Ideology
Religious Anarchism
Combines a rejection of coercive government with a religious outlook, arguing that faith, conscience, and moral teaching, rather than state power, should guide human conduct and organize voluntary communities of mutual aid.
Core ideas
- The state is not the rightful authority over a person's conscience or conduct.
- Faith, conscience and moral teaching should guide behaviour in place of coercive government.
- Some strands read the glorification of the state as a form of sinful idolatry.
- Communities should be organized by voluntary mutual aid.
- It is a family of religious readings, not one creed: Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic and Taoist versions exist.
Where it sits on the 12 axes
The economy axis (Collectivize to Privatize) is 50, in the middle. The government axis (Security to Freedom) is 0, the extreme Freedom end, which is where the anarchist part shows up. Diplomacy (Internationalism to Nationalism) is 50, also in the middle. Society (Progressive to Traditional) is 30, leaning toward the second value, Traditional. The test finds your match by straight distance on those four axes alone, and the nearest ideology wins.
The bar shows the position on each of the four axes an ideology is matched on; the middle mark is the centre.
History
Anarchists have traditionally been sceptical of or opposed to organized religion. The slogan 'Ni Dieu ni maitre!' (Neither God nor master!) was coined in 1880 by the socialist Auguste Blanqui, not an anarchist, and William Godwin, author of Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793), moved from Calvinist ministry to agnosticism. Even so, some anarchists have offered religious interpretations. The theologian Jacques Ellul read 1 Samuel 8, where a people asks for a king, as God warning against human rule. Some argue that Christianity began as a pacifist, anarchist movement. In Islam, the Najdat sect of the Khawarij held that a community could do without an imam if no suitable one existed. In the early 20th century Har Dayal tried to combine Buddhist and anarchist ideas.
Associated thinkers
- Jacques Ellul
Common misunderstandings
- Anarchism is usually thought of as anti-religious, and many anarchist writers were. Religious anarchism is a minority reading that keeps the rejection of coercive government but grounds it in faith.
- It is not one organization or church. It shows up separately in Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic and Taoist thought.
Related ideologies
Is Religious Anarchism your closest ideology?
Take the test and see which of the ideologies your answers sit closest to.
Questions
What is Religious Anarchism?
A set of religious interpretations of anarchism. It rejects coercive government while holding that faith, conscience and moral teaching, not state power, should guide conduct and shape voluntary communities. Some versions call glorification of the state a form of idolatry.
Is Religious Anarchism left or right?
Neither cleanly. This site files it as other, and the single left-right line fits it badly. It sits at the extreme Freedom end of the government axis, in the middle on economy and diplomacy, and leans Traditional on society.
Religious Anarchism vs mainstream anarchism?
Mainstream anarchism has usually been sceptical of or hostile to organized religion, and its famous slogan is 'Neither God nor master'. Religious anarchism shares the rejection of coercive authority but treats God, or conscience, as the only rightful authority over a person.
How does the 12 Axes test decide I am Religious Anarchism?
It measures the straight-line distance between your economy, government, diplomacy and society scores and the four values stored for each of 38 ideologies. The nearest one is your match. The other eight axes are not part of that comparison.