Many anarchists use the motto, "no gods, no masters," as though Church and State share the same root corruption. However, it should be noted that the early Christian Church was a threat to government authority. Christians refused to venerate the deified Roman emperor or make offerings to the Greco-Roman pantheon of gods. They were seen as atheists and anarchists by the society in which they lived, although the latter term was yet to be invented. To be a good Christian often meant being a bad Roman.
Even in the early history of Israel, we see God warning His people against demanding a king. Political authority is antithetical to God's design for society. Ancient nations had kings who claimed to be, or to be descended from, gods and demigods. The Israelites wanted a man to be anointed as God's favored ruler. Today, this governmental claim to legitimacy is cloaked in secular ideas of "public mandates" and "the will of the people," but it is just as false.
I see a parallel between striving for anarchist principles in a world of growing state authority and striving for Christian principles in a world of sin. In many ways, these struggles are one and the same. The Christian is in the world, but strives to not be of it. The anarchist lives in a world claimed by layers of government, but sees it as wholly illegitimate instead of a flawed structure to be corrected. Most see government and society as one and the same. How should Christians see the State? When Jesus was tempted in the desert, Matthew 4:8-10 (WEB) recounts this exchange:
Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”
Our kingdom is not of this world, so the territorial claims of these rulers mean nothing to us. Their authority is usurped and illegitimate. A man cannot serve two masters, and I assert that all forms of nationalism are idolatry. The Kingdom of God is the inverse of political authority. Compare our idea of government against Matthew 20:25-28 (WEB)
But Jesus summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
When Christianity became the official Roman religion, it was not a triumph of faith. It was a heresy. The church must always stand in opposition to the State. Although Constantine's theological understanding is debated, he reportedly waited until he was on his deathbed to be baptized in order to be absolved of his sins as a political ruler. Consider too what Paul wrote in Galatians 5:19-24 (WEB).
Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
Governments are designed to appeal to our base desires, our lust for power, our greed, and our hate. The State makes neighbors into enemies as we see in Ukraine and Russia today, or even just along the US border with Mexico and in our cities. I contend government mandates violation of God's commandments against idolatry, theft, and murder. If you burn a flag and a bible, which will engender the most outrage, even among those who claim to be Christians? The moment war is declared, what happens to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control?
The State is anti-Christ. It always has been, and always will be. The question is which master you serve. If you have embraced Christ, it is time to let go of the old ways you once followed. If you have rejected the State already, I invite you to consider a higher calling. If you disagree philosophically or theologically, you are welcome to comment and debate.
Another awesome post I've missed...
Reblogged!
BTW, I love The Bad Roman podcast...
"Territorial jurisdiction" is one of the most flawed and egregiously evil concepts ever. I need to publish an article about that... The church needs to reclaim status as a "foreign embassy" within these enclaves, and deny the states authority over us.
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The State is always a counterfeit of something good. Its territory defined by violence is a mockery of our property defined by homesteading and voluntary exchange.
Historically, Christianity scholars drew a distinction between the sacred and secular. Christian scholars saw the sacred as being above and more important than the secular.
The drive for a separation between church and state came from the religious community.
In contrast, of course, the political class tends to see religion as a means to control the people. The drive to mix church and state usually comes from the political class.
Sadly, the modern world is full of religious leaders who seek political power and state authorities who want to take control of the beliefs and spiritual lives of the people.
So many people see the tax-exempt status of churches in the US and think, "why isn't government plundering that, too?" instead of, "Why are we allowing the State to rob anyone?" I was just listening to a podcast about the history of Columbus and how he turned to what was effectively taxation of the natives as his first scheme to plunder all the gold he could. But people can't call that taxation because it would require them to rethink what they accept in today's status quo. And of course the flip side of "the state needs to control religion" is the loony anti-library movement in the new Trans Scare echoing the Satanic Panic over rock music and backmasking from the 1980s.
Absolute fact. Add corporations and you'll be even righter. Corporations, including governments and organized religions, are unborn, undying, inhuman, and inhumane. In every way that the Christ principle is about people comprising society to be beneficial to one another, corporate entities - legal fictions - are utterly antichrist.
Thanks!
Corporations are creations of the State and its legal structure in a mockery of how people establish businesses in the market, just like how government welfare programs are a mockery of charity used to buy support.
State religion is indeed a heresy, a Gnostic heresy specifically. My alter-ego just finished the introduction to gnosticism (note the differences in capitalisation, there is a reason for that) earlier today, which also ties in with modern secular ideologies (e.g. Marxism). It's gnosticism all the way down, and it's spooky in the way it bastardises both faith and reason.
I similarly try to capitalize 'State' whenever I use it in the sense of a religious belief in political authority, and use the lower-case 'state' when referring to something like a territory. 'Government' is only capitalized at the start of a sentence as seen here, and I use it as a plural noun for the political class.
I do the same (when I remember to, that is), though in this case, I was actually referring to the fact that "gnostic" and "gnosticism" are only capitalised when referring to particular sects of Christianity, rather like how "communism" is only capitalised when referring to a proper Marxist regime, not the over-arching belief in the abolition of private property.
BTW, if you read the article all the way to the end, you might notice something a little strange. In the English translation of "We," the word "reason" is capitalised for a similar reason. The full sentence is "Потому что разум должен победить," which means "Because Reason must prevail." If you've never read "We," you should.
I haven't yet had time to listen to the entire presentation you linked in that article, but it is an intriguing argument. He's one of the guys behind the fake gender studies article prank/scandal, right?
Close: Alan Sokal was the one behind the fake gender studies prank, James Lindsay and Peter Boghossian were the ones behind the fake race papers.