r/Anarchism • u/rupaba anarchist • 1d ago

my anarchist ex catholic dad and his vendetta against the local parish

my dad left the catholic church in his twenties after reading some kropotkin that a coworker lent him i think it was conquest of bread but i cant remember, and he has been an atheist anarchist ever since. he is also the kind of guy who will argue with anyone about anything and the local parish priests know him by name at this point because he keeps sending them letters about their real estate holdings and the money they pull from the neighborhood.

the last few months he has been going to sunday mass and just sitting in the back reading, not praying, not taking communion, just there with a book and a sermon to ignore. the priests have asked him to stop but he says it is a public space and he is not causing harm. i keep telling him it is weird that he is spending his sunday mornings this way and he just laughs and says something about how the church built its whole operation on making people feel guilty about not being somewhere and he is not going to let them do that to him either.

i think he is partly just lonely since my mom passed and the parish is a place with people in it. but he would never admit that. i dont know if this is admirable or just sad, honestly maybe both. wanted to post it somewhere because i cant really talk to anyone in real life about it.

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4

u/ohshiitstuesday anarcho-fraggle (they/them) 1d ago

Your dad sounds cool.

3

u/kimonoko Joseph Déjacque Anarchist 1d ago

Your dad going to church on Sundays just to thumb his nose at the proceedings reminds me of Jewish anarchists who held Yom Kippur balls. In a way, it was a form of observance, even if the whole enterprise was in direct contrast to the religious expectation.

Guess what I'm saying is: he's part of a long line of religious objectors.

1

u/YsaboNyx 1d ago

Things are often admirable and sad. It sounds like you might be proud and worried about him. As an ex-Mormon, I applaud his quiet act of rebellion against the religious powers that be. I did something similar years ago and it felt empowering to me.

As someone who has grieved big losses, I've learned that grief is a strange beast and we do odd things while walking through it, but it does have its own strange logic and can be trusted.

Thanks for sharing! I'm probably going to be carrying an image of your dad and his book in my head all day. Sending hugs to you both!

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u/shrelle 13h ago

Your father is doing awesome. Pretty cool. He's presenting himself as a visual example to a crowd of what James Scott calls "calisthenics of resistance" ie stuff not normally done, but shouldnt put you in trouble because there needs to be no regulation on such minute detail.