christ was and IS a radical anti-imperialist anarchist
James 5:1-6
You rich people should cry and weep! Terrible things are going to happen to you. Your treasures have already rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your money has rusted, and the rust will be evidence against you, as it burns your body like fire. Yet you keep on storing up wealth in these last days. You refused to pay the people who worked in your fields, and now their unpaid wages are shouting out against you. The Lord All-Powerful has surely heard the cries of the workers who harvested your crops.
While here on earth, you have thought only of filling your own stomachs and having a good time. But now you are like fat cattle on their way to be butchered. You have condemned and murdered innocent people, who couldn't even fight back.
you might be thinking something like: Christian anarchism...?? isn't anarchism supposed to be all about "no gods, no masters"?
well... "no gods, no masters" is a popular slogan, but has never been a rule. atheism/antitheism is not a prerequisite for being an anarchist, socialist, or leftist in general. for many anarchists, atheism is a liberatory part of their ethos, and that's valid. religious trauma fucks you up and healing from that can take a lifetime.
plenty other anarchists, now and historically, were and are: Jewish, neopagans, witches, Buddhists, pantheists, Unitarian Universalists, Muslims, of indigenous religious practices... you get the idea.
to insist upon atheism/antitheism as an essential criterium for what makes a True Anarchist is exclusionary gatekeeping. it whitewashes and erases what the above religious traditions have brought to the table over the course of centuries. but unfortunately, many (white, gentile) anarchists use their political identity as a justification for unquestioned antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, and sexism.
some images i've made (these are free to use, no credit required):
a small sampling of resources
articles/essays:
- An Introduction to Christian Anarchism by Alexandre Christoyannopoulos
- Why I am a Christian Anarchist by Corey Farr
- Was Jesus an Anarchist? by William Crawley
- Embracing God and Rejecting Masters by Nekeisha Alexis-Baker
- Christian Anarchism Is As Old As Christianity Itself by Reneé Roden
- Does the Bible Teach Anarchism? by Ted Grimsrud
- Anarchism and the Catholic Worker by Jim Consedine
- XI@N†!FⒶ Mini-festo
podcasts:
- Found in Translation
- The Word in Black and Red: a Leftist Bible Study Podcast
- Llama Pack Worship
- The Anarchodox Podcast
- The Magnificast
websites, orgs, & blogs:
full books:
- The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoy
- Christian Anarchism: a Political Commentary on the Gospel by Alexandre Christoyannopoulos
- The Liberation & Inclusion Translation
- Anarchy & Christianity by Jacques Ellul
- The Autobiography of a Catholic Anarchist by Ammon Hennacy
- Loaves and Fishes by Dorothy Day
- That Holy Anarchist by Mark Van Steenwyk
- The Anarchist Dimension of Liberation Theology by Linda H. Damico
not exactly anarchism but very much relevant:
