The War Between the Church and the State

[GoodCallYouWin]

As an athiest and an anarchist I have observed the war with a little bemusement, but sorrow as well, for it is clear the more evil of the institutions is heading towards victory.

The church and the state have not always been at war. Many years ago the church served to intellectually prop up the state. In the Orient the church declared the King as God, in Europe the King was simply appointed by God, sometimes descended from God. In exchange, the state granted the church some of the booty it extracted from the populace.

The church has traditionally provided two services to the public; charity and education. During the last couple hundred years, the state, perhaps grasping the true source of the churchs power (people listen closely when you are feeding them, and of course if people read your literature a certain % of them will believe it), has monopolized charity and education. We see, as the manifestation of this, the welfare state.

And so we have atheism on the march. In all likelyhood this is the inevitable result of the scientific revolution and a more rational explanation of the world coming into event but the gradual decline of the church has been forced into a dramatic rush towards extinction by the violent monopolies of the state.

The former function of the church, to legitimize state power, is now accomplished in a much more direct manner. Public education serves to indoctrinate children into the worship of socialism and university professors, living large off the sweat of the labour of workers and businessmen alike, provide the intellectual arguments for this monstrosity. The church's formerly impressive arguments, now properly show as rubbish, are discarded and the apologists of socialism, the welfare state and other such idiotic ideas have taken its place.

You see the church, while it relies on lies and brainwashing, is a benevolent institution compared to the state. After all, the church ultimately is a product of voluntarism. No one is violently coerced into belonging to the church and the worst thing that can happen if you defy them is they won't give you communion. Maybe the bishop will call you names. The state on the other hand will thrown you in jail for the smallest slight, and even if you are lucky enough to avoid being hit over the head by the long arm of the law, most of what you make becomes the property of the state through incessant taxation.

And so I cry for the death of the church, not because I believe, but because I fear what is to come next.

[tame_deuces]

Yeah it's not like churches don't accept members under one years of age and there has never been social stigmata for leaving your church. Seriously, go the right religion and they kill their children if they leave their faith, and some still arrange marriages - how voluntarist is that. And the state hasn't 'stolen' anything from the church. The christian church used the power of education to indoctrinate people in a possible false belief that they are all sinners and that all good comes from god.

And you obviously can't know your history very well if you don't know that churches had much say in politics, in many of your states the church ruled the show and wielded the political power - and through its influece it was in many countries deemed illegal to have freedom of faith, freedom of expression, illegal to divorce, illegal to have an abortion, illegal to dress lightly, deemed immoral to flirt, deemed immoral to have sex (which is maybe the most natural part of human behavior), deemed immoral to use prevention, deemed immoral to masturbate, deemed a sin to not believe, deemed a sin to explore new knowledge, deemed herecy to oppose the bible. You have examples of people being killed and silenced for expressing beliefs contrary to the church. People have used the church to get rich on people's honest beliefs. People have used the church to force themselves upon the weakest in society. People use the church as a platform for political power.

Sure not all churches are like this or have been like this, some have even been fairly decent, but painting some rosy red picture is just dumb. If the state is some big criminal, then the churches aren't a notch better.

[luckyme]

[ QUOTE ]
No one is violently coerced into belonging to the church and the worst thing that can happen if you defy them is they won't give you communion.

[/ QUOTE ]

Either try and get out more, or turn on CNN every few months.

luckyme

[tame_deuces]

OOh, and I forgot this one for the anarchist/voluntarist: Most states have their power sanctified by the leading religions thus gaining much of their 'legitimacy' - don't see how a voluntarist can support that.