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04/30/2024

In yesterday’s video, I cited male SCOTUS judges informing us they weren’t interested in the current case before them but about “the future.”  

Disdain—a “value” everywhere cherished by Patriarchy– is everywhere in SCOTUS’s pontificating.

Webster’s defines “disdain” as “a feeling of contempt for what is beneath one. Scorn."

(“Arrogance” also defines 

Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation, calls out the Supreme Court for outright favoritism toward the former White House tenant. The Reid Out on MSNBC.

disdain.)

This SCOTUS sees everyone as beneath them and displays disdain frequently. Let us begin to count the ways:

Disdain for basic judicial ethics, i.e., recusing yourself when you have an obvious conflict of interest. Justice Clarence Thomas thinks it is just

“Trump presidential immunity case exposes conservative Supreme Court’s true colors.” Leah Litman, University of Michigan Law School professor, and MSNBC‘s Alex Wagner discuss SCOTUS favoritism to the former White House tenant. 

fine and dandy to stay on the bench to pontificate on presidential immunity concerning January 6—even though his activist wife was present and cheering on Trump’s speech that set the riot in motion, and wrote emails to his chief of staff urging him on.

(The same chief of staff is under indictment in numerous courts for his role in the sordid affair.)

Disdain for rules of taking bribes from billionaires, with Thomas taking such gifts as a quarter million-dollar motorhome; a home for his mother; education for his child; luxury trips to luxury resorts, etc.; and other gifts from billionaires to Justice Alito as well.

Disdain for voters contemplating an upcoming presidential election. Voters have the right to learn the full truth behind the January 6 insurrection before they cast a vote. To postpone Trump’s trial where the facts can come out is arrogance and scorn at its worst.

Disdain for women. Ending Roe v. Wade and turning one’s back on the terror and pain it has caused to pregnant girls and women everywhere constitutes pure misogyny. And unleashing fear on doctors by threatening them with jail for doing their job assisting pregnant women is also misogynistic. (As if America has a surplus of doctors and no one will notice if they go off to jail.)

Disdain for the rule of law. 

Disdain for the Constitution which never talks of immunity for presidents (that was for kings and fresh in the minds of those who wrote the constitution after all).

“Women’s Rights are Human Rights.” Protestors march in Washington, DC, 2021. Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

Disdain for the separation of church and state.

Disdain for democracy, defined by the first Republican president as “government of, by and for the people.”  

To be continued.

See “Arrogance” in Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society, pp. 185, 198f., 202-206, 218, 225, 232, 259-261, 307.

Banner Image: Clarence Thomas: “Face of the Republican Party” Image by Jeff Gates on Flickr.

Statement of Solidarity with Israel/Palestine.

Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, or read other comments and enter into dialog, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field.

Queries for Contemplation

Do you sense disdain and scorn along with arrogance and patriarchal privilege in the decisions and attitudes of at least four men on the current “supreme” court? How omnipresent is disdain and scorn in politics today? How to move beyond it?    

Recommended Reading

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

In the Beginning There Was Joy: A Cosmic Celebration for Kids of All Ages

The first book in the Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables series tells the story of the big bang and how humans fit into the awesome, fantastical, cosmic picture! With artwork curated from illustrators around the world, this book expresses the joy and wonder of all peoples and cultures, planting seeds of respect, cooperation and hope to work together for the healing of our planet.

"This delicious book for children of all ages celebrates joy as the essential truth of reality." - 

Andrew Harvey, Author of The Hope and Radical Regeneration

"I absolutely LOVED reading this beautiful, creative, stirring story—a charming, whimsical, powerful, parable." - Robert Holden, Author of Happiness NOW! and Higher Purpose

Receive a 20% discount when you buy this and one other book from Matthew Fox’s store! Use Promo Code 20% at checkout.

UPCOMING EVENTS

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Join Matthew Fox in a new, live, 7-week video course hosted by the Shift Network, : What Meister Eckhart & Other World Mystics Can Teach Us About Navigating Collective Turmoil. Tuesdays, May 7 – June 25, 5:00pm - 6:30pm PT. Register HERE.

Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his book with scientist Rupert Sheldrake, Natural Grace: Dialogues on Creation, Darkness and the Soul in Spirituality and Science in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, Thursday, May 16, 4:00-5:30 pm PT. 
Register HERE.

Join keynote speakers Matthew Fox and Brian Swimme at the 2024 Creation Spirituality Communities Gathering on “Reimagining Our Story, Hope for Humanity,” live at Cape Cod, MA and by livestream. Friday, May 31 – Sunday, June 2.

Learn more and register HERE. 

Creation Spirituality Conversations

Ilia Delio and theologian Matthew Fox pick up on their conversation about the viability of contemporary religious institutions in an evolutionary world. They discuss death and resurrection—the enduring challenge of modern approaches to the subject and what we can learn from mystics, past generations and ancient peoples alike.

To listen, click HERE. 

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