There was a time when Iowa was known for something simple but profound: friendliness.
“Iowa Friendly.” It wasn’t just a slogan – it was a way of life. It meant you waved to neighbors you didn’t know. You helped a stranger whose car was stuck in the snow. You watched over other people’s children as if they were your own.
Somewhere along the way, that spirit began to fade.
Not because Iowans stopped being good people – but because good people were taught to fear, to hate, and to distrust.
The Friendly Heart of Iowa
At its core, Iowa remains a land of decency. Its people still show up when neighbors are in need, still fill church basements with casseroles and kindness, still gather for harvest festivals and town parades with genuine warmth.
The descendants of Danish, German, Irish, Laotian, and Mexican immigrants share one unspoken bond – they all came here seeking a better life. They built communities, barns, schools, and dreams.
That is the Iowa I know. The Iowa my immigrant grandparents believed in.
The Corruption of Kindness
But over the past few years, something poisonous has seeped into our soil. It didn’t arrive overnight; it grew slowly, fed by fear and fertilized by lies.
The Golden Triad – populism, Christian nationalism, and the political machinery of Project 2025 – has twisted our values, turning moral language into a weapon and neighbor against neighbor.
People who once welcomed refugees now speak of “invasions.”
Churches that once offered sanctuary now preach suspicion.
Politicians invoke “freedom” while demanding conformity.
They have redefined evil – not as cruelty or greed, but as difference. And in doing so, they’ve convinced many decent Iowans that persecution is patriotism.
What Evil Really Looks Like
Evil rarely announces itself with horns or pitchforks.
It comes smiling, dressed in faith and flag, claiming to “protect families” while tearing others apart.
It hides behind slogans like “Make America Safe Again” or “Faith and Freedom.”
Evil tells us that empathy is weakness, and that our neighbors are enemies.
That love must be earned – and that only certain people deserve it.
Evil looks like a state sending troops to hunt migrants who harvest its corn and package its food.
Evil looks like politicians who glorify cruelty because it wins applause.
Evil looks like silence – the kind that lets injustice grow because it is uncomfortable to speak out.
The Redemption of Iowa
I still believe in the Iowa I grew up in – an Iowa that can rediscover its soul.
An Iowa that remembers that kindness is strength, not surrender.
An Iowa that knows moral courage doesn’t come from obedience, but from conscience.
The opposite of evil isn’t good. It’s empathy. The quiet refusal to hate.
“Iowa Friendly” can live again – not as nostalgia, but as heartfelt resistance.
Because when we choose compassion over cruelty, truth over propaganda, and humanity over the Triad’s machinery of fear…
We aren’t just reclaiming Iowa. We’re reclaiming what it means to be human.
