Isn't anarchy just chaos? How could it possibly relate to
Christianity?
Countless people,
including (and sometimes especially) those from religious
backgrounds, are exploring radical ideas. The pandemic, the Black
liberation movement, climate disaster--all these concerns are leading
us to ask, ""Does our system actually work? Is capitalism
ethical? Is this the only way to build a society?""
Questions like these
led author and pastor Terry Stokes to the political philosophy of
anarchy. Now, we all have a scary picture in our minds about anarchy:
that it calls for chaos, violence, and disorder. But anarchy actually
calls for the end of rulership, not violence in the streets. Anarchy
seeks to empower small communities of people to take care of their
own needs at the local level, thereby making the state obsolete. It's
all about constructing societies in which people are placed above
profit and systems are built on ethics of justice and equality. To
Stokes, that sounded a whole lot like the building blocks of
Christian faith.
In Jesus and the
Abolitionist, Stokes introduces readers to the ancient practice
of anarchy and how it intersects with Christian beliefs and values.
We see how beliefs about God, humanity, divine-human interaction, the
Bible, and more can be illuminated and faithfully reformulated
through an anarchist lens. This view, which Stokes calls anarchist
Christianity, seeks to abolish tyrannical systems that do not
recognize the changing values of our times and that disempower the
people. Stokes's vision of an anarchist Christian future charts a
caring theology and practice of living, one based in our voluntary
cooperation, the goodness of all people, and faith in God. We can
build an ethical world--one built on structures of care--and anarchy
might just be the unlikely key.