Many of us watched incredulously as a city mayor was taken into custody for trespassing at a facility used to jail fellow human beings. As surreal as that scene was, I was struck by the fact that law enforcement personnel, acting in our name, were wearing masks.

Some personnel whose motivation may well be to serve their country honorably have been asked to perform tasks considered unthinkable a short time ago. Great effort, strategic planning, and cost have been expended to rendition human beings into oblivion. It is an injustice to do so. And Americans, however imperfectly, have always challenged injustice.

We can hardly imagine the pain of being cast adrift in a sea of indifference and cruelty – to know no safe harbor and to have no opportunity to stand before an impartial judge to plead your case. It is natural to have empathy for those that are treated badly and I do. I also feel empathy for the men and women who were carrying out orders that should never have been given. Behind their masks, they are our neighbors too and have accepted the burden that others have placed on them – for good or ill. They will carry that burden long into the future.

There are no winners in this struggle. Sadness abounds. Yet the world turns and will turn again to the light. There will come a time when Good Will Toward Men is more than just a holiday slogan, but a way of being.

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Kevin Deeny