This is a talk I gave on April 6 at a protest at Princeton Theological Seminary demanding the removal of hedge fund billionaire Michael Fisch as chair of the seminary's trustee board.
If everyone just spent one day in jail to learn how cruel that system is, minds would bend. I’ve been there, and I saw everything you describe. A fourteen year old boy who missed Thanksgiving with his Grandmother because he didn’t have subway fare and jumped a turnstile. The callous and selfish people say: don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. I tell them “They said that to another man as they nailed him to a cross.”
I treasure this article. I know how close you are to so many incarcerated, and I’ll share it when I can.
Sorry, no, it was just some poor kid who I spent the weekend with in the Tombs. I was there after a civil protest. It was a long time ago during the Giuliani years. Maybe Chris Hedges is helping him graduate college now. He was a bright kid, but once you’re in the system it’s like trying to climb out of a washing machine on spin cycle.
I like your description of the difficulty that many have moving up the social ladder where one can lead a decent life. I really don't understand people that think the more they have the better they are. A teacher a number of years ago knew we got a house and he said, I bet mine is much bigger then yours, like who cares. Well, I told him my husband was just more considerate then you, and gave me less housework. I meant it.
This is the most magnificent piece of writing I have read so far this year. Thank you Chris Hedges for making me believe in the possibilities of human kindness again.
Well, that's the last time you will be invited to speak at Princeton Seminary. Well said, and courageous. Donors like Fisch use board positions for reputation laundering and to add gloss to their resumés. But lets face it, its not just the seminary. The big universities are awash with dirty money from donors but also from corporations and foundations that fund their research. For example, at Cornell the Gates Foundation as well as Monsanto are massive funders of research on GMO crops and also on "science education."
I was stopped behind a Cadillac SUV/Crossover at a traffic signal the other day with a personalized plate with WWJWMTD. After thinking for a moment what that meant I finally realized it was the first letter of "What Would Jesus Want Me To Do". I thought to myself if the owner asked him the question and received an answer he would tell you to sell the Cadillac and give the money to help some of those Chris mentions. Obviously they weren't listening.
If I'm understanding you, people can't own Cadillacs? Not that I do, nor am I interested in having one, but some people can afford it. If I am understanding you, lets not take the above message too far.
Our host Chris can correct me if I'm misquoting him but he has said that he's against placing the Ten Commandments in or on public buildings but he would support public displays of the Beatitudes. In response to your comment are Luke 6:20 "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" and Luke 6:24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort."
Well, I was raised a Christian, but I don't take things that literally. I don't think anyone who is poor is blessed, and I don't think God believes that either. Some people I suspect who are rich are very nice, although I don't know any rich people personally. I do think I decided on a life that is in service to others, but I'm not going to condemn someone who took another path.
Out of curiosity, Fran, do you believe that Jesus was God and the gospels mean nothing? I'm agnostic and so I'm intrigued when somebody "thinks" to understand the beliefs of God.
There are 14,000 people in the Los Angeles County jails, where toilets don’t work and the food is inedible. LAist noted that 2021 marked the highest annual number of suicides in L.A. county jails ever. Yet comments on social media in wealthy white areas repeatedly complain that enough poor (nonwhite) people are not being incarcerated for property crimes. “You get what you vote for”, they say, blaming democrats for what they view as lax law enforcement. The westsiders are fine, so what’s everyone else’s problem? Lock ‘em up! Don’t use tax dollars for social programs, but jails the size of Versailles and an army to keep them orderly would be fine.
Ya.............and then have the temerity to criticize human rights crimes in other jurisdictions....America has shown the way for every right wing dictator who wants to keep his hold on power...........and create profitable corporations for his right hand corporate sponsors. More people incarcerated per capita than any other place on earth, I do believe.
How much you wanna bet that a significant proportion of property crimes are related to drug dependency? Fix the problem with humans being so desperate to get out of their heads that they become drug addicts and watch concomitant property crimes decrease.
The whole point of being a pirate is to steal enough so you don't have to steal any more.
It cost more money to be immoral than it does to be moral. Employment for everyone would be cheaper than prisons for everyone. Obviously there would need to be government manufacturing plants, because the private sector will not hire criminals.
Whatever BLM began as or was intended as, it's a brand now, and a Team D veal pen.
One could have said something similar about the Tea Party. For if the Establishment is good at nothing else, it is very good at determining whom to co-opt, whom to buy off, whom to neutralize, whom to ignore.
Can we reproduce this piece in the New Observations issue on political prisoners? You may have seen our issue on Wounded Knee linked to a front page story in The New York Times on the return of the artifacts stolen from the site of the massacre. I negotiated their return to the Lakota people back in November. Your powerful piece fits in perfectly with our next issue. Please let me know. Thank you! Mia
I left the church many years ago......finding it irrelevant....and the sermons boring.
Chris' description of the radical church reminds me of the work of Canada's Tommy Douglas....one of the founders of the CCF............the social gospel is what in fact I have lived for.......
But in a Petro State like Alberta.........most of us have no congregation. Church is a social club for the most part...........where perhaps some charity is performed, but precious little social justice. Most Christians don't even know enough of the Bible to be qualified to critique those parts that are sexist or racist.................let along to wonder, what scribe penned those nasty parts.
And as the Christian right rises all around us, we'll act surprised when we can no longer ignore the phenomena.....but in fact, intolerance of 'the others' has been baked into that spiritual arm of imperialism forever.
Supremacy is a taught experience. Men, very early are taught in patriarchal culture, that they are superior to women; hierarchy and misogyny are maintained and taught by religious fundamentalists. We are living in times where religious fundamentalists have exerted political, economic and judicial power.
ANd the good news is that perhaps now.............we see them clearly, for what they are.
There are alternatives to their narrow vision of the kingdom.....and we could start by building affordable net 0 housing for all the people who are homeless right now.........surely an empire like the U.S. of A..............that can export war all over the globe..........could afford to make some work projects like that for its own people.
We haven't been asking for enough...........or witnessing for the real rebel.........Jesus.
We could start doing that.......shame those right wing faux Christians.....and their mean shrivelled excuse for a spirit.
Wow Chris you keep on outdoing yourself. Kudos! Although Secular myself, I have always used Biblical teachings and live by "do unto others as you would have others do unto you". Years ago when the Commie scare was everywhere along with the collapse of Soviet Russia and Reagan's voodoo economics and trickle down theory capitalism took hold with the "Moral Majority". I always wondered how did Jesus become a Neo Con? From his description he would have been a socialist and quite possibly a communist. That being said I just read the book "The Rise of the Power Worshippers" by Katherine Stewart. I would highly recommend it and along with having her on your show. A sample rom the introduction "It is a political movement, and its ultimate goal is power". They want to "replace our foundational democratic principles and institutions with a state grounded on a particular version of Christianity, that adherents call a "Biblical Worldview" that also happens to serve the interests of its plutocratic funders and allied political leaders." The list of Christian Libertarian Oligarchs and cohort's is to long to list but it includes Koch, DeVos, Leonard Leo, The Federalist Society, MAGA, The Tea Party, Franklin Graham and every Mega Church in the USA. They promote Trump at Church services and call their vote "Gods Vote". Scary stuff but better armed with the facts and aware of the consequences of these Christian Fascists!
Thanks Jim. I will get it. Have you read my book American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America? It sounds as if Stewart's book has a similar viewpoint.
That's great Chris. Yes I read American Fascists back in 2007. I think I will dust it off and reread my underlined words of your critical thinking. Your writing along with Chomsky's helped me peel the onion after 911. Thanks again for reaching out. Stewarts book is right up to date and even touches on the Churches going after Latino voters using abortion politics to get it. And words of wisdom like "a vote for Trump is fulfilling Gods vote".
Max Blumenthal's book " Republican Gomorrah" describes in detail the leaders and their tactics and trickery that the Christian Right used to hijack the GOP and changed it from a normal political party into a dangerous cult.
So well said! The Christian right ignores the teachings of Jesus and invents self-serving fiction like the "Prosperity Gospel" to rationalize their greed and moral failures.
If everyone just spent one day in jail to learn how cruel that system is, minds would bend. I’ve been there, and I saw everything you describe. A fourteen year old boy who missed Thanksgiving with his Grandmother because he didn’t have subway fare and jumped a turnstile. The callous and selfish people say: don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. I tell them “They said that to another man as they nailed him to a cross.”
I treasure this article. I know how close you are to so many incarcerated, and I’ll share it when I can.
You were in jail because you jumped a turnstile at 14?
Sorry, no, it was just some poor kid who I spent the weekend with in the Tombs. I was there after a civil protest. It was a long time ago during the Giuliani years. Maybe Chris Hedges is helping him graduate college now. He was a bright kid, but once you’re in the system it’s like trying to climb out of a washing machine on spin cycle.
I like your description of the difficulty that many have moving up the social ladder where one can lead a decent life. I really don't understand people that think the more they have the better they are. A teacher a number of years ago knew we got a house and he said, I bet mine is much bigger then yours, like who cares. Well, I told him my husband was just more considerate then you, and gave me less housework. I meant it.
This is the most magnificent piece of writing I have read so far this year. Thank you Chris Hedges for making me believe in the possibilities of human kindness again.
Thanks Sherry.
Well, that's the last time you will be invited to speak at Princeton Seminary. Well said, and courageous. Donors like Fisch use board positions for reputation laundering and to add gloss to their resumés. But lets face it, its not just the seminary. The big universities are awash with dirty money from donors but also from corporations and foundations that fund their research. For example, at Cornell the Gates Foundation as well as Monsanto are massive funders of research on GMO crops and also on "science education."
Yes. You are very right Katerina.
I was stopped behind a Cadillac SUV/Crossover at a traffic signal the other day with a personalized plate with WWJWMTD. After thinking for a moment what that meant I finally realized it was the first letter of "What Would Jesus Want Me To Do". I thought to myself if the owner asked him the question and received an answer he would tell you to sell the Cadillac and give the money to help some of those Chris mentions. Obviously they weren't listening.
If I'm understanding you, people can't own Cadillacs? Not that I do, nor am I interested in having one, but some people can afford it. If I am understanding you, lets not take the above message too far.
Our host Chris can correct me if I'm misquoting him but he has said that he's against placing the Ten Commandments in or on public buildings but he would support public displays of the Beatitudes. In response to your comment are Luke 6:20 "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" and Luke 6:24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort."
Yes, I did say this. You are correct Nels.
Well, I was raised a Christian, but I don't take things that literally. I don't think anyone who is poor is blessed, and I don't think God believes that either. Some people I suspect who are rich are very nice, although I don't know any rich people personally. I do think I decided on a life that is in service to others, but I'm not going to condemn someone who took another path.
Out of curiosity, Fran, do you believe that Jesus was God and the gospels mean nothing? I'm agnostic and so I'm intrigued when somebody "thinks" to understand the beliefs of God.
There are 14,000 people in the Los Angeles County jails, where toilets don’t work and the food is inedible. LAist noted that 2021 marked the highest annual number of suicides in L.A. county jails ever. Yet comments on social media in wealthy white areas repeatedly complain that enough poor (nonwhite) people are not being incarcerated for property crimes. “You get what you vote for”, they say, blaming democrats for what they view as lax law enforcement. The westsiders are fine, so what’s everyone else’s problem? Lock ‘em up! Don’t use tax dollars for social programs, but jails the size of Versailles and an army to keep them orderly would be fine.
Ya.............and then have the temerity to criticize human rights crimes in other jurisdictions....America has shown the way for every right wing dictator who wants to keep his hold on power...........and create profitable corporations for his right hand corporate sponsors. More people incarcerated per capita than any other place on earth, I do believe.
How much you wanna bet that a significant proportion of property crimes are related to drug dependency? Fix the problem with humans being so desperate to get out of their heads that they become drug addicts and watch concomitant property crimes decrease.
The whole point of being a pirate is to steal enough so you don't have to steal any more.
That’s a whole other topic. I suspect laundered drug money accounts for half the ownership of the S&P 500.
It cost more money to be immoral than it does to be moral. Employment for everyone would be cheaper than prisons for everyone. Obviously there would need to be government manufacturing plants, because the private sector will not hire criminals.
Whatever BLM began as or was intended as, it's a brand now, and a Team D veal pen.
One could have said something similar about the Tea Party. For if the Establishment is good at nothing else, it is very good at determining whom to co-opt, whom to buy off, whom to neutralize, whom to ignore.
Thanks, Chris. Your writing reflects real Christianity.
Thanks Linda.
Hello Chris,
Can we reproduce this piece in the New Observations issue on political prisoners? You may have seen our issue on Wounded Knee linked to a front page story in The New York Times on the return of the artifacts stolen from the site of the massacre. I negotiated their return to the Lakota people back in November. Your powerful piece fits in perfectly with our next issue. Please let me know. Thank you! Mia
Yes, of course.
I left the church many years ago......finding it irrelevant....and the sermons boring.
Chris' description of the radical church reminds me of the work of Canada's Tommy Douglas....one of the founders of the CCF............the social gospel is what in fact I have lived for.......
But in a Petro State like Alberta.........most of us have no congregation. Church is a social club for the most part...........where perhaps some charity is performed, but precious little social justice. Most Christians don't even know enough of the Bible to be qualified to critique those parts that are sexist or racist.................let along to wonder, what scribe penned those nasty parts.
And as the Christian right rises all around us, we'll act surprised when we can no longer ignore the phenomena.....but in fact, intolerance of 'the others' has been baked into that spiritual arm of imperialism forever.
Supremacy is a taught experience. Men, very early are taught in patriarchal culture, that they are superior to women; hierarchy and misogyny are maintained and taught by religious fundamentalists. We are living in times where religious fundamentalists have exerted political, economic and judicial power.
ANd the good news is that perhaps now.............we see them clearly, for what they are.
There are alternatives to their narrow vision of the kingdom.....and we could start by building affordable net 0 housing for all the people who are homeless right now.........surely an empire like the U.S. of A..............that can export war all over the globe..........could afford to make some work projects like that for its own people.
We haven't been asking for enough...........or witnessing for the real rebel.........Jesus.
We could start doing that.......shame those right wing faux Christians.....and their mean shrivelled excuse for a spirit.
A well-written, moving article.
Thanks for giving this talk and posting this
Wow Chris you keep on outdoing yourself. Kudos! Although Secular myself, I have always used Biblical teachings and live by "do unto others as you would have others do unto you". Years ago when the Commie scare was everywhere along with the collapse of Soviet Russia and Reagan's voodoo economics and trickle down theory capitalism took hold with the "Moral Majority". I always wondered how did Jesus become a Neo Con? From his description he would have been a socialist and quite possibly a communist. That being said I just read the book "The Rise of the Power Worshippers" by Katherine Stewart. I would highly recommend it and along with having her on your show. A sample rom the introduction "It is a political movement, and its ultimate goal is power". They want to "replace our foundational democratic principles and institutions with a state grounded on a particular version of Christianity, that adherents call a "Biblical Worldview" that also happens to serve the interests of its plutocratic funders and allied political leaders." The list of Christian Libertarian Oligarchs and cohort's is to long to list but it includes Koch, DeVos, Leonard Leo, The Federalist Society, MAGA, The Tea Party, Franklin Graham and every Mega Church in the USA. They promote Trump at Church services and call their vote "Gods Vote". Scary stuff but better armed with the facts and aware of the consequences of these Christian Fascists!
Thanks Jim. I will get it. Have you read my book American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America? It sounds as if Stewart's book has a similar viewpoint.
That's great Chris. Yes I read American Fascists back in 2007. I think I will dust it off and reread my underlined words of your critical thinking. Your writing along with Chomsky's helped me peel the onion after 911. Thanks again for reaching out. Stewarts book is right up to date and even touches on the Churches going after Latino voters using abortion politics to get it. And words of wisdom like "a vote for Trump is fulfilling Gods vote".
Max Blumenthal's book " Republican Gomorrah" describes in detail the leaders and their tactics and trickery that the Christian Right used to hijack the GOP and changed it from a normal political party into a dangerous cult.
Damn. Hedges literally never misses.
So well said! The Christian right ignores the teachings of Jesus and invents self-serving fiction like the "Prosperity Gospel" to rationalize their greed and moral failures.
Yes, but it is not only the Christian right. The left also forgot the good gospels.
Chris Hedges can be my rabbi!
You have a remarkable way with words. Chris.
Thanks Jeffrey.