christianity”—a potentially honest and necessary reckoning ([29:30]).
• Role of Relationships in Transformation: Change—personal and political—comes through authentic relationship, not prooftexting or argument: “For me… what changed how I thought… was I actually ended up meeting a gay person. I… ended up having a relationship with somebody…” – Mason ([39:15]).

6. Strengthening of Faith Through Action

• Kingdom of God Made Real: Mason describes a vigil and ongoing mutual aid at the site of Renee Goode’s murder as “the kingdom of God breaking through” ([42:12]).
• Disorientation & Orientation: Dan notes that witnessing Christian-based resistance or mutual aid affirms his own faith, but the knowledge that most American Christians disagree is disorienting ([44:10]).

7. Tactics and Controversy: Disrupting the Church Service

• Controversial Protest: A protest at a Southern Baptist church where an assistant pastor operates in ICE administration draws debate. Both critique the method, especially as it scared children, but agree the larger moral contradiction should be confronted ([50:48] – [58:44]).
• Notable Quote: “Go to their monthly church meeting or the evening choir practice... Sunday morning with the families… gives the vibe that nothing’s sacred.” – Dan ([57:14]).

8. Navigating Action, Values, and Anxiety

• What’s in Our Control: Distinguishing practical, local actions from large-scale systemic change, and embracing “small ways that people have been showing up to help their neighbors” ([59:48], [62:08]).
• Values-Based Action: Turning anxiety and anger into concrete action rooted in core personal values. “If everybody did that instead of doom scrolling… so much more effective.” – Dan ([62:08]).
• Expanding vs. Collapsing Anxiety: Existential psych distinguishes anxiety that expands one’s connections and world vs. anxiety that causes retreat—opting for the former is key to mental health and meaningful engagement ([69:52]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Living in the Midst of Crisis
  “For me, it’s just like, this is home. Like, this is where I get groceries. This is where I go to bed… It just so happens that all the eyes of the world, for the most part, are centered at this place right now.”
  – Mason ([07:48])

• On the Power of Local Organizing
  “The Twin Cities are actually one of the best organized communities in the country… there was already a level of preparation to sort of have this kind of resistance that we’re seeing.”
  – Mason ([11:19])

• On Irreconcilable Worldviews in the Church
  “…is it time for me…to just call a spade a spade and say, we have gotten to the point practically, where these visions of Christianity are so incompatible…that they really are different religions?”
  – Dan ([29:30])

• On the Bible’s Flexibility
  “We all sort of cherry pick as Christians… The Bible says lots of different things. You’re gonna be able to make a pro argument and an anti argument all from the Bible.”
  – Mason ([36:16])

• On the Limits of Arguments
  “If one of them sent me Romans 13… it’s bouncing right off. Like that’s not going to move me at all.”
  – Dan ([39:09])

• On the Role of Direct Relationship in Change
  “What truly changed how I thought about the world was I ended up meeting a gay person. I ended up meeting an immigrant… It made me have to rethink how I thought about these people.”
  – Mason ([39:15])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Minneapolis as Epicenter ([06:59] – [11:19])
• Community Resistance & Organizing ([09:22] – [11:19])
• Powerlessness and Polarization ([12:04] – [16:07])
• Political Context & Public Opinion ([17:54] – [18:51])
• Fascism and National Mood ([21:24] – [22:53])
• Moral Break & Interpretive Gulf ([26:03] – [27:59])
• Divided Christianity & Bible Usage ([29:30] – [36:44])
• Relationships vs. Prooftexting ([39:01] – [40:30])
• Faith Strengthened through Mutual Aid ([42:12] – [44:10])
• Controversy over Church Service Protest ([50:48] – [58:44])
• Local Action & Values-Based Living ([59:48] – [62:08], [65:43] – [69:52])
• Healthy vs. Unhealthy Anxiety ([69:52] – [73:50])

Takeaways for Listeners

• Concrete Local Action: Start with what’s in your control—small acts of neighborly support—and grow from there based on your core values.
• Engage Authentically: Change happens through relationships, not arguments.
• Interpretive Humility: Be honest about the “multi-vocal” nature of scripture and the limits of using it to convince others.
• Healthy Engagement: Let outrage or anxiety motivate local, values-driven action rather than internal despair or fruitless doomscrolling.

Final Notes

The episode balances emotional intensity with grounded, pragmatic hope. As Dan concludes, “…this is not a weird way for things to get better… that’s generally how it goes.” Real change, they suggest, flows from crisis, activating individuals and communities to embody their deepest values—whether or not the broader church or society agrees.

For more of Mason’s perspectives: Listen to his podcast, A People’s Theology.
Connect with Religion on the Mind: dan@religiononthemind.com