The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations
with Matthew Fox |
Watch for Matthew Fox's video meditation -- now
appearing every Monday! Don't miss Matthew's exciting upcoming webinars and courses, listed at the bottom of this DM! |
Challenging Unhealthy Masculinity &
a Cult of Toughness 4/4/2025 |
As the impacts of the new regime ripple out, learn the deeper stakes involved. Get your copy of Trump & the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ today! Choose your format in the book block below. |
One of the most important issues of our day is the funk that many young men find themselves in. Studies show that it was the shift toward Trump among young men—black, Latino and white–that got him elected this past November. Gender rates of college students have shifted dramatically in the last few years, where the current numbers are approaching 60% female to 40% male. |
College is by no means the only way for young men to find themselves good and useful employment, certainly. But still that trend away from college by young men is concerning, since there are many opportunities to live full lives and serve the community that college can |
“Barron Trump & the ‘Bro Vote’ Helped Sway the Election. What Happens Next?” VICE.com |
open up to young men and women alike. The appeal to men by Trump and MAGA is concerning as well. In my most recent book, I include an Appendix on “MAGA’S Precarious Manhood vs. Authentic Masculinity” where I cite Harold Meyerson who, following the Republican party convention last summer,
observed that the Republican party is a “party of precarious manhood.” He believes that the MAGA movement is “reliant on the cult of toughness and hypermasculinity.” Trump’s holding up of Hungary’s Victor Urban and lauding him as “a very tough man” along with his admiration of Putin and Kim Jong Un for their
toughness, are further examples of this reality. |
Founding partner of Puck, Peter Hamby joins MSNBC‘s Katy Tur to discuss the impact of the economy on the wannabe dictator’s “bro” base. | Is starting a world-wide trade war and tariffs on everyone—including islands around the world inhabited only by penguins—another product of exaggerated “toughness”? David French, in an article entitled “Hulk Hogan is
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the Only Way to Be a Man,” points out that Trump sports a certain kind of masculinity where “grievance is at the forefront.” But he warns that grievance is a form of “counterfeit purpose” and anger is a form of “counterfeit courage.” While it leads to “fighting the hated foe, when you center
masculinity on grievance and anger rather than honor and courage, you attract men like Hogan and Kid Rock,” but you leave a lot out. In my words, you bring forth the reptilian brain in spades, but ignore the mammal brain where compassion and caring reside. What American men need to hear is this message, French says, citing
from a commencement speech given by Admiral and former Navy Seal William McRaven: “You must have compassion. You must ache for the poor and disenfranchised. You must feel for the vulnerable.”* |
In this context, I was struck by a recent article in Rolling Stone magazine entitled “Meet the College Kids Making ‘Positive Masculinity’ Tiktoks To Counter the Manosphere.” At Colby College in Maine, some young male students are posting fun skits exploring toxic masculinity, homophobia and healthy male-female relations.** |
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Professor Adam Howard, head of the education department, oversees the project. Topics include how to prioritize female sexual pleasure and the difference between coercion and consent. Topics like the mental health of men, healthy relationships and healthy friendships are on the horizon. It’s an effort to get young men to think about masculinity “in healthier, more productive and less harmful ways” than the manosphere world is doing, says
Howard. Offering young men examples of the ten archetypes I lay out in my book on healthy masculinity and engaging in skits to celebrate them, would be strong medicine to share as well. Such metaphors as Father Sky, the Green Man, the Blue Man, Spiritual Warrior, Hunter-Gatherer, Fatherhood and Grandfatherhood (elder)
lend themselves wonderfully to Positive Masculinity. |
SIGN THE PLEDGE: Boycott pro-Trump corporations for Lent this year. Faithful America. * David French, “Hulk Hogan Is Not the Only Way to Be a Man,” New York Times, July 28, 2024. ** Fortesa Latifi, “Meet the College Kids Making ‘Positive Masculinity’ TikToks to Counter the Manosphere,” Rolling Stone, March 25, 2025.
See Matthew Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine.
See Matthew Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ.
And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and
Society.
And Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality.
And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice.
And Fox, “Spiritual Warriorhood” in Fox, One
River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faith Traditions, pp. 404-423.
Banner Image: Long Islander Chris Arsenault, devoted founder/owner of the Happy Cat Sanctuary for rescued and abused felines, “died a hero” while running repeatedly into his
blazing sanctuary to save as many cats as he could. The suspected arson is under investigation amid worldwide expressions of grief and outrage. Photo from the GoFundMe organized to rehome the 200 surviving cats and continue Arsenault’s work. |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, or read other comments and enter into dialog, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Queries for Contemplation |
Do you recognize a distorted masculinity in much of today’s far right wing politics? Is it time to offer alternative models of masculinity to our young men and is the Colby College experiment with TikTok one such way? |
The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine
To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he unearths ten metaphors,
or archetypes, ranging from the Green Man, an ancient pagan symbol of our fundamental relationship with nature, to the Spiritual Warrior….These timeless archetypes can inspire men to pursue their higher calling to connect to their deepest selves and to reinvent the world.
“Every man on this planet should read this book — not to mention every woman who wants to understand the struggles, often unconscious, that
shape the men they know.” — Rabbi Michael Lerner, author of The Left Hand of God |
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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. 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. |
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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 |
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Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in
Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may
have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story |
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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 |
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One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths
Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more
than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully
express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit |
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The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of All Ages
The second book in the Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables series, The Return of Father Sky helps boys and girls to celebrate a new
relationship with the masculine by way of Father Sky, whose return excites joy and wonder and possibility that enlarge the soul to welcome others and all creation. Written in a rhyming Dr. Seuss-like style, this full-color, beautifully illustrated book, written by world- renowned theologian Matthew Fox weaves together modern science and classic spirituality in a whimsical, entertaining format to illustrate important truths to readers aged 4 and up. With artwork curated from illustrators around
the world, this book expresses the joy and wonder of all peoples and cultures, planting seeds of respect, cooperation and hope to work together for the healing of our planet. |
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UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join Matthew Fox as he offers a guest lecture in the Creation Spirituality Communities course “Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: An Exploration of Evil” led by instructor Carolyn Million. Wednesdays, March 12– April 16, 4-6 pm PT. Register HERE. |
Join Matthew Fox in a new 6-month program of mystical wisdom for a new world: - Activate your spiritual awakening with the mystics
- Say “yes” to life & the beauty, goodness & potential it offers
- Awaken your inner mystic & prophet for deeper awakening
- Nurture the life-giving qualities of your humanity
By Application only - apply
HERERegister for a free information session HERE. |
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| Join Matthew Fox for three lecture and
Q&A sessions on “Angels & Science, Today & Yesterday,“ with special guest appearances by Rupert Sheldrake. Hosted by WisdomFeed. |
Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book, Wrestling with the Prophets: Essays on Creation Spirituality and Everyday Life, in an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, May 15, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. MONTHLY: Join Matthew Fox and Skylar Wilson of the Order of the Sacred Earth in a free virtual meeting for connection and networking with other mystic warriors. Last Tuesday of every month, 4:00-5:00pm PT.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88665302478
Meeting ID: 886 6530 2478 Learn more at www.orderofthesacredearth.org |
Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Matthew was recently interviewed by Sandie Sedgbeer on her program “What is Going OM,” about his book, “Trump and the MAGA Movement as AntiChrist.” Watch or listen HERE. |
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Inspired by this post? Share your insights on BlueSky, Instagram, Universeodon, or Facebook using the hashtag #RevDrMatthewFox and tag Matt with @RevDrMatthewFox FOLLOW MATTHEW FOX: |
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