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More Thoughts on Conscience 1/29/2025 |
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In yesterday’s DM, we emphasized the missing conscience of so many congresspeople at this time in history. Conscience that sees beyond one’s desire to keep one’s job and prioritizes values such as the common good ahead of one’s ambitions, salary, party, job, or re-election. |
It is meaningful that yesterday was the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp at Auschwitz. A remembrance that ought to trigger the conscience of our race world over and continue to spur our own consciences. Decisions we are making in our lifetimes today
around |
Lynn Cheney’s concession speech after losing her House seat to Harriet Hageman: “This primary election is over. But now the real work begins.” AP Archive |
issues of climate change and war, for example, carry with them profound consequences for the very survival of our species and millions of other species. To resist matricide therefore, the killing of our Mother Earth, is a demand of conscience surely. I was moved by
responses from our readers in the “Comments” section of yesterday’s DM. To share a few, one reader cited Mahatma Gandhi: There are times when you have to obey a call which is the highest of all; that is the voice of conscience even though such obedience may cost many a bitter tear, and even more, separation from
friends, from family, from the state to which you may belong, from all that you have held as dear as life itself. For this obedience is the law of our being. |
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian dissident leader Alexei Navalny, continues the fight against Putin. 60 Minutes | Another reader responded that Mahatma Gandhi’s vision
reminds me of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny. His wife Yulia is following in his footsteps as she promotes his recently published memoir: Alexei Navalny Patriot: A Memoir. |
It is good to have at hand examples of persons who have committed themselves to live by conscience since this surely emboldens the rest of us and gives us the confidence and courage to act on conscience. Finding allies, conscience can take root in a movement where solidarity reigns and confidence and courage are supported in communities of resistance. Howard Thurman sounds a lot like Gandhi when he says that a “soul-shaking conflict of loyalty” arises when a person of compassion chooses to act. A person of conscience often has to break with groups that sustained him or her to “become the custodian of conscience.” The individual often sees deeper than the group into the suffering of others, into the “ethical mode of
compassion.” |
Thomas Aquinas said something similar: A correct conscience binds absolutely and perfectly against the command of a superior. When there is an abuse of power, not merely is one not bound to obey, one is also bound not to obey, following the martyrs,
who suffered death rather than carry out the wicked decrees of tyrants…Since conscience is nothing else but the application of knowledge to act, it is obvious that conscience is said to bind by the order of divine precept. It is passages like these from Aquinas that MLK Jr. invoked in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” |
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Another reader observed that the voices of Christian nationalism dominated religious discourse in the U.S. for the entirety of the 21st Century. It is far, far beyond time for that to change….It is tragic that the voices of contemplative Christians, progressive Christians, have not been given sufficient airplay this century. |
See Matthew Fox, Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality, pp. 474-480.
And Fox, “Conscience is more to be obeyed than authority imposed from the outside,” in Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times, pp. 117-120.
And
Fox, “Howard Thurman: A Creation-Centered Mystic,” in Creation Spirituality [magazine], March/April 1991, pp. 9, 47.
And Fox, Trump and The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, pp. 57-80.
And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in
Soul & Society.
And Fox, “Spiritual Warriorhood,” in Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Faith Traditions, pp. 413f and pp. 377-422.
And Fox, “Spiritual Warriors” in Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine,
pp. 77-104.
Banner Image: Confiscated shoes of the murdered victims of Auschwitz. Photo by Tina T-Spoon on Flickr | For a list of organizations helping those affected by the devastating LA wildfires, please see this article from ABCNews HERE and the evolving AltadenaStrong hub page HERE. |
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 |
Which of these reflections on conscience inspire you at this time in history to stand up and be counted? |
Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox renders Thomas Aquinas accessible by interviewing him and thus descholasticizing him. He also translated many of his works such as Biblical commentaries never before in English (or Italian or German of French). He gives Aquinas a forum so that he can be heard in our
own time. He presents Thomas Aquinas entirely in his own words, but in a form designed to allow late 20th-century minds and hearts to hear him in a fresh way.
“The teaching of Aquinas comes through will a fullness and an insight that has never been present in English before and [with] a vital message for the world today.” ~ Fr. Bede Griffiths (Afterword).
Foreword by Rupert Sheldrake |
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The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a
sublime roadmap for spirituality and action.
Foreword by Ilia Delio.
“What a wonderful book! Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.”
–Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit |
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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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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 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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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 discusses his book, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice, in an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, February 20, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the People of the Earth, in an online Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, March 20, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. MONTHLY: Join Matthew Fox, Mariko Middleton, 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 |
Hear a conversation between Matthew and Ana Otero of The Desert Rose Mystery School in "Mystical Pathways. A Sacred Talk with Matthew Fox, founder of the Creation Spirituality Movement." |
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