does anyone believe in archangels

Question

i have been told that anarchist are archangels, just wondering if anyone else belives this , is it true , i need answers , new to all this, what are some things i should know,and what should i look out for. i read the bible do all anarco punks read the bible.

Answer 1

I would dispute the idea that anarchists are archangels, though I want to be clear that I am basing that on the most literal interpretation of “archangel” one could imagine. One of the wonderful things my parents inadvertently did for me was to raise me in a manner relatively free of religion. This meant I went to my Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary to make sure I wasn’t missing some major connotation of “archangel.”

Basing my answer on the definition of an archangel: “a chief or principal angel; in medieval angelology one of the nine orders of celestial attendants on God,” I am not doing god’s work nor attending to him (I am choosing male pronouns because I think they help illustrate the patriarchal nature of the Abrahamic lineage of religion, though that is a tangent), god does not guide my actions, because god does not exist. If you want to view my actions through the lens of your particular faith (or lack thereof) that has nothing to do with me, though if you tell me I am doing god’s work, what holy work I do, etc (and I’ve had jobs where this is a regular occurrence), I will likely tell you that no, I am doing what I think is best, or right, or what I want to do, for either myself, or for those I care about. The more of your god you put on to me and my actions, the more I will come to view you with pity and contempt.

As far as reading the bible, I tried, and actually, I tried at a time when I identified as an anracho-punk. I felt it was important to try to understand the roots of the dominant culture if I wanted to challenge and destroy it. I got bored when everyone was begetting everyone for what seemed like one hundred pages. I’ve periodically picked it up to look up particular references that I wanted to understand, or to make particular arguments against it, but on a whole, studying the bible is such a low priority to me that I am more likely to find myself reading a romance novel. Do other anarchists (and anarcho-punks) read the bible? Certainly some do. There are Christian anarchists (even Christian anti-civ/ anarcho-primitivists) out there, and while I can’t personally reconcile all of their beliefs, I also don’t care as long as they don’t get their shit on me.

What to watch out for? How do you mean? Watch out for dogma: it is easy to say, “no gods, no masters,” but still be ruled by gods and masters that you’ve internalized. Watch out for people trying to use the term “anarchist” to attract people naturally inclined towards rebellion to their cause. Watch out not only for god, but for mere humans (like, ahem, Jesus) elevated to deity status; often they have names like Avakian, Bakunin, Bookchin, Goldman, Kropotkin, Lenin, Mao, Marx. Related, watch out for documents which are elevated to the level of holy scripture (similar to the bible); often this is called a platform, points of unity, or alternately, a manifesto.

Comments

edited for readability and a typo.

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you got bored during genesis? :P

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I don't remember if it was Genesis or Numbers or what, but it was boring.

Not nearly as cool as the time where I randomly opened the bible to a passage during love making and found the quote, "and their camels shall be a booty."

Answer 2

Yes, anarchists are archangels, created through the evolutionary process to protect the rest of humanity against the forces of domination, hierarchy, authority, oppression, coercion, and inequality; in other words—evil.

Some things you should look out for: the state; capitalism; the rich; libertarians; conservatives; liberals; Communists; Scientologists; the ultra-religious; discrimination; "anarcho"-capitalists; methamphetamine; Neo-Nazis and other Fascists; the evils described above; the pigs; and people who use the word "bro" and/or any variation of it (i.e. brosky, brohan, brotato, macabroni and cheese, etc).

Some things you should or might come in handy know: why you should look out for everything listed above; the different schools of anarchism and their philosophies; where the closest anarchist organization to you is; upcoming protests and marches; how to fight the pigs; how to live a sustainable life/off of the current system; how to fight capitalism and the state; etc.

Most anarchists are not punks by the cultural definition (although it's not unheard of to receive this "insult"). I cannot speak for all anarchists, for it would be like speaking for all of humanity, but many anarchists reject religion as a form of one of the evils described above. However, that does not mean an anarchist atheist has not read the Bible, and there are plenty of religious/spiritual anarchists in the world as well.