When Knowledge is Treason
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me.” — Hosea 4:6a (NRSV)
There is a kind of destruction that happens slowly, not with fire and flood, but with silence. With erasure. With the quiet dismantling of knowledge.
The U.S. Administration’s latest threat to Harvard—yet another attempt to intimidate one of the nation’s oldest and most influential centers of research—is not an isolated event.1 It is part of a much larger campaign. Federal funding for research is being slashed. Public databases are disappearing. Libraries are losing support. Scientists are being dismissed. Educators are being warned. Artists are being silenced. Institutions like the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center are being reshaped to serve ideology rather than historical truth.
This is not simply poor governance. It is a deliberate assault on our collective capacity to think, remember, imagine, and resist.
The prophet Hosea warned: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” This wasn’t just about education. It was about wisdom, about moral clarity, about refusing to forget who we are and what we’re called to become. When a society begins to reject its truth-tellers, to exile its thinkers, and to punish its memory-keepers, destruction doesn’t just loom. It begins.
Throughout history, authoritarian regimes have feared scholars and artists, librarians and scientists, because they carry the power to illuminate. They record what Empire tries to erase. They tell inconvenient truths. And they remind us that facts still matter - that history is not whatever the loudest voices say it is. Beauty and truth, when nourished, can build a different world.
We may be living at the edge of a new Dark Age. But even now, there are those lighting lamps.
You might be one of them.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Where do you see knowledge under attack in your community or field of work?
What role can you play in preserving or sharing knowledge that matters?
How do you stay rooted in integrity and courage when the cost of truth feels high?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer for the Keepers of the Flame
Holy Wisdom,
You who whispered galaxies into being,
who etched intelligence into every leaf and star—
do not let us grow silent now.
Strengthen the scientists, the teachers, the poets,
the archivists, the students, the librarians,
the ones who still dare to name what is real.
When the lie is easier,
give us courage to speak the truth.
When history is rewritten,
help us remember.
When knowledge is treated like treason,
let us be faithful traitors to the Empire of ignorance.
And may our words, our witness, our work
become light in this deepening dark.
Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Protect What Remembers
This week, take one action to protect or elevate knowledge that is under threat.
Donate a banned book to a local library or Little Free Library.
Read or share the work of a scholar whose voice is being silenced.
Support a journalist.
Visit a museum.
Save a public health report.
Teach a child something true.
And as you do, whisper this prayer:
May this truth not be lost.
May it live in us.
May it light the way forward.
Sometimes, resistance looks like holding onto a story. Sometimes, it looks like telling the truth—even when you’re not sure who is listening.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
NEW!!! On June 4, 2025, from 7-8pm ET, join Brian McLaren, Matthew Fox, and me for an exploration of “In the Midst of Doom: Facing Our Moment and Finding Our Way” inspired by Brian’s latest book. In an age of climate crisis, political unraveling, and societal collapse, many are asking: What now? What’s worth doing when the systems around us are failing? How do we find meaning beyond hope as we’ve known it? Join us and we will explore together. Register here.
June 4, 2025, 12pm ET - Jeff Chu has written a new book on a topic close to my heart: Soil! The title is “Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand.” I am so pleased to be interviewing him. Together, we’ll explore what it means to cultivate “good soil” in our lives, our communities, and our spiritual practices. I hope you will register. Your registration includes a copy of his new book.
July 20-25, 2025 - The Art of Wilding: A 5-Day Expedition in Wyoming for Women Leaders. Click here to learn more.
August 11, 2025, 2pm ET - Dr. Andrew Root and I will be hosting a 6 part series on Spirituality in the Secular Age based on his research. The dates are August 11, 18, September 8, 15, and October 6, 13. Mark your calendars! More on this soon.
September 4, 4:30pm ET - I will be collaborating with the Anderson Forum for Progressive Theology to host a conversation with Thomas Jay Oord on Open and Relational theology. It’s a FREE event. Register here.
October 15-18, 2025 - Converging 2025: Sing Truth Conference (all musicians invited!) at Northwest Christian Church in Columbus, OH. Register here!
I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.
I love your commentaries. Please put in your upcoming events No Kings Day demonstrations happening on June 14. It is crucial that we are out in the streets in huge numbers that day.
You are such an encouragement to me with your reflections, excellent writing and bringing Scripture to bear on our currently unsettling events. Thank you