(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Sunday Morning with the Anarchists [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-05-27 It’s Sunday morning; time for church. But this isn’t really church — or is it? My small city changed from a college-town hippie haven to a gold-plated seaside hotspot in ten years. For a town, that’s light-speed. But the spirit of the old counter-culture hangs on. Take the anarchists. Before things became completely expensive, the local anarchists and other community activists somehow got hold of a little complex of buildings on the drab end of downtown. The anarchists operate a meeting/performance space and library. There you’ll find classes in organizing for democracy, grassroots reform, caring for one another (and society), making brooms and tying knots, and about any damned thing. There are community discussions, underground music shows, open mike nights, presentations, conversation… …And the “Really Really Free Market” one Sunday morning a month in the courtyard. Folks from the community bring things they don’t need and it’s laid out for anyone to take, by volunteers. They’re anarchists; of course they’re volunteers. Nobody can make them do anything. They just have to discuss things first. It did remind me of church as I pulled in last Sunday morning with a load of giveaways from my Attic of the Mysteries. Churches run on volunteers: for the choir, for teaching Sunday school, running the media projector, organizing potlucks and the Altar Guild, and even yard work. These tasks are called “ministries.” I definitely saw church at the Really Really Free Market setup session: a bunch of young and middle-aged people dressed in chore clothes, unfolding tables and laying down cloths on the ground with practiced skill. (In the last real church I attended, people kinda dressed that way for Sunday service.) All that was missing was a couple of plates of butter cookies. One woman even rode a cargo bike around the neighborhood to help haul donations from donors’ cars. Nobody told anybody what to do, because everybody _knew_ what to do. And nobody was in charge though there was probably a first-among-equals around there somewhere. I haven’t gone to church since before Covid and I haven’t wanted to go back; I was raised in the belief, but there was never any belief in me. I tried. Pastor Biff liked to preach on social justice through the scriptures, and when he went on a tear it was time to bring break out the popcorn. But church can very much also be a social club where some groups speak louder than others, and that never sat as well. Just me, I guess. The only part I liked was doing a job, and doing it well. But the Free Market looked like the part of church I liked. You know: volunteers freely gathered for the common good. Though worshipping no god, as we had back at St. Bob the Informal’s Reformed Presybmethertarian Church. But definitely there to serve. Church is about the spiritual; but helping others of your own free will is where the spiritual should lead. You celebrate your purpose on this earth for the time it takes you to lay out the tables and merchandise and run the show. In my experience a good and harmonious volunteer operation in a good cause is pretty holy, if lacking incense and a choir master. I laid down my stuff for the anarchists to process, explained what it was, and offered to help. “I’m an expert at unfolding tables,” I told them, but they deferred. They had their system — or was it a ministry — and it was running like a top. Would the altar guild at St. Bob’s trust some stranger to polish the candlesticks? I think not. Just human nature. The collective would have to get to know me. We chatted a bit in a friendly way. But customers were already beginning to stop by, on foot and on bicyclce, so I let the collective get to it and drove home. These days I stay away from group activities — “post-COVID” has less meaning for a guy in his late 60s. But the Really Really Free Market takes place in the fresh air, and who knows? You don’t need a god to have a church: just a set of principles and a community that applies them. I could let the collective get to know me. I wonder if anarchists have coffee hour. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/27/2171838/-Sunday-Morning-with-the-Anarchists Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/