Christian anarchism
From Infoshop OpenWiki
Christian anarchism is the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable, the authority of God as embodied in the teachings of Jesus. Christian anarchists are pacifists and oppose the use of all physical force, both proactive and reactive. Christian anarchists feel that earthly authority such as government, or indeed the established Church do not and should not have power over them. They believe individuals seeking a path to freedom will only be guided by the grace of God if they display compassion for others and turn the other cheek when confronted by violence.
Many christians arrive at anarchism because they believe being a Christian means being a pacifist and, as they refuse to support governments who constantly threaten or use force against their enemies, this means being an anarchist. Anarchist Biblical literalists also suggest there is complete compatibility between the Bible and anarchism. They claim that one of the reasons Jesus was so unpopular with the Jewish authorities is that he was viewed as a leader of an anarchist rebellion and a threat to the status quo.
Its adherents believe this quest for freedom is justified spiritually and quote the teachings of Jesus, some of which are critical of the existing establishment and Church. A substantial number of Christ's teachings castigate the pharisaic authorities for hypocrisy in pronouncing the Law of God without understanding the message of love that underlies it, as "love is the fulfilling of the law"
Many regard Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You [1] (1894) to be a key text in Christian anarchism. Tolstoy called for a society based on compassion, nonviolent principles and freedom. Leo Tolstoy's work was one of the inspirations behind Mahatma Gandhi's use of nonviolent resistance during India's struggle for independence.
Some Christian anarchists oppose war and other statist aggression through tax resistance, while others submit to taxation. Tolstoy wrote that if the act of resisting taxes requires physical force to withhold what a government tries to take, then it is important to submit to taxation. Ammon Hennacy, who like Tolstoy also believed in nonresistance, managed to resist taxes without using force.
Contents |
[edit] Fall of the Roman Empire
The Bible illustrates that the early Christians, shortly after Jesus' death, were living a simple and anarchist-like way of life, with "no poor" and "total equality". Relevantly, members of the early church were not allowed to take political office until the 3rd or 4th Century. There are anarchic traces in much of the history of Christianity. For example, Edward Gibbon felt that Christianity contributed, perhaps passively, to the fall of the Roman Empire:
- "As the happiness of a future life is the great object of religion, we may hear without surprise or scandal that the introduction... of Christianity, had some influence on the decline and fall of the Roman Empire." [2]
He goes on to suggest that military expansionism gave way to devotion and piety, and religious conflict replaced military conquest.
A Washington State University paper states that the Roman Emperor codified, and accommodated to the radical teachings of Jesus:
- ...the foundational Christian texts are not only anti-Roman ... but consistently dismissive of human, worldly authority. If Christianity were going to work as a religion in a state ruled by a monarch that demanded worship and absolute authority, it would have to be changed. To this end, Constantine convened a group of Christian bishops at Nicaea in 325; there, the basic orthodoxy of Christianity was instantiated in what came to be called the Nicene creed [3], the basic statement of belief for orthodox Christianity. [4]
Christianity was legalised under Emperor Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313 and First Council of Nicaea in 325, bringing an end to Christian persecution. In 392 it became Rome's sole official religion when Emperor Theodosius passed legislation prohibiting all pagan worship in the Empire and declaring Christianity the state religion. Within a century Rome was overrun by the barbarians, and the Empire began its end. Although Christian anarchists also point out that this merger of Church and state marks the beginning of the Constantinian shift, in which Christianity gradually came to be identified with the will of the ruling elite and, in some cases, a religious justification for the exercise of power.
[edit] The Reformation
In the 16th century the Protestant Reformation emerged as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe. The main front of the Reformation was inspired by Martin Luther and can be seen as an anarchist, or at least anti-establishment, movement based on the possibility that the individual was able to have a direct relationship with God. The earlier notion that salvation had to be earned through a range of good works and practices, interpreted and prescribed by the Church, was left behind. Instead, the concept of grace was seen to produce salvation for genuine believers who accept and follow God's revealed word. This simple idea, but apparently controversial interpretation of the scriptures, seriously threatened a millennium of established Church power, wealth and authority. Reformists include the Anabaptists, such as the Amish and Mennonites, who were regarded as heretics by the Roman Catholic Church.
[edit] Other trends towards anarchism
[edit] Anglicanism
In 1533 the Church of England severed ties with the Roman Catholic Church after Henry VIII opposed certain Vatican decisions and directives, including Pope Clement VII's refusal to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and the obligation to pay taxes in the form of Peter's Pence. Anglicanism, independent from Rome, was formed.
[edit] Nonconformism
Over the 17th and 18th centuries several English Dissenters, such as George Fox, John Calvin and John Bunyan, criticised the Church of England and split away from Anglicanism. Nonconformist organisations include the Religious Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers.
[edit] Restorationism
Restorationism saw itself as a rediscovery of the original form of Christianity. In the 19th century two Latter Day Saint sects with Restorationist and Anabaptist affinities grew up, the Community of Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, both of which attempted to live by what is known as the Law of Consecration and Stewardship and United Order of Enoch. Communitarian in nature and sharing some aspects of anarchism, the Law of Consecration was administered both on a local and church wide basis.
Then in the early 20th century the Community of Christ, under the leadership of Frederick Madison Smith, grandson of Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr., laid the basis for research and development efforts toward gathering members of the Community of Christ to the Kansas City Missouri region (the Centerplace) to build a cooperative commonwealth (Zion) networking the cooperative economies of its federated local jurisdictions organised as stakes. Raymond Zinser and Wilford Winholtz are notable Latter Day Saint advocates of the Cause of Zion.
Alexander Campbell and David Lipscomb, two important early figures in the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, today's Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), were pacifists who rejected the violence of the state. Lipscomb urged followers to resist quartering and supporting troops from either army.
[edit] The Doukhobors
The origin of the Doukhobors dates back to 16th and 17th century Russia. The Doukhobors ("Spirit Wrestlers") are a radical Christian sect that maintains a belief in pacifism and a communal lifestyle, while rejecting secular government. In 1899, the Doukhobors fled repression in Tsarist Russia and migrated to Canada, mostly in the provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia. The funds for the trip were paid for by the Quakers and Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. Canada was suggested to Leo Tolstoy as a safe-haven for the Doukhobors by anarchist Peter Kropotkin who, while on a speaking tour across the country, observed the religious tolerance experienced by the Mennonites.
[edit] Catholic Worker Movement
The Catholic Worker Movement, founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin on May 1, 1933, is a Christian movement dedicated to nonviolence and simple living. Over 130 Catholic Worker communities exist in the United States where "houses of hospitality" care for the homeless. The Joe Hill House of hospitality (which closed in 1968) in Salt Lake City, Utah featured an enormous twelve feet by fifteen foot mural of Jesus Christ and Joe Hill.
The Catholic Worker Movement has consistently protested against war and violence for over seven decades. Many of the leading figures in the movement have been both anarchists and pacifists. Catholic Worker Ammon Hennacy defined Christian anarchism as:
- "...being based upon the answer of Jesus to the Pharisees when Jesus said that he without sin should be the first to cast the stone, and upon the Sermon on the Mount which advises the return of good for evil and the turning of the other cheek. Therefore, when we take any part in government by voting for legislative, judicial, and executive officials, we make these men our arm by which we cast a stone and deny the Sermon on the Mount.
- The dictionary definition of a Christian is one who follows Christ; kind, kindly, Christ-like. Anarchism is voluntary cooperation for good, with the right of secession. A Christian anarchist is therefore one who turns the other cheek, overturns the tables of the moneychangers, and does not need a cop to tell him how to behave. A Christian anarchist does not depend upon bullets or ballots to achieve his ideal; he achieves that ideal daily by the One-Man Revolution with which he faces a decadent, confused, and dying world".
It is important to note that Maurin and Day were both involved in the Catholic Church and believed in the institution, thus showing it is possible to be a Christian anarchist and still choose to remain within the Church.
[edit] Spirituality
New Age describes a broad movement of the late 20th century and contemporary Western culture. It is characterised by an eclectic and individual approach to spiritual exploration, such as mixing Christian principles with meditation and yoga practices from the East. One could describe Spirituality as anarchic, as it's based on individual freedom and choice rather than keeping within rigid boundaries. The emphasis in Spirituality is on listening to within and personally connecting with the Divine, rather than following any set traditions, rituals or doctrines.
[edit] Anarchist Biblical views and principles
Many Christian anarchists hold a higher critical view of the Bible and therefore do not feel obliged to follow the complete text as law. They base their beliefs on what they think are the simple principles and historic messages of Jesus, rather than obediently following every passage in the Christian Bible. Leo Tolstoy and Ammon Hennacy subscribed to this philosophy.
One of the key historic messages Christian anarchists practice is the principle of nonviolence, nonresistance and turning the other cheek, which is illustrated in many passages of the New Testament but perhaps most clearly described in the sixth commandment, 20:13. Also, the apostle Paul essentially promoted a form of civil disobedience in 1 Corinthians 7 in counseling against marriage, directly contradicting compulsory marriage laws that existed in the Roman empire.
