The word “radicalization” and its cognate verbal forms, such as “radicalized” and “radicalizing,” have been in use for at least the past 25 years. They used to be employed exclusively about young Muslims and in connection to mosques where anti-Western sentiments were preached. Today, their use has seemingly spread to cover all those who, in any way or form, oppose the current trends of Western civilization as a whole. Under such an umbrella, I am a dangerous radical individual, as most of you readers are as well.
There is a sense in which I accept the term “radical” for myself, and I see it as a badge of honor. In one of his early works, Matthew Fox was already speaking about “radical” as related to “roots.” Roots — he said — contain within themselves their own growth principle. But what is intrinsic is also intimate. Therefore — he concluded — it is radical what I cherish as sacred and truly mine.
First lesson: there are many important things to do and to say, but — especially in this unique historical moment — I cannot afford to spread myself thin. I must instead go deep and take out of the treasure of my heart what is most significant and valuable for me, not simply following the crowd of friends or battling the crowd of enemies.
Matthew continues discussing how being radical includes self-critique. In no era of the history of humanity has this been a very popular idea, and yet it is a peculiar and invaluable root of what it means to be human.
Second lesson: at a time in which every issue is misrepresented and all discussions are fraught with violent intent by those in power and their followers, I must continue to nourish a critical vision of myself and others, an inner discourse that defies by its existence the oversimplification which attacks me on every side.
Lastly, Matthew explains that all that is radical challenges the people who are attached to a “quantitative answer” to life. This challenge is as old as human society. Since the Neolithic, when it became possible to accumulate and keep agricultural goods, there have been those who prefer such accumulation to any consideration about what cannot be measured and yet constitutes the inner core of human life, such as affection, art, play, etc.
Third lesson: it is not an oddity that my being me is not liked by many others. I am a living reminder that there is more to life than many think. I should be thankful, rather than upset, about those circumstances in which I am marked as “odd” and “radical.”
My kind of radicalization is, of course, nonviolent, which does not simply mean that I don’t attack others physically, but that I make a constant effort to speak to the humanity of my interlocutors, even when it looks like “there is nobody home.”
We need to be honest and admit that talking to Trump supporters often feels like talking to robots (of the older generation of robots). But this should not mean that we become like them, just repeating over and over the opposite version of reality. We need to go deeper.
We seem to have reached a point where all our social battles are unified into one: the battle for the soul of humanity, for quality over quantity, for spirit over crass interest and despair. In this sense, the events of last few years have radicalized me, and perhaps you as well.
I would be interested in hearing from readers in which way they feel radicalized, and how is it going for them. Even more I am curious to hear if anybody has been successful in making somebody radical: that is, (1) helping them recover what matters to them individually and intimately (which can never be any party line); (2) helping them becoming self-critical and, only after that, critical of society; (3) helping them rediscover quality over quantity.
See Matthew Fox, Prayer: A Radical Response to Life, chapter 2, section 7
And 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 Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
Banner Image: “Now you listen to me!” Photo by Artur Voznenko on Unsplash
Queries for Contemplation
Am I radical? In what ways? And how do I help other people’s nonviolent “radicalization”?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
How do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? Fox defines prayer as a radical response to life that includes our “Yes” to life (mysticism) and our “No” to forces that combat life (prophecy). How do we define adult prayer? And how—if at all—do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? One of Matthew Fox’s earliest books, originally published under the title On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style, Prayer introduces a mystical/prophetic spirituality and a mature conception of how to pray. Called a “classic” when it first appeared, it lays out the difference between the creation spirituality tradition and the fall/redemption tradition that has so dominated Western theology since Augustine. A practical and theoretical book, it lays the groundwork for Fox’s later works.
“One of the finest books I have read on contemporary spirituality.” – Rabbi Sholom A. Singer
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
5 thoughts on “Three Lessons in Radicalization”
Wow! Thank you Gianluigi for summing it up so aptly : “We seem to have reached a point where all our social battles are unified into one: the battle for the soul of humanity, for quality over quantity, for spirit over crass interest and despair.” One word, however, may require some fine-tuning for true radicalization : “battle”. I think I remember reading somewhere in Meister Eckhart’s sermons, the suggestion that instead of “battling” or even “killing” the inner dragon, one should put “the halter of love” around its neck. A radical idea indeed…
I have learned there is no end to the depth the oligarchs of today will
go in using the current forms of media and performance to undermine democracy and political power.
Many people today aren’t concerned in what does not facilitate self interest. Their soul is not something they even think about.
Any concept of the soul is in fact self interest in the material sense.
To help open others to radical thought beyond self seems futile at times. Just like alcoholics many do not admit they need help. We are not at a point
to help them.
“Just like alcoholics”, indeed. Addiction to ego and its craving for money, property and prestige is the most widespread disease in the industrial age. These mega-ego-drunks (maga-ego ?) are as powerless over their addiction as everyone else is over the inability to help them overcome their denial and recognize the damage and suffering their illness causes to the entire Earth community and to the planet itself.
Anytime we experience the ‘awe’ of the cosmos that surrounds us – untouched landscapes, majestic mountains, wildlife, deep sea mysteries, starry night skies – it can help to ‘radicalize’ us to the indwelling of the divine.. Hopefully that leads to and reinforces the realization that we are all one, and share a common destiny. The more we experience nature and its healing force, the better, especially starting at an early age.
It’s very alarming that our divided country includes distorted ideas and beliefs about Truth, Democracy, and genuine Spirituality by millions of Americans that consider themselves patriotic, Christian nationalists, and MAGA followers of an autocratic, racist president whom they helped get elected. This radical president and his MAGA cult followers ignorantly project, dehumanize, and demonize their opponents and our democratic and genuine spiritual values. No wonder that this radical ignorance has been called evil and Anti-Christ by thoughtful Christian theologians such as Matthew Fox (read his most recent book on this subject in American society), and lately these radical right billionaires such as Peter Thiel are distorting Christianity and destructively demonizing/projecting by calling their enemies Anti-Christ. These cult followers of authoritarian Trump seem to want to develop their own version of a racist theocracy for American society. Our Hope is that the majority of humanitarian Americans and democratic institutions will continue to be led and strengthened by Our Source~Co-Creator’s Spirit of Love~Wisdom, Truth, Peace, Justice, Healing, Transformation, Compassion… Present within and among Us in LOVING DIVERSE ONENESS….