HIGH ALERT, HIGHER CALLING: IF THEY SEND TROOPS TO OUR STREETS, THEN CONGRESS SHOULD COME TOO

When a Zen priest and a battle-hardened general issue the same warning, we ought to listen.

Jun 10, 2025

What do a Zen Buddhist priest and a four-star Marine general have in common?

More than you’d think.

Peter Coyote (left), a spiritual teacher and master of narrative truth, and James Mattis (right), a former U.S. Secretary of Defense and lifelong warrior, have sounded the same alarm: Donald Trump is not defending America—he is defiling it.

They come from different disciplines, different generations, and different worldviews—but they share one moral compass. And that compass is pointed directly at the crisis now unfolding in Los Angeles.

What Coyote sees through the lens of protest theater, Mattis confirms through the chain of command. Both men understand the stakes—and both speak with a rare kind of clarity in a time littered with cowardice and noise.

Zen Priest Peter Coyote on Protest and Discipline:

“I’m watching the Los Angeles reaction to ICE raids with trepidation and regret.
Three years ago I taught a class at Harvard on the ‘theater of protest’—designed to help people understand why so many protests turn out to be Republican campaign videos working directly against the interests of the original protest.
A protest is an invitation to a better world.
It’s a ceremony.
No one accepts a ceremonial invitation when they’re being screamed at.
More important, you have to know who the real audience of the protest is.
The audience is NEVER the police, the politicians, or the Board of Supervisors.
The audience is the American people—trying to decide who they can trust.
If you win them, you win power. Everything else is a waste.”
[Coyote then outlines five principles for effective protest: let women organize, appoint peace monitors, dress with respect, demonstrate silently, and return home before nightfall.]
“I fear Trump is staging the National Guard—and maybe Marines—to bait anarchists and declare insurrection.
That’s the playbook. Don’t fall for it.
The American people are watching. Once again, if we behave in ways that can be misinterpreted, the Republican Party will turn it into campaign videos benefiting the very people who started this.
Wake up. Vent at home. In public—practice discipline and self-control.
It takes much more courage.”
— Peter Coyote, Zen teacher, author, and longtime protest scholar

General James Mattis on Constitutional Betrayal:

“I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled.
The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is what the protestors are rightly demanding.
We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers.
Never did I dream that troops would be ordered to violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less for a bizarre photo op.
We must reject any thinking of our cities as a ‘battlespace’ that the military is called upon to dominate.
Militarizing our response erodes the moral ground and sets up a false conflict between civilian society and our troops.
Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not even pretend to try to unite us.
We can unite without him, drawing on the strength of civil society.
But we must hold accountable those in office who make a mockery of our Constitution.”
— General James Mattis, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)

And so, with that moral clarity, we return to the streets of Los Angeles, where 700 Marines and 2,000 federally activated Guard troops are being deployed—not to fight crime, but to test the limits of obedience, suppression, and political theater.

This isn’t law enforcement. It’s a dress rehearsal for martial law.

And now it’s time for the rest of us to show up—or be counted among the cowards.

TO THE SOLDIER STANDING BEFORE US

To the demonstrator with the bullhorn—this is what you say:

“We do not see you as our enemy. We see you as our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors.
You took an oath—to the Constitution, not to a man.
If these orders violate that oath, say so. Lay down your arms. Join us. Or simply refuse to act.
We are not your adversaries. We are the people you swore to protect.”

Let that truth thunder louder than any flashbang.

TO THE CROWD IN THE STREET

And to those leading our communities through the protests:

“Trump is baiting us. He wants chaos. He wants violence. Because he wants the excuse.
So don’t give it to him.
Give him peace. Give him clarity. Give him the discipline he never had.
March with dignity. Stay calm. Stay principled.
Let America see the contrast between tyranny in uniform and citizens marching for the soul of the country.”

TO OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES: GET OFF YOUR DAMN HANDS

We don’t need your statements.

We need your presence.

If you believe in the rule of law—fly to Los Angeles.

If you believe in civil rights—stand beside the people.

If you took that oath—bring your bullhorn, your courage, and your colleagues, and march at the front.

We want to see Republicans who wore the uniform.

We want to see Democrats who marched for justice.

We want to see every single member of Congress who still has a spine lead—not lurk.

IF YOU CAN’T MARCH, PICK UP THE HAMMER

Some can’t march. But everyone can act.

If you’ve got a porch, a phone, or a voice—go door to door with truth.

“Have you seen what’s happening in LA?”
“Do you know what Trump is doing with the military?”
“Do you know what peaceful Americans are facing for speaking up?”

Knock. Call. Share. Hammer every lie they’ve swallowed with a 1,000-pound truth hammer.

Call it what it is: