Why I don't like the label Anarchist or Libertarian and why I feel connected with it...

[dlw]

They both have too many unpleasant historical associations that can't simply be written off in the same manner as the tragic tendency in "Old Europe" to associate Anabaptists with the Munster extremists.

Of course, the same can be said for recent history of many so-called "evangelicals", but when one looks at the general history of the term as used in the 19th ctry, it makes me want to salvage it.

I'd rather call myself a communitarian or a christarchist.

Now, the reason I see continuity between my neo-huguenot views and the above terms is that a critical deep component in my system of belief is an opposition to the antecedents and after-effects of the 30-years war. It was in that tragic leap backwards for Europe that we see anarchism emerge as an ideology, perhaps w. roots in the views of Johann Amos Comenius as expressed in his classic, "Labyrinth of the World".

In my opinion the above is what has been responsible for the until recently steady march to secularization in Europe and the significantly disfigured incarnation of Christianity that was planted in what became the United States of America.
dlw

[dlw]

If I had to have an alt. christarchist statement on the contentious issue of voting, it would be...

"As a follower of Christ, my allegiance is first and foremost pledged to the order, or archon, that has not yet arrived and the one whom I believe has made all deviations from the 'natural' short and brutish state of humanity possible. In continuity with this pledge, I also accept and embrace the fact that my mission, like that of Yeshua of Nazareth, is historically contextualized. My witness to others is both embedded in a particular historical context and meant to impact my interaction with that context in a holistic manner. It thereby includes deliberating over my duties/obligations as a citizen of my country of residence. I must seek in community to find ways to participate in remaking the rules that govern us and our neighbors, in such a manner that we bear witness to the transcendent values seen only in part, as thru a mirror darkly.

As far as voting goes, the foregoing entails that we may or may not choose to vote (in particular elections). Though, we are more likely to invest more time into more local elections than national elections, inasmuch as our potential for influence is greater therein. And, we are likely to abstain from sifting extensively thru the streams of (mis)information from major election campaigns. We will likely rely on relatively simple yet robust rules of thumb, in lieu of being perfectionists in our decision-making. And we will gladly publicly proclaim that whom we choose to vote for is not important for our identity as followers of Christ, rather we would love very much (and prefer over haggling about Who Jesus Would Vote For) to share about all the other sorts of activities we do support whole-heartedly as ways to love our neighbors (closer to) as we love ourselves.

dlw