blanket conjecture and some of the reasons why it sucks

revised just a little @ 6:18 pm

[some thoughts i want to share - coming from discussions i've been participating in @ portland.indymedia.org  - sparked by the uk riots.]

. . .  no two anarchists are alike - in my opinion - this is the root of anarchist philosophy, then from autonomy comes no gods no masters no slaves . . . this is a quick statement and so i won't come close to saying all that i could, or want to . . .

i don't even know that the uk rioters consider themselves anarchists - or that they are acting in the name of anarchy - i doubt any of us here in america - or anywhere that's not there - has any real clue as to what is motivating these INDIVIDUALS . . .

yet to lump all anarchists together - to point to one who does something you don't like or comprehend and then point to all of us and say congratulations morons or whatever you said . . . makes you sound like a moron in my opinion. if i think like you, then i could go on to make all-inclusive statements like "everyone who disapproves of anarchists sounds like morons" and so on.

for example - how many individuals calling themselves christians or republicans - or whatever they label themselves as - have committed crimes against humanity? well, in my opinion, i can think of many reasons to say that anyone identifying themselves as republicans are assholes - period - but maybe i would be wrong - maybe there is an exception to this rule somewhere . . .[and this by no means is meant to suggest, that those people identifying themselves as democrats are necessarily awesome; there are frauds and phonies everywhere you look -- having said that, someone who is awesome, but says they are a republican, probably isn't a very good republican :o)]

many people around the world identify themselves as christians - people who devote most, possibly all, of their whole lives to helping others and truly and earnestly hope to make the world a better place - while some christians exclude and persecute others and hold back the world from evolving ethically - and some people who consider themselves christians - are homicidal maniacs, child molesters, rapists . . .

so if one christian commits any crime - arson, looting, murder and so on - does their faith/philosophical background extend to all christians?

i certainly don't think so. i didn't arise at this conclusion overnight. it took me years of experience, and ensuing wisdom, to realize that a lot of  "christians" have given christianity - even faith in god - any concept of god - a bad name. i had to overcome my own biases, in order to understand that - at the root of the best of what is christianity - a lot of christians are awesomely kind and generous and wonderful people - and that the elitists in that faith don't own the right to feeling spiritually guided or having faith in something awesome and outside yourself.

my grandfather - before his death - was a southern baptist minister. i didn't know him very well - my mother left the south when i was 5 - we visited my grandparents only a few times following our moving away. what i learned from his belief system is that he was a racist, sexist, homophobic pig . . . as his granddaughter, i want to say that even despite this -  he had some good qualities also -  but as a representative of christian faith (and my first real introduction to it)  - he gave christianity a really bad rap . . . yet, i have gone on to know and learn from other christians, that he did not represent them all . . .

do you get my drift?

i don't ascribe to any organized religion, especially i can't conceive of patriarchal religions ever speaking for me - but i have been able to see past the weaknesses in these belief systems to the greater good - the higher ethics - that all kind-hearted altruistic people share - and in this way - god for me - is the greatest good in the universe - and believing in this goodness fills me up spiritually - and for me - this is my source of faith - but it has no name, or clearly defined rules, etc - just as long as it is about truth, love, and compassion - and so on - i find my faith in this - and try to be the best person i can be etc . . .

i am totally simpatico with the best of anarchist philosophy. anarchists have been getting a bad rap for a long time - and sometimes certain individuals, who commit bad acts, do this to anarchy - but i think the greatest resistance comes from those in power - whether it's church or government - who resist and condemn - because they don't want to give up their authority, their ruling power . . . more than their distrust in humans to make good choices, when they think for, and "govern"* themselves (*for lack of a better word at the moment) - because even with "law and order" - church and state - etc - really bad shit happens: cops kill - priests rape - politicians pillage - bombs get dropped - killing civilians en masse and destroying entire cities/countries in one fell swoop . . .

anarchy and peace, kristin @

ps: "lol" >>

Millynn James your grandpa'd be rolling over in his grave to be called a Southern Baptist! Missionary Baptist, he was.

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