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A post-Chiistendom rcsponse to community, church, & state . No. 12 Sept 2001 FREE it of salt msruNls!& rrf,...L -l * Editorial: A Pinch of Just as Jesus' most revolutionary message is in fhe i]ay he lived his life, so Salt to shake Galdhi has discovered that the most the Empire revoludonary act is ihe one that is inde- pendent of state. How do we challenge the principalities and powers? Crea- In 1930 Mohandas Gandhi, lhe onc€ rively seeking first the kingdom of stuttering banister lrom Porbander, led Cod, Power isn,t scared of mega- a march to the coast of Gujamt to chal- phones and placards; he's scared we lenge the British Empire. As Gandhi may tlmr our backs on him altogether. rais€d in his flst a lump of salty mud he said, "wi1h this I am shaking the foun- A Pinch of Srlt is a reJaunch of a dations oflhe Brilish Empire". popular magazine from the 1980s en- ( couaging dialogue on Christianity and Gaodhi and hjs companioos were pro- mdical politics. How best to challenge testing against what they saw as an lhe pincipalities and powers is up for unjust tax law. It was illegal for Indi- crertive debate. It is shaped by hon€st ars lo make their own salt yet they reflection on lhe many ways Christians were taxed heavily on lhe salt they choose to express their failh in the face boughl from the slate. The rcsult was ofthe world's many injustices. more hardship lor the pooresl to lhe benefit of the wealthy. Contdbutions and suggestions are wel- How do Chrislians Looking back at that historically sig- respond ao a nificant event the contemporary dis- what would cahdhi do? nolionrl census? senter would do well lo remember that Send us your tbe Brjtish Empire waslll seated at Keith Hebden thought3. Dandj beach. Until lhat day it is likely email: [email protected] M. K. Gardhi, Enailiedi that most British administrators, save 5 April 1930 tor.apos@googlemail the local 'Collector' would stsugsle to know where it was on the map. Perhaps Gandhi was advised by ftiends ( he Calholic Worker movement as you may know is Catholic Cbristian, anarchist, and on how to tackle this ifljustice; 'co to pacifist in identily. Both the lrndon and Oxford Catholic Worker cornmunities are look- Delhi and dump a sa.k of rice outside ing for new members and participants in their work. Between them they offer a mix ofbig Lord Irwin's house", "Find a way to city, town and semi-rural Iiving, and a variety ofoplions in rerms offull or pan-dme put salt into his *ater supplr," "send working in outsidejobs / ttle Iife and work ofth€ community. For more information call: bags of salt to lrndon wiih a petition for tax r€lief'. But Gandhi did none of Manin020 7249 0041 - Hackney / LCW taw these things or in aDy olher way peti- Scott 01923 777 201 - Rickmanswonh / tioned the governnent or cried our Susan 01865 248 288 - oxford CW against the injustice. He could s€€ that http://ww.l ondoncatholicworkerorg/ in this case the power for charye lay in the hands of the people through mak- ing lheir oua salt, thus rendering the salt law impotent. They called it revival lPoS would like to commission: Revivrl Haggis (not his real one) stutes his Then the church found us. They called it experiences and ofen sone advice to revival and insisted on takjng care ofus. A story ofa skip surfer 'virgin' po s t - c o ngr e got i o ml C hr is t io,rt So we retumed to the dep€ndence way ofbeing and our radical commmity dis- Reviews of music and recently released Comic resislatrce appeared within six months. books About 6fE ofus 12-19 year olds grew up in housing estates and quite violent We had no prior experience of Ckistian- Your opinions on Advent texts and their po- kids homes. we found Christ in our es- ity to tell us the same empire that had litical significance. 1a1e away from any contact with unecked our families had co-opted the church too. Ideas for Christimas to agitate at church and Our fight with 'empire' and colonialism How to abrive i, . postcongregrliotrrl in the shops. has been onsoins since childrcn. The world effecrs ofit were all around us- I . Detox: wean the church off the Pow- domestic violence, abuse, multiple- ers - all congregations covenant togelher If poverty, alcoholism, and crushed crea- to disband over a lhree-year period. tivily. In our estate, findingJesus was the numb€rs ofjoiners keeps gowing Churchgoer Tips "Hey Big Guy, here's a five-spot for ya," Thadon silently prayed like finding strength and confidence to over this time, design bad services or God For Excellent while placins lhe billin the resist a1 lasl lhese symptoms ofempire. rcduce them to one p€r month church collection plate. "Ifyou Week keep it up, and make sure Mom we hung out daily, no meetings or ser- 2. Release th€ dreams ofevery saint into doesn't have one of her spells at vic€s, chuch was a wholE way ofbeing. lhe land as long as it is in a 'given'area CHARLESTON, SC- dinner on Wednesday, there's we loved the closeness and vitalily; ofcrcation in locality (not one you made Churchgoer Brad Thaden, 48, more where that came &om." even sharing our wages, standing up up). This will release saints deep into reportedly lipped God a little comically to bullies and pretenders. groans of creatioMocality inslead ofjust something exra Suflday, claim- According to cod, five dollars is Many of us kids had experienced un- hovering over it to colonise it. ing that the Almighty had done a "basically nothing" after He tips mentionable stufl- that had ripped holes betterjob than usual that week, oui the the priest, the pope, the inside us- only such a $assroots onto- 3. Encourage saints to connect and re- especially vrith the weather and altar boys, and the Holy Spidt. logical mirscle could heal what ached in aggregate around thes€ sharcd dreams his children's behavior. -Thar*s lo 7r€ Onio, for this. us, embrace and release oul vivid imagi- and just live in it and €njoy it. nation, dark humour and lum it into comic resista.nce to the gmnes that pow- Dream days ers play. We've slarted here in Edinburgh over last two years - doing citywide dream Tell us your story days where people get five minutes to spout otrtheir dream lor city- 1hen we lntentional livinS? Communjty organising? l"inding get some money and resoulces to release I them a bit and help then mn with their iGod in unusual places? EneaginS with the dreams into specific spheres. | 'Principalities and Powers'? Senhg up a co-opemrive? lrell us your sory in rwo hundrcd words or less so se Haesis works in Edinburgh helping new lcar aJ leanr Som your experience. Clevercloss. l ideas sain tunding and encouaging a 'gift economy'. I [email protected] l http : /73pin.hof salt. squarespace. con/ Tolstoy the peculiar hold on power by perpetuating a cun- - Alexandre Ckis.oyannopoulos ought .o .econsider the relationship ning mix of irrational lies and l€giti- Christian anarchist they have with the state. In the Ser- mised violence to keep 'Chdslians' This is an edited vemion ofa paper mon on the Mount, Jesus instrucled hnmtised into submission. Alex delivered at the Chdstianity and eCtuhlr itsot iathnei tSyt ainte .i tsIl trtuaer sseon lruen pduetrss taonod thoi sj ufdoglloew aeirds nnoot t toto rscwsiesat.r Yoeati htsh,e not For the lasl thi(y yearc ofhis life, Tol- Anarchism conference ir 2006. fCrohmti sitts wryc rbuecsifiinendi.nR, atul fot that jsutdagtee sd eimtsa cnitdizse onast hasn odf arellseisgtisa nbcoet,h bsotooy1 6re, leanntilcelesssl ya nwdr optaem dpohzleetnss oonf relig- tAimleex tiesa ac hreesr)e aartc thh es tUuddevnet B(aitnyd opafrt- Leo To'alss toy criminals within and enemies without. ion and politics in the hope that it Kenl at Canterbury, cunently in the Besides,lhe state uses violence to could help awaken his fellow Chris- irllal year ofmy pan{ime PbD study- inpose ils laws, and maintains its Even for a Christian anarchist. t eo tians to tbe tsue essence ofctuistianity. ing CbristiaD ararchist thinkers. citizens in a form oleconomic slav- Tolstoy's reading oftbe Bible was His virulent criticisms of both state and ery. Thus, Tolstoy concludes, the unusual. When he 'converted' to (, .hulch authorilies led him to be fre- Alex is also a member ofthe Anar- slale is an unchristian institution. Christianity near his 50rI birthday, he rueody censored, bul his writings were chist Studies Nelwork. did not embrace lhe onhodox Chdsli- published abroad and circulated both in http://tuiarchist-studies- Furthermore, if Christians actually anity ofd|e traditional church. For Russia and elsewhere. His fellow Rus- network.org.uk acred as Jesus laught them to - iflhey him, Jesus was Iro'son ofcod', nor sians respected him for standing up to did he perform any supematural mira- govemed their social intemctions the Tsar, but he also received plenly of thmugh love, forgiveness ard chariry cles. Toistoy was convinced lhat letters (jncluding from Gandhi) a.d then there would be no need for a these superstitious stories in the Bible visits from abroad by people inquirine had been added by the chuch in order slate. People would help one another aboul his polilical interpretation of and willingly share all oflife's basic to keep'Christians' hypnotised Chrislianity. So he became an impor- enough to ensure thal lhey did not necessities. The ordering principle of tanl inlemational figurc at the tum of society would be love, not a fictional question the unjustifiable compromise the century, even though today, we that the church had reached wilh the lustice'enforced by a brutal state. only really rememberhim for the nov- state, He was convinced thal an hon- €ls he wrote before he 'converted' 10 I For Tolstoy, therefore, Christianity est and tull application of Christianity Chdstianity. and the state are incompatible visions could only lead to a stateless and churchless society, and that all those for society. Ooe cannot be both an I"tis version ofchristianity wiu be un- honest Cfuistian and at th€ same time who argued the contrary were devious comfortable to those who sincerely recognise the legitimacy of lhe state, hypocdtes. believe that divine mysteries can only both because the state directly contra- be revealed thmugh palient contempla- The Sermon on lhe Mount venes Jesus' clear advice, and be- 'ion and diligent rhual. And critics For Tolstoy, the jmplications ofJe- cause if Jesus' recommendations Jould well be right iD being weary of were put to practice, then th€ state sus' Sermon on ahe Momt (Matthew Tolstoy's extreme, almost fundarnen- would anyway b€come obsolete. 5:38-42) were nothing short ofrevo- talislic inteeretalion of Chdstianity. Leo Tolstoy (above) with magnificent lutionary. Jesus was proposing a new, Yet Tolstoy's contrjbution .o Chdstian bead(s). But why, then, are Christians told to radical and wiser method for human anarchism remains valuable in that he beings to respond to any form of own allegiance to the stale? For Tol- brings attention to the neglected politi- I-ived: 1828-1910 stoy, the answer is clear: ever since 'evil'. That is- when coered or when cal impiications oftbe Sermon on the Full title: Count LevNikolayevjch Emperor Constrntine, the ofEcial trreesaptoendd u wnjiuths tllyo,v ed,o fonrogt ivreetnaelisaste ,a nbdut Chrch has belrayed Ckistianity by Manodu hnel , warnodt € ona tlohtis. Htoisp icin, tehe4 ,*remtatetio wn eollf lTolstoy hypocritically cuddling with state genemsily. Ckistianity may have been peculiar Quote: "How can you kill people, power. Tolstoy is ther€forejr.'st as indeed, but his wo* makes him an when il is \iritten in God's cornmand- scathing ofthe church as ofthe state. Unchristian institutiotrs eminent voice in the Chris.ian anar- men! 'Thou Shalt not murder"'. He accuses church alld siale authori- lf that is the essence ofcbristianity, chist literature today. ties ofconspiring to mahtain their however, then for Tolstoy, Christians Unusual: Made his own shoes. Who were the Dig- Camp for Climate Change August 2007 By June another mob, including some gers? soldiers, assaulted the Diggers and "I've lived here twenty trampled their crops. The Diggem Yagwwgieivifelaeel $,nIh ',, vwaueaphp npag.d exo I n'tav$ .tte 'oBif li slfus tathay idya to p)It€anp'od$ci gmn hytof Cw"inIaa g.my mt opt h fpalooutr tnIs nooaymul lrcey o c oanwfrseuntlpisctua ohiemgannivcn eyog .n t n TCiehhldieem y -m'a rbetaeu ptg oinn-o at pOuGTenhenaeao smmIra gpneAetlsos'ps, y rgSeiHladu,t irhl1llley a6r n4beae9dona udrat e o Wlbrgisneea gltelaaht onnegn drr i- oooalau tnd np-Sid gtol.e ufsps daaaaawntr nrdtanho raisdusgee nelpdlcs o e thdiadnean tm td hwt ahatorgeteo e tsdlshap enaoaysdnn sl dio.nt hrtcTdeeohns sce dtoss eum cdeao mdnut odorft onc,ru tand yb-Holoeuoa dlothy1 r omhwainv edre c|s "hidaenngte, da tm thye -HJaorhlinn gMtocnDonnell, MP for Haycs & twshoeewr ecin oWgm mivlleioagnme tal abEnlevdse a.r DeTddh epariDre dple aGarede erfoa$rrd stthueerizimnegd b oethncea t uhcseoe w ctsoh renWyin iowosnet.ra enb luneoty lr ewhlieasas p speroadps-- 18 July public meeting Winstanley. At first they only erty. ( aroused cwiosity and symparhy but By the Autumn, th6 Diggers, now as time went on the local lods "wete working towards a Cbris- ofthe mmor arcused numbering about fifly, nDved to a tian pres€nce al this year's camp, different common at Cobham to a mob against which follows on ftom the hugely avoid funher confrontation. They lhem. successtul 2006 canp by Drax managed to grow Power Station. The camp has 4 "Hopelessly Nai've" aims: education, sustainable liv- grain and build - The Sun ing, action and movement build- ing." - Prayer I58 member houses as well as influenc- ins simi- ments in ' MGetings for plrnrirg ' ' North- amptonshire and Kent. However, the landlord, Revd LI\oWndI o-n I- mSiant ufrrdoarn) 8Crahm SdeepDr €mTbo€rw n 2tupbme . act oTnhraec Ut p0p7€r 8R1oo4m0. 68 C1r3e€n2la4nd. Street. l Etov eLnotnudaollny ttoh ee xtwploa inle athdeemNs welevrees steont Jgomhinn Palnadtt letudm ae md ohbis inc adtteles tirnotyoi ntgh ethe Thomas Fairfax. They clairned that houses and running the Diggers out. Leeds- 1 6th September - all day at the Common Place in leeds. sjnce the Norman conquest England had teen under arule oftymony On I April, 1650, Winstanley and 'l '21 3 which rvould now be abolished, and founeen oth€rs were indicted for dis- lhat God would relieve the poor and orderly conduct. unla\rftl assembly, @ restore their freedom to enjoy the and trespass. There is no rccord of @ fruits oI the earth. The two men also how the case tumed out but this is lhe G explained that they did not want 10 last we hear ofthe experiment in com- E :.i II interfere wilh private property but ounism at Cobham. I a-t\. . ..,1 t' only to plant and har,./est on the .Jv.:jj many wastelands ofBngland and lo K. C. Hone, -+-+ live together holding all thines in Fundamental Beliefs of an Anglo-Catholic Vegan Gravy Socialist Ingredietrts I onion, diced Thc Earth is the Lord's therelore God is dle only landlord. 2 tbsp oil He hss made of otre blood .ll tratiotrs, and thercfore ftey adopt as their 2 tbsp plain flour banner the red flag of intemalional solidarity. clove of garlic (crushed) God was itr Christ rcconciling the world to himser, and therefore 450m 15 fl oz vegetable sroct they stdve to break down all that divides hurnanity. Ch st camc to clst firc on tbe *rth, therefore they look for the revo- I or 2 tbsp soy sauce lutionary pwging olthe empires ofthis world and the destruction ofthe lieshly sround black pepper forces ofevil. frt \od |', Through th€ dsath !trd rcsurr€ction of Christ the New Age hrs ( drwn€d, therefore lhey proclaim lhe good news ofthe Kingdom of Fl. .re onion in rhe oil for5 mins. God as a revoluliomry religion. Christ must reign until he has rbolished sll rule rtrd all ruthority Add the floul and cook for a fi[ther 5 to and power, and therefore they dery all tlranny wherever it is found. l0 mins until the flour and onion are nut, Finally, add the yeast extmct, soy sauce and The Spirit of God stirs pcople to r€volution, and therefore they recognize in the move- brown and the onion is soft and slighdy black pepp€r. Slirwell. Strain ifyou Iike, or ments ofthe p€ople the working out ofthe divine purpose. pulpy, serve as it is. Only in holy fcllowship clr the life of dlB rchieve its fultn€$, and thereforc they scek to create among men Ilee associations for the common good. Add the garlic then gadualty stir in the Thk rccipe conesfron Rose E iots Yegetar- Sin mrrs rll hum&tr oBpir.tions and.clieveEetrt, and thereforc they recognize the need vegetable stock (or the water ftom any for forgiveness and grac€. vegelables you happen to be boiling al the The Kitrgdom of God oE e.rtb b s divhe purpos€ for rll crertiod, therefore they look same time). Bring to the boil and simmer beyond lhe coming ofthe Kingdom to the time God shall be all in all. for l0 mins. By the late Fr cresham Ki.kby, Anglo-c6tholic priest of St Paul's Bow Common and communist anarchist Contribute to A Pinch of Salt Emaii: [email protected] . Ideas for simple living and earing Message from the Jesus Radicals website host, Andy . Profiles of notable subversives ., Alexis-Baker Reflecrions on slippery scriptures ( .( RcUections on your o.periences ofdirecr acrion on to(at, narional, and inrerna- tional level. "we a.re in the process of taking down all ofJacques Ellul's works we had uploaded for rcfer- . Iell us aboul you group and ils aclitiries ence. I am aware that some folks have used these files for research pur?oses in wdting MA the- . sjs and other academic work. Therefore, ifyou would lik€ to continue ro use them, I suggest you Any olher ideas or commeflts The rcason these books are coming down from the Jesus Radicals site is because several (but . not all) ofEllul's family nembers have come to lhe decision that they love morcy more than . Reflections on the nativiry narative. Jacques Elluh ideas. Ellul *rote a book called "Money and Power." I hope they read at least . Polilics and LiG that book someday." Annie Heppenslall, Food Sacrif.ed to ldols . -Th€se resourc$ are Dow rvaihbh (remporarily rt th€ http:// More besides... apinchofsdtsqusrespace.com/iournry