Niebuhr Lecturer Argues we Need to Act Now to Prevent Totalitarianism

Kathleen Arnold poses for a headshot in Founders Lounge on April 14. (Ian Murphy)

“If we care about our friends or neighbors, we have to consider this civil war,” said Kathleen Arnold, a DePaul University professor and speaker at this year’s annual Niebuhr lecture on Tuesday, April 14. Arnold, professor and director of the refugee and forced migration program at DePaul University spoke to students about the U.S.’s active slide into totalitarianism and the importance of direct political action, along with her and her students’ successes and challenges.

The speech, part of Elmhurst University’s religious lecture series, centered on Arnold’s experience working in the U.S. refugee system as an expert witness, along with advising the student organization DePaul Sanctuary. While not yet officially recognized by their home school, DePaul Sanctuary has succeeded in hosting independent activism events, including “Know Your Rights” training and awareness seminars.

Arnold’s lecture addressed specific concerns and misconceptions she heard from peers and students.

Describing an interaction with one student, Arnold said, “In ancient Greece, there was slavery and women were unequal, but he was insisting that it was still a democracy.”

She reframed this student’s belief by sharing the belief that the most unequal should be the baseline for democracy.

“Not using the citizen as the measure of strength or test of strength of democracy, but the refugee,” said Arnold.

Reframing arguments doesn’t always work, but finding new strategies and ways to approach people is the only way to find one that does work.

“This is not a prescription, but simply a discussion,” said Arnold.

Arnold continued to list misconceptions as a way to emphasize the frequent wrongdoings of ICE and law enforcement.

“If people are being arrested and jailed in brutal ways, they must be criminals guilty of something. Only Liam Conejo was innocent, not his father and the other children that were arrested with him,” said Arnold.

“U.S. centers do not torture people; is what people have told me. We must comply, so as not to lose funding or invite scrutiny. The law itself is still sound,” said Arnold as she used the “Bad Apples” metaphor to springboard into the core of her argument:

“Just because some parts of the government continue to function does not mean that the totalitarian tools that Reinhold Niebuhr, Hannah Arrent, Simone Weil, and so many other esteemed thinkers identified have not fallen subject,” stated Arnold.

Cultural institutions and individuals who may have been historically progressive, or positive forces for free speech, such as college campuses or left-leaning party members, begin to acquiesce to a dedicated authoritarian effort. It’s not a violent uprising, but changes are made in an effort to slow the bleeding.

“Universities and civil society groups still exist but are attacked in a number of different ways. Some engage in anticipatory obedience, which only fuels more domination,” said Arnold. “New titles must replace the old. At DePaul we just replaced DEI with Thriving Circles.”

She continues, “this is a total apprehension of the world, not merely one party exercising power in a democratic system. History must be destroyed or rewritten. Statues must be removed.”

While not basing her arguments in religion, Arnold used the words of theologians as a moral guide. Beginning with the power and directive of the Serenity Prayer, authored by Reinhold Niebuhr. The prayer, which is frequently used by self-help organizations and part of a longer poem as part of a sermon, emphasizes serenity, courage, and wisdom. The second line, which Arnold most explicitly references, asks God for the “courage to change the things I can.”

Arnold stated, “We just strive for justice, not because that’s our instinct, but because we must check human behavior and not assume that simply because a mass of people believe something, voted for something, and or act on their beliefs, then that is therefore legitimate in and of itself.”

Continuing, she noted, “[Niebuhr] understood the difference in competing interests of the individual versus society.”

According to Arnold, there isn’t a single turning point where the country becomes “authoritarian,” but instead a series of subtle changes over the course of decades leading to a retrospective assignment of the term. Conversely, course-correction requires time and a true understanding of the problem at hand, not a quick fix.

“Some of my students want to be the saviors,” said Arnold. “We have to stop looking at people as pure victims and look at them as agents, and they’re the ones who really know what’s going on.”