I recently watched a very fine documentary about Ulysses S. Grant, whose military genius helped win the Civil War and get Lincoln reelected president.*
Though I rarely read about the exploits of generals, war is a fact of human history, and learning Grant’s story opened my eyes to the elements that shape decision-makers in that field. This being the 250th anniversary of the birth of America, we are reminded of how the nation was born under General Washington and saved under Lincoln and General Grant, who stood up to slavery and the Confederacy.
The blood and death of the Civil War remind us of the severe price many paid in the Civil Rights Movement (see my previous DM). The emasculation of the civil rights laws by the current SCOTUS echoes the perilous times of the Civil War.
A statement from Lincoln’s second inaugural address comes to mind: “With malice toward none and charity toward all, let us bind up the nation’s wounds.”
What a far cry these words from the first Republican president are in contrast to the current (and last?) Republican president. Where is the “Charity toward all”, or “binding up the nation’s wounds”, or “malice toward none” in MAGA world?
Instead, much of MAGA rhetoric spews hatred and malice toward foreigners, immigrants, trans people, and others who may be different. Creating chaos and division that feeds on greed and war-making seems central to the MAGA project—just as Hildegard laid out in her antichrist painting in the 12th century.
Accusations of rape by immigrants began when the MAGA leader first descended a golden escalator announcing his run for the presidency ten years ago. Denigration of the other makes daily headlines.
Not the “binding up of the nation’s wounds,” but the exacerbation of the nation’s wounds marks the MAGA agenda. Ripping away SNAP benefits from the poorest children in our country and the killing of the poorest children in Africa due to dismantling USAID characterize the MAGA agenda.
Not the healing of divisions, but a continual effort to pour gasoline onto those different from oneself echoes in much right-wing media. Cruelty and injustice reign when billionaires are raised up by tax breaks while millions are thrown off healthcare to pay for those cuts.
MAGA malice serves corruption. The first act of the new Attorney General this week was to promulgate a new executive order that no emails between the president and other government officials can be made public. In other words, no subpoenas need be honored if next year’s Congress actually seeks to do oversight over the way the executive branch has been conducting its business.
Malice toward Mother Earth is on rapid fast-forward. Clean air and water laws are being gutted, as well as programs to support sustainable energy, and climate change is called a “hoax.”
Corruption reigns not only with politicians, but with SCOTUS members too. We now learn that Justice Samuel Alito has held oil and gas investments while passing decisions on fossil fuel questions before the court. Nor will he recuse himself from the upcoming case deciding whether Suncor Energy and Exxon can be shielded from lawsuits brought by state and local governments.
Alito recently voted to overturn the Chevron doctrine, thus making it harder to regulate environmental protection and protect public health. In 2007, he argued that greenhouse gas emissions cannot be regulated under the EPA. Since being on the Court, his net worth has grown from $1.1 million in 2005 to $8.4 million in 2024. A big chunk from oil and gas holdings.
So much for “malice toward none, charity toward all.” The “all” includes future generations of humans and other species, all beloved by the Creator.
* Grant, Netflix documentary on Ulysses S. Grant’s rise from humble beginnings through Civil War leadership to the Presidency.
Banner Image: L: Abraham Lincoln’s portrait photo by Alexander Gardner, 1863; Wikimedia Commons. R: Donald Trump’s mugshot, by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, State of Georgia. Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
Are you also struck by the gap between the first Republican president and the current one? What lessons can we learn from this cataclysmic chasm? Does character matter after all in a president or any other leader?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
Charles Burack, ed., Matthew Fox: Essential Writings in Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson and Jen Listug: Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society
