The Coup & You & US: Time For Spiritual Warriorhood

Ours is a time for spiritual warriors—that is for sure.  Every citizen who gives a damn about honesty and caring in our government and democracy should be on deck contributing what they can to resist and oppose the dismantling of our government that is going on now under our noses.

We were warned.  But 76 million Americans chose to ignore that warning and vote for a felon 34 times over.  And 90 million chose to sit the last election out.  But it is never too late to repent and wake up.  (Even though one camp has made an issue out of how awful it is to be “woke.”)

Here are a few headlines just today from thoughtful and caring leaders in the press—the very press that the current regime, under the aegis of Elon Musk and his co-president, is trying to destroy.

David Remnick commenting on Trump’s promise to “take over” Gaza and “own” it (with Netanyahu smiling at his side in the East Room of the White House): “Such a policy represents ethnic cleansing.  Morality is of no interest where there is a real estate deal to be made.”*

Maybe character—one of the “10 Cs of creation spirituality”—ought to be taken into account when one votes for a president after all. 

Trump: We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal…the Riviera of the Middle East—this could be something so—this could be so magnificent.  “A sunny place for shady people” as someone called it. 

Michael Moore: The actual Coup in DC is underway.  …Most of you already know that……His announcement that ‘we will own’ Gaza has already shocked the Palestinian people, the entire Arab world, most of Europe, and numerous Jewish peace groups.

We can stop him through the courts, in Congress, mass actions of civil disobedience, calling on police and district attorneys to break the law and join with us “to block the only person the Supreme Court has declared can break the law.”**

Here is another way: Isn’t it past time that the legal bar associations around the country remove the right of lawyers around Trump to represent the legal profession?  Where are the professional associations that know an unconstitutional coup when they see it?  See what is being done HERE.

From Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny in an article called: “Of course it’s a coup: Miss the obvious, lose your republic.”  Past coups such as under Hitler occupied a physical place and drove those holding office out to claim control.  But today, a couple dozen young men go from government office to government office, dressed in civilian clothes and armed only with zip drives…They gain access to the basic computer systems of the federal government.  The head honchos then possess “access to information and the power to start and stop all government payments.”

In today’s world, “power is more digital than physical.”  Thus, the ongoing actions by Musk and his followers are a coup because the individuals seizing power have no right to it.  Elon Musk was elected to no office and there is no office that would give the authority to do what he is doing.  It is all illegal.

What follows is that “democracy becomes meaningless.” Musk, not Congress, can halt all payments.  “Congress is meaningless and our votes are meaningless as is our citizenship.”**

Here we are.  Are we resisting?  Did 76 million Americans vote for this?  I thought they voted for cheaper eggs.  How is that going? 

Is the spiritual warrior in us awakened and joining hands with others? 

* David Remnick, “The Madness of Donald Trump,” The New Yorker, February 5, 2025.

** Michael Moore, “The Coup D’Etat has Begun.”

See “If the Anti-Christ Were President, He Might Be Thinking This….” – Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox

And Matthew Fox, Trump and The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election.

And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society.

And Matthew Fox, “Spiritual Warriors” in Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine, pp. 77-104.

And Fox, “Spiritual Warriorhood,” in Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Faith Traditions, pp. 404-422.

See Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, Jen Lustig, Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action.

Banner Image: “This Is a Coup: We Choose to Fight: Nobody Elected Elon Protest.’ 1500 people protest at the Treasury Department in Washington, DC, February 5, 2025. Photo by Geoff Livingston on Flickr.

Queries for Contemplation

Are you turning your moral outrage into effective action and linking up with others who care about our democracy?  And truth?  And justice?  And aiding those at home and abroad less fortunate than we?  And love of neighbor?  And the future of the planet?

Recommended Reading

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.
From the Foreword: If there was ever a time, a moment, for examining the archetype of the Antichrist, it is now…Read this book with an open mind. Good and evil are real forces in our world. ~~ Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit and Conversations with the Divine.
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.

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

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

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

Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
By Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jen Listug

In the midst of global fire, earthquake and flood – as species are going extinct every day and national and global economies totter – the planet doesn’t need another church or religion. What it needs is a new Order, grounded in the Wisdom traditions of both East and West, including science and indigenous. An Order of the Sacred Earth united in one sacred vow: “I promise to be the best lover and defender of the Earth that I can be.”
Co-authored by Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Berit Listug, with a forward by David Korten, this collection of essays by 21 spiritual visionaries including Brian Swimme, Mirabai Starr, Theodore Richards, and Kristal Parks marks the founding of the diverse and inclusive Order of the Sacred Earth, a community now evolving around the world.
“The Order of the Sacred Earth not only calls us home to our true nature as Earth, but also offers us invaluable guidance and company on the way.”  ~~ Joanna Macy, environmental activist and author of Active Hope.