This is a sermon I gave Sunday April 28 at a service held at the encampment for Gaza at Princeton University. The service was organized by students from Princeton Theological Seminary.
He said the U.S. constitution was "a sacred document" and then refused to stand with us against the illegal and unconstitutional mandates and passports ... pushed the "safe & effective" narrative on us just 30 days after the explosive, court-ordered FDA FOIA release which proved that the COVID vax was not "safe & effective" ... and then in the same breath, rubbed our noses in it by openly admitting that he "does not trust Moderna or Phizer" ... called those of us who question the motives and tactics of our elected officials "members of the lunatic fringe and conspiracy theorists" ...
What an insensitive, reckless, self-centered P****!
Very powerful sermon. If only the rest of the world could hear this. This is very inspiring for the young people out there protesting the Israelis. They will need every bit they can get in the weeks and months ahead as this brutality is just getting started. I am pushing to see if the rest of the world will stand up for the Palestinians since the U.S. won't.
Thank you Mr Hedges. It's unpopular to speak of belief in God, of 'your neighbour', Communist nearly to speak of sharing according to need, in. my country, Canada as well. Thank you for encouraging our faith in such a 'non-confessional' manner, which can be shared by Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, and atheist. We need extraordinary help for hope these days, because clearly, the majority of humanity isn't doing it.
I was looking up how to pronounce the name Isaiah in Hebrew when I found Isaiah chapter 1, verse 21, in the Jewish Publication Society. "How is the faithful city become a harlot! She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her. But now, murderers."
Thank you for speaking truth to power. I have never understood religion or why anyone wants or needs it to believe and act towards making justice manifest, and in creating a better life for all.
"I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look—wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build, I'll be there, too."
That was a fabulous piece of writing Chris, it made me cry. There is so much pain and fear in the world at present . It becomes a weight that sometimes needs tears to release the tension I feel . Thank you .
I needed to read this today, through tears. Are you a mind reader? No, you are not, but God is. That phrase "15 years" hit me hard. Until you have experienced expulsion from your group, you can't know the stunning power and truth of that blow. They mean it. From the top of the hierarchy with fingers to the Canadian Government, to management, to the nurses and counsellors running the show. And if you WERE touched by true madness ---you experience group distain. No need for even cool politeness. -But God was watching and pulled me up. He is so great. He covers the whole sky, that's how big He is.
"Niebuhr wrote that nothing but madness will do battle with malignant power and ‘spiritual wickedness in high places'." "This sublime madness...is dangerous, but it is vital. Without it, 'truth is obscured.'" Such powerful quotes!
Niebuhr's "sublime madness." as opposed to Liberalism which in moments of extremity, as we are seeing, "lacks enthusiasm, not to say fanaticism, which is so necessary to move the world out of its beaten tracks." Lacks passion! Lacks that fire coming up from deep in the center of Mother Earth that can flood into our hearts and meet with the sacred spiritual flame streaming down from the Heavens, Father Sky, and once joined, burst through all narrow identities that keep us tethered to any institution. And in our sacred books manifesting itself in the voices of the great Prophets and Mystics, of Jesus' beautiful and eternal Beatitudes. All "heretics" as you say, and most did not have long lives. But instead, they live forever.
Once, long ago, we spent time with Mother Teresa in Calcutta and we asked her how she managed to do her work day after day in the worst of circumstances, tending the dying and feeding the poorest of the poor. She said what she is often quoted as saying, that "whenever I meet someone in need, I see Jesus in his most distressing disguise." But she also added that she had the easier job than those of us trying to help others in the West. The poor she feeds need only a bowl of rice to be satisfied, whereas the poverty of spirit, the loss of love and of God in the West cannot be so easily filled.
I love your giving voice to the truth that you can be "a Jew, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Christian, a Hindu or atheist and carry the cross".... the thirst for Justice and willingness to sacrifice. That there are "ordinary" people of every color standing for truth, love, justice, for love in action; many, perhaps most, unknown. That made me think it may be time we stop taking part in this other related elephant in the room that continually divides us (against ourselves). That is, this terrible branding of "white" vs. every other color - this Divide and Conquer strategy has become an unquestioned, globalized insidious form of racism that perpetuates unbridgeable division and furthers hatred of neighbor and all our brothers and sisters. (and in truth there is no "white" - we're all mixes) It is another deflection. The Dividers are very smart and subtle institutionalized political, economic, Colonial forces of "malignant power" that will use anything to divide the world's "masses." I think I can speak to this especially as a woman -- In the U.S.(and in the "conditions" put on our reproductive aid sent around the world) the Powers that Be are deadly set on dividing every woman of every color from having choice and autonomy over the privacy of her very own body! LGBTQ are of every color. Humanitarian workers, Doctors Without Borders, reporters, environmental and animal rights activists, student activists and on and on are of every color and nationality. For the last decades we have been taught to constantly speak this "politically correct" dualism without thinking twice. But it is a mare's nest, a Gordian Knot, set in place by the Powers that Be, and unless it is untangled and we stop using this divisive language of Power, this false knot will only get tighter, more convoluted and entrenched.
I don't know how we will bring to an end the genocide and relentless terror, starvation and endless grief the people of Gaza are going through, but this Sermon for Gaza, this message ultimately to the Gazans/Palestinians, gives voice to and sends the love, strength, witnessing and solidarity that we and so many others around the world feel as we find ways, however small, to resist with them the radical evil they are enduring. I pray that this message circles the whole world. Thank you so much Chris.
Dear and Wonderful Chris;
I have long been a reader and fan of your work. But this is utterly transcendent.
With much gratitude and love,
beth goldring
Yes indeed.
No, he's not! ...
How little you know about this man ...
He said the U.S. constitution was "a sacred document" and then refused to stand with us against the illegal and unconstitutional mandates and passports ... pushed the "safe & effective" narrative on us just 30 days after the explosive, court-ordered FDA FOIA release which proved that the COVID vax was not "safe & effective" ... and then in the same breath, rubbed our noses in it by openly admitting that he "does not trust Moderna or Phizer" ... called those of us who question the motives and tactics of our elected officials "members of the lunatic fringe and conspiracy theorists" ...
What an insensitive, reckless, self-centered P****!
Thank you, Mr. Hedges. You've given my aching heart a moment's rest. You've given me some faith.
Me too.
They know that as Immanuel Kant wrote: “If justice perishes, human life on earth has lost its meaning.”
This ☝️☝️☝️explains the hollow feeling that regularly haunts us.
This, together with indifference, that monster that’s been eating us up, that bland feeling of not being able to change anything...
So true.
A powerful sermon of which l am not worthy. But I'll do what I can with the little courage I have.
You get points for that.
Although you may act in concert with others, the courage arises by being in aloneness, alone with yourself. This is what I've learned.
Very powerful sermon. If only the rest of the world could hear this. This is very inspiring for the young people out there protesting the Israelis. They will need every bit they can get in the weeks and months ahead as this brutality is just getting started. I am pushing to see if the rest of the world will stand up for the Palestinians since the U.S. won't.
Thank you Mr Hedges. It's unpopular to speak of belief in God, of 'your neighbour', Communist nearly to speak of sharing according to need, in. my country, Canada as well. Thank you for encouraging our faith in such a 'non-confessional' manner, which can be shared by Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, and atheist. We need extraordinary help for hope these days, because clearly, the majority of humanity isn't doing it.
Thank you for the truth and the gospel.
I was looking up how to pronounce the name Isaiah in Hebrew when I found Isaiah chapter 1, verse 21, in the Jewish Publication Society. "How is the faithful city become a harlot! She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her. But now, murderers."
Once again, Hedges absolutely nails the moment and in the process, breaks me, again.
Thank you for speaking truth to power. I have never understood religion or why anyone wants or needs it to believe and act towards making justice manifest, and in creating a better life for all.
Tom Joad was there:
"I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look—wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build, I'll be there, too."
That was a fabulous piece of writing Chris, it made me cry. There is so much pain and fear in the world at present . It becomes a weight that sometimes needs tears to release the tension I feel . Thank you .
I needed to read this today, through tears. Are you a mind reader? No, you are not, but God is. That phrase "15 years" hit me hard. Until you have experienced expulsion from your group, you can't know the stunning power and truth of that blow. They mean it. From the top of the hierarchy with fingers to the Canadian Government, to management, to the nurses and counsellors running the show. And if you WERE touched by true madness ---you experience group distain. No need for even cool politeness. -But God was watching and pulled me up. He is so great. He covers the whole sky, that's how big He is.
"Niebuhr wrote that nothing but madness will do battle with malignant power and ‘spiritual wickedness in high places'." "This sublime madness...is dangerous, but it is vital. Without it, 'truth is obscured.'" Such powerful quotes!
Niebuhr's "sublime madness." as opposed to Liberalism which in moments of extremity, as we are seeing, "lacks enthusiasm, not to say fanaticism, which is so necessary to move the world out of its beaten tracks." Lacks passion! Lacks that fire coming up from deep in the center of Mother Earth that can flood into our hearts and meet with the sacred spiritual flame streaming down from the Heavens, Father Sky, and once joined, burst through all narrow identities that keep us tethered to any institution. And in our sacred books manifesting itself in the voices of the great Prophets and Mystics, of Jesus' beautiful and eternal Beatitudes. All "heretics" as you say, and most did not have long lives. But instead, they live forever.
Once, long ago, we spent time with Mother Teresa in Calcutta and we asked her how she managed to do her work day after day in the worst of circumstances, tending the dying and feeding the poorest of the poor. She said what she is often quoted as saying, that "whenever I meet someone in need, I see Jesus in his most distressing disguise." But she also added that she had the easier job than those of us trying to help others in the West. The poor she feeds need only a bowl of rice to be satisfied, whereas the poverty of spirit, the loss of love and of God in the West cannot be so easily filled.
I love your giving voice to the truth that you can be "a Jew, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Christian, a Hindu or atheist and carry the cross".... the thirst for Justice and willingness to sacrifice. That there are "ordinary" people of every color standing for truth, love, justice, for love in action; many, perhaps most, unknown. That made me think it may be time we stop taking part in this other related elephant in the room that continually divides us (against ourselves). That is, this terrible branding of "white" vs. every other color - this Divide and Conquer strategy has become an unquestioned, globalized insidious form of racism that perpetuates unbridgeable division and furthers hatred of neighbor and all our brothers and sisters. (and in truth there is no "white" - we're all mixes) It is another deflection. The Dividers are very smart and subtle institutionalized political, economic, Colonial forces of "malignant power" that will use anything to divide the world's "masses." I think I can speak to this especially as a woman -- In the U.S.(and in the "conditions" put on our reproductive aid sent around the world) the Powers that Be are deadly set on dividing every woman of every color from having choice and autonomy over the privacy of her very own body! LGBTQ are of every color. Humanitarian workers, Doctors Without Borders, reporters, environmental and animal rights activists, student activists and on and on are of every color and nationality. For the last decades we have been taught to constantly speak this "politically correct" dualism without thinking twice. But it is a mare's nest, a Gordian Knot, set in place by the Powers that Be, and unless it is untangled and we stop using this divisive language of Power, this false knot will only get tighter, more convoluted and entrenched.
I don't know how we will bring to an end the genocide and relentless terror, starvation and endless grief the people of Gaza are going through, but this Sermon for Gaza, this message ultimately to the Gazans/Palestinians, gives voice to and sends the love, strength, witnessing and solidarity that we and so many others around the world feel as we find ways, however small, to resist with them the radical evil they are enduring. I pray that this message circles the whole world. Thank you so much Chris.
Mr. Hedges knows "what the scapegoat knows":
https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801487804/whistleblowers/#bookTabs=1
A righteous stemwinder.