{"id":220737,"date":"2016-07-26T16:45:17","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T16:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/web\/?p=220737"},"modified":"2016-07-26T16:45:17","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T16:45:17","slug":"freedom-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-6.thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/update_draft\/?p=220737","title":{"rendered":"Freedom Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interview with the Catholic Worker Movement\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Freedom Press, 7 September 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/freedomnews.org.uk\/interview-with-the-catholic-worker-movement\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

As we head into autumn the thoughts of many anarchists in the south of England turn to the Anarchist Bookfair, being held this year at Central St Martin\u2019s near Kings Cross Station, a highlight in the anarchist calendar for many. One of the regular stalls at the Bookfair intrigues some, confuses others and annoys a few so it seemed a good idea to find out a little bit more about the Catholic Worker Movement and why they align themselves with anarchism. I contacted Scott Albrecht for an interview and he kindly agreed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Q: Scott, most anarchists haven\u2019t heard of The Catholic Worker Movement, and the word \u2018Catholic\u2019 isn\u2019t great PR at the moment. Can you tell us a bit about it. How did it start, what are its values, what does it do? <\/strong>
\nThe Catholic Worker was started on May Day 1933 by Dorothy Day, a former communist, and Peter Maurin, a learned man of the road. They decided they wanted to explode \u2018the dynamite of Catholic social teaching\u2019, ideas such as Distributism, Subsidiarity, Unions, Voluntary Poverty, Non-violence (although the catholic church as you rightly suggest has been violent, in the last century violence has had its primary roots within the nation state). Dorothy Day promoted pacifism, in fact immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbour the headline of The Catholic Worker Newspaper claimed \u201cWe are still Pacifists\u201d The Catholic Worker lost 70,000 readers.<\/p>\n

Within the Catholic Worker Movement are Houses of Hospitality for those who have been made destitute by government policy.\u00a0 I live at The Catholic Worker Farm where we empower women and children who have fled internal and external conflicts, human trafficking, bonded servitude, FGM and domestic violence. We offer 23 of them food, shelter and clothing to start.\u00a0 Then we offer therapies, Psycho, Group and Dance. We help them get solicitors, GP\u2019s and dental work, put their children into school and generally support them as we share the same dignity.<\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t stop there.\u00a0 We engage with the State, non-violently. Many of us have criminal records, I\u00a0have\u00a0four!\u00a0I\u2019ve been in jail over a dozen times. We\u2019ve poured litres and litres of red paint on Government property, dug graves, blockaded and marched against Climate Change, Nuclear Weapons and all of the invasions. We have engaged with the DSEi Arms Fair, the MoD, Northwood Military Headquarters, The Home and Foreign Offices, MI5, and still keep on \u2018ploughing\u2019.<\/p>\n

Oh yeah,we also Dumpster Dive and grow organic vegetables!
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Q: I first came across you at the Anarchist Bookfair in London, maybe about 10 years ago,\u00a0where you had a stall. I remember you saying that you had a crucifix on it to express the idea that you don\u2019t follow a god who wants to dominate. Are the Catholic Workers inherently anarchist-or is that your take on it? Can Christianity be anarchist? Do you really see a similarity between the teachings of Jesus and anarchism?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dorothy Day taught that we believe in \u201cthe Anarchism of Kropotkin\u201d\u00a0 It is at the heart of all we do.\u00a0 We are not a\u00a0Registered Charities, and take no government funding.\u00a0 We are trying to build something \u2018new in the shell of the old\u2019.\u00a0 Something with human proportion, with human need at the centre. Zones of liberation.<\/p>\n

Many christians are unaware that the earliest christians were pacifists and had a anarchist orientation towards the state.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until the Edict of Toleration in 324CE that Christianity was made legal.\u00a0 Prior to that, the state kicked the shit out of christians for not worshipping Caesar, the State and not joining the military.\u00a0To be radical can\u00a0mean to go back to one\u2019s roots.\u00a0Christians need to go back and read early christian history.<\/p>\n

Jesus taught that the \u201cArchons\u201d (rulers)\u00a0lord their authority over others and make their presence felt.\u00a0 He taught that If one wants to lead.\u00a0one should become a slave of all.\u00a0 He gets on his knees before the crucifixion and washes his friend\u2019s feet, a role typically reserved\u00a0in that culture\u00a0for women or slaves. There are many passages in the Old Testament that forbid the establishment of a kingship; whilst all the other nations worshipped them. In the earliest passages, from Genesis, the Rabbi\u2019s are claiming that all humans are created in the \u201cImage of God\u201d.\u00a0Quite a radical perspective since all of the other surrounding religions taught that the King alone is the Image of God.<\/p>\n

Q: The dominant expression of the Catholic Church has historically been reactionary, patriarchal and often on the side of the oppressor, the antithesis of anarchism-how do you see yourself in relation to that Church?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I see myself as a challenge to that church.\u00a0 While I may believe in its Dogmas, I believe we must challenge injustice in the church as well.\u00a0 The church is always the last to change. It\u2019s moves to pay a just wage, to stop pedophile priests are reactionary.\u00a0 Like any institution, it reacts slowly and largely under pressure. The truth is though that we expect more from those who talk the talk\u00a0but don\u2019t walk the walk.<\/p>\n

However the church is a voluntary association, unlike the State.\u00a0It gives honour to the role of conscience.\u00a0The state couldn\u2019t care less.\u00a0It needs us to remain sedated, support violence or live in fear.<\/p>\n

Q: You have been arrested a few times for anti-state\/anti-militarist activity- can you tell us more about that? Does Christian Anarchism emphasise anti-militarism?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was conned into the military at an early age.\u00a0The recruitment officers were wining and dining me.\u00a0Prositituting themselves in order to score me.\u00a0I was young and believed\u00a0in the\u00a0doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).\u00a0 We had the fear of a Russian nuclear attack hanging over our heads as children.\u00a0Having become a christian while in the military,\u00a0I was then confronted with a new doctrine, \u201cLove your Enemies\u201d!\u00a0 This hit me hard and I went to my commanding officer and said that I would refuse to take direct orders, work on F111 Fighter planes, load Nukes, the lot.<\/p>\n

I now understand that the discipline, sense of community, orientation towards a higher goal has been the catalyst for my activism now.\u00a0Those values (experienced in the armed forces)\u00a0are still there, just redirected to enrich human life, not to destroy it.<\/p>\n

Every Christian Anarchist I know is a Pacifist.<\/p>\n

Q: You have spent a lot of years in activism and engaged with social issues-how have you managed to avoid burn out and becoming jaded?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not so sure that I\u2019ve avoided burn out completely.\u00a0I have been tired and the responsibilities of the farm are immense.\u00a0 Prayer and trying to allow a revolution of the heart are equally important to me.\u00a0 What\u2019s it all about if we create utopia and yet know that we are feeling like crap inside?\u00a0 I have an old black punk shirt that says, \u201c all anarchists are pretty\u201d Id like to think so.<\/p>\n

One of the issues I have though hard on in terms of Direct Action is this. When we close down the gates at Northwood Military Headquarters, do the military not use that as an opportunity to increase their mobility and focus?\u00a0 If we could stop one bomb from dropping on Iraq, a friend said, it\u2019ll have been worth it.\u00a0The problem is, as I see it, If we could stop them from dropping one bomb, the military would still\u00a0be largely effective.\u00a0They either thrive on adversity or ignore it.<\/p>\n

So where does that leave us?\u00a0Symbolic actions have the power inherent in them to move consciousness. Think of the hammering of the Berlin Wall.\u00a0The Prophet Isaiah said, \u201cThey shall beat their swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks and study war no more.\u201d I like that, weapons into agricultural implements so that we can feed people.<\/p>\n

Q: What thinkers, writers etc do you find interesting and inspiring?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I enjoy reading Chris Hedges, Jacque Ellul, Tolstoy, Ched Myers, Naomi Klein and Noam Chomsky, who was willing to Skype us during our Christian Anarchist Conference last year, but he couldn\u2019t get into his office!<\/p>\n

Q: What do you think is the most important lesson Christianity can learn from anarchism, and vice versa?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That together we\u2019re stronger.\u00a0 Anarchist can teach christians from their own texts, cause we are largely illiterate!\u00a0 While christians don\u2019t have a monopoly on it, christians can share their thoughts on the primacy of Love and its power to move immovable objects. I believe in Ghandi\u2019s Truth Force and Jesus\u2019 \u2018The truth will set us free\u2019, but we need to understand reality first, on its own terms.\u00a0Then we need to embrace and bare the burden of it. Only then can we change the course of it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interview with the Catholic Worker Movement\u00a0 Freedom Press, 7 September 2015 https:\/\/freedomnews.org.uk\/interview-with-the-catholic-worker-movement\/ As we head into autumn the thoughts of many anarchists in the south of England turn to the Anarchist Bookfair, being held this year at Central St Martin\u2019s near Kings Cross Station, a highlight in the anarchist calendar for many. One of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-appearances"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-6.thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/update_draft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-6.thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/update_draft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-6.thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/update_draft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-6.thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/update_draft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-6.thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/update_draft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=220737"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging-6.thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/update_draft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220739,"href":"https:\/\/staging-6.thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/update_draft\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220737\/revisions\/220739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-6.thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/update_draft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=220737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-6.thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/update_draft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=220737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-6.thecatholicworkerfarm.org\/update_draft\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=220737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}