Monday marks a unique day in Silicon Valley and San Francisco history. It is the day that Silicon Valley billionaire and maker of presidents and vice presidents, Peter Thiel, begins his four-part series on the Antichrist at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.
Not surprisingly, a number of persons have brought this event to my attention of late, since I actually wrote a book on the Antichrist that incidentally implicates people like Mr. Thiel and others of the MAGA tribe who are committed to killing democracy as we know it and replacing it with some new kind of religion. And I think it can be said that I have a bit more theological background to do so than does Mr. Thiel.
Peter Thiel, who financed J.D. Vance with $13 million to render him a successful senatorial candidate in Ohio and whose company, Palantir, holds multi-billion-dollar contracts with the defense department, is offering his four-part series to a closed-door audience. It is sold out, we are told.
Following are some headlines apropos of this rather unique interest from a Silicon Valley tycoon. “Silicon Valley Holy War?” “Comedians Roast Peter Thiel Antichrist Obsession;” “Peter Thiel Antichrist Antics Continue”; “Peter Thiel Tries On the Antichrist for Size”; Peter Thiel’s Apocalypse Dreams”; Silicon Valley’s Scary New Religion: TESCREAL.” etc., etc.
Gil Duran, in his Substack strikingly named “The Nerd Reich”, has been especially dogged in exposing the New Religion emanating from Silicon Valley, which is embarrassing to many but appealing to others–at least enough to fill a seminar room at the Commonwealth Club. (The latter, by the way, insist they are only renting the space for Thiel; the event is organized by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called “ACTS 17 Collective: Acknowledging Christ in Technology and Society,” credited with Silicon Valley’s sudden shift to Christianity.*)
I was urged by some to offer an alternative seminar in the same venue on the Antichrist based on my book on the topic, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Antichrist, but the several thousand-dollar rental fee effectively locked me out. Gil and I recently shared a conversation about it: see the interview on his Nerd Reich YouTube channel at left.
One claim from Peter Thiel is this: that Greta Thunberg is the antichrist of our day (sic). I guess continuing to support fossil fuel companies as Earth burns, crops fail, seas rise, wildfires multiply, and droughts and floods overtake our world is Christ-like; while taking a stand against climate change and looking for ways to save the Earth is antichrist work. Thiel’s Christology seems quite off-beat indeed.
Those billionaires who feel they are called to launch a new religion that can replace democracy don’t want the Greta Thunbergs of the world on their team.
The big picture behind this story is this: That SCOTUS, in its infinite wisdom, in its Citizens United decision, has given people like Thiel—that is to say, billionaires—carte blanche to give as much dark money as they want to buy politicians, media, judges, and anything else to ensure they rule the world. And they are clearly succeeding.
In his article called “Silicon Valley Holy War?”**, Gil Duran talks about how “Silicon Valley Seeks God” and asks: Why is Silicon Valley suddenly pivoting to religion?… Prominent tech figures keep talking about Antichrists, demons, and existential battles between good and evil. It’s definitely a vibe shift….Silicon Valley is suddenly bonkers for Christianity.
But what kind of Christianity? A bonkers version that ignores Jesus’s actual teachings in favor of something altogether different, one that “orients them toward apocalypse themes and MAGA fascism,” notes Duran. The tech world is busy paying “homage” to Donald Trump. Is this the price of latter-day capitalism?
* For more info on the ACTS 17 Collective, see Emma Goldberg, “Seeking God, or Peter Thiel, in Silicon Valley” New York Times, February 11, 2025.
** Gil Duran, “Silicon Valley Holy War?” on The Nerd Reich, September 10, 2025.
See Matthew Fox, Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ.
And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the World.
And Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality.
And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society.
And Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice.
And Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation.
Banner Image: Online ticket to the Peter Thiel event, organized by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called ACTS 17 Collective: Acknowledging Christ in Technology and Society, credited with Silicon Valley’s sudden shift to Christianity. See Emma Goldberg, “Seeking God, or Peter Thiel, in Silicon Valley” New York Times, February 11, 2025.
Queries for Contemplation
How do you interpret a maker of vice-presidents and advisor to presidents and billionaire supporters of right-wing causes holding four seminars on the antichrist in Silicon Valley? What do you think of his opinion that Greta Thunberg is the antichrist of our day? And of SCOTUS’ decision that corporations are people and unlimited dark money in American politics is just fine and dandy?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
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.
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.
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story
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
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register
Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
Authors Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox encourage us to use our talents in service of compassion and justice and to move beyond our broken systems–economic, political, educational, and religious–discovering a spirituality that not only helps us to get along, but also encourages us to reevaluate our traditions, transforming them and in the process building a more sacred and just world. Incorporating the words of young activist leaders culled from interviews and surveys, the book provides a framework that is deliberately interfaith and speaks to our profound yearning for a life with spiritual purpose and for a better world.
“Occupy Spirituality is a powerful, inspiring, and vital call to embodied awareness and enlightened actions.”
~~ Julia Butterfly Hill, environmental activist and author of The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods
6 thoughts on “Silicon Valley’s “Scary Religion,” Peter Thiel, et alia”
I think it’s all horribly and seriously wrong. However, we can only collectively reap what we have collectively sown and the Christian Church throughout the centuries has played a role in this. Very few individuals, in my view, correctly understood Christ and they became saints. Their legacy should be the benchmark for all who follow, including the church.
What have we done with the gift of a cosmic oasis called Earth, the gift of evolution, the gift of life, the gift of love, the gift of consciousness, the gift belonging to an Earth Community ? If someone is watching from afar, they must shake their head (if they have one) in disbelief.
Thiel and his ilk are profiles in psychological deformity.
His background and upbringing left him insecure and fearful.
Overcompensating for the loss it seems.
Intellectually capable however and as a result now wealthy and powerful.
The same pattern seen with many in historical terms.
We are vulnerable as democracy has failed in the USA and in the World.
Wow. I fear that in their quest for power, certain silicon valley personalities have discovered the power of religion (and manipulation by fear) over the masses. This is bad news indeed. Christianity by precise works (as defined by someone assuming authority) seems to be a new or exaggerated thing, appropriating key ideas and words into something sinister. It’s another form of violence, and normalized violence.
Thank you for today’s very important DM, especially the enclosed YouTube video by Gil Duran on “The Antichrist Playbook.” It’s very scary how the Far Right, tech billionaires of the Silicon Valley are using religious and biblical language to support authoritarianism and anti democracy such as the Trump administration, and to demonize people who have true spiritual and democratic values of social justice and wanting to save Sacred Mother Earth.
These tactics of lies, misinformation, obfuscation, and projection need to continually be exposed/informed to the American public and resisted by All humanitarian peaceful warriors of Love, Truth, Wisdom, Peace, Justice, Compassion, and Spirituality/Faith.
Amen!