Re: AUT: Priviledging economics over psychology....

["Harald Beyer-Arnesen" <haraldba@xxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: <rcarley@xxxxxxx>
To: <aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: 15. juli 2002 14.50
Subject: Re: AUT: Priviledging economics over psychology....


Rob wrote:

"Starting with Malatesta in Italy there has been a tradition of
Anarchism coupled with Catholicism but not necessarily "organized
religion" rather the humanism of Christ and the Saints."

To my knowledge Maltesta was very much an atheist, who saw
the need to "by force ... deprieve the priests of their privileges ..
... secured by the power of the state" and "necessary, and
urgent, to destroy the harmful influence of the priest". But "also
[with reference to the situation after their privileges have been
taken away) that the only means to achieve success is freedom
-- freedom for ourselves and them".
        To my knowledge Malatesta viewed the belief in God pretty
much as Bakunin did, as a belief in authority, which it surely
also is. If you have sources contradicting this, it would be historically
interesting to know. Only part of his writings have been translated
into English but I never heard any thing to suggest that he was
anything but an atheist.
        This said, it would be quite strange if not religious beliefs
where not be found at all within the broadly based popluar anarchist
movements of Italy, Spain and elsewhere, even if, as in Spain,
the anarchist movement in general was very anti-religious. I had
sort of belived that Catholic anarchism was a particular U.S. thing,
but I might be very much be wrong in this.

As a moral general remark, the "communist" Christ clearly also
believed in the need for Gulags. Call it hell. More crucial perhaps,
such a belief that the truth is to be found in some ancient texts,
and the ability to disregard all the deeply authoritarian parts of
these  -- some of it contents far to the right of the Christian funda-
mentalists of the Republican party -- surely reveals a lingering
disbelief in the emancipatory powers of human beings on their
own, and in ones own human judgement.
            Looked at sociologially, the overrepresenatiton of people
with with backgrounds in fundamentalist Christian milieus among
those who became fanatic Maoist here, is hardly a surprise. They
for sure still belived in hell as necessary to cleanse humanity
of its sins. Stalin and Pol Pot could thus became the revengeful God.

This said, I also actually know a girl that is some kind of Catholic,
as well as a libertarian socialist. Quite a curiosity though this is
in a country where devoted believers are in a minority around
10-15 per cent, and the vast majority are either agnostics or atheists,
and people still wonder if they can trust somebody who goes
to church, if not a former drug-addict.
She is a great person though.

Harald



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