Sunshine Melts Ice: A Meditation on the Martyrdom of Renée Good

By Andrew William Smith

Andrew Smith (sometimes known as Sunfrog) is a Presbyterian poet, teacher, author, and activist living in middle Tennessee (Tenasi, Cherokee land).

I have seen several posts that point out, or comment on, the Christianity of Renée Good’s assassin Jonathan Ross. I think that some have done this to point out the apostasy, heresy, and hypocrisy of Christians murdering civilians by shooting them in the face. But more often, the point in pointing out his faith and religious identity seems to be a “gotcha” about the ways in which Ross (and his propagandists JD Vance and Kristi Noem) fully embody the “white Christian nationalism” which has fully fused itself with the domination-system of powers and principalities, against which the Bible urges us to wage spiritual war in Ephesians, chapter six.

For real, y’all, I can think of no more accurate way to describe the ICE gangs and their gangsters in charge than as “the wiles of the devil,” because these “rulers” and “authorities” are, as far as I can discern, deputized agents of “the cosmic powers of this present darkness.” But in shooting a middle-aged mom in the face, Ross did not just kill a civilian. Renée was not just a civilian. Renée was a fellow citizen. Renée was also Ross’s sister in Christ.

Maybe many of the posts and poems and passionate podcasts and protests that I have witnessed have not fully processed the fact that Renée Good was a Christian and a Presbyterian at that. Maybe some on the left have not heard about this or maybe some are even a little embarrassed by it. But with the Presbyterians she did not just go to church sometimes. As a young woman, she participated in Presbyterian missions as part of the peace movement in Northern Ireland, a place where a civil war between Christian factions devastated communities for decades.

Renée Good was, from all accounts, good. In an official statement, her grieving widow Becca Good explained that Renée was a Christian who “knew that all religions teach the same essential truth: we are here to love eachother, care for each other, and keep each other safe and whole.”

In describing her slain spouse, the other Mrs. Good eulogized: “Renée sparkled. She literally sparkled. I mean, she didn’t wear glitter, but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores. All the time. You might think it was just my love talking, but her family said the same thing. Renée was made of sunshine.”

It’s no secret that the Christian right in the United States really leaned into the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk as a cause for evangelism and even calls for greater Christian unity on the Christian right. Kirk’s funeral was a national state-sponsored worship service. But what about us in the equivalent of America’s “confessing church” today, what about us on the so-called Christian left? When we “say her name,” can we also say the name of the one who kindled her inner light of sparkles and sunshine? We can, and I believe we must; we claim Renée Good as a Christian martyr in that same hallowed lineage as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, and Oscar Romero.

Let us not mumble or mince words. Let’s not fall over ourselves to downplay our faith in the resurrected Christ in the fight against ICE and the American fascist regime. Let’s not be ashamed of the gospel. Renée Good radiated the contagious love of Jesus Christ, and that love is what brought her to bear witness to the profound violation of her community that is a military occupation by an unauthorized and un-American army.

I wrote these words because they were so strong on my heart that I wanted to honor and name her ministry and her last words: “That’s fine dude, I am not mad at you.” Would you please join me in celebrating the spirit of Christ in our sister Renée, who is now with our Lord Jesus Christ and the great communion of saints?

Would you also please join me in praying for the conversion of the active employees of ICE and their supporters, that they might renounce evil, lay down their weapons, and join the Beloved Community in the ways of compassion and empathy — even sunshine and sparkles — that are the way of Christ.

We know that sunshine melts ice. Might we all be converted and warmed by the inner sunshine of Christ that Renée Good radiated, that we might lay down our weapons and melt the cold-hearted war that divides and fractures and destroys our fragile communities, country, and world.