Italian poet Franco Arminio recently said something very simple yet profound: “We must fight for justice, otherwise we get sick.” To me, this is a direct way to touch on the theme of action detached from the hope of success, that is present in so many spiritual traditions.
Arminio insists that the call to act for justice is so deep that if one fails to answer it, one’s humanity is lost and — as a consequence — one’s organism gives up. We know, of course, that throughout Western history many have argued instead for a separation of spirituality from politics.
A subtler version of such a position suggests that as the notion of historical progress has been revealed as an illusion, we might as well observe from the outskirts the vagaries of human folly, in the sure hope that things at some point will get better, only to get worse, and then better, and so on.
I think there is some wisdom in such a thought. The study of historical cycles is — in my view — as essential part of any postmodern understanding of human history. But if I use such an understanding to justify my lack of social engagement, I simply get sick — just as Arminio teaches.
The full text of Arminio’s recent poem follows — in my own translation:
For some time now there has been nobody around us,
nobody helping with our fight, as they believe only in their own.
We get sick every time we renounce the fight for our truths,
and any time we are lenient with the lies of others.
Love is defending those whom we love
more than asking why we love, or until when.
Love is fighting together, and nothing else.
Undoubtedly, the fragmentation of the great fight for justice, dispersed in a thousand rivers, has been the malady of our time. And the risk of abandoning the fight itself — including closing our eyes to patent lies — is a real problem.
There are many signs, however, that the younger generations are getting Arminio’s message in its stark simplicity. The young people fighting for the freedom of Palestine and for peace in the “Holy Land” of Jews and Christians, don’t seem so easy to fool anymore, and we must learn from them.
Banner Image: A January 2025 protest against the occupation of Palestine, in a train station in Utrecht, Germany. Photo by Ciell. Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
What is your relationship to the spiritual need to fight for justice? Has it changed in the past two years, since the massacre of October 7, 2023 and the subsequent intensification of the genocide in Palestine?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Trump and the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ.
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality.
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice.
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3 thoughts on “Justice and Love”
I’m sure Matthew’s recommended book, “A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice,” also has a lot of wisdom for our spiritual journeys. In my personal contemplative spiritual journey, I have Faith and Trust that I’m being healed, guided, and transformed to greater awareness and openness to the Divine Flow of DIVINE LOVE~Peace~Healing~Transformation~Creativity~Beauty~Joy~LOVING DIVERSE ONENESS with-in others/Sacred Mother Earth/ and All Living physical/nonphysical Spiritual beings/dimensions of Our evolving Co-Creation COSMOS in the Sacredness of the ETERNAL PRESENT MOMENT….
Dear GG,
Yes! I love this. We have to keep recognizing the underlying need for all of us to fight for justice. I found a quote in Richard Rohr’s book “The Tears of Things” where he says the moral mandate is to defend and advocate for the common good. To me that centers on justice, where each of us deserves to be part of the common good, and we must work in solidarity to achieve it. Thank you!
I have always worked for justice for all. What intensified that desire for action was the campaign for the first term, when( in 2015 I think) the present white house occupant bragged that he could shoot someone in broad daylight on Park Avenue and get away with it. I did not see this as rhetoric; I took it very seriously. This led me to CAC for support and encouragement spiritually and to many organizations such as Amnesty International Urgent Actions, ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, Sierra Club, etc–these gave me the tools to act by contacting government officials, including people serving in Congress and heads of agencies like the EPA to advocate for various issues of justice. Sierra Club and others also provide ways of contacting banks and insurance companies that fuel the oil industry. Even though it is less likely to be heard, I still use my voice in every way I can, with the hope that maybe a few seeds will fall in fertile places. But in my advanced years, I do not expect an outcome. It is necessary to work in community to avoid despair. We need each other.