Week of 5/13-18/2024: Learning about & Healing Fascism

May 13, 2024: Wisdom and the Youth vs. Adultism, continued
Adults aren’t doing a very good job at taking care of the world right now. When wise young people stand up and speak out for what’s right, adults of conscience need to support and encourage them. The Cosmic Christ says: Do not confuse childlike and childish. Be childlike—as I am, but not childish which is indeed something to outgrow.… (To the youth) Start your own culture. Do not depend overmuch on adults but seek out allies among them who can pass on wisdom from living traditions of the past. Learn to be adult. Learn both history and mystery, commitment and hard work. And always play, play, play. Stay young. Like me.

May 14, 2024: Is “Original Blessing” Part of the Cure for Today’s Fascism? 
Why the rising tide of fascism today? Psychologist Erich Fromm says the key to fascism is self-hatred. A lot of addictions are born of abuse and trauma which come our way when we are vulnerable. Donald Trump’s niece has told us of the abuse her uncle suffered at the hands of his father (who was, among other things, a member of the KKK). Now Trump’s self-hatred is apparent daily in the form of projection onto others, name-calling, and a wide array of dysfunctional and abhorrent behaviors. The ideology of original sin also creates a feeling of self-hatred. But original sin is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and his entire Jewish lineage. Instead of original sin, let’s teach children how they are both original and a blessing. 

May 15, 2024: Mysticism, Love & the Curing of Self-Hatred & Therefore Fascism
The cure for self-hatred is self-love, which is mysticism—the loving of creation, which includes our own selves. Here is what Aquinas said about self-love: Well-ordered self-love is right and natural—so much so that the person who hates himself or herself sins against nature.… To know and to appreciate your own worth is no sin. Good therapy returns a wounded person to awareness of one’s goodness again, to Original Blessing.

May 16, 2024: Original Blessing, Self-Love, and the Curing of Fascism
Meister Eckhart said: Everyone loves himself or herself to some degree. To do otherwise is to fool yourself. For if you hated yourself, you would cease to exist. Adolf Hitler had a tyrannical father (not unlike Trump) who beat him daily according to German psychologist Alice Miller. Abuse leads to abuse. The “sins of our fathers” get carried on if there is no intervention. However, when Love intervenes, whether it be other relatives, a teacher, a clergyperson, a therapist, a friend, or a recovery group, healing can happen. Psychologist Erich Fromm, who links self-hatred to fascism, also teaches that “necrophilia grows when biophilia is stunted.” 

May 17, 2024: Some Truths about Fascism
Some characteristics of fascism: Fascism seeks always to control, whether women’s bodies, or which books we read, etc. Fascism is all about dualism. It continually projects blame onto others. Fascism thrives on fear and it despises happiness. Fascism is not interested in truth or freedom or compassion. Fascism is afraid of artists and creativity and contemplation and free-thinking. Fascism is anti-goodness, anti-happiness, anti-awe. Fascism is about power—power over others. Fascism is sadistic and contrary to the teachings of Jesus.

May 18, 2024: Pope Francis on 60 Minutes this Sunday
Pope Francis is being interviewed on 60 Minutes this Sunday. It has been reported that Pope Francis clearly worries about the American church. He thinks we’re backward-looking and ‘Being backward-looking is useless.’* He knows whereof he speaks. After all, the two popes before him, reigning for 34 years, went out of their way to elevate the influence of Opus Dei and its fascist founder Escriva, for whom they changed the rules to rush through the quickest canonization in history. They also “killed theology” in Europe, a European theologian told Matthew, and silenced over 108 theologians worldwide, including Matthew. It will be interesting to hear the Pope’s thoughts on Sunday.

* Sullivan, Tim, “‘A step back in time’: America’s Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways.” AP News, May 1, 2024

Banner image: “Love trumps hate.” Sign at an anti-Trump rally in London. Image by Alisdare Hickson on Flickr.

Recommended Reading

The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved

The Pope’s War offers a provocative look at three decades of corruption in the Catholic Church, focusing on Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. The final section in the book focuses on birthing a truly catholic Christianity.
“This book should be read by everybody, not only for its ferocious courage, but also for its vision for what needs to be saved from the destructive forces that threaten authentic Christianity.” ~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope.
“In the gripping The Pope’s War, Matthew Fox takes an unwavering look at the layers of corruption in the Catholic Church, holding moral truth against power.”   — Jason Berry, author of Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II

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