Plenty.  We can vote and organize and get out the vote—first for a president who will promise to expand the Supreme Court with intelligent persons with proven character who will uphold the Constitution of the United States.

Fifty-six years after Lyndon Johnson stepped down before the chaotic 1968 Chicago Convention, Democrats question whether history will repeat itself. CBS Sunday Morning.

The Democratic Party is currently wrestling with who that candidate will be.  Whoever it is must have the stamina and mental health to carry on the duties of the very taxing job and take on powerful forces rallying against democracy.  People are waiting to see how Biden performs in upcoming events and examining polls that indicate whether he or a new person needs to step up.  

Biden accomplished an amazing amount as president and worked successfully across the aisle–even to fashion a law to protect the border.  But that law was vetoed by Donald Trump who did not want the problem solved before the election lest Biden receive credit for it.   

“Our country will suffer”: “King Trump” and Project 2025’s promise of violence. Sherrilyn Ifill, Endowed Chair in Civil Rights at Howard University, joins Joy Reid in a call to action. MSNBC.

The first job of the presidential candidate is to win the election in November (an election Biden is currently losing in all 7 key states).

One of the strongest points for the Democratic candidate to make is that he or she promises to expand the Supreme Court.  And to be as loud as possible about 1) the killing of Roe and the evil of politicians thinking they have the right to control women’s bodies.  And 2) the evil of killing Chevron and thus turning the oversight of the environment and of drugs and of food to judicial political hacks in place of scientists.  And 3) the evil of killing the voting rights act.  And 4) the evil of not combating climate change.

J. Howard Miller’s iconic “We Can Do It!” poster from 1943. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons.

But winning the presidency is not enough.  Common sense and common cause and the common good must win the Senate where new judges are appointed.  And the House.

My favorite definition of hope is this: “Hope is a verb with the sleeves rolled up.”  Hope comes when we engage in common action for the greatest common good.  Saving the planet is such an action; so is saving democracy; and saving our health and women’s rights to make decisions about their own bodies.   

Hope is proportionate to our willing to work hard.  Everyone has something to contribute in moving beyond this latest effort by SCOTUS and MAGA Madness to kill democracy.  It can range from praying to organizing to raising money to writing letters, etc.  Are you on board?


See Matthew Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.

Also see Fox, Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond.

Also see Fox, Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century.

Banner Image: A call to action from the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on a building in Raleigh, NC. Photo by Drew Perales on Unsplash


Queries for Contemplation

How do you find hope in these challenging times?


Recommended Reading

Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth

Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.
“I am reading Liberating Gifts for the People of the Earth by Matt Fox.  He is one that fills my heart and mind for new life in spite of so much that is violent in our world.” ~ Sister Dorothy Stang.

Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond

Julian of Norwich lived through the dreadful bubonic plague that killed close to 50% of Europeans. Being an anchoress, she ‘sheltered in place’ and developed a deep wisdom that she shared in her book, Showings, which was the first book in English by a woman. A theologian way ahead of her time, Julian develops a feminist understanding of God as mother at the heart of nature’s goodness. Fox shares her teachings in this powerful and timely and inspiring book.
“What an utterly magnificent book. The work of Julian of Norwich, lovingly supported by the genius of Matthew Fox, is a roadmap into the heart of the eco-spiritual truth that all life breathes together.”  –Caroline Myss
Now also available as an audiobook HERE.

Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century

Matthew Fox writes in Hildegard of Bingen about this amazing woman and what we can learn from her.
In an era when women were marginalized, Hildegard was an outspoken, controversial figure. Yet so visionary was her insight that she was sought out by kings, popes, abbots, and bishops for advice.
“This book gives strong, sterling, and unvarnished evidence that everything – everything – we ourselves become will affect what women after us may also become….This is a truly marvelous, useful, profound, and creative book.” ~~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism.


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13 thoughts on “What Can We Do about a Rogue SCOTUS?”

  1. I find hope in a strong faith during adversity and not be pushed around every time the wind changes direction.

    We are a ‘weak and faithless’ lot, when we let one debate, polls, politicians and SCOTUS, scatter us like sheep without a shepherd.

    The President is one personality, but the power resides in the ‘Office of the President’ and its many esteemed and experience advisors. We and Joe Biden should be bringing them forward as ‘the Presidential Team’. We vote in a leadership team do we not? In comparative terms, D. Trumps team needs to be brought to light as the ‘faceless’ puppets that look to dismantle the environment, dismantle women’s’ rights, dismantle NATO and weaken its allies, weaken immigration rights and social liberties, ramp up unfair taxing that favours the rich and puts the burden on the everyday worker. Do you really believe that the Generals, Admirals and leaders of the Armed Forces want to be led by a ‘traitor of Democracy’ and have their wise counsel be put aside and / or cancelled?

    The voting public needs to see the strong faces of the Biden Leadership Team if only to compare to Trump and his puppet team, whether named or not. Joe Biden as President has always been stronger than Joe Biden himself. And Biden and his team of leaders is a ‘winning team’. Let’s not wander around aimlessly in our own faithless divisiveness, when important work is to be done! – BB.

  2. Work hard for democracy and work with labor. Organized labor supports democracy and labor unions work for economic and social justice. What’s possible during the next sixty days? Working people can reclaim Labor Day. Develop pro-democracy marches and demonstrations, religious events, and other activities that honor today’s working people. Say “thank you” to the firefighters, forest rangers, food industry workers, health care workers, and others who are on the frontlines for the impact of climate change. Support occupational health and safety programs. Encourage voter registration.

  3. “Fear is useless; what is needed is trust,” per Jesus (Luke 8: 50). The common sense of most voters surveyed in the past few years is the progressive value system. Whether Biden persists in running again or whether he is replaced, a strong Democratic victory is vital. If it happens, reforming the Supreme Court must be done quickly, or no legislation and agency action is possible for the common good, including the environment. Big jobs, but with God all things are possible. Prayer plus action. (And this includes the action of silent praying souls everywhere.)

  4. Leonard Cohen
    THE FUTURE
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wRYjtvIYK0

    W. B. Yeats
    The Second Coming
    {The Middle East today?]

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.

    Surely some revelation is at hand;
    Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
    The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
    When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
    Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
    A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
    A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
    Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
    Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
    The darkness drops again; but now I know
    That twenty centuries of stony sleep
    Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
    And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

  5. YES!!! The stakes are very high for our democracy this upcoming presidential election. Besides voting and whatever political action we are called to engage in with others, I’m glad you also mentioned the importance of our personal Prayers, Faith, Hope, and Love because the Power of GOD’S SPIRIT of LOVE~TRUTH~PEACE~JUSTICE~HEALING~STRENGTH~TRANSFORMATION~CREATIVITY~JOY
    DIVERSE ONENESS… IS Always Present within and among Us to Love, Strengthen, and Guide
    Us in the Sacred Process of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT….

  6. Martina Nicholson

    Dear Fr. Matt,
    “Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all”. (Emily Dickinson). Thanks for this reflection. We have to have hope in order to roll up our sleeves and work in all the ways we can, to try to solve the problems we face. What has given me ballast in the past week is reading “the Universe Story” by Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry. It is helping me to see the eons it took for each accomplishment, as the universe evolved. And how, at each juncture, a huge crisis happened, forcing what Dylan Thomas called “the green fuse drives the flower”— each leap forward. The movie about Teilhard was wonderful, and it of course was appalling, and like your own story, that “the authorities” tried to silence him, and to say that official dogma cannot be changed. Truth evolves, too, or our recognition of it. How arrogant, to pray that the Holy Spirit would enlighten him, rather than praying that the Holy Spirit would enlighten THEM. What a great lesson in recognizing that God speaks through evolution! I had forgotten that he had that experience in Egypt, and with Muslims, as well as the experience in China. It is really important now, that he was NOT insular; for the cross-cultural awareness of the scientists and world-exploring people help us see all of humanity, and the potential for NOOSPHERE, to deepen and strengthen our solutions. THANK YOU!

  7. There is an entirely practical, non-political reason for expanding the Supreme Court. We have 13 federal districts, and traditionally, each Justice has a supervisory capacity over one of those districts — which means, some of the present 9 have to double-up, supervising two of them. You can imagine the recipe for disaster that could result from case overload. Expanding the Court to 13 would make the district assignments fair and equitable. Glenn Kirschner explains, here — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQcS6ilr26Y

  8. My respect and thanks to you, Rev Matthew Fox, are so deep.
    From Canada, I hear you loud and clear, calling all US citizens to stand in the power of who they are and not disappear under the excuse of helplessness while draping the US flag all over the place, even their underwear!
    God bless you and keep it going!!
    With much love and peace,
    Mary Anne in Calgary, Alberta

  9. Seeing this court’s absolute corruption, I have been near 100% demoralized since the court gave Trump immunity. Even Rachel Maddow never thought they would sink this low. The best thing I could say yesterday to my partner David was “At least I’m not clinically depressed. I’m just depressed.” Of course I would work on “Get out the Vote” campaigns and donate money. But my faith in the power of my, and our, actions disappeared. Any hope I could muster would be in my voice, hands, and feet–not my heart. I look to you, Matthew, and to my other spiritual teachers for hope. And I look to those who have gone before like my too-early-passed dear friend Tim Carpenter who started Progressive Democrats of America and who always reminded us that change comes from the ground up, not the opposite direction. But here, all your comments along with Leonard Cohen’s performance and the lines from Emily Dickinson are raising my spirits just a little bit. I’m usually the hopeful one. You never know who will be the one to fall. Thank you for your sincerity and faith. May we all see who in the troupe is falling behind and be there to lift them up.

  10. Thank you, Matthew. There are so many resources for inspiration, including your DM’s. But as a practical matter, a friend suggested something I had not thought of–President Biden could use this new ruling to declare a national emergency and turn the tables on those who would destroy our democracy. He could temporarily use all the powers of the military, including the National Guard, to control any violence. This would be a presumptive strike against the coming coup, sort of a counter coup. Of course, the military would have to be reliable. It is a shame that these people could not be charged with treason, but the Constitution defines it narrowly as either in levying war against the U.S or in adhering to their enemies by giving aid and comfort. I do think that the previous president is guilty of the latter. Actually, I am shocked at myself for suggesting such a route. But those who would destroy democracy are willing to use violence, and I am frankly tired of reacting instead of acting. Of course, violence begets violence, but in the human sphere sometimes it seems necessary. I often think of Bonhoeffer and the decisions he made. There are many less harsh things that can be done, like support our organizations that are fighting for human rights like the ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, and others.

  11. SCOTUS poisoned the well of our waters of Democratic justice, tossed a grenade at the laws of accountability and equality for all presidents, then the robe-disguised infiltrators slithered out the door. like the traitorous cowards they are, to hide from the fallout of their democracy-sabotaging explosion.

    Let them NEVER be viewed again as honest, well-intentioned, or worthy of our Constitution’s majestic vision of America. SHUN THEM AND MAKE THEM FOREVER KNOWN AS TRAITORS TO OUR COUNTRY, TO OUR CONSTITUTION, TO EVERY CITIZEN THEY VOWED TO PROTECT AND REPRESENT.

    LET EVERY LAWYER AND LEGAL SCHOLAR OF THE LAND ALSO RENDER JUDGEMENT UPON THESE USURPERS, THESE SABOTEURS OF THE FOUNDATIONAL VISION FOR OUR REPUBLIC.

    EXPOSE ALL THEIR COLLABORATIONS WITH ADVERSARIES AND ALL “GIFTS” ACCRUED THEREBY.
    EXPOSE THEIR PLANS FOR THEIR /TRUMP’S TAKEOVER.

    We MUST educate every American about EXACTLY WHAT PROJECT 2025 IS (blueprint for TAKEOVER and complete remaking of our country, total domination of women), who’s funding it (Heritage Society, Christian fascists, Orban, Putin, billionaires, Republican party), and plaster the country with posters, newsletters, word of mouth, every outlet and media you can think of. Let EVERYONE know what these anti-Constitutional, anti-democracy, anti-common-good schemers and plotters are up to, ESPECIALLY THEIR USE OF TRUMP AS THEIR TROJAN REPUBLICAN ELEPHANT.
    THIS IS OUR URGENT TASK.

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