The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers |
Love and Hate, Good and Bad, the Sacred and Evil, Crucifixion and Resurrection. There is much to ponder as daily headlines keep reminding us of humanity’s capacity for
evil. |
And also—in this season especially—for Resurrection and Breakthrough. Still more shootings; still more silence from many politicians refusing to end access to assault weapons—and expelling those who speak up. | A mini-documentary on the life, work, and legacy of Simon Wiesenthal. Produced and directed by Louise Palanker. |
In an important book
called The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness, Simon Wiesenthal tells the story of being a prisoner in a concentration camp and being asked
by a dying Nazi soldier for his forgiveness. “What would you do?” He asked a number of persons, myself included. I responded this way: |
Author Andrew Moore examines the concept of the banality of evil, coined by political theorist Hannah Arendt to explain the particular psychology of organized totalitarian
evil. Great Books Prof | It was this clinging to denial that surely constituted the sin behind the sin of the Nazi horrors. How many ordinary German citizens—and clergy and bishops—knew something evil was going on and still lived in denial? Willful
ignorance is a sin. In this case, a |
catastrophic sin that made the Holocaust possible….. Human capacity for evil is not just about isolated, individual decisions and acts. This story—the entire Nazi story—lays bare the sins of complicity and the sins of omission and denial that render our participation in evil so profound. These sins occur so readily in mass society when lies and power can
be so easily disseminated by propaganda of the press and politicians and commercial interests.* One of the lessons I learned from writing a major book on evil is this: That the opposite of evil is not the good but the
Sacred. This means that we cannot have a conversation on evil until we have a conversation on the Sacred. |
If we are out of touch with the Sacred, we are necessarily out of touch with how to
deal with evil; we see only its effects, we don’t get to its essence and we don’t deal with it effectively therefore. Rabbi Heschel teaches: The Biblical answer to evil is not the good but the holy. | “Ring of Peace, 2015” – More than 1,000 Muslims form a human chain around a Norway synagogue, responding to an Islamist gunman’s deadly attack on a Denmark synagogue. euronews |
It is an attempt to raise humans to a higher level of existence, where one is not alone when
confronted with evil. Living in ‘the light of the face of God’ bestows upon people a power of love that enables them to overcome the powers of evil. To be
continued |
Queries for Contemplation
Do you see the sacred or
the “holy” at work in confronting evil, a “power of love that enables humans to overcome the powers of evil”?
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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 | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar
HERE |
Join Matthew Fox online as he offers a Worship Service Inspirational Message - “Otto Rank, and Pere Chenu: Two 'Real, Raw and Radiant' Guides Calling Us to Deep Freedom” for
Brentwood Inspired Living Center, Sunday, April 16, 10:00 am PT. Learn more HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “Creativity – Where the Divine and the Human Meet” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, April 20, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox and Charles Burack in an online conversation on “The Essential Writings On Creation Spirituality” hosted by The Aquarian Minyan. Thursday, April
27, 6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Karen Tate interviews Matthew on his latest book Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality to discuss religious vs. spiritual, the nature of evil and angels, compassion vs pity, and wisdom vs knowledge. On Voices of the Sacred Feminine with Karen Tate. Listen HERE. | |
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