Christian Anarchism: Non-Violent, Pacifist and Embracing Catholic Social Teaching

Living The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

Today we are in the midst of a revolution in our country and many are railing for or against the Marxist roots in the current movements. Marxism, by definition, is atheist and demands radical change in all governmental structures. The goal is to create an egalitarian society by forming a new government which ensures equality for all. God exists in the form of the state only because Marxism is a materialist philosophy founded on the belief there is nothing beyond the material world. The Marxist claims that religion is the opium of the masses. The believer will remind the Marxist that such terminology maintains a limited anthropology of our total reality.

We know that Marxism is idealistic and works on paper but, like all systems, fails in practice. The Soviet Union created its classless society but gave special perks to the politburo and communist party members while remanding non-conformists to the GULAG. We know that North Korea wants people to believe it is a classless society paradise but everyone knows that it is the most stark example of a caste system. There is the minority the government favors and the majority it rejects, oppresses and imprisons. The legacy of Otto Warmbier whom the North Koreans returned to the United States in a coma and who died soon after for offending the ersatz paradise government is a testament to the failure and danger of their Marxist policies.

All cases of political communism root themselves in the idea that when the society allows the state to be in charge, true freedom and equality will be the final fruit. However, that never has been shown to be true. All those who decided that we must embrace a socialist, communist government to find true freedom are on the same wide road as the capitalists they despise.

Catholicism has a history of another form of government even in this country. It is not found in the political thought of the bishops but rather in the individual person seeking freedom in Christ and acting on that freedom in service to neighbor. Ironically, it seeks the same economic equality as the Communist but from the inside out, not the outside in. Further, it is not materialistic but believes in a wider understanding of reality. It is Christian anarchism.

Described well in the Acts of the Apostles where we see everything is held in common for the benefit of the community and the mission.

Most famously connected in modern times to the Catholic Worker movement, Christian anarchism calls for the person to live his or her faith in Christ through action and not just morality. It is to take the words of God in service to others literally, live the double commandment of radically loving God and neighbor. It is personalist and seeks to do what is best for every person., radically breaking from capitalist structures and communist idealism. The former sees people as agents for the machinery of capital, the latter sees every person as an agent of the state.

Many define Catholicism in just morality. So, the moral person who attends Mass every Sunday, who is careful not to commit anything against any law be it the more serious penal code of the state or the minor infractions of social courtesy is the one who goes to Heaven.

Well, how do you reconcile that with St Francis standing naked in the courtroom. Many may not know that the father of the young man then known as Francisco Berdone brought his son to court. The son gave away his merchant father’s wares to the poor. The elder sought a judge’s assistance to bring an end to this and to get back what his son took from him. In response, Francis took off all his clothes giving back symbolically all that he received from his father and walked away.

This would not play well in today’s newspapers. Imagine the headlines “Catholic ‘Saint’ Stands Naked In Court in Rebuke of Father”

Many today embrace private property above the rights of others. Franciscan lore teaches that St Francis scolded his men for protecting their treasury by fighting off robbers. Angrily, he ordered them to put some coins in their mouths and climb to the top of a dung heap and drop the coins there. He meanwhile went in search of the robber to apologize for the way he was treated by his brothers. He ended up being another follower.

These events are just as much a part of our history as Catholics as not eating meat on Fridays in Lent.

Christian anarchism is not rooted in taking down old structures to rebuild new ones that are just as false. That is rather the fruit and history of political revolution.

It roots itself in living Catholicism to its limit taking individual responsibility for actions that benefit the community by radically living out the commandments of loving God and neighbor.

Christian anarchism understands that a change in structures in this country needs to be in relation to what helps people fulfill those two commands well. When the government cares for all, it takes the away the personal responsibility we have to care for each other. Instead the movement seeks to take the vision of Christ in His most radical teaching and to put it into action.

Peter Kropotkin a source of inspiration for many in the Christian Anarchist Movement of the Twentieth Century wrote:

“The people suffer. With the childlike faith, with the good humor of the masses who believe in their leaders, they think that ‘yonder’ in the house in the Town Hall in the committee of Public Safety, their welfare is being considered. But ‘yonder’ they’re discussing everything under the sun except for the welfare of the people. in 1793 while famine ravaged France and crippled revolution whilst the people were reduced to the depths of misery although the Champs Elysées were lined with luxurious carriages where women displays their jewels and splendor, Robespierre was urging the Jacobins to discuss his treatise on the English constitution.” (Kropotkin, Peter, The Conquest of Bread, New York, Vanguard Press, 1934)

This indeed is the great problem with revolutions, they always help the leaders and not the people they promise to liberate out of their poverty and suffering.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to speak to a Nicaraguan man who unfortunately since then died because of COVID-19. He was part of Daniel Ortega’s revolution against the US backed regime in Nicaragua in the 1980’s. He explained that Ortega, when he finally came to power created the same thing that they were working to eliminate. This is the nature of political power and it becomes reality when people put their faith in it.

The call of the Christian anarchist is to put the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 25 and the call of the rich man into action. Its tools root themselves in voluntary poverty and in seeking to do what is best for the other in all things. It is also non-violent and pacifist. Christian anarchists even refused to support World War II.

The current movements against the structures in this country are rooted in Marxists complaining that they only protect the capitalists and their friends. History shows they will be replaced with structures that will only protect the Marxists and their friends.

For Christian anarchists, the call is to live the teachings of Jesus radically and seek to help those who are Jesus’ friends first. You can find a list of them in Matthew 25 or in the Catholic teaching of the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.