The current Dominion trial against Fox News is bringing out some hard truths about our society and its economic and professional underpinnings.
We are learning just how aware the kingpins of the largest cable news outlet in America were behind the scenes while pouring out lies and propaganda on the screen over topics of failed presidential elections. These lies led to the failed but still active January 6 insurrection against the American government.
Fox News clearly used their powerful platform to spread lies—which is now clear they knew were lies—about an election that their candidate lost by 7 million votes.
This has everything to do with spirituality because Truth is a name for the Divine around the world.
Dominion Voting Systems, having sued Fox News for a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit, recently released a 200 page legal petition that author Chris Lehmann calls a “dumbfounding saga.”* It seems that Fox host Maria Bartiromo interviewed Trump lawyer Sydney Powell who penned an email to her called “Election Fraud Info.” Yet behind the scenes Bartiromo called the material “nonsense.” Which it was.
The lies from Powell were repeated ad nauseam on Fox News in pursuit of retaining Fox viewers who were running to right-wing cable news rival Newsmax. Fox News Corporation felt they had to do everything—including pushing the Big Lie–to get their viewers back.
Bartiromo, Dobbs, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and others threw on-air tantrums. When one Fox reporter fact-checked Trump’s claims on air, “the sanctums of Fox power shook with outrage.” Carlson texted to Hannity: “Please get her fired…seriously. …It’s measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down.”
Carlson’s yearly salary is $35 million and Hannity’s is $45 million. They want to fire a reporter for reporting facts because the stock price is down.
I guess “Truth” is the name for God for some people, but “Stock Prices” is the name for god for others. Because “the press is not busy finding truth and calling out untruths,” Lehmann observes, “Fox News is in no meaningful sense a news organization.”
Its players “aren’t determined by fusty notions of speaking truth to power or holding leaders accountable to the public interest.” No, they are instead talking “of branding and stock returns.” There is “flagrant journalistic malpractice” at work here.
Also at work is a judgment on today’s capitalism and the state of today’s work world, in this case the profession of journalism—Lehman calls it “the opposite of journalism.” Indeed, “the manic scrum to retain audience share had nothing to do with the basic work of journalism.”
A sick capitalism births a sick journalism that in turn sickens society.
To be continued
* https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/fox-news-dominion/
See Matthew Fox, Naming the Unnameable: 89 Wonderful and Useful Names for God…including the Unnameable God, pp. 41f.
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: Protestor against Fox News at Seattle’s Rally to Restore Sanity, 2010. Photo by Elf Sternberg on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
What happens to society and souls when big-time journalism becomes “the opposite of journalism”? Is Truth a name for God for you?
Recommended Reading
Naming the Unnameable: 89 Wonderful and Useful Names for God …Including the Unnameable God
Too often, notions of God have been used as a means to control and to promote a narrow worldview. In Naming the Unnameable, renowned theologian and author Matthew Fox ignites our imaginations by offering a colorful range of Divine Names gathered from scientists and poets and mystics past and present, inviting us to always begin where true spirituality begins: from experience.
“This book is timely, important and admirably brief; it is also open ended—there are always more names to come, and none can exhaust God’s nature.” -Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, author of Science Set Free and The Presence of the Past
11 thoughts on “The godlessness of Fox News: A Spiritual Crisis”
Matthew, Today you begin by saying: “The current Dominion trial against Fox News is bringing out some hard truths about our society and its economic and professional underpinnings.” Then you go on to say: “Fox News clearly used their powerful platform to spread lies—which is now clear they knew were lies—about an election that their candidate lost by 7 million votes.” And lest we miss the point you say: “This has everything to do with spirituality because Truth is a name for the Divine around the world.” As an example of just how bad it had gotten you say: “When one Fox reporter fact-checked Trump’s claims on air… [Tucker] Carlson texted to [Sean] Hannity: ‘Please get her fired…seriously. …It’s measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down.’ Carlson’s yearly salary is $35 million and Hannity’s is $45 million. They want to fire a reporter for reporting facts because the stock price is down.” What does this say about the Truth? Are “stock prices” the God, Mammon? Then you close with these chilling words: “A sick capitalism births a sick journalism that in turn sickens society.” And your questions for us today are: “What happens to society and souls when big-time journalism becomes ‘the opposite of journalism’?” My answer is we get “Propaganda” instead of the news, just as the people did in Germany during Hitler’s reign. Then you ask: “Is Truth a name for God for you?” Yes, Truth with a capital “T” is one of the names of God, and certainly describes God’s character. I however, make a big difference between truth as facts: 5 +5 = 10, fire is hot, the sun is the center of our solar system, and our galaxy is just one among billions–and Truth as it is in God/Cosmic Christ/Spirit…
Interestingly synchronostic, last night there was a documentry on the history of propaganda… which started immediately after the invention of the printing press… which inevitably resulted in the witch trials, and burnings… propagated by the delusion lies of Catholic and Protestant Church leaders. This massacre, mainly upon women, stemmed from wanting to place blame onto someone, for the cause of the plague, famine and mass poverty unfolding at the time.
Midwives, herbalists and the like, were deemed as evil witches, possessed by the devil. The people bought into the lies, pitting people against each other… to the point that the trials and burnings became social entertainment. If that wasn’t horrific enough… this propaganda of lies actually led to financial prosperity for those involved in the networking of it all. It’s seems that history is repeating itself within the various media platforms of today… which is very dangerous, in so many ways… especially when tethered to artificial intelligence.
Hopefully, there will also be those whom really listen to Spirit… piercing the collective conscience, heart and soul of humanity… with the Light of Truth… tethered to the Divine nature of compassion, mercy, love and justice. These kind of courageous truth tellers are needed now, more than ever.
Jeanette, What you write sounds like what both Catholics and Protestants did to the “witches.” If it is not that, witches still show that the “Church” has treated women unjustly, and for their own financial gain for hundreds of years, and really thousands of years if you go back to the beginnings of the Catholic Church where women were totally excluded from the ministry of the the sacraments in the Church.
Yes! LOVE~LIGHT(Wisdom/Truth)~LIFE….
🔥💜🌎🙏
Carol Sadosky: Speaking of (mystical theological) Truth, a follow-up from yesterday’s necessarily brief summary:
Creation is a One, a single, glorious, Living, Intelligent, Loving, Whole of multiplicity within Unity. Multiplicity is the reflection of, and flows from, an unlimited, non-dualistic One (Logos/Son) of unbounded Unity containing multiplicity, which thus flows/Loves into the unbounded One in Creation, a Whole of interwoven/interconnected/interlinked particles, lifeforms, time (change), space, universe(s), dimensions, all in a harmonious, flowing dance with each other. “Multiplicity within Unity” is absolutely a reflection of God’s Self, as matter/created forms reflects, in its own way and to the extent possible, the Truth of the Divine Self/the Son. Animals instinctively know their difference from each other (cats disdain dogs because they know they’re superior), but they also live within an interconnected Web of Unity. And Love/Spirit/Wisdom flows through all, binding, healing, and sustaining the Whole. All is One.
I’m not sure if this answered your question, which went to the heart of theology. This all is the intellectual framework that tries to express intuitive Revelation/Truth, sensed at a very deep level (“mystical”).
appropriate that this lesson comes on “fat Tuesday” before Lent begins.
I have been writing the Federal Communications Commission, asking them to REQUIRE Fox to remove the word “news” from all forms of communication. Words matter, and people listening/watching are affected by the word “news.”
The consequence of these big lies by “journalists” is soul carnage, as you have said in other DM’s. “Yellow” journalism is not new, as Jeanette points out, and is always destructive both to individuals and society. Because it plays on people’s fears and acceptance of scapegoating, it is seductive, though, and history sadly shows how effective it can be in destroying both true faith and the underpinnings of a just society. I do believe that God is Truth, which can be recognized by its effects. By their fruits, ye shall know them. Mass murders, attempted and successful coups, are a few of the fruits of lies.
Dear Matthew: I agree with you entirely that Truth is another name of God. Right now, among some, truth is flexible. However, in reality, Truth endures and endures. In fact, Truth does not even have to promote Itself or even defend Itself. It abides! It remains. It just is and it will out, in good time, since there is no hurry, no anxiety, no fretting, for it will always be and it will out!
Let’s hear from the legal wizards:
The United States as a legal entity with privileges that allow it to sue a business. New York Times v Sullivan found that actual malice must be proven in order for damages to be awarded. Fauxgnus employees are proven to have admitted malicious public lies intended to discredit the United States.
Why hasn’t the USA, like Dominion, sued?
One assumes that Murdoch isn’t richer than the US government and probably wouldn’t risk his fortunes by fighting it.
There is a song by John Wesley Harding called “The Truth.” It captivated me years ago and still does.
Also it’s important to support independent investigative journalism, and to not rely on corporate news media. Examples: Democracy Now, The Lever, Status Coup news.