A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #17-25 - Holy Anarchy? No, thanks! (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Intrigued by the title - Holy Anarchy! Demolishing Domination, Embodying 
Community, Loving the Stranger - I purchased and read Graham Adams's 
book (Bologna, EDB, 2025). I feel compelled to strongly advise against 
it and to warn comrades so that they do not commit the same double 
mistake that I did. Or, at least, choose to do so with full awareness. 
The book proved to be an objectively tiring read, weighed down among 
other things by a discontinuous, fragmentary, unsystematic and, at the 
same time, redundant development of reflections. Each chapter - eight in 
all - opens with a biblical passage (sometimes even two, to make sure 
nothing is missing). But the entire text is overflowing with biblical 
language, scriptural references and images from an illustrated 
catechism. This is the monotonous conceptual world in which the author 
moves, thinks and expresses himself: a theological universe in which the 
anarchy promised in the title dissolves between psalms and invocations. 
In fact, punctuating everything are 17 hymns - yes, hymns: prayers, 
songs of praise, supplications - all rigorously composed by the author. 
The result? A deeply religious, theological and biblical book. But very 
little anarchist.

Not even one of the classic theorists of anarchism is mentioned: no 
Bakunin, Proudhon, Malatesta, Goldmann, Kropotkin, Reclus. Nobody. Not 
even Tolstoy! Zero. The only one to make a fleeting appearance - 
relegated to four footnotes - is Jacques Ellul. The author's true 
theoretical references? Two contemporary theologians: his direct 
teacher, the British Anglican Andrew Shanks, and John Caputo, an 
American with a Catholic background and founder of the so-called "weak 
theology". In short, there is no comparison with the anarchist 
philosophical tradition: during the laborious reading I had the 
impression of having been deceived and kidnapped, forced to reluctantly 
attend a seminar on postmodern theology. In the almost three hundred 
pages there is not the slightest attempt at dialogue with libertarian 
thought. Only the title is, unfortunately, an effective bait. Moreover, 
the expression "Holy Anarchy!", with the specificity of the exclamation 
point, is inspired, as expressly declared by the author, by Robin, 
Batman's assistant (on p. 19 of the book). These are the author's solid 
theoretical references.

The author carries out a theological makeover, appropriating the term 
anarchy to find a better language and freshen up the expression "Kingdom 
of God". Evidently, "king," "kingdom," terms with a clear gender and 
top-down connotation, do not have much appeal today, so we start hunting 
for more catchy and more catchy synonyms. After all, "the language of 
sovereignty, control, and government is completely inadequate," writes 
Adams (p. 32).

The heart of the proposal is, essentially, a rebranding: out with 
"Kingdom of God," on with "Holy Anarchy!" - because even the previous 
proposal to replace "Kingdom of God" with "family of God" now sounds a 
bit too much like a parish bulletin. The important thing is, therefore, 
to update the packaging. But the substance remains the same: we are 
still talking about adherence and obedience to God. Anarchy is nothing 
more. (cf. "Whether sacred or holy, the point is that true anarchy is 
divine: it is a condition, a state of affairs, or a reality in which 
God's will is done," p. 32). At one point the author even identifies the 
"Holy Anarchy" with the resurrection of Jesus (pp. 257-258).

The author then attempts to reformulate the image of God, describing him 
as a divinity who acts through an "extraordinary weakness" (chapter IV). 
Adams also tries to reconcile this vision with Darwinian evolutionism, 
presenting God as an incomplete, ever-changing and dynamic being. At the 
same time, he tries to disentangle the different experiences - both 
historical and contemporary - in which Christianity has not only been an 
accomplice or collaborator, but a fundamental and active component in 
the structures of power, domination and oppression (for example, 
colonialism). As if that were not enough, in the volume, the term 
anarchy is at the same time often used as a synonym, albeit in a 
positive sense, of disorder, incompleteness, mixture, confusion and even 
impurity (p. 25). However, it overlooks the fact that, according to 
Proudhon, "anarchy is order without power," and for Reclus "the absence 
of government, anarchy, is the highest expression of order." But I 
strongly suspect that the author also ignores these formulations, which 
nevertheless represent the ABC of anarchist thought.

Adams, who often dwells on biographical details and daily episodes from 
which he claims to be able to draw great theological revelations, is the 
pastor of an English Congregationalist Christian church. In the book he 
speaks of solidarity, of mutual hospitality, of "childhood", of empathic 
closeness, he urges openness towards the experiences, pain and potential 
of others (p. 185). He calls for a "space in which people's complaints 
can be heard" (p. 182). All of which is understandable. The problem, 
however, is that he completely avoids addressing the solutions in 
practice and, specifically, the issue of ownership: and the management 
of resources and means of production. He generically proposes concepts 
such as "the open palm", "the truth in progress", "the choice of 
weakness", but never supports the clear option of struggle or conflict. 
Indeed, he calls for love of enemies (p. 242). It is not surprising, 
therefore, that the author, in a coherent but perhaps ineffective way, 
relies on prayer with the hope that his wishes for the present and 
future world will come true (p. 208).

FT

https://umanitanova.org/santa-anarchia-no-grazie/
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