This is a weekly summary of the previous week’s Daily Meditations. Some are penned by Matthew Fox (MF), and some by Gianluigi Gugliermetto (GG). You can click on the title of a DM in order to view the original piece in its entirety. Also, please note, we will continue to offer a video teaching by Matthew each Monday.
September 15, 2025: More on Thiel & the Billionaire Religion Seeking to Conquer the World (MF)
We continue to explore the theme of Thiel and others who are talking about the antichrist. Why are they doing this? Partly because we are living in apocalyptic times. Battles of evil vs. good are raging all around us. Reason #2, billionaires want to control the religion of the future. And AI may be part of it. Thomas Aquinas however warns that “greed knows no limit and tends to infinity.” The billionaire religious model now seeks to take over the world, having succeeded in taking over one political party in America. Meanwhile, Thiel’s secretive surveillance company Palantir is being used by our “president” to gain access to sensitive personal information,, obtained earlier this year by DOGE and Musk. Bernie Sanders warns: “Our civil liberties and right to privacy shouldn’t be the price we pay for security.”
September 16, 2025: Let Us Not Canonize Charlie Kirk (MF)
When right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was killed last week, Democratic leaders decried the act and called out for prayers for the family. Not trump. He immediately went on air and blamed the “radical left” even when no one at the time knew who the killer was. Now we know it was a young man who identified as independent and who had Republican parents. Musk joined in saying, “The Left is the party of murder.” Patrice Mersault pointed out immediately following Kirk’s death that MAGA “thundered about ‘left-wing terrorists.” But the evidence—the decade-long tally of extremist murders—shows the opposite. The far-right has been responsible for the overwhelming majority of extremist and ideologically motivated killings in the United States….*
September 17, 2025: Lessons from the Murder of Charlie Kirk (MF)
The most obvious lesson to learn from the murder of Charlie Kirk is that people should not be murdered for sharing their political beliefs, however malicious they may be. Secondly, words have the power to hurt. The killer was in a relationship with a trans person, and Kirk was explicit about his belief that trans people have no right to exist. Third, truth matters. Fourth, democracy matters. Governor Cox of Utah, himself a Mormon and conservative like the murderer’s family, cited the basis of American democracy articulated by Abraham Lincoln—that every American has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This includes trans people. Fifth, diversity matters. Kirk was a spokesperson for Christian nationalism, which is the exact opposite of everything Christ taught.
September 18, 2025: Three Lessons in Radicalization (GG)
The term “radicalized” used to be employed exclusively about young Muslims and in connection to mosques where anti-Western sentiments were preached. Now it seems to encompass anyone who opposes the current trends of Western civilization as a whole. GG says he doesn’t mind being labeled a radical, but he also realizes he cannot afford to spread himself too thin. He says: I must instead go deep and take out of the treasure of my heart what is most significant and valuable for me. GG also says that his kind of radicalization is nonviolent, which does not simply mean that he doesn’t attack others physically, but that he make an effort to speak to the humanity in those who think differently than he. GG is interested in hearing about what might make you feel radicalized?
September 19, 2025: Roots
GG says: Radicalization is not always geared toward violence and is not always bad. However, being radically nonviolent is a way of existing in the world that might leave you alone, or rather in search of your tribe. This brings to mind Rilke, who wrote: My God is dark and like a clump / of a hundred roots drinking silently. GG says: Radical nonviolence is something that grabs you inside and does not allow you to choose your battles at ease, or to choose them at all. You are rather chosen. Those who are so chosen have roots which are not cultural or ethnic but…(understand) a universal communion that begins with humankind and extends to all creatures.
September 20, 2025: The Order of the Sacred Earth
The Order of the Sacred Earth, born of one of Matthew Fox’s dreams and led by his two co-founders, Skylar Wilson and Jennifer Listug, offers us a chance to be part of a tribe. The only requirement is to utter this one vow: I promise to be the best lover and the best defender of the Earth that I can be. These sentiments are easily traced to the Creation Spirituality archetypes of Mystic and Prophet. A vow should be pronounced only after you have felt the call to be the kind of person that the vow describes. You cannot simply choose this or that vow like you would an item in a grocery store. Your vow becomes a powerful tool. It allows you to focus on what really matters. The OSE meets online monthly. Skylar recently said that the most important function of these meetings right now is the “container of the grief” they provide. But people also share their stories of resistance and success, which is obviously inspiring and uplifting. You can find more about the Order of the Sacred Earth HERE.
* Patrice Mersault, “The Deadly Arithmetic of Right-Wing Extremism: 2015-2025.” Open Letters by Mersault, Patrice Mersault’s Substack blog.
Banner image: “Workers over Billionaires.” Sign held at a Labor Day protest in Doylestown, PA on September 1, 2025. Photo by Cynthia Greb. Used with permission.
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.
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
2 thoughts on “Week of 9/15-20/2025: Billionaires, Kirk & Radicalism”
On International Day of Peace, God bless All Our world leaders striving to help incarnate God’s Spirit of Peace, Compassion, & Justice around the world for All Our Sisters & Brothers…
Amen!