Three judges who objected to the Dobbs decision called it embarrassing.  And it is.  And will be for all time.  An insult to the Supreme Court itself, to jurisprudence, to all the decent judges who created Row vs Wade 49 years ago, and Casey as well.

Let us examine the sins of the Dobbs decision using my method for examining and transforming evil, a method that blends Eastern and Western wisdom, honoring the 7 chakras named in the East and the 7 capital sins named in the West.  I employ this method in my book on Evil, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society.

We have already made note of the seventh chakra which is about building community through sharing and building up of light.  The very tone of Alito’s document, as one historian has pointed out, is ugly to the core.  There is no attempt to reach out to others or make common ground or even to put out feelings that are positive.  Instead, the authors declare all past judges “egregiously” wrong—which is another way of saying only Alito is right.

“Arrogance/The Rising Tide” Statue by Jason deCaires Taylor on corporate denial of climate crisis. Photo by Maureen Barlin on Flickr.

This takes us to chakra # 1 which is about Arrogance.  Arrogance oozes out from this document in its tone as well as its ridiculous arguments—that the word “abortion” is not in the constitution.  

Neither is the word “assault weapons” or “AR-15”—but the same court has no problem putting such weapons in the hands of 18 year olds.  And in addition this week, nullifying a New York law of 111 years that forbids hidden weapons on the streets of New York and elsewhere.

Arrogance is what drives a once supreme court to dismiss the concern of 72% of American citizens (including 43% of Republicans) who do not want Roe overturned. 

Arrogance is what drives a supreme court to refuse to cite women or listen to their stories of suffering when rape happens, incest happens, or miscarriages happen or circumstances are such that they cannot afford to bring another child into the world.

Arrogance is men telling women or the government telling women what they can and cannot do with their bodies.

Arrogance is born of what Hildegard calls “drying up” and “carelessness”—not caring and ignoring the cries of others.  Ignorance born of lack of curiosity is a deadly sin of omission associated with arrogance.

To view today’s video, please click the image. You will be taken to today’s post on the Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox website, where you can see the meditation in a larger version and also view and post your  Comments. In the sharing that follows, a kind of community is developing around the DM. (Image: The empty chambers of the “un-Supreme Court”. Photo by Jackie Hope on Unsplash.)

Do you see arrogance at play in Alito’s and other Supreme Court judges’ Dobbs decision?  How so?
See Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society, pp. 199-236.

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

Visit Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox here.