In Friday’s DM, we responded to the latest heinous Supreme Court decision from six judges eager to make a mockery of justice and court precedents. The deep-sixing of the 1965 Civil Rights Law that put an end to decades of Jim Crow thuggery accomplished by the sacrifices of so many, shows how actions speak louder than words.
Rightly, I think, I invoked the ancient archetype of the antichrist for such actions since that archetype is a shortcut for naming Evil. To bring Jim Crow back—as one senator said, “Jim Crow 2.0”—is evil. It is estimated that as many as 25 seats now held in congress by people of color may be eliminated by this decision.
The day after this SCOTUS decision was promulgated, the governor of Louisiana rushed into action by stopping an election already in progress to declare it was time to redraw congressional lines and gerrymander more safe seats for white voters, even though currently the state of Louisiana is 32% black with two of six congress people being black.
Mahatma Gandhi understood moments like what the US is going through today, when he said: “There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts.”
Of course, allies of Gandhi such as Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King Jr., Fred Shuttlesworth, Rosa Parks, and hundreds of thousands of others knew this too. This is what motivated them to fill the streets and jails and to brave beatings and attack dogs and violence and even death—because they had consciences to follow.
“God is conscience,” Gandhi said.
In contrast, fascism is a kind of idolatry that throws out authentic conscience in favor of following power for power’s sake—thus worshipping a false God of Power. Whether that be political power or financial power or sadistic power or other forms of domination, hardly matters—an addiction to power is always a form of idolatry.
Power becomes one’s god. One’s idol. Fascism serves up a false god.
I have cited in previous DMs Mussolini’s definition of fascism: “The marriage of government and corporations.” He seems a reliable source to define what fascism meant in his time, and his definition is not without merit in ours. What SCOTUS did in lifting all restrictions on dark money and corporate billions for elections inviting the marriage of unlimited monied billionaires and corporations, guarantees today’s miscarriages of justice that Mussolini knew all about.
I also find Susan Sontag’s definition of fascism—“Institutional violence”—to ring deep and nuanced and true.
What ICE is doing in Minneapolis and beyond, which is being broadcast on our screens regularly, is a display of institutional and military violence to everyday citizens and aspiring citizens or immigrants. Like those named on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
The building of concentration camp-like prisons is institutional violence, as is the decision by every Republican congressperson to vote for $140 billion to pay for them.
Fascism and conscience are incompatible.
The killing of USAID is institutional violence. When the richest man in the world (Elon Musk working in Trump’s name) kills millions of the poorest children in the world by denying them AIDS and TB medicines and food—that is institutional violence.
When religion substitutes power-over for power-with and suppresses compassion and justice—that is institutional violence. And when it supports fascist movements, whether Opus Dei or “Christian nationalism” or wars of choice or certain nominees for SCOTUS, that is institutional violence plus hypocrisy. Jesus had strong words for those who do such things in “God’s name.”
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video meditation, click HERE.
Banner Image: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 while Martin Luther King and others look on. Photo by Yoichi Okamoto. Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
Do you agree that fascism and a healthy conscience are incompatible?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ.
Sins of the Spirit, Blessing of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society.
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.
Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision For a New Generation.
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times.
Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality, pp. 474-480.
4 thoughts on “Beyond SCOTUS: Conscience vs. Fascism”
Do I agree that fascism and a healthy conscience are incompatible? I spontaneously would answer “yes,” but history has abundantly shown (and keeps showing) that “a healthy conscience” is a highly malleable (putty-like) concept. The belt buckles of the Wehrmacht soldiers during WWII bore the swastika and the motto “Gott mit uns,” and I presume that, to the best of their knowledge and belief, their conscience was at peace about it. A conscience at peace is unfortunately not necessarily what I would call healthy. I also assume that IDF soldiers who daily plant the explosives that destroy entire villages in South-Lebanon despite a so-called cease-fire are also convinced that God is with them. And so on and so forth in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, etc. I do believe that entire civilizations die from losing track of what “healthy” means.
YES!!! Hopefully, the Trump authoritarian regime, the unjust SCOTUS, the sycophant enabling Republican congress, the ignorant racist MAGA movement, and the greedy billionaires will not prevail in the midterm elections in November 2026 and the national election in 2028 so that our democracy and human spiritual values will continue surviving, God willing through His~Her Spirit of Love~Wisdom~Truth~Peace~Justice~Healing~Freedom~Creativity~Compassion…guiding and strengthening All Light Workers within and among Us in the sacred process of the Eternal Present Moment….
A humorous, satirical novel, *Morte d’Urban* by J. F. Powers ridiculed the hyper-competitiveness of American culture in the ambitious Catholic priest, Father Urban. His motto was “Be a Winner.” Decades ago and for many still today, being number one was an ideal few could reach but many were encouraged to live by. Winning often meant clear dominance, not by a point or a run but by a lopsided score. Being a league champion was good, but being “world champion” was glorious in big-screen, super-symphonic (Wagnerian?) style. The 45th and 47th president of the U.S. exults in images of imperial gold, mammoth triumphal arches and ballrooms “beyond the dreams of avarice.” As with “Ozymandias,” his memorial will point to his incredible triumphs never to be matched (like the sizes of the crowds he has drawn). It’s easy to quote the conclusion of Shelley’s poem, thinking it was inevitable, but today the task of servant-leaders and the humble (or not) masses is not to yearn but to co-operate in making freedom real in everything that opposes the big lies of greed, exploitation, bullying and extortion.
Conscience doesn’t enter in at all.
“Fascism:
1. Total suppression of freedom
no political opposition or independent media, dissent criminalize. Elections meaningless, critics jailed or killed, propaganda replaces free expression.
2. State violence and terror
secret police, arbitrary arrests, torture, executions used to maintain control. Fear a governing tool.
3. Genocide and mass persecution
systematic extermination of targeted groups. The Holocaust led to the murder of six million Jews, along with millions of others (Roma, disabled people, political dissidents, and more). This wasn’t incidental—it flowed directly from fascist racial ideology.
4. Militarism and catastrophic wars
war and expansion glorified.
5. Dehumanization and loss of individual rights
rights are conditional—if you’re seen as “outside” the national identity, you may have none at all.
6. Cult of personality and mass manipulation
leaders portrayed as infallible. Loyalty to the leader replaces critical thinking or democratic accountability.”
(from chatgpt)