May I suggest writing an article defining “progress” and how we have been duped by the psycho’s and government to advance their goals/agenda and not the goals of humanity as a whole? Perhaps a clear comparison of what their agenda is accomplishing versus what an agenda created for all of humanity to thrive might look like? People need visuals. Dark, truthful, visuals. Like, this is where you are going if you don’t stop obeying your rulers??
One of the biggest issues is that the majority lacks courage, curiosity, imagination, independence, maturity, etc. How do you educate those who have no desire to learn? How do you teach independence? How do you encourage people to challenge themselves to do better or to do it on their own?
Western civilization has access to all the information we want at our fingertips via the internet and what are people doing with it? We are entertaining ourselves and we are stroking our egos through social media. I don’t get it because I don’t think like the majority. How do you ignite the desire to learn and grow? How do you show people they are worth more than servitude? Why are people so frightened to look on the other side of difficult/different?
I think you’ve already started Yhyvonne! This morning a seed of this (movement?) landed in my coffee.
Each of us has within, the anarchic spirit yearning to be free and disruptive. Most of us had that sprit weeded out before we reached 2nd grade. But..... if we can read...if we keep our heads about us... we will find our path.
Thanks Bob. I’m not worried about me. I didn’t succumb to public school or religious indoctrination. I’ve been a dissident since I came out of the womb (Sorry mom and dad). My courage and curiosity are intact thankfully, despite my family and society’s best efforts. If I don’t understand something, I go learn about it. I don’t fear it, I go figure it out. If something is broken or doesn’t work, I’ll teach myself. I don’t automatically look for an authority figure to save me.
People are incompetent. This is the hardest truth of them all. If you want to put your life in the hands of another person, well, you get what you get. Just because someone has letters after their name or they wear a white coat or they read from a teleprompter on your screen doesn’t make them any more competent than you, like come on!?! You have no idea what these strangers intentions are or what lies and bullshit they’ve been fed.
I know my worth and my soul is not for sale. I just don’t know how to show others this truth. I am hoping that by continuing to love myself, I will be a good example for others to follow. Unfortunately, I think I live in one of the most corrupt places on earth at this point, the west coast. I know there is a world of people out there like me, there just not physically around me.
Dec 21, 2023·edited Dec 21, 2023Liked by NEVERMORE MEDIA
Thank you for sharing my essay on the rise of anthropocentrism and the promise of the animate worldview.
I suppose I have some hang ups regarding the word "religion" since it has been used in association with so many dogmatic, imperialistic and degenerative institutions and belief systems in the past, but at its core (and beneath all the baggage that has been attached onto the word) I suppose I am not inherently opposed to "a particular system of faith and worship." (involving "expression(s) of reverence and adoration") that centers around the non aggression/voluntarist principles, animism (seeing all beings as possessing a conscious spirit and being worthy of reverence) and Deism.
I would like to make it clear, however, that I am not into creating (nor advocating for the creation of) any form of dogmatic religious belief system.
Through the recognition of the universally discernable fact of the Creator's existence and the reality that all beings (human and non-human) are imbued with a conscious spirit I advocate for what one might call "spiritual autonomy" or "Spiritual Autodidacticism" (for more info: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/spiritual-autodidacticism )
I personally came to acknowledge we (human beings) are a result of an intelligent design of a being that some call “God” through my own direct experiences perceiving that facet of our reality through inward exploration. I see that path of coming to directly perceive the existence and nature of the Creator (and the conscious spirit that being imbued into all our fellow beings) as inherently accessible and attainable to all human beings.
I believe that through trail blazing our own unique path inward to come to know the truth for ourselves (without needing middlemen, books to quote and lean on, or guru figures to follow) we are invited to diverge from the majority of monotheistic dogmatic religious views and directly see that humanity is not the most important, nor the ‘most blessed’ or ‘most sacred’ beings. This direct path of spiritual learning and growth is unique for each individual, as the Creator did not make us as clones, but rather unrepeatable facets of shimmering conscious spirit, each with our own gifts and unique 'kaleidoscopes of consciousness' to look through and share with the world. When we embark on that path inward, we inevitably let go of all ideas that superficially placate the ego (that is so wanting to be praised by any anthropocentric story other humans are willing to invent) and rather let our spirit/soul begin to take the driver's seat in our life. From the perspective of our spirit, we can clearly see that we have not been “given dominion of the Earth” and we can clearly know and directly perceive how ridiculous it is to think that this whole vast and complex universe was created merely for our entertainment. As we shed the baggage of delusional ego based belief systems and learn to perceive using our own God given intuition and clarity of vision, we become the ones we have been waiting for.
This is important, for many well meaning people cling to stories of savior figures swooping in to save the day while all they need to do is cheer from the sidelines. Through embarking on a path that one might call Spiritual Autodidacticism we can see the futility of such comforting fairytales. We can also sense directly that a wise, humble and courageous man like Jesus of Nazareth would never have endorsed the anthropocentric ideas described in my essay above either. When he invited us to treat others as we would want to be treated this was intended for all beings.
When we are talking about Christianity or the Bible I think it is also worth keeping in mind that Jesus himself was opposed to religious institutions and never sought out to create them. The accounts that became the substance of the bible were transcribed by Greeks, from memory, several decades after the death of Jesus. Even if those men were doing their best to remember what was said, they are imperfect humans (as we all are) and those words were remembered through the filter of their perspectives, beliefs (and have since been twisted and distorted extensively). The result is that I find much of what is pushed by dogmatic religious institutions (and their adherents) to be nothing more than a collection of unhealthy anthropomorphic projections onto a being (that is so far beyond anything resembling a human) and a surrounding set of beliefs that often constitute junk food for the ego and paths that lead towards psychological states that promote stagnation, scapegoating for our own shortcomings/mistakes, hubris, adversarial/oppressive behavior towards our fellow beings and irrational xenophobia.
Jesus of Nazareth was very much opposed people hoping that someone else was going to solve their problems for them. He suggested that people live as he did (he sought to empower others through living by example). He did not seek to gather "followers" but rather sought to offer people tools and pathways for empowering themselves. He offered examples of how one might nurture a direct connection with the Creator of all things and to unlock their true potential as human beings (he never said he was more special or possessed special abilities that others were not capable of also attaining). Jesus did not seek to solve everyone's problems for them then, and he will not seek to do that in the present or the future either.
For those in the crowd who like to get excited about the 'second coming', I would like to make it clear that whether or not the spirit of the man that was once called Jesus is incarnated onto the Earth now (or becomes so in the future) will not result in our problems being solved for us, nor will it result in any kind of vanquishing of evil nor any kind of temporary soul respites to "heaven". That is not how it works.
Engaging in life on Earth is a voluntary journey that each of us chose willingly. The Creator of all things respects our choice to be here and our free will. We did not come here to see a dramatic dualistic showdown happen and applaud the ‘good guy' for vanquishing the bad guy (from a distance as a spectator). No, each and every one of us (whether we are currently consciously aware of this fact or not) came here to co-author the story. That means no-one else is going to do the hard work for us (not a savior, rebel leader nor a politician) we came here to do that work of transforming this world ourselves.
Besides propagating unhelpful myths about savior figures (that are supposed to whoosh down from the spirit world and solve all our problems for us if we just wait long enough and keep living the way we have been living) Christianity (and other dogmatic religious belief systems) also often have myths of a big bad boogie man (or multiple bad guy characters) which are used for all kinds of scapegoating, excuse making and for justifying stagnation and laziness. Some people choose an action that is malicious and/or without compassion and then say “the devil made me do it” others blame this vague and illusive interdimensional half goat half human creature for all the ugliness that takes place on this world and (in their minds) wash their hands of any responsibility in the perpetuation of this modern society of obscene inequality, profound narcissism, materialism, vanity, environmental devastation and endless war. Both of these scapegoating uses of this myth of a super nasty interdimensional goat man are enabling mechanisms which cowards, apathetic individuals and predatory individuals latch onto for their own selfish reasons. These ideas serve to perpetuate the very “evil” in this world (that the religion they claim to subscribe to is supposed to be opposed to) by passing the buck onto an invisible bad guy character (and/or a savior figure that is hopefully going to appear and clean up our mess for us) rather than doing the work ourselves and taking responsibility for this consensus reality we help to shape (with each of our thoughts, words, choices and actions).
I personally strive to live by 'the golden rule' not out of fear of eternal damnation, or because any other being commanded me to, but rather because it makes me feel good in my heart to use my free will on this Earth to nurture, heal and help others to achieve their highest potential. It is like when I plant a rose seed in my garden and tend it gently, I do not do it out of fear or guilt, nor obligation, I do it as an expression of my love and gratitude for all that Creator has given us, because it makes my heart feel whole and gives my life meaning and purpose.
Dec 21, 2023·edited Dec 21, 2023Liked by NEVERMORE MEDIA
(...continued from above comment)
I do not advocate blindly following any other human (or group of humans) but I do see much wisdom that is worth ‘walking in the footsteps of’ which other human beings embodied, lived and shared (such as the wisdom that Jesus did).
Thus, I do not seek to push any dogma on people. Rather, I seek to perpetually hone and improve my understanding of the nature of my existence, enrich my mind, nurture symbiotic relationships with my fellow beings and nurture my eternal self (through being of service to others and nurturing/recognizing that which is a manifestation of God’s love in my daily actions).
I am always open to the possibility that my current understanding needs improvement and that there are things that exist beyond the purview of my current scope of awareness. I trust that when/if it is meant to be, some of those “unknown unknowns” ( https://www.corbettreport.com/unknowns/ ) will be revealed to me. I strive to see with my heart and help empower others through offering sign posts that helped me along my path but I do not claim my way is the only way, nor a “better way”.
So that was my super long winded way of saying, whether or not I am down with the creation of a "religion" would depend on what exactly the path and perspectives are that are being described as a “religion”. If it is a belief system that has the non aggression/voluntarist principles, animism (seeing all beings as possessing a conscious spirit and being worthy of reverence) and Deism at its core (and it invites people to directly perceive the truth for themselves, without being told what to believe with threats or other coercive means) I am down with that 100%.
I personally do not resonate with that word since humans have engaged in so much malice and destructive/degenerative behavior with that word as their guiding banner, but in truth labels do not matter to me, so if others want to call my way a “religion” that is fine. For me, it is just a way that naturally unfolds like a seed that is planted in fertile soil and then one day reaches out it’s leaves to breath in the light and nurture itself to grow onto it’s highest potential. Since I like to look to Mother Earth for guidance on how to align with natural law, Creator’s design and nurture myself physically, mentally and spiritually, perhaps I would call my path one that involves “photosynthesis of the soul”
Thank you for introducing me to the concept of Ethnogenesis.
"The world we want won’t be built with violence, but with culture - that is to say, with songs, with stories, with dance, with dreams, with drums..." and heirloom seeds!
I firmly believe in the power of saving, growing and sharing heirloom seeds with regards to building the kind of culture you are talking about. Working with and learning from living seeds connect us to a place based knowing and reverence for the Earth. It bridges us to receive the gifts of our ancestors and allows us to give to future generations. As we save seed each year, these seeds adapt and grow to be unique, 'learning' how to live in a better way along side of us.
As we engage in the act of seed saving and sharing we are throwing a monkey wrench into the machinery of the global corporatocracy (that wants to own all seed, buying out and shut down the small family owned companies, patent what they can and perpetually profit from their false claims of owning intellectual rights to the genetic fabric of life). We can effectively sabotage their plans for erasing our shared living cultural heritage, nutrient dense diversity of open pollinated crops and our ability to save seed for free by engaging in what Vandana Shiva calls "Seed Satyagraha" in each of our households.
When we are not only saving heirloom seed, but also growing and preserving food and medicine from our garden we are also engaging in an act of sabotage. As you all know, the oligarchs are working diligently to cripple the conventi0nal farmers and global food supply via a variety of means. Creating decentralized food systems that are self perpetuating (regenerative gardens and/or food forests) sabotages their plans to create a situation where the population is dependent on their centralized food infrastructure (and thus helps to de-fang their plans to use CBDC and social credit tyranny to force compliance through the dependence of the masses on their systems for our basic necessities).
These forms of sabotage also cripple their ability to enforce their totalitarian schemes on future generations, for through the act of saving seed, sharing it (and regenerating the earth at the same time) we begin to create communities that can be like islands of resilience and abundance that will be immune to the financial coercion tactics and digital shackles that may be utilized in the future.
Each of us can do this to some degree, we can sabotage the bankster's plan to make us all into totally dependent consumers of mass produced gmo garbage ‘food’ and instead take back our food sovereignty.
This is why I wrote Recipes For Reciprocity: The Regenerative Way From Seed To Table, it is in essence a trial map that empowers people to sever their ties to to bankster's parasitic hypercentralized plutocracy, while also giving back to the Earth and inviting them to save and plant the seeds for resilient communities to set down roots all over.
Thanks again for sharing my essay and helping to plant these seeds in hearts and minds all over brother. If you are able to garden where you are at right now, or are working with any communities that would benefit from some high quality heirloom seeds, I am willing to share some of the abundance in my personal collection from this year's harvest.
Dec 21, 2023·edited Dec 21, 2023Liked by NEVERMORE MEDIA
Christianity, thoroughly understood, is against humans imposing on each other by force or fraud. We are technically monarchist since Jesus Christ is the one and only king who rules and reigns from the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
No other king and no earthly government is consistent with Christianity. Jesus says "taxation is theft."
You realize that can easily be interpreted as a call to give Caesar nothing, right?
Typically, when you tell me that Jesus was an anarchist, this is the first thing that will come into their minds, but I don't see any problem with his statement. I see it as a graceful way to evade a question that the teacher had a very good reason not to want to answer!
More interesting to me is Jesus's injunction against divorce. A hard taboo against divorce IS incompatible with anarchism because one of the core principles of anarchism is voluntary association.
This needs to be understood in its historical context, which is something I'd be willing to get into if someone shows interest. I've heard people make the case that the taboo against divorce was probably because Jewish women at their time suffered terribly when they were abandoned by their husbands. I can't remember the details.
If someone is knowledgeable about this subject and cares to explain, I'm all ears. I'd have to read up on this, and I'm sure every Christian anarchist worth their salt has thought about this.
What would you say to people who were trying to trick you into saying something that could be used as grounds for criminal charges against you?
Rousseau ends his Discourse on Equality with a perfunctory call for people to obey "good princes" and "good laws", which was smart move, given that expressing the wrong political views could definitely get you killed back in those days.
Do you always remove the parts you want to ignore? Jesus said to render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and unto God that which belongs to God. God created everything and everything belongs to God. So you, wanting to misunderstand, say that Jesus said to pay Caesar. But he didn't. What other verses do you choose to misunderstand to pretend that a man cruelly tortured and murdered by the government is some friend of human government? Or is it only that you hate freedom and want to enslave mankind?
I've been keeping an eye on the anarchist crowd on Substack for quite a while now, although I think I've only had a discussion with David Rovics (who would not necessarily identify as 'anarchist') and Paul Cudenec. (I feel there is someone else, but I forget whom, sorry). Anyway, I thought I'd reach out and introduce myself here, and also thank you for drawing attention to the travesty that is lithium mining. I am very much in accord with you on almost every environmental topic you mention in this newsletter.
I do not identify as an anarchist personally, but I am sympathetic to anarchist projects, largely as a result of the influence of novelist Michael Moorcock, who is one of a very small group of people who have been supportive of my philosophy over the years. I am also desperate to identify the fragments of the old left that survive and have not been incorporated into the machine, and as such the anarchists and folk of such ilk in and around Nevermore are dear to me, for the left lies in tatters and has been largely neutralised or driven mad, which amounts to the same thing.
What's largely motivated me to write today is this idea of the creation of an 'anarchist religion'. It genuinely warms my heart to hear anyone say such a thing. But of course, as you yourself make clear, there is an enormous problem here, one that coincidentally came up in this week's Stranger Worlds:
I will pick it up again in next week's, which will conclude December's reflections on the oh-so-unpopular topic of 'peace'.
Lastly (for now, at least): a warning. It is no coincidence that Paul has recently been flagged as troublesome. As you enthusiastically report at the head of this newsletter, you (i.e. the 'New Anarchists') are getting traction now, and that makes your movement a potential risk to the powers that shouldn't be. At the moment, you've only come into the net of the 'fact checkers'... if you ever get any serious influence, there will be far worse to come. You may well be aware of the dangers here, in which case this warning is unnecessary, but I felt honour bound to mention this anyway. The difficulty of finding a path out of the trap we are all within is not only the challenges entailed in finding other viable ways of life from where we are, it is that imperial technocracy never gives up power willingly.
You may be able to succeed at establishing a parallel culture (I hope you can) but you cannot break the empire without an awful lot of allies, and unless something gives here there is no escape and only ever-escalating dangers. It is for this reason that my philosophy right now is engaged in a (possibly futile) attempt to repair the political middle ground - I don't see how we can get out of where we are without something like this, as every non-violent struggle that succeeded has required a mobilisation of the middle. I don't see this project paying off in my lifetime either. But I have never shied away from something just because it is impossible. I suspect this is something most anarchists will recognise in themselves.🙂
May I suggest writing an article defining “progress” and how we have been duped by the psycho’s and government to advance their goals/agenda and not the goals of humanity as a whole? Perhaps a clear comparison of what their agenda is accomplishing versus what an agenda created for all of humanity to thrive might look like? People need visuals. Dark, truthful, visuals. Like, this is where you are going if you don’t stop obeying your rulers??
One of the biggest issues is that the majority lacks courage, curiosity, imagination, independence, maturity, etc. How do you educate those who have no desire to learn? How do you teach independence? How do you encourage people to challenge themselves to do better or to do it on their own?
Western civilization has access to all the information we want at our fingertips via the internet and what are people doing with it? We are entertaining ourselves and we are stroking our egos through social media. I don’t get it because I don’t think like the majority. How do you ignite the desire to learn and grow? How do you show people they are worth more than servitude? Why are people so frightened to look on the other side of difficult/different?
I think you’ve already started Yhyvonne! This morning a seed of this (movement?) landed in my coffee.
Each of us has within, the anarchic spirit yearning to be free and disruptive. Most of us had that sprit weeded out before we reached 2nd grade. But..... if we can read...if we keep our heads about us... we will find our path.
Don’t stop to weed your patch!
Thanks Bob. I’m not worried about me. I didn’t succumb to public school or religious indoctrination. I’ve been a dissident since I came out of the womb (Sorry mom and dad). My courage and curiosity are intact thankfully, despite my family and society’s best efforts. If I don’t understand something, I go learn about it. I don’t fear it, I go figure it out. If something is broken or doesn’t work, I’ll teach myself. I don’t automatically look for an authority figure to save me.
People are incompetent. This is the hardest truth of them all. If you want to put your life in the hands of another person, well, you get what you get. Just because someone has letters after their name or they wear a white coat or they read from a teleprompter on your screen doesn’t make them any more competent than you, like come on!?! You have no idea what these strangers intentions are or what lies and bullshit they’ve been fed.
I know my worth and my soul is not for sale. I just don’t know how to show others this truth. I am hoping that by continuing to love myself, I will be a good example for others to follow. Unfortunately, I think I live in one of the most corrupt places on earth at this point, the west coast. I know there is a world of people out there like me, there just not physically around me.
I think Proudhon might argue that a craftsman’s tools are his possessions, not his property.
Interesting! Truthfully, I'm not very familiar with Proudhon's thought... would you care to distinguish between the two concepts as he uses them?
Thank you for sharing my essay on the rise of anthropocentrism and the promise of the animate worldview.
I suppose I have some hang ups regarding the word "religion" since it has been used in association with so many dogmatic, imperialistic and degenerative institutions and belief systems in the past, but at its core (and beneath all the baggage that has been attached onto the word) I suppose I am not inherently opposed to "a particular system of faith and worship." (involving "expression(s) of reverence and adoration") that centers around the non aggression/voluntarist principles, animism (seeing all beings as possessing a conscious spirit and being worthy of reverence) and Deism.
I would like to make it clear, however, that I am not into creating (nor advocating for the creation of) any form of dogmatic religious belief system.
Through the recognition of the universally discernable fact of the Creator's existence and the reality that all beings (human and non-human) are imbued with a conscious spirit I advocate for what one might call "spiritual autonomy" or "Spiritual Autodidacticism" (for more info: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/spiritual-autodidacticism )
I personally came to acknowledge we (human beings) are a result of an intelligent design of a being that some call “God” through my own direct experiences perceiving that facet of our reality through inward exploration. I see that path of coming to directly perceive the existence and nature of the Creator (and the conscious spirit that being imbued into all our fellow beings) as inherently accessible and attainable to all human beings.
I believe that through trail blazing our own unique path inward to come to know the truth for ourselves (without needing middlemen, books to quote and lean on, or guru figures to follow) we are invited to diverge from the majority of monotheistic dogmatic religious views and directly see that humanity is not the most important, nor the ‘most blessed’ or ‘most sacred’ beings. This direct path of spiritual learning and growth is unique for each individual, as the Creator did not make us as clones, but rather unrepeatable facets of shimmering conscious spirit, each with our own gifts and unique 'kaleidoscopes of consciousness' to look through and share with the world. When we embark on that path inward, we inevitably let go of all ideas that superficially placate the ego (that is so wanting to be praised by any anthropocentric story other humans are willing to invent) and rather let our spirit/soul begin to take the driver's seat in our life. From the perspective of our spirit, we can clearly see that we have not been “given dominion of the Earth” and we can clearly know and directly perceive how ridiculous it is to think that this whole vast and complex universe was created merely for our entertainment. As we shed the baggage of delusional ego based belief systems and learn to perceive using our own God given intuition and clarity of vision, we become the ones we have been waiting for.
This is important, for many well meaning people cling to stories of savior figures swooping in to save the day while all they need to do is cheer from the sidelines. Through embarking on a path that one might call Spiritual Autodidacticism we can see the futility of such comforting fairytales. We can also sense directly that a wise, humble and courageous man like Jesus of Nazareth would never have endorsed the anthropocentric ideas described in my essay above either. When he invited us to treat others as we would want to be treated this was intended for all beings.
When we are talking about Christianity or the Bible I think it is also worth keeping in mind that Jesus himself was opposed to religious institutions and never sought out to create them. The accounts that became the substance of the bible were transcribed by Greeks, from memory, several decades after the death of Jesus. Even if those men were doing their best to remember what was said, they are imperfect humans (as we all are) and those words were remembered through the filter of their perspectives, beliefs (and have since been twisted and distorted extensively). The result is that I find much of what is pushed by dogmatic religious institutions (and their adherents) to be nothing more than a collection of unhealthy anthropomorphic projections onto a being (that is so far beyond anything resembling a human) and a surrounding set of beliefs that often constitute junk food for the ego and paths that lead towards psychological states that promote stagnation, scapegoating for our own shortcomings/mistakes, hubris, adversarial/oppressive behavior towards our fellow beings and irrational xenophobia.
Jesus of Nazareth was very much opposed people hoping that someone else was going to solve their problems for them. He suggested that people live as he did (he sought to empower others through living by example). He did not seek to gather "followers" but rather sought to offer people tools and pathways for empowering themselves. He offered examples of how one might nurture a direct connection with the Creator of all things and to unlock their true potential as human beings (he never said he was more special or possessed special abilities that others were not capable of also attaining). Jesus did not seek to solve everyone's problems for them then, and he will not seek to do that in the present or the future either.
For those in the crowd who like to get excited about the 'second coming', I would like to make it clear that whether or not the spirit of the man that was once called Jesus is incarnated onto the Earth now (or becomes so in the future) will not result in our problems being solved for us, nor will it result in any kind of vanquishing of evil nor any kind of temporary soul respites to "heaven". That is not how it works.
Engaging in life on Earth is a voluntary journey that each of us chose willingly. The Creator of all things respects our choice to be here and our free will. We did not come here to see a dramatic dualistic showdown happen and applaud the ‘good guy' for vanquishing the bad guy (from a distance as a spectator). No, each and every one of us (whether we are currently consciously aware of this fact or not) came here to co-author the story. That means no-one else is going to do the hard work for us (not a savior, rebel leader nor a politician) we came here to do that work of transforming this world ourselves.
Besides propagating unhelpful myths about savior figures (that are supposed to whoosh down from the spirit world and solve all our problems for us if we just wait long enough and keep living the way we have been living) Christianity (and other dogmatic religious belief systems) also often have myths of a big bad boogie man (or multiple bad guy characters) which are used for all kinds of scapegoating, excuse making and for justifying stagnation and laziness. Some people choose an action that is malicious and/or without compassion and then say “the devil made me do it” others blame this vague and illusive interdimensional half goat half human creature for all the ugliness that takes place on this world and (in their minds) wash their hands of any responsibility in the perpetuation of this modern society of obscene inequality, profound narcissism, materialism, vanity, environmental devastation and endless war. Both of these scapegoating uses of this myth of a super nasty interdimensional goat man are enabling mechanisms which cowards, apathetic individuals and predatory individuals latch onto for their own selfish reasons. These ideas serve to perpetuate the very “evil” in this world (that the religion they claim to subscribe to is supposed to be opposed to) by passing the buck onto an invisible bad guy character (and/or a savior figure that is hopefully going to appear and clean up our mess for us) rather than doing the work ourselves and taking responsibility for this consensus reality we help to shape (with each of our thoughts, words, choices and actions).
I personally strive to live by 'the golden rule' not out of fear of eternal damnation, or because any other being commanded me to, but rather because it makes me feel good in my heart to use my free will on this Earth to nurture, heal and help others to achieve their highest potential. It is like when I plant a rose seed in my garden and tend it gently, I do not do it out of fear or guilt, nor obligation, I do it as an expression of my love and gratitude for all that Creator has given us, because it makes my heart feel whole and gives my life meaning and purpose.
(continued in another comment..)
(...continued from above comment)
I do not advocate blindly following any other human (or group of humans) but I do see much wisdom that is worth ‘walking in the footsteps of’ which other human beings embodied, lived and shared (such as the wisdom that Jesus did).
Thus, I do not seek to push any dogma on people. Rather, I seek to perpetually hone and improve my understanding of the nature of my existence, enrich my mind, nurture symbiotic relationships with my fellow beings and nurture my eternal self (through being of service to others and nurturing/recognizing that which is a manifestation of God’s love in my daily actions).
I am always open to the possibility that my current understanding needs improvement and that there are things that exist beyond the purview of my current scope of awareness. I trust that when/if it is meant to be, some of those “unknown unknowns” ( https://www.corbettreport.com/unknowns/ ) will be revealed to me. I strive to see with my heart and help empower others through offering sign posts that helped me along my path but I do not claim my way is the only way, nor a “better way”.
So that was my super long winded way of saying, whether or not I am down with the creation of a "religion" would depend on what exactly the path and perspectives are that are being described as a “religion”. If it is a belief system that has the non aggression/voluntarist principles, animism (seeing all beings as possessing a conscious spirit and being worthy of reverence) and Deism at its core (and it invites people to directly perceive the truth for themselves, without being told what to believe with threats or other coercive means) I am down with that 100%.
I personally do not resonate with that word since humans have engaged in so much malice and destructive/degenerative behavior with that word as their guiding banner, but in truth labels do not matter to me, so if others want to call my way a “religion” that is fine. For me, it is just a way that naturally unfolds like a seed that is planted in fertile soil and then one day reaches out it’s leaves to breath in the light and nurture itself to grow onto it’s highest potential. Since I like to look to Mother Earth for guidance on how to align with natural law, Creator’s design and nurture myself physically, mentally and spiritually, perhaps I would call my path one that involves “photosynthesis of the soul”
(For more info : https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/photosynthesis-of-the-soul )
Thank you for introducing me to the concept of Ethnogenesis.
"The world we want won’t be built with violence, but with culture - that is to say, with songs, with stories, with dance, with dreams, with drums..." and heirloom seeds!
I firmly believe in the power of saving, growing and sharing heirloom seeds with regards to building the kind of culture you are talking about. Working with and learning from living seeds connect us to a place based knowing and reverence for the Earth. It bridges us to receive the gifts of our ancestors and allows us to give to future generations. As we save seed each year, these seeds adapt and grow to be unique, 'learning' how to live in a better way along side of us.
As we engage in the act of seed saving and sharing we are throwing a monkey wrench into the machinery of the global corporatocracy (that wants to own all seed, buying out and shut down the small family owned companies, patent what they can and perpetually profit from their false claims of owning intellectual rights to the genetic fabric of life). We can effectively sabotage their plans for erasing our shared living cultural heritage, nutrient dense diversity of open pollinated crops and our ability to save seed for free by engaging in what Vandana Shiva calls "Seed Satyagraha" in each of our households.
When we are not only saving heirloom seed, but also growing and preserving food and medicine from our garden we are also engaging in an act of sabotage. As you all know, the oligarchs are working diligently to cripple the conventi0nal farmers and global food supply via a variety of means. Creating decentralized food systems that are self perpetuating (regenerative gardens and/or food forests) sabotages their plans to create a situation where the population is dependent on their centralized food infrastructure (and thus helps to de-fang their plans to use CBDC and social credit tyranny to force compliance through the dependence of the masses on their systems for our basic necessities).
These forms of sabotage also cripple their ability to enforce their totalitarian schemes on future generations, for through the act of saving seed, sharing it (and regenerating the earth at the same time) we begin to create communities that can be like islands of resilience and abundance that will be immune to the financial coercion tactics and digital shackles that may be utilized in the future.
Each of us can do this to some degree, we can sabotage the bankster's plan to make us all into totally dependent consumers of mass produced gmo garbage ‘food’ and instead take back our food sovereignty.
This is why I wrote Recipes For Reciprocity: The Regenerative Way From Seed To Table, it is in essence a trial map that empowers people to sever their ties to to bankster's parasitic hypercentralized plutocracy, while also giving back to the Earth and inviting them to save and plant the seeds for resilient communities to set down roots all over.
Thanks again for sharing my essay and helping to plant these seeds in hearts and minds all over brother. If you are able to garden where you are at right now, or are working with any communities that would benefit from some high quality heirloom seeds, I am willing to share some of the abundance in my personal collection from this year's harvest.
In solidarity,
-Gavin
Christianity, thoroughly understood, is against humans imposing on each other by force or fraud. We are technically monarchist since Jesus Christ is the one and only king who rules and reigns from the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
No other king and no earthly government is consistent with Christianity. Jesus says "taxation is theft."
He also said pay to Caesar what is due to caeser
You realize that can easily be interpreted as a call to give Caesar nothing, right?
Typically, when you tell me that Jesus was an anarchist, this is the first thing that will come into their minds, but I don't see any problem with his statement. I see it as a graceful way to evade a question that the teacher had a very good reason not to want to answer!
More interesting to me is Jesus's injunction against divorce. A hard taboo against divorce IS incompatible with anarchism because one of the core principles of anarchism is voluntary association.
This needs to be understood in its historical context, which is something I'd be willing to get into if someone shows interest. I've heard people make the case that the taboo against divorce was probably because Jewish women at their time suffered terribly when they were abandoned by their husbands. I can't remember the details.
If someone is knowledgeable about this subject and cares to explain, I'm all ears. I'd have to read up on this, and I'm sure every Christian anarchist worth their salt has thought about this.
Maybe I'm being an apologist. You decide.
What would you say to people who were trying to trick you into saying something that could be used as grounds for criminal charges against you?
Rousseau ends his Discourse on Equality with a perfunctory call for people to obey "good princes" and "good laws", which was smart move, given that expressing the wrong political views could definitely get you killed back in those days.
Do you always remove the parts you want to ignore? Jesus said to render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and unto God that which belongs to God. God created everything and everything belongs to God. So you, wanting to misunderstand, say that Jesus said to pay Caesar. But he didn't. What other verses do you choose to misunderstand to pretend that a man cruelly tortured and murdered by the government is some friend of human government? Or is it only that you hate freedom and want to enslave mankind?
Greetings from a philosophical neighbour!
I've been keeping an eye on the anarchist crowd on Substack for quite a while now, although I think I've only had a discussion with David Rovics (who would not necessarily identify as 'anarchist') and Paul Cudenec. (I feel there is someone else, but I forget whom, sorry). Anyway, I thought I'd reach out and introduce myself here, and also thank you for drawing attention to the travesty that is lithium mining. I am very much in accord with you on almost every environmental topic you mention in this newsletter.
I do not identify as an anarchist personally, but I am sympathetic to anarchist projects, largely as a result of the influence of novelist Michael Moorcock, who is one of a very small group of people who have been supportive of my philosophy over the years. I am also desperate to identify the fragments of the old left that survive and have not been incorporated into the machine, and as such the anarchists and folk of such ilk in and around Nevermore are dear to me, for the left lies in tatters and has been largely neutralised or driven mad, which amounts to the same thing.
What's largely motivated me to write today is this idea of the creation of an 'anarchist religion'. It genuinely warms my heart to hear anyone say such a thing. But of course, as you yourself make clear, there is an enormous problem here, one that coincidentally came up in this week's Stranger Worlds:
https://strangerworlds.substack.com/p/disarming-culture
I will pick it up again in next week's, which will conclude December's reflections on the oh-so-unpopular topic of 'peace'.
Lastly (for now, at least): a warning. It is no coincidence that Paul has recently been flagged as troublesome. As you enthusiastically report at the head of this newsletter, you (i.e. the 'New Anarchists') are getting traction now, and that makes your movement a potential risk to the powers that shouldn't be. At the moment, you've only come into the net of the 'fact checkers'... if you ever get any serious influence, there will be far worse to come. You may well be aware of the dangers here, in which case this warning is unnecessary, but I felt honour bound to mention this anyway. The difficulty of finding a path out of the trap we are all within is not only the challenges entailed in finding other viable ways of life from where we are, it is that imperial technocracy never gives up power willingly.
You may be able to succeed at establishing a parallel culture (I hope you can) but you cannot break the empire without an awful lot of allies, and unless something gives here there is no escape and only ever-escalating dangers. It is for this reason that my philosophy right now is engaged in a (possibly futile) attempt to repair the political middle ground - I don't see how we can get out of where we are without something like this, as every non-violent struggle that succeeded has required a mobilisation of the middle. I don't see this project paying off in my lifetime either. But I have never shied away from something just because it is impossible. I suspect this is something most anarchists will recognise in themselves.🙂
With unlimited love and respect,
Chris.