Friendly Anarchism

anarchy ...(4)...... jesus

CW: Discussion about abuse and body issues

Beautiful conversation with my friend Sophia about conflict resolution, accountability, exile as social sanction, how everyone makes mistakes, talking to each other, outsourcing conflict to authority, in-person dialogues, the problems with written communications, positive conflict, call out culture & public shaming, building trust, the beauty of dance, misogyny and abuse in the dance world, western appropriation of dance, our dissociative relationship with our bodies, re-engaging with dance in classrooms and activism, true prosperity versus the prosperity gospel, discomfort with faith, anti-queer nature of faith communities, queer dating and finding religion, that Jesus was rad, the individuality of the spiritual journey, leading by example, and leading with love.

anarchy .(2)........ jesus

CW: Discussion about sex

Spoke with long time activist and friend Daniel about 3 distinct subjects.

The first 30 minutes is about being asexual, the importance of having ace (asexual) community and spaces, the A in LGBTQIA doesn't mean "ally", a lack of sexuality is a sexual orientation, breaking out of invisibility, formative adolescent years, oppression olympics, sex in popular culture, "sex-repulsed" identity and the asexuality spectrum, AVEN (Asexuality Visibility and Education Network), overt sexuality in radical spaces and respecting comfort zones, and not being seen as a "real" queer.

At 30 minutes in we started talking about his new project Decolonizing Judaism, being atheist but culturally Jewish, separating Jewish identity from the state of Israel as well as protestant colonization, conflating being anti-occupation with antisemitism, Hillel Center campus Zionism, the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, Israeli trauma, the dangerous nature of fear, Palestinian violence, alt-right working with Zionists, and leftist antisemitism.

At the hour mark we spoke about anti-statist communism, having the necessary skill sets for revolution, a temporary transitional socialist state, how a communist revolution seems like an anarchist revolution with extra steps, dual power organizing, the threat from external states to a revolution, and how the revolution is training workshops.

Referenced:

AVEN (Asexual Visibility and Education Network)

http://asexuality.org/

On not knowing when the apocalypse will come:

Matthew 25:36-44

anarchy .....(6).... jesus

Spoke with Dean and Matt from the Magnificast and had a great conversation covering a wide range of lefty and Christian topics. It was great to find another leftist Christian podcast! Go check them out! You can also follow them on twitter @TheMagnificast and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheMagnificast/ . I also have a twitter @FriendlyAPod

anarchy ....(5)..... jesus

Spoke with queer radical Christian blogger Hye Sung Francis about making Quakerism militant again, empire as false authority, nonviolence as a lack of empathy, antifa Jesus, escalation and diversity of tactics, prophecy, being heartbroken as a people, radical generosity and solidarity, revolutionary End Times, being at peace in a scary world, taking up a cross, speaking in tongues, joyous worship, the need for religion, Jesus the anti-king destroyer of hierarchy, how difficult white boys are, prison abolition, and pistachio ice cream.

Notes:

-Did I say Paul? I meant Peter. I sound pretty scattered, I'm tired y'all.

-I made assumptions about some other people's gender identity/sexual orientation/privilege that I should not have, and I apologize.

Referenced:

Hye Sung's blog:

www.hyesungfrancis.com

Psalm 46 (climate change)

The Magnificast, another radical Christian podcast

https://themagnificast.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TheMagnificast/

"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution" -Emma Goldman

1 Corinthians 12

"A Religious Solution to the Social Problem" by Howard Brinton

https://pendlehill.org/product/religious-solution-social-problem/

The Friendly Fire Retreat, can be reached at [email protected]

anarchy .......(8).. jesus

Spoke with Adam Weise, an anarchist from Bismarck North Dakota Friends Meeting about Friendly bible study, early morning worship, why anarchism, lost histories and educational redaction, introducing anarchism to people, community projects, Standing Rock court support, state repression and corruption, racism against the indigenous community, double standards in respecting spiritual practice, worldwide solidarity, the power of prayer, complacency, different kinds of prayer, non-hierarchical organizing & cooperative living, being and acting humble, “leadership through service”, and how small acts of service aren’t small.

anarchy (1)......... jesus

Katherine was interviewed by Kelly Kenoyer from the Eugene Weekly for their article "Antifa". Interview was done on 10/10/17, and this podcast was released on the same day as the article on 10/19/17.

Notes:

-It's Jeremy Christian, not Josh

http://eugeneweekly.com/20171019/lead-story/antifa

Referenced:

Decoding the language of extremist clothing

https://www.topic.com/decoding-the-language-of-extremist-clothing

anarchy .(2)........ jesus

Spoke with UO Theater professor Michael Najjar about Arab theater, how arts humanize, art as a threat, defund & defang, cinema vs. live performance, the power and energy in silence, serious listening, the "Pinter Pause", the importance of contemplation, "Angels in America", waking people up, Middle Eastern feminist theater, the Theater of Exile, authoritarian & collaborative arts, the joy and beauty of chaos, staying flexible, solidarity, broken windows, the L.A. riots/uprising, veneers of civility, and how empathy is a political act.

Referenced:

Angela Davis on violence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HnDONDvJVE

The Tyranny of Structurelessness:

http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm

anarchy ......(7)... jesus

Spoke with Christian Marxist writer Christian Chiakulas about the religiosity of communism, historical materialism, christian atheism, managing tankies, spiritually driven social justice, leftist semantics, the bible without dogma, growing up atheist, feminism in the early church, St. Thecla, how The Kingdom of God was a communist radical feminist liberation movement, living prefiguratively, Marx v. Bakunin on the role of the peasant class, violent vanguardism, the dictatorship of the proletariat, real world consequences to theory, leftist fascist creep, different bible translations, communist v. anarchist writing styles, and propaganda of the deed.

*I regret not mentioning it in the show, but St. Thecla is the patron saint of Catalonia, and with all the stuff going on down there now, it's fun to hear her story!

Referenced:

A Stab In the Dark at Christian Marxism

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/radicalchristianmillennial/2017/06/stab-dark-christian-marxism/

The State of Small Farms In The World

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15001217

Further reading:

"Das Kapital" - Karl Marx

The Story of Paul & St. Thecla

"The Kingdom of God is Within You"- Tolstoy

"Bloodstained" - AK Press

Authors: John Dominic Crossan, Reza Aslan, Mikhail Bakunin, Emma Goldman, Vladimir Lenin, Lucy Parsons, Friedrich Engels

Other articles by Christian:

Inspired by this interview:

Prefigurative Politics: How Jesus Lived the Kingdom Of God

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/radicalchristianmillennial/2017/10/prefigurative-politics-living-kingdom-god/

Also one of my favorites:

Would Jesus Punch a Nazi?

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/radicalchristianmillennial/2017/08/jesus-punch-nazi/

Resources:

The anarchist library: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/special/index

The Marxist internet archive: https://www.marxists.org/

anarchy .......(8).. jesus

Remastered Nov. 2021 by A. Campbell Payne! Spoke with Jane, a transwoman and member of the Newberg Friends Church about the current split happening in the Northwest Yearly Meeting, double standards in Faith & Practice, trans erasure, othering, trauma caused by intolerance, the tyranny of pacifism, the religious punishment kink, the corruptive power of money in the church, Quaker capitalism, Quaker Oats & Cadbury chocolates, how neither Jesus or George Fox were passive, quiet or calm, and the differences between a Friends Meeting and a Friends Church.

Notes:

I was contacted by a member of the West Hills Friends Meeting, which is one of the meetings being forced out by the NWYM, and here is a statement from her:

" Hi. I'm a member at West Hills Friends, one of the meeting being removed by Northwest Yearly Meeting's decisions. I am so grateful for you and Jane for having this conversation. I only got to listen to the first half this morning and am looking forward to the rest of it this afternoon. I would like to point out that Jane missed a few important details or got some things mixed up - and it's all super complicated so I don't even know everything. But I do know that West Hills Friends created two minutes in 2008, one on authority and one on human sexuality, that the NYWM refused to engage with for a number of years. Here is a document created by a committee at West Hills Friends (and approved by the business meeting) that tells the story as far as we understand it. This document was created in an effort to remain transparent in the face of NWYMs lack of commitment to transparency. This story continues to unfold.... groups leaving NWYM have recently formed the Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends and are looking at how to move forward in building a christ centered, inclusive, Quaker community in the pacific northwest. Thanks for hosting this conversation! "

http://www.westhillsfriends.org/wwhistory.html

Referenced:

Northwest Yearly Meeting Resturcturing

http://nwfriends.org/nwym-restructuring/

TWO BLOCKBUSTERS: NORTHWEST YM TO SPLIT OVER LGBT WELCOME; & A LAWSUIT COMING?

http://afriendlyletter.com/two-blockbusters-northwest-ym-split-lgbt-welcome-lawsuit-coming/

Quaker Theology - #24 Winter/Spring 2014: Northwest Yearly Meeting and “Shattering” Conflict: Chapter One by Chuck Fager with Jade Souza

http://quakertheology.org/Fager-Souza-Northwest-Yearly-Meeting-and-Shattering-Chapter-One.html

The Quaker Capitalist and the Chocolate Factory - The New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-quaker-capitalist-and-the-chocolate-factory

Doing Business the Quaker Way - Forbes Magazine

https://www.forbes.com/2009/10/09/quaker-business-meetings-leadership-society-friends.html

On vacation, see you next week!