I lived in the United States for about 20 years. On my encounter with America I did not realize immediately how deep is the intertwining of society with the military industrial complex. Only after some time I started to observe that every person I knew was implicated directly or indirectly with the military.
In church, it was normal to pray “for the troops” and to have priests or bishops who had a previous career in the military. In graduate school, I had roommates whose parents were flying military airplanes or were born on remote islands — as it turned out, on American bases in the Pacific. As an adjunct professor, I had students deployed in Iraq. As a priest, I met a nice family, whose three children I baptized, before knowing that the father worked as a designer for the development of new weapons.
When I am in solidarity with my American friends, I feel their passion to fight against Trump’s policies. There are enormously good reasons to oppose the Liar-in-Chief and to shame him and his cronies for the cruelty that they exude — just like Matt did on Tuesday with his DM on Hildegard. After all, I am proud of having contributed to Matt’s book on MAGA as the Antichrist in which Matt made very clear, ahead of the elections, how Project 2025 is the blueprint of a fascist state and how Trump intended to execute such plans.
However, when I am in solidarity with people who have witnessed or are direct victims of U.S. policies outside the U.S. I share their sentiments about the American Empire. To them, it matters little whether the current American president is a Republican or a Democrat, because their policies of control and domination of the rest of the world are the same. They only look a bit different, from time to time, but essentially they have and they achieve the same purpose. For all the economic power that China has, and all the military might that Russia claims to have, it is still the USA who rules today, even though the signs of the demise of the American Empire, after about 100 years, are all out there.
As spirituality does not live in a vacuum, we might ask ourselves what is its truer context in our era. Is it the opposition between conservatives and liberals, which is very visible from within America? Or is it the opposition between affluent societies and impoverished societies, which is coming to its head?
I believe that one of our major spiritual tasks is to achieve an integrated vision of the world context, without being overwhelmed by it.
Moreover, it is very important that our taking sides for the sake of justice is not damped by fear or sentimentalism, but it is equally important that we don’t identify our side with justice. These seem to me necessary conditions to be able to walk freely and with dignity along our spiritual path.
See Matthew Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election
See also Fox, Hildegard of Bingen: A Saint For Our Times.
And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice.
And Fox and Adam Bucko, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation.
Banner Image: “A State of Mind: Sometimes we feel like isolating ourselves somewhere far from everything and everyone… but nevertheless something drives us to continue, continuously… in a world that we often don’t even recognize anymore …” Image by Daniel Arrhakis on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
How does the American Empire affect my own practice of spirituality?
Recommended Reading
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election
Matthew Fox tells us that he had always shied away from using the term “Anti-Christ” because it was so often used to spread control and fear. However, given today’s rise of authoritarianism and forces of democracide, ecocide, and christofascism, he turns the tables in this book employing the archetype for the cause of justice, democracy, and a renewed Earth and humanity.
From the Foreword: If there was ever a time, a moment, for examining the archetype of the Antichrist, it is now…Read this book with an open mind. Good and evil are real forces in our world. ~~ Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Conversations with the Divine.
For immediate access to Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, order the e-book with 10 full-color prints from Amazon HERE.
To get a print-on-demand paperback copy with black & white images, order from Amazon HERE or IUniverse HERE.
To receive a limited-edition, full-color paperback copy, order from MatthewFox.org HERE.
Order the audiobook HERE for immediate download.
Matthew Fox writes in Hildegard of Bingen about this amazing woman and what we can learn from her.
In an era when women were marginalized, Hildegard was an outspoken, controversial figure. Yet so visionary was her insight that she was sought out by kings, popes, abbots, and bishops for advice.
“This book gives strong, sterling, and unvarnished evidence that everything – everything – we ourselves become will affect what women after us may also become….This is a truly marvelous, useful, profound, and creative book.” ~~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism.
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.
“I am reading Liberating Gifts for the People of the Earth by Matt Fox. He is one that fills my heart and mind for new life in spite of so much that is violent in our world.” ~ Sister Dorothy Stang.
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register
Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
Authors Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox encourage us to use our talents in service of compassion and justice and to move beyond our broken systems–economic, political, educational, and religious–discovering a spirituality that not only helps us to get along, but also encourages us to reevaluate our traditions, transforming them and in the process building a more sacred and just world. Incorporating the words of young activist leaders culled from interviews and surveys, the book provides a framework that is deliberately interfaith and speaks to our profound yearning for a life with spiritual purpose and for a better world.
“Occupy Spirituality is a powerful, inspiring, and vital call to embodied awareness and enlightened actions.”
~~ Julia Butterfly Hill, environmental activist and author of The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods
