from Instagram
đ„Anarchist Muay Thai Exhibition Fights
đ
Sept. 22nd
â5pm to 7pm
đScan QR or ask a boxer for location
(This isn’t our event, we’re just sharing it)
đ„Anarchist Muay Thai Exhibition Fights
UPenn Benjamin Franklin Statue Vandalized
from Instagram
đ”đž UPENN IS COMPLICIT IN THE PALESTINIAN GENOCIDE
At the heart of campus, the Benjamin Franklin Statue stands proudly as a symbol of imperial violence and colonialism.
This morning, an autonomous group poured red paint over the statue: a visual reminder of the over 186,000 martyrs and the universityâs complicity in genocide.
The University has tried to supress the student intifada, supressing Palestinian voices, all in the name of âcampus safety.â There are NO Universities left in Gaza. There are NO first days. The education system of Gaza has been systematically destroyed, and the genocide has only expanded.
DISCLOSE. DIVEST. THE STUDENTS WILL NOT STOP, THE STUDENT MOVEMENT WILL NOT BE STOPPED. UNTIL PALESTINE IS FREE.
Three Way Fight: Revolutionary Politics and Antifascism
from Making Worlds Books
ADVANCED REGISTRATION RECOMMENDED (CLICK HERE)
Three way fight politics argues that the far right grows out of an oppressive capitalist order but is also in conflict with it in real ways, and that radicals need to combat both. Weâll discuss the history of this perspective and how it can help us navigate todayâs struggles, from anti-police riots to confronting the MAGA movement, drawing on the new collection of essays and interviews from PM Press and Kersplebedeb Publishing.
Matthew N. Lyons is the author of Insurgent Supremacists: The U.S. Far Right’s Challenge to State and Empire and coauthor with Chip Berlet of Right-Wing Populism in America. He has been a contributor to Three Way Fight since 2005, and his writings have also appeared in several other leftist and mainstream publications. Matthew is co-trustee of the Lorraine Hansberry Literary Trust, which stewards the literary legacy of the late playwright and activist Lorraine Hansberry.
Arturo Castillon is a writer and substitute teacher living in Philadelphia. With Shemon Salam, he is the coauthor of The Revolutionary Meaning of the George Floyd Uprising (Daraja Press, 2021) and has published work in The George Floyd Uprising (PM Press, 2023) as well as in Black Quantum Futurism: Space-Time Collapse II (The AfroFuturist Affair/House of Future Sciences Books, 2020).
Coverage of Protest Against Presidential Debate
from Mastodon
Several arrests were just made during a violent escalation by the Philadelphia Police after a flare was lit at tonight’s protest against the presidential candidates, the debate and Israel’s ongoing genocide on Palestinians.
Watch LIVE: https://unicornriot.ninja/2024/protest
Pro-Palestine/anti-occupation graffiti seen on & around the US Post Office/Passport Office after tonightâs demonstration outside the presidential debate was forcefully dispersed by riot police
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Graffiti at US Post Office/Passport Office in Philly, contâd:
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Protest Near Harris-Trump Presidential Debate Opposes Bipartisan Support for Israeli Genocide in Palestine
from Unicorn Riot
Philadelphia, PA â Protesters opposing the ongoing Israeli genocide in occupied Palestine are gathering near the security perimeter erected outside the National Constitution Center â the site of the first debate between 2024 presidential candidates Kamala Harris (D) and Donald Trump (R). A call to âshut down the presidential debate for Gazaâ was announced by the Philly Palestine Coalition to rally at City Hall, which is east of the debate site.
Pennsylvania is considered the largest swing state in the presidential election. The statewide winner will take all 19 electoral votes. Street closures entered effect Tuesday morning on Arch and Market streets between 4th and 7th streets in Philadelphiaâs historic Old City east of Center City. Eastbound lanes of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge are also closed. Watch our live coverage.
While Trump has promised he would help Israel âfinish the problemâ in Gaza, the Biden administration, which includes Kamala Harris as Vice President, has repeatedly gone out of its way to continue arming, funding and politically supporting Israel throughout its deliberate mass killings of displaced civilian children, women and men alongside the targeting of life-supporting infrastructure in Gaza, including the destruction of hospitals and water treatment plants and the torture of healthcare workers.
As of September 10, at least 41,020 Palestinian residents of Gaza have been reported killed and 94,925 injured, while 692 Palestinians in the West Bank were killed and more than 5,700 injured. At least 1,139 Israelis have been killed and 8,730 injured, according to Al Jazeera, based on regional agenciesâ data.
Protests outside the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July criticized Trump and the Republican Partyâs alignment with Israelâs racist and far-right government; demonstrations during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago late last month highlighted the fact that no Palestinians were allowed to speak onstage at the partyâs national gathering.
Clips below from Milwaukee and Chicago highlight the scope of Palestine protests that have been the most visible element of dissension around the presidential race.
While paying lip service to talk of a ceasefire, the Biden-Harris administration has continued directly enabling Israel despite the International Court of Justiceâs findings that allegations of genocide are âplausibleâ in regards to the invasion of Gaza and that Israelâs occupation of Palestine is illegal under international human rights law and should be ended.
Recent reporting has also shown that Israeli authorities are subjecting Palestinians held in crowded administrative detention camps such as Sde Teiman to rape and torture at a mass scale â a revelation that has apparently not impacted Harrisâ public, unconditional support for Israel in recent media appearances.
For more from Palestine click on image below.
Labor Day Greetings 2024!
Coworkers, comrades, and fellow labor activistsâwishing you a restful Labor Day weekend!
In keeping with our radical political traditions, we put our activist energies into May Day, not Labor Day. This doesnât mean that we havenât been craving a rest from the bone-aching grind of our labor. In our WSA branch, we are furniture movers, home workers, pink collar assistants, and healthcare workers. We all need a rest from exhaustion. This three day weekend is needed to recover.
Labor Day was fought for and won by workers. But we also know that this is far from enough. Itâs a drop in the bucket.
Labor Day, with its parades and picnics, took the shape of a more capitalism-friendly alternative to the more radical May Day that was characterized by street protests and strikes.
While we focus our eyes on May Day, you will still see us with friends at local Labor Day events, re-affirming the community aspects of our work lives. We need to recuperate in preparation for amplifying workplace voices and building relationships. As we know, building relationships is the heart of organizing. So, strike up the grill. But tomorrow, we build the General Strike !Â
From Philly Metro WSAÂ
âWe are committed to building a future rooted in a classless and stateless society, where we, as working people, create workplace and community democracies that prioritize human needs over profits for the few. Our vision is a world free from the social oppressions of racism, sexism, and queerphobia. Through our revolutionary unions, we will transform the nature of work, paving the way to our collective liberation.â
From Greater Chicago WSA
In Contempt #44: Prison Rebellion in Idaho, Running Down the Walls, Antifascist Targeted in Indiana
from It’s Going Down
Running Down the Walls, Curbfest, and other Upcoming Events
Thereâs a number of important prisoner support events coming up. September 15th sees the 25th anniversary of the annual Running Down the Walls ABC fundraiser event, with events currently planned for Portland and Eugene, OR, Los Angeles and Huntington Park, CA, Chicago, IL, Philadelphia, PA, Bloomington, IN, Lowell, MA, and Brooklyn, NY.
Curbfest events in support of political prisoners are planned for New York on September 7th, Philly on October 5th and Houston on October 26th
Running Down the Walls, Curbfest, and other Upcoming Events
Thereâs a number of important prisoner support events coming up. September 15th sees the 25th anniversary of the annual Running Down the Walls ABC fundraiser event, with events currently planned for Portland and Eugene, OR, Los Angeles and Huntington Park, CA, Chicago, IL, Philadelphia, PA, Bloomington, IN, Lowell, MA, and Brooklyn, NY. The Huntington Park event will be on September 28th.
Curbfest events in support of political prisoners are planned for New York on September 7th, Philly on October 5th and Houston on October 26th.
Political Prisoner News
Philly ABC have shared an update about the upcoming release of the book, I Am Maroon: The True Story of an American Political Prisoner. Book launch events will be held in NYC on September 6th and Philadelphia on September 22nd, and you can find more links related to the book here.
Uprising Defendants and Other Ongoing Cases
Pennsylvania uprising defendant Khalif Miller has been added to the Uprising Support site, while Arkansas defendant Rene Goddard is due to be released soon. South Carolina uprising defendant Brittany Martin has just had an appeal against her four-year sentence denied, while Philadelphia uprising prisoner Ant Smith has just been freed.
Phone Zaps, Hunger Strikes, and Prisoner Rebellion in Idaho
Incarcerated workers at SCI Fayette in Pennsylvania launched a hunger strike at the start of August, in protest at the prison continuing to impose lockdown-era isolation policies. The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee have been encouraging people to call the SCI Fayette Superintendent on 724-364-2200 and the PADOC central office on 717-728-2573 in support of the strikersâ demands.
General Prison News and Abolitionist Media Updates
Supporters of the Vaughn 17 have shared a new recording of a call with Dwayne âBIMâ Staats, discussing his current legal situation.
Uprising Defendants
See Uprising Support for more info, and check out the Antirepression PDX site for updates from Portland cases. To the best of our knowledge they currently include:
David Elmakayes 77782-066
FCI McKean
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 8000
Bradford, PA 16701
Khalif Miller #70042-066
USP Big Sandy
U.S. Penitentiary
P.O. Box 2068
Inez, KY 41224
Upcoming Birthdays
John Bramble
A former Vaughn 17 defendant and contributor to the Vaughn uprising zines Live from the Trenches and United We Stood and other publications. Johnny has continued to organize and agitate against the prison system from within. As a result, he is still being held in solitary confinement.
Johnny is looking for anarchists, autonomists, and other radicals to regularly correspond with. Delaware uses Getting Out for email messaging, so you can also send him a message by going to gettingout.com, setting up an account, and then adding him as a contact using his inmate number #405202.
Birthday: September 1
Address:
John Bramble #405202
Delaware DOC â 1101
PO Box 96777
Las Vegas, NV 89193
Monday August 26th: Black August Letter-writing
from Philly ABC
In August 1979, the first official Black August took place when incarcerated people came together to commemorate the deaths of brothers Jonathan and George Jackson, who were killed after the Marin County Courthouse Rebellion (Jonathan in August 1970 and George in August 1971). Prisoners in San Quentin started this tradition of daily exercises to sharpen their minds, bodies, and spirits in honor of the collective principles of self-sacrifice, inner fortitude and revolutionary discipline needed to advance the New Afrikan struggle for self-determination and freedom.
Black August now takes place all month as an invitation to reflect on the history of the Black freedom struggle, to celebrate those who have come before, and to commit to continuing this fight for justice and liberation. We invite you to remember, reflect, learn, and unlearn, by connecting with Black freedom fighters still behind bars.
Join us on Monday, August 28th at 6:30pm at Wooden Shoe Books as we share a compilation of audio commemorations and inspiration from Black August and take time to send out letters and cards to political prisoners from Black liberation movements.
Download a PDF of the Black August illustration by Kevin Rashid Johnson laid out as a card to print. Check prisonersolidarity.com for Black Liberation prisoners to send cards to.
Weâll also be sending a birthday card to Leonard Peltier (September 11th).
Communique: Heavy Machinery Sabotaged at Haddington Golf Course and A Response
from Abolition Media
Heavy Machinery Sabotaged at Hadddington Golf Course â Philadelphia, PA
August 19, 2024
The perennial struggle against development in Haddington and throughout Philadelphia continues. Weeks ago we sabotaged heavy machinery used for construction at the Haddington golf course construction site by introducing bleach into the filtration and fuel systems. We send solidarity to the saboteurs carrying out attacks at Kingsessing, Bartrams, FDR, and other sites of development and gentrification.
Free the land!
Free the city!
From: Unravel.noblogs.org
A Response to âHeavy Machinery Sabotaged at Haddington Golf Courseâ
A note on sabotage of heavy machinery: please donât waste your time messing with fuel or filtration systems. The idea of adding something to a fuel tank is (unfortunately) a widely known sabotage technique that the average person might think of, but it is most likely ineffective on modern vehicles or heavy equipment. Filtration systems are designed to filter out contaminants.
Bleach is typically added to engine oil. The rule of thumb is to add 10 fluid ounces of bleach per gallon of engine oil. This equals one gallon of bleach per 12.8 gallons of engine oil, which should be enough for an average-sized piece of heavy machinery. Larger machines will need more, smaller machines will need less. You may want to look up the specifications of the particular models of equipment on site to be sure of their fluid capacities.
The fuel is probably the least sensitive fluid in the machine; in addition to engine oil, try messing with the transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid, or exhaust fluid. For starter ideas on what to add to these fluids, check out this old Dear Ned Ludd column. [https://efmechanicsguild.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/a-nice-dear-ned-ludd-from-an-ef-journal-last-year/]
Have fun out there!
From:Â Phlanticap.noblogs.org
Excerpt from the mentioned column:
etâs talk about the engines of tractor trailers used for hauling innocents to slaughter and the lab, pulling the wild from the wilderness, and delivering the ingredients of every destructive endeavor sick, corporate, profit-driven minds can concoct. These trailers move the dozers that level the land and the ships that strip life from the ocean. If anything keeps me awake it is the incessant drone from giant poison-containing, toxin-spewing engines; the heart of the machine.
Engine oil can be contaminated by many things, and the other fluids they contain or run on do not mix well with others⊠kind of like old-guard EF!ers at a dub step show. Hell, I donât even need to haul around bleach most nights. (Bleach destroys the viscosity of oil and does some fun, expensive shit, too).
Engine Oil:
Engine oil hates water, especially when mixed with antifreeze. Water, because it will not compress, breaks gears. Antifreeze may taste like candy, but it does horrible shit to your bodyâ do not ingest! Engine oil also hates fuel, which thins it out and makes the engine wear out and break. If either water or fuel are found in oil then there must be a problem with the engine and it needs to be opened to check.
Cost to repair: Up to $15,000 for a semi; MUCH more for heavy equipment.
Transmission Fluid:
Hates antifreeze; it destroys the main components in the transmission and the glue that holds connections together.
Cost to repair: $5,000+ for trucks; HOLY SHIT for heavy equipment.
Hydraulic Fluid:
HATES water, antifreeze, and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF; more on that stuff later). Adding water will break shit internally; DEF clogs small control passages over time.
Cost to repair: $3,000 and up.
Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF):
Made of pig urine from the slaughterhouse, this stuff is supposed to help clean the exhaust on trucks. Itâs on the tank near the fuel cap, and has a blue lid. It is nasty, and antifreeze thinks so too. This stuff will kill a radiator and clog up the tiny spaces inside an engine fast. Looks like water, and gallon jugs of the stuff can be found in open trucks on construction sites so use your imagination. Causes a lot more damage than rice or dry flake mashed potatoes in the radiator. Do not ingest or get DEF on youâŠ. beyond the fact that it is very refined pig urine, it is poisonous.
Cost to repair: $2,000 to $6,000 for trucks; heavy equipment easily $5,000 to $?!!!!
Diesel:
As above, bad for oil, but also BAD in the diesel exhaust fluid tank. Modern exhaust systems are delicate, so contaminating the DEF tank with fuel will cause extensive damage to the system. Because of this, the newest exhaust sensors are designed to shut down the truck when diesel is found. To extract diesel from a machine, all one would need is a small suction hose, a siphon, and maybe a bottle to catch the fuel in.
SAFETY NOTE!!!! Donât use your mouth for this!!! Besides leaving evidence, a lot of the chemicals and fluids in an engine will kill your ass.
Cost to repair: $1,000â$10,000 if internal component are damaged.
A Response to “Heavy Machinery Sabotaged at Haddington Golf Course”
Submission
A note on sabotage of heavy machinery: please don’t waste your time messing with fuel or filtration systems. The idea of adding something to a fuel tank is (unfortunately) a widely known sabotage technique that the average person might think of, but it is most likely ineffective on modern vehicles or heavy equipment. Filtration systems are designed to filter out contaminants.
Bleach is typically added to engine oil. The rule of thumb is to add 10 fluid ounces of bleach per gallon of engine oil. This equals one gallon of bleach per 12.8 gallons of engine oil, which should be enough for an average-sized piece of heavy machinery. Larger machines will need more, smaller machines will need less. You may want to look up the specifications of the particular models of equipment on site to be sure of their fluid capacities.
The fuel is probably the least sensitive fluid in the machine; in addition to engine oil, try messing with the transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid, or exhaust fluid. For starter ideas on what to add to these fluids, check out this old Dear Ned Ludd column. [https://efmechanicsguild.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/a-nice-dear-ned-ludd-from-an-ef-journal-last-year/]
Have fun out there!
Heavy Machinery Sabotaged at Hadddington Golf Course
Submission
The perennial struggle against development in Haddington and throughout Philadelphia continues. Weeks ago we sabotaged heavy machinery used for construction at the Haddington golf course construction site by introducing bleach into the filtration and fuel systems. We send solidarity to the saboteurs carrying out attacks at Kingsessing, Bartrams, FDR, and other sites of development and gentrification.
Free the land!
Free the city!
Black August Letter Writing
Submission
In celebration of Black August, weâre going to write to two fighters in the black liberation struggle who are currently incarcerated. We will be writing to Malik Muhammad and Casey Goonan. Bring food and homies! Weâll provide stamps, pens, envelopes, and paper. Please wear a mask!Malikâs writings: https://malikspeaks.noblogs.org/
Update on Caseyâs legal case: https://chicagoantireport.noblogs.org/post/2024/08/12/update-3-on-casey-goonan/
O.R.C.A
Anarchist Social Space in Philly
https://orcaphilly.noblogs.org/
https://orcaphilly.noblogs.org/
Confronting Climate Change with Direct Action: Hundreds Converge for 44th Annual Earth First! Gathering
from Unicorn Riot
August 15, 2024
Walking up the path to the Kirkridge Retreat Center outside Bangor, Pennsylvania in early July, you may have sensed something was afoot. Cars with license plates from far-flung states lined the driveway and wild-haired twenty-somethings mingled with kids, tweens and adults in their 30s, 40s and beyond.
A hand painted cardboard sign reading simply âEF!â would have directed you, with an arrow pointing to the activity. A blend of laughter, music, and fragments of conversations about climate catastrophe quickly sets the tone before you reach a folding table strewn with literature, hand sanitizer, masks and snacks.
âWelcome,â a smiling volunteer would greet you. âAre you here for Earth First?â
This summer, around 400 people found their way to a rural plot of land in eastern Pennsylvania to participate in the national Earth First! Gathering. Over the course of seven days, anarchists, abolitionists, environmentalists and more converged on Lenapehoking, the original name for the traditional homelands of the Lenape, the regionâs Indigenous people.
For over 40 years, people have gathered under the banner of Earth First!, a no-compromise, direct action movement launched to confront ecologically catastrophic industries and policies. In opposition to âbig greenâ nonprofits, Earth First! takes a more hands-on approach to climate activism. For decades, the movement has centered direct action â the tactic of physically blocking destructive projects.
Through protests, occupations, work stoppages, locking on to equipment, and sometimes property destruction and sabotage, Earth First! seeks to do what many other organizations donât â directly intervene and confront the companies and policies that harm ecosystems.
While the movement is focused on environmental protection as its main cause, participants see intersecting struggles as equally important. Todayâs Earth First! shares heavy overlap with antifascism, Indigenous sovereignty, queer struggles and autonomous movements.
Earth First!ers donât claim to be members of a formal structure, but rather a network of people who share, and act on, a set of principles.
âIt is not an organization, but a movement,â a website representing Earth First! reads. âThere are no âmembersâ of EF!, only Earth First!ers. We believe in using all of the tools in the toolbox, from grassroots and legal organizing to civil disobedience and monkeywrenching.â
Though not a formal organization, Earth First! is organized. Each year for more than four decades, Earth First!ers have hosted a national gathering where movement participants, alongside people across a wide range of social movements, meet up to share info about the struggles theyâre engaged in, host workshops and trainings, and build relationships. This year was the 44th time the meetup had happened since 1979.
Throughout the week, people hosted dozens of workshops and skill shares ranging from foraging wild foods to self-defense classes. Between teaching hard skills, organizers and participants hosted conversations about fostering solidarity with Indigenous communities, movement history, mentoring future activists, and more.
To kick off a week of workshops and education, Keshia Talking Waters and her mother Maria Lawrence shared the Lenape creation story and introduced attendees to the concept of Sovereign Science.
Talking Waters, founder of Sovereign Science, and Lawrence, a professor of science education at Rhode Island College, broke down to Unicorn Riot what Sovereign Science is, how it can help in our current context, and why they thought it was important to share Indigenous perspectives at the 2024 Earth First! gathering.
More than accruing skills and learning about theory, participants who spoke with Unicorn Riot were drawn to the event for the sense of community it offers. For some, this yearâs event was their introduction to Earth First! as a movement, but others had been coming to gatherings for decades.
Regardless of how many times they had been to events or organized with Earth First!, though, community was a common theme that drew participants to the woods this year.
Organizing a national gathering for a decades-old movement is no small feat. Each year a different, autonomously organized group of volunteers find a location, set up logistics, arrange programming, and promote the event that draws hundreds of people for about a week in early July.
This year, organizers from New York took on the task and hosted the event. Unicorn Riot spoke to organizers to hear about the challenges and motivations behind putting in the effort to create the gathering this year.
Though the gathering acts as a focal point for the movement, Earth First! is active all year, organizing across the continent. Part of that activity includes the Earth First! Journal.
For as long as Earth First! has existed as a movement, the Earth First! Journal has served as its voice. An independent, collectively run print magazine and website, the Earth First! Journal acts as the public face of the movement, representing Earth First!ers through movement updates, discourse, debates, poetry, art, tactical discussions and more. Unicorn Riot spoke with two people involved with the Earth First! Journal collective â one whoâs currently a member, the other a former editor â to learn about what the journal is and why they think itâs important to the movement as a whole.
After seven days of education, shared meals, and community building, participants broke down camp and headed home or, in some cases, continued traveling. Next yearâs event will pop up somewhere else, continuing the long running tradition of the Earth First! Gathering.
Christian Dominionism, The New Apostolic Reformation and the American Fascist Movement
from Philly Fash Watch
The purpose of this text is to provide anti-fascists with the necessary background to understand the beliefs, organizing model and radiant influence of The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), as well as the particular threat it poses as an emerging center of gravity for the developing American Fascist movement.
There are many denominations and movements cultivating authoritarian political beliefs amongst Christian Americans, but the New Apostolic Reformation is unique in terms of its inherently authoritarian politics, theological flexibility, networked organizational structure and ability to influence Christians from different traditions. Furthermore, the NAR was the first Christian group to promote Trump, and have taken on the role of his spiritual advisors and links to the Evangelical community. This was originally a controversial move, but was justified by comparing the obviously godless Trump to King Cyrus of Persia, the virtuous pagan who ended the Babylonian Captivity and allowed the Jews to return to Palestine. This rather impressive theological bullshit has paid back in dividends as more and more Christians have accepted the idea that modern Prophets are guiding the Christians of America.
Christian Dominionism is defined as the belief that Christians should take control of the State. While the term has entered the mainstream of many parts of the American Left, many antifascists tend to see it as just another incarnation of evangelical politics, if a more totalitarian one, and not particularly worthy of much attention when compared to the deluge of white supremacist shooters and would be terrorists currently threatening our communities. While neo-nazis represent the most advanced terrorist threat within the far right, the New Apostolic Reformation is the most advanced Social threat. By this we mean that they have an extraordinary power to shape the very experience of reality of massive communities of American Christians. Most neo nazis are skeptical of Mass Politics, due to the long history of federal infiltration of their movements. The New Apostolic Reformation is devoted to mass politics; their faith revolves around the concept of revival, or mass conversion to their cause. Currently, the NAR is dedicated to winning power via the legitimization of the American political process. THey have already had a good deal of success on this front. Representatives Lauren Bobert and Marjorie Taylor Green are deeply affiliated with the movement, as is the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito are also connected, in addition to scores of state and local level office holders. When Donald Trump, contrary to the prophecies of the movement, lost reelection, networks of âProphetsâ and âApostlesâ were some of the main forces in galvanizing the January 6th Capitol riot. This act demonstrated the movementâs willingness to seize power by non-democratic means and should be understood as a sign of things to come. The New Apostolic Reformation is changing America, and if we want to prevent them from achieving the power they desire, we have to understand them on their own terms.
There is no such thing as the New Apostolic Reformation
To call the NAR a denomination would be inaccurate, as it specifically emerged from the world of non-denominational charismatic Christianity. It would also ignore the vectors by which they are able to push their political theology into other Christian groups, Charismatic and otherwise.
Charismatic Christianity is an outgrowth of Evangelicism, particularly the Pentecostal Tradition, best known for its spectacular practices of snake handling and speaking in Tongues. To be a Charismatic Christian is to seek a kind of constant mystical experience of reality, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to see Godâs divine plan manifest in everyday life. It is a rather extraordinary tradition, because organized religion tends to put careful guardrails around mystic practices, and carefully guide mystics to incorporate their work into the pre established orthodoxy of their religion. When this doesnât happen, mystics and their followers have a tendency of being destabilizing forces in society.
The roots of the NAR traces back to the work of a C Peter Wagner at Fuller seminary in southern California. Wagner was the student of John Wimber, of Grapevine ministries. Wimber brought the practices of independent non-denominational Charismatics to the more mainstream audience of Fuller, and Wagner was his student and successor. These were literal courses in miracles, and helped spread the Charismatic idea that belief in Jesus and the presence of the holy spirit gave Christians supernatural powers.
Around the same time Wagner did graduate work in sociology studying Church growth. The Study of Church growth is a very involved discipline, and Wagner was focusing on Church Governance as a factor. In his later writings he proposed a new structure. He rejected denominational rules and bylaws, democratic structures and individual autocracy in favor of a networked ecosystem of Churches ruled by Charismatic leaders. Now many of these leaders who came into Wagnerâs emerging network had already begun to call themselves Apostles and Prophets. These extraordinary titles are literal. These people genuinely believe they are receiving messages from the divine and being told to enact divine will. Their claims are justified using a concept called fivefold ministry which is extrapolated from Ephesians 4:11-13 âSo Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,  to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up  until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.â While for the vast majority of more Orthodox Christians the Prophets are a thing of the past and the Apostles passed on their authority to the Church (or the Bible, if you are Protestant) Prophesy and Apostleship are alive and well for the Charismatics of the NAR.
This is the most extreme development away from Christian Orthodoxy since Martin Luther split from the Catholic Church, it is also the fastest growing form of Christianity in America as well as world wide. Furthermore, there is evidence that ideas from the NAR are finding influence in more traditional Churches. A (unreplicated, so inconclusive) study by Paul Djupe from Dennison University suggests that the Core of NAR theology (beleif in modern Apostles and Prophets) is extremely contagious, influencing the theology of much more mainline Churches. In fact he suggests that as many as 25% of the American Christians he polled believe it.
While the NAR was a highly organized project, the nature of the networked structure and its spiritual Oligarchy has tended towards a denial of its unified nature. The influence of a Church growth scholar doesnât give the group legitimacy and the nature of Charismatic Spirituality has a preference for the organic and spontaneous. Camouflaging themselves also allows for members of the NAR to recruit more traditional christians slowly, rather than presenting their non-traditional nature for all to see. The American evangelical world is changing rapidly, and the NAR has set itself up to catch those who are looking for something new. This piece from writer Holly Pivec gives tips on how to find if Churches are concealing their NAR affiliations.
Many Progressives and leftists have told themselves that secularization is an inevitable process that will destroy the influence of the Christian right. The reality appears to be that the number of Christians will shrink, but grow in fanaticism and thirst for political dominance. The fact that the NAR puts so much stock in elections is due to their desire to be act in accordance with what they believe to be the divinely inspired principles of America. When the NAR takes extra-legal steps, it will be with the excuse that their enemies have contaminated The failed insurrection at the capital demonstrated that if they cannot win at the ballot box, they will try by other means. Their ultimate belief is that a precondition of the rapture is the triumph of the church over the earthly governments of the world.
NAR leaders like Sean Fuecht (a harmless looking, guitar playing youth minister) have used Proud Boys as their personal security. They have deep connections to âChristianâ and âPatrioticâ militias around the country. Furthermore, they urge their congratulations to arm themselves and train for war against secular Americans who they beleive are out to get them. The most famous of these is probably Matt Shea, the former Washington State Representative for Spokane. Shea was removed from office for distributing a text he wrote called âThe Biblical Basis for Warâ which contains the memorable line âKill all males who do not submitâ. Shea maintains extensive networks of extremist Churches across Idaho and Eastern Washington. These networks exist across the country.The most important thing to remember about these networks is that many participants in them have been preparing for an American civil war for nearly 50 years. These are people who read the Turner Diaries but are more concerned with oppressing people for not being Christian rather than not being white, though racism is often a hidden part of Christian Supremacism.
As capitalist crisis and the general dysfunction of the American political system accelerates, new powers will emerge to fill in the cracks. The NAR will be amongst them, and the rest of us need a plan to counter them. They have been able to grow to the point of having millions of members with powerful representation in government. While effectively being a fascist organization, a church is not something that can be treated like a clique of boneheads. I would urge all antifascists to meet this threat with the utmost urgency and caution. No matter where you live in the US these people are making moves. The first course of action is to find out who locally is already mapping the apostolic networks. This will likely mean working with liberals and even other Christians. We need these people as allies. There are theologians whoâs work consists of preventing churches from being taken over by NAR theology. The old slogan of the Anti-Racist action network was expose, oppose and confront. We need to have local exposes of apostolic networks, their relationships in government and business and the threat to our communities that they constitute. When they try to take over school boards we need that to be publicized. When groups like Moms for Liberty pull their stunts we need people to understand exactly what they are confronting. We are well past the point that small group action can have an effect on a group of this scale. As this piece is being written it looks like the Trump campaign is sinking before our eyes. This could mean that the NAR will attempt another extra-legal attempt at seizing power like January 6th. Even if they accept defeat, they will not do so forever. They are building durable institutions to take power, and we need a long term plan to stop them.
Black August: Kupigana Ngumi!
from Instagram
Free the Land! Itâs that time of the year again – Black August means Kupigana Ngumi! Join Black martial artists and revolutionaries in Malcolm X Park for self-defense, striking, and grappling training, along with discussion of ideas from Black Liberation Army veterans Sekou Odinga and Kuwasi Balagoon. See you there!
[Malcolm X Park
4PM to 6PM
August 17th – Session 1
August 31st – Session 2
Hosted by NMAP and MXGM]
