Religious anarchists view organized religion mostly as authoritarian and hierarchical that has strayed from its
humble origins, as
Peter Marshall explains:
Buddhism Many Westerners who call themselves Buddhists regard the
Buddhist tradition, in contrast to most other world faiths, as
nontheistic,
humanistic, and experientially-based. Most Buddhist schools, they point out, see the Buddha as the embodied proof that
transcendence and ultimate happiness is possible for all, without exception. The Indian revolutionary and self-declared atheist
Har Dayal, much influenced by
Marx and
Bakunin, who sought to expel British rule from the subcontinent, was a striking instance of someone who, in the early 20th century, tried to synthesize anarchist and Buddhist ideas. Having moved to the
United States in 1912, he went so far as to establish the Bakunin Institute of California in
Oakland, which he described as "the first
monastery of anarchism".
Zen priest and critic Hakugen Ichikawa, in his condemnation of Buddhist support for
Japanese imperialism in Asia, once concluded that "if Buddhism is to possess social thought, it will have to take the form of B-A-C, Buddhism-Anarchism-Communism." Later in his career, he returned to this position, reframing it as "Śūnya-anarchism-communism" (空 - 無政府 - 共同体論), where
Śūnya means "the vertical foundation of both the subjectivity that engages in social revolution and, in terms of that
subjectivity's basic choices, the humble and open spirit that has been purified from
dogmatism, self-absolutism and the
will to power." Ultimately, Hakugen suggested that this results in, "negating, in the horizontal dimension, state power; politically, this constitutes anarchism...Through the mediation of the reckoning of philosophical
conscience (controlling desires) and by means of social-scientific discernment and praxis, one negates the capitalist system of private ownership and eliminates the social basis of the
commodification of human labor power; economically, this amounts to communism." For Hakugen, Śūnya represents a "vertical, existential freedom, whereas anarchism and communism pertain to horizontal freedom, and the 'origin' is the point where the two dimensions of freedom intersect."
Bhante Sujato, one of the leading
Theravada representatives in Australia considers himself an
anarchist. In a Buddhist speech entitled
I am an anarchist for Dhammanet, Sujato states his anarchist
ideology, specifically aligning himself with
anarcho-pacifism, which he explains as being compatible with The Buddha, Buddhist lay and renunciant life, as well as being in accord with the monastic
vinaya. In the speech, Sujato explains his belief that The Buddha was also an anarchist.
Christianity '', a 1917 political cartoon by
socialist cartoonist
Art Young, which depicts Christ as a man wanted for sedition and other crimes (printed to protest arrests of radical left-wing activists at the time who opposed US involvement in World War One) According to some,
Christianity began primarily as a
pacifist and anarchist movement. Jesus is said, in this view, to have come to empower individuals and free people from an oppressive religious standard in the
Mosaic law; he taught that the only rightful authority was God, not Man, evolving the law into the
Golden Rule (see also
liberal Christianity). As per
Christian communism, anarchism is not necessarily opposed by the
Catholic Church. Indeed,
distributism in
Catholic social teaching, such as
Pope Leo XIII's
encyclical Rerum novarum and
Pope Pius XI's
Quadragesimo anno, is philosophically similar to anarchism.
Islam The Bedouin nomads of the
Khawarij were Islam's first sect. They challenged the new centralization of power in the Islamic state as an impediment to their tribe's freedom. At least one sect of Khawarij, the
Najdat, believed that if no suitable
imam was present in the community, the position could be dispensed with. A strand of
Muʿtazili thought paralleled that of the Najdat: if rulers inevitably became tyrants, the only acceptable course of action was to depose them. The
Nukkari subsect of
Ibadi Islam reportedly adopted a similar belief.
Judaism Jacques Ellul recounts that at the end of the
Book of Judges (Judges 21:25) there was no king in Israel and everyone did as they saw fit. Later in the first
Book of Samuel (1 Samuel 8) the
people of Israel wanted a king to be like other nations. The first known Jewish Anarchist organisation in the United States was the
Pioneers of Liberty (
Pionire der Frayhayt). The
Haymarket trial of 1886 sparked nationwide interest in anarchist ideas. On the day of the trial's sentencing, about a dozen Jewish workers of New York's
Lower East Side founded the Pioneers of Liberty, the first Jewish anarchist organization in the United States. The group ran
Varhayt, a short-lived, first Yiddish-language anarchist newspaper in the United States, between February and June 1889. And together with the Jewish anarchist
Knights of Liberty group, which sprang from the Pioneers of Liberty, the two organizations together founded the long-running Yiddish-language anarchist newspaper,
Fraye Arbeter Shtime, in 1890. The Pioneers of Liberty also published an annual paper,
Tfileh Zakeh (Pure Prayer), which circulated during the Jewish
High Holy Days between 1889 and 1893. The
Orthodox Kabbalist rabbi
Yehuda Ashlag believed in a religious version of
libertarian communism, based on principles of Kabbalah, which he called altruist communism. Ashlag supported the
Kibbutz movement and preached to establish a network of self-ruled
internationalist communes, who would eventually "annul the brute-force regime completely, for 'every man did that which was right in his own eyes, because "there is nothing more humiliating and degrading for a person than being under the brute-force government". A British rabbi,
Yankev-Meyer Zalkind, was an
anarcho-communist and very active anti-militarist. Rabbi Zalkind, a close friend of
Rudolf Rocker, was a prolific
Yiddish writer and a prominent
Torah scholar. He argued, that the ethics of the
Talmud, if properly understood, is closely related to anarchism. Zalkind's philosophy was not popular with British Orthodox Jewry and Zalkind was shunned by the community, with
Chief Rabbi Hertz denying Zalkind's rabbinic credentials and Zalkind being forced to renounce his rabbinic title. The Yiddish
anti-authoritarian and
anti-police song
In Ale Gasn/Daloy Politsey dates from the time of the
Russian Revolutions and continues to be sung by artists who identify with political tendencies like anarchism. Many versions of the song have been updated to talk about modern issues such as government corruption, police brutality, and general anarchist themes, along with translating them into languages like English and German. The song is actually a portmanteau of two different Jewish Anarchist songs from the period of the Russian Revolutions, which were combined by
Zalmen Mlotek for the film "
The Free Voice of Labour: The Jewish Anarchists", 1980. which details the final days of the
Fraye Arbeter Shtime. In January 2019, The
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research organized a special conference on Yiddish anarchism in New York City, which drew over 450 people. Jewish anarchist newspapers include
Arbeter Fraynd,
Burevestnik,
Chernoe Znamja (
Black Flag),
Dos Fraye Vort,
Fraye Arbeter Shtime,
Germinal, and
Kagenna Magazine. Many people of Jewish origin, such as
Emma Goldman,
Alexander Berkman,
Paul Goodman,
Murray Bookchin,
Volin,
Gustav Landauer,
David Graeber, and
Noam Chomsky have played a role in the history of anarchism. However, as well as these anarchists of Jewish origin, there have also been specifically Jewish anarchist movements, within the
Yiddish-speaking communities of
Eastern and
Central Europe, and the Western cities to which they migrated, from the late nineteenth century until the Second World War. All the members of the first anarchist group in the
Russian Empire, which was formed in 1903 in
Białystok, were Jews. , vol 1 no 4, Friday, July 25, 1890 Different anarchist groups had different views on
Zionism and the
Jewish question.
Bernard Lazare was a key figure in both the
French anarchist movement and early Zionist movement. The later
Territorialist movement, especially the
Freeland League, under the leadership of
Isaac Nachman Steinberg, was very close to anarchism. Some others, such as
Martin Buber and
Gershom Scholem, advocated non-nationalist forms of Zionism, and promoted the idea of creating a
binational Jewish-Arab federation in
Palestine. Many contemporary anarchists support the idea of what has been dubbed the "no-state solution".
Noam Chomsky has said that, as an anarchist, he ultimately favors such a no-state solution, but, in the short term, feels a two-state solution is the best way out of the present conflict. Within Israel there is also the organisation
Anarchists Against the Wall, which is a
direct action group composed of
Israeli anarchists and
anti-authoritarians who oppose the construction of the
Israeli Gaza Strip barrier and
Israeli West Bank barrier.
Taoism Many early
Taoists, such as the influential
Laozi and
Zhuangzi, were critical of authority and advised rulers that the less controlling they were, the more stable and effective their rule would be. However, there are parts of Laozi's
Tao Te Ching where an at least stateless, if not anarchistic, viewpoint is more apparent. In chapter 29 it is stated:
Trying to control the world? ''I see you won't succeed.''
The world is a spiritual vessel And cannot be controlled. Those who control, fail. In Chapter 53:
Granaries are empty, But the nobels clothes are gorgeous, Their belts show off swords, And they are gluted with food and drink. Personal wealth is excessive. ''This is called thieves' endowment,''
But it is not Tao. In chapter 57:
the Sage says... I enjoy serenity And people govern themselves. In Chapter 66:
Those who would lead Must speak as if they are behind In Chapter 68:
The most effective leader takes the lowest place In Chapter 72:
When people are not in awe of power, Power becomes great. There is still debate among contemporary anarchists about whether or not this counts as an anarchist view. It is known, however, that some less influential Taoists, such as
Bao Jingyan, explicitly advocated anarchy. == References ==