Last Tuesday, Trump declared, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
His calling for the annihilation of a civilization if he did not get his way, many recognize as a war crime in itself. It is certainly not the language of a responsible leader or a decent human being. Following his remarks, we were temporarily “saved” by a two-week peace agreement that is itself plenty precarious.
Umbrage has arisen even among Trump’s MAGA base and former supporters about his war and his menacing declarations. Once stalwart supporters like Marjorie Taylor Greene: “President Trump has gone mad as he wages war against Iran, a broken campaign promise.” Candace Owens: “It may be time to put Grandpa up in a home.” Alex Jones: Trump has attacked “all original MAGA supporters [and] whatever’s happened to him has totally changed the man he once was.”
Trump responded by calling them “stupid people [who] don’t have what it takes, and they never did!” Many ex-supporters and political opponents are calling for the invocation of the 25th amendment, which was created for a situation like the current one where a president is showing signs of mental decline and inability to perform his duties properly.
We shall see how all this plays out.
But there is another war that Trump and his filial congress is carrying on that is just as serious as a declaration about annihilation of a civilization. I am talking about the annihilation of Mother Earth, about the ongoing onslaught against laws and practices to protect Earth that have been on the books beginning with the original Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
This is not a threat of annihilation of a civilization but of all civilizations. And all cultures that are birthed by more-than-human beings.
An ongoing war is being waged under Trump and his many billionaire fossil fuel backers against Mother Earth. Recall how he promised during the last presidential campaign to dismantle environmental regulations if they gave him a billion dollars. It seems to have been a pretty good investment for them.
Some facts for consideration:
Air pollution from fossil fuels costs every American an average of $2,500 per year in healthcare expenses.
Cuts to environmental programs will lead to 200,000 premature deaths in the next 25 years—and to 10,000 additional asthma attacks every single day.
Household electricity costs will increase by $110 monthly or $1320 per year.
The administration’s attitude toward climate change is one of “What, me worry?” It pretends to be in denial of climate change—pretends because everyone knows it is going on. One recent headline put it: “US had hottest March on record as nation faced ‘unprecedented’ heat. The continental US registered its most abnormally hot month in 132 years of records, according to NOAA data.” 19,800 daily temperature records were broken for heat across the country.
The heat records come on the heels of the worst snow year ever. “January through March period was the driest on record for the contiguous US. So not only was it hot, it was record dry as well.”* Water availability, agriculture, river levels, navigation, are all in jeopardy.
drilling on our coasts and paying one billion dollars to abort wind farms set up off the US coast.
This too is a war crime against humanity. AND against all the species on this planet. It deserves the same outcry—and more—that is coming from exclaiming the death of an entire civilization. The president might as well be saying, “A whole earth is going to die before I finish my presidency.”
* Associated Press, “US had hottest March on record as nation faced ‘unprecedented’ heat,” The Guardian, April 9, 2026.
Banner Image: The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) shows how much or how little progress countries have made in combating the effects of climate change. Green countries have made positive strides; red countries have done very little. (Gray countries have no data.) This chart from the 2023 ranking by CCPI.org. Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
How can we ensure that the sacredness of creation trumps the denial of climate change and the greed that supercharges it?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality.
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance.
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth.
Trump and the MAGA Movement as Antichrist.
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society.
Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation.
Charles Burack, ed., Matthew Fox: Essential Writings in Creation Spirituality.
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice.
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8 thoughts on “Annihilation of a Civilization? Annihilation of ALL Civilizations!”
Thank you Matthew for this witness for Earth, calling out the regime for it’s ugly dismissal of all that sustains life
Unfortunately, a kind of contagious and trance-like denial seems to prevail among elected members of the political party whose emblem is fittingly the elephant in both chambers. As many have commented in the media, while we powerlessly watch, day after day, the unraveling of the most basic personal and national dignity, the civilization that is being erased is our own. Besides the moral consequences of the current loss of moral compass, I share Matthew’s opinion that the most severe and long-lasting impact is and will be the damage inflicted to Mother Earth. In particular, I cannot chase off my mind the intuition that we are about to witness a massive oil spill in the Red Sea. . . I hope that fear will not materialize.
P.S. … in the Red Sea and/or, more likely, in the Persian Gulf…
The war/weapons industry has been assaulting Mother Earth for decades. The Pentagon has not been fully audited for 7 years >>>> dark money. We wasted our so called Peace Dividend post Reagan. Environmentalists and Peaceniks were side lined. Now we look for today’s leaders to blame????
All of Us need to personally and communally become more deeply aware that We’re All in essence and uniquely an interdependent part of Our living Sacred Mother Earth, and All physical/nonphysical spiritual dimensions of Our evolving Sacred Living Co-Creation Cosmos in Eternal LOVING DIVERSE ONENESS. This has been the Wisdom and experience of All Our mystic ancestors and saints, our quantum sciences since the last century, and All Shamanic Indigenous Spiritualities in human history up to the present times.
Matthew, I’m not sure we can. We are all on board a runaway bus. By “all”, I mean humanity. Leaders from all walks of life, though most especially political leaders, all need to see eye-to-eye and agree that we are a planet in extreme crisis. Frankly, I don’t see it being done. We have lost control; the origins of which go “way back”. If we are to come together, I believe it will be by external measure, not force. The advent of UAPs (formerly known as UFOs) now being taken seriously such that remarkable testimony is being heard in Congress by highly credible witnesses is a reality that humans need to embrace. You often speak of our place in the Universe and the Cosmic Christ. WE ARE NOT ALONE. We need to embrace the enormity of what that means in every sphere of being human. Nothing more, and nothing else, can or will bring the kind of radical change that we collectively need.
I believe the USA will never be the same. We have lost a unified purpose if
we ever had a solid spiritual foundation to begin with. Humans are the most destructive animal the planet has ever seen. Some way nature will take its
course and humanity may be in a changed evolutionary role.
A new or renewed spirituality is the only hope, but it would be just the start
out of the decades of neoliberalism that brought us here.
Looking at History….not much about humanity has really changed.
The Senate is scheduled to vote today on HR J 140. This would allow Chilean mining companies to strip protections on 225,000 ares surrounding the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of northern MN. The mining would pollute waters downstream from all the watersheds involved, reaching into multiple rivers and states. The mining companies have a 100% record of untreatable pollution.
Please take 2 minutes to call your two senators today and ask them to vote “No.”
Call 202-224-3121, state your name, urge him/her to vote no on House Joint Resolution 140. This resolution abuses the Congressional Review Act to strip Boundary Waters protections that were built on years of science and 675,000 public comments. Please vote NO.” Mother Earth thanks you.