christian anarchism pamphlet

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He has brought down ruJ.erg fron thelr throneE and.has exaLted those who were hun- ble, he has fl]"Ied the hun- gry with good thingc, trut the rich he has sent enpty away Luke 1r5? se3.Ling did bring- in-dis- contdnts and wars, which trave plagued mankinde, And the natione of the world will" nexrer learn to beat swords into plowshares and l"eave off waming until this cheating_ Seyi"ce cf buying and selilng be cast oirt among the rubbieh of Kingly power. Gerrard-Winstanley

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Page 1: Christian Anarchism Pamphlet

He has brought down ruJ.ergfron thelr throneE and.hasexaLted those who were hun-ble, he has fl]"Ied the hun-gry with good thingc, trutthe rich he has sent enptyaway

Luke 1r5?

se3.Ling did bring- in-dis-contdnts and wars, whichtrave plagued mankinde, Andthe natione of the worldwill" nexrer learn to beatswords into plowshares andl"eave off waming until thischeating_ Seyi"ce cf buyingand selilng be cast oirt amongthe rubbieh of Kingly power.

Gerrard-Winstanley

Page 2: Christian Anarchism Pamphlet

Fron Qerrard t{lnstanleyr* Leo ToLgtoy, ,fro.m Adi.n-:eiiou to Ammon Hennacy,.}rr'lstlanlty and anarchismia./e merged and continued,ij the preeent to attack the. ils of society and to pr*-,'+nt alternatlves " From-:'3-.op farms to rnutual credit'rom slavery to wage oppre-*ion ChrlstS.an anarchism'.ss always been there fight*..ng for the poor and the,:toFrsssed. Fightlng for the;n,:erdog ie what Jesus was:..boute "The spirit of the,-,*rd, is upon ne, becrtuse hel,:rincrinted me to preach the:+spel to the poor. He hasjent ne to proclain releases captives, and recovervf sight to the blind, t;"et the downtrodden free, to,rselainn the favorable year-'f the Lord.',

HFry people not just an-,rehists are put off by the::r.irCh in partlcular anC by,re splritual in general,i-r wonderr oost of it is

.;'ap devlsed to exploit the.,iei{ and vuLnerable. But,:e church ls not the true':'*rch of Jesus. And most:-:3pJ"e who telL you aboutirituality have Iittle of,,r. If the church as youi'"'e known lt is a danger- ,

jrE con g€une, why blane Jesus:r lt? [ha!'s not hls fault,;etrs not what he taught.

Page 3: Christian Anarchism Pamphlet

Chriet*.an arlarchiem is based:upoatffi,fi,rl$wer of Jeeus to.the pharieees when He "*id;to east the first stone, and,up?n the serrlnon on tfee moun[which ad,vises the return oi'-good for evll and the turn-ang of the other cheek.rTherefore when we tak* anypart -in goverrrment by vo{ling for legfisiative,- .iudic-ia1 and exeeutive oi'ficiatswe make these peop)"e our.arm!g whieh we cast L etone anddeny the sermon on the mount.

i ft has been sald thati.,Shristl"anl.ty promised tslnake. peop.le free, i.t .neveripromised to make them in*i:dependent. frue freedomiis found where you flndi coni-+xnity, and bomnnuni,tyEe*.ns dependenee on oth-

Ammon Hennacy

ers, dependence in andon the collective. WithChrj.stianity that coLle-ctive is the church. fhatis what a church ia. youmay be free and independ-entr you may live in acave, but will you be liv-ing up to your poGential?WilL you make the worlda.better place?

Page 4: Christian Anarchism Pamphlet

From the Christl-an an-arehist perspeetive .

mostof these statemente areaeceptabler The Christiananarchist acceptg no mas-ter under God. -'- Sl.n isjust 6110r, the Klngdonof God me&ns the admln-istration of th!.nge rnotthe goYernment of people.Sod's law (natural law)takes precedenca overman's law. fhe Xi"ngdomof Oad is withln you {i"t'sa state af mlnd). Jesusmeant lt when he eal"d. youshould cal} no uan master.

W.S:r*v

You have not paid any wageeto thcse who work in your fie-lds. Listen to their compla-ints I She cries of those- wlrogather in your crops havereached the ears of Ood. yourlife here on earth has beenfull of J-uxury and. pleasure,You have made yourselves fatfor the day of slaughter. youhave condemned and murderedinnoeent people, and they gonot resist you

James 5r4-5

Page 5: Christian Anarchism Pamphlet

We believe that Anarchismcan offer Christianity a morelive1y awarness than Lt pres-ent existe in most sectlonsof'the church-of whnt iheKingdom of Sod should be. Itadvocates revo1il[i6fr-and cha*llenges apathetie, corrupt orfllerely theoreticaL Chr:ietian-ity. It asks for practiealchanges, and it provides ameans of testing tradLtlonal

. interpretations and" applLea-tions of Christian Coiirine.

We.believe that Christlan-'ity ean offer Anarchie$ abetter reason than exietselsewhere in the Anarchlstmovement for believing thatsociety cgl+Id be l"ike*this.Anarehism is always chaLlen-ged on the grounde that hu-man nature is so com4rt thatcoerci"on and reglnentatlonare abEolutely necessar;f.Christlanltyr properly i.nter-preted proc).aims tha* humannature, given freedom andopening itseLf to the aetlv-ity of graee, can and shoUldcontinuously strive towardperfectlon. It is at once

Government is. violence 3

:Hl**?Iily is rneekn*,ls,non-reeieta;1ee, i;;;" ;;;'JiiS:ilf;;,*m*t-";it;_:.on. uho wishes to beChristian must r,ot-""ir*go.tr€rruaent.

Leo

Page 6: Christian Anarchism Pamphlet

-d\ .;^

::.' +i

.,: . ij*r: "ii!'i.i: -, ;"'": , ,o i.,;.,it ",, J ,[ ;

realistic and idealistlcr itapp+als to the weak and fal-libie, it alLews for const-ant falle and recoverles, itFx"oclairns that alone we cana*hieve nathlng and deservenothir:g - but i.t uncomllrom-isingly rieclaree that itsuliimate and e,nly goal lsp+ri'ection

fronr an ol-d ChristlanAnarchlst nnanuscript

Flis parnpFrlet published byiligfl*r' and Shrietian Anar-chist r 614,?, George st. sl.,Pete'rborough, Ontario .

i(?H 3SSr after August flrstnri55 Park st. S; p6tarborou-€h, Ont. Canada.

Page 7: Christian Anarchism Pamphlet

l4ay * 6hrlstian voluntar:iLyc*ntribr.lte money to ascist ag*:rern$ent which is **uppertedby mlliter5r power, exe*utien*oand vlolense ln general? NalunLees the money ls to be usedfor some spe*ia} purI)ose, justin iteelf, whero the object andthe rce.arrc employed are goed.MaY s,/he FaY taxes to sueh agovernnent? No t slfie shouldnot pay'taxee qf their own aqc-ord but shouLd not resist vi.o-

at eLectl.ons and take part ineourte of, law or in the gover-nment? l{o I 'l[o taka part inelectLonEr courts of law, or lnthe administratlon of governm-ent is the sarne thlng as part-iclpatlon ln the vloLertce ofthe goverrunent.

Adin BaLlou, fromSateehisra of Hon-Resi.stanee

l

KJ

ffi**#t S*t'fs* l&47

Page 8: Christian Anarchism Pamphlet

Christ hv ue-ans;ffifffifficlplesn would have i*nuglrt all*he world in lris net ef faltlrnbut the 6r*ater fS"shew br*kethe net an.$ *s*a3red. ell* of l"t,and aLi th* rest hsv,e s3.lppedthrougir the hoLes made by thegreater fishesr so the net hasi'smained quite empty, Shegreater fishee whe br*ke thenet are the ruI.ers, gryperors,popesr kings, who havs nstrenouneed power, and inateadsf true Christianity hwe puton what Ls slmply a mEsh of it.

Peter }Ie}ehl*eky15th century

Peter w&s a gentle but relent-less teacher, He bel"levedthat if people learrred tothink, they would see the wLe-dom in his sinple anarchl"em.He did not advocate lmeepon-sible freedom or a total. its-legard for authority, Haurinin the traditlon of-shristiananarchismn believed that cono-muniti.ee fcunded on individualmoral eomuitnent held much&ore promi.se than the aliena-ting lnfLuence of gov*rnment.Perhaps he was naife" perhaps,however, he s5.mply sayr fliego*dnees In peeple - the good,-rr€ss $r€ &re to blind to ree,diefiguree!

- as ue are by the,empty prornlsee of consumer so_eietY' from Feter maurin

Peasant Agitator