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INDEX
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Am I an Anarchist?
By David Forrest
For a \ue001ew years now I have been giving much thought to
living \u201co\ue000\ue000-grid\u201d and asking any \ue000amily and \ue000riends who
would want to join me to do so. I have \ue001elt that this would
\ue000urther separate me \ue000rom the world I am growing to dislike.
Coupled with that idea, I have very recently been coming
to question many things around me \ue001rom belie\ue001s, to mate-
rial things, to science and government. I would imagine

that those who \ue001ounded this country had a much di\ue001\ue001erent vision than where we \ue000nd ourselves today. Not that they were per\ue001ect and in\ue001allible, but the Constitution indicates that they were on to something important. I \ue001eel we are at a point where the state is no longer serving its intended

purpose. To be completely honest, as I study the scriptures
more, I have begun to ask mysel\ue001 i\ue001 the state serves any
purpose other than ensuring its own survival. When Christ
returns, what type o\ue000 government will He put in place? The
THE
Mor mon
Worker
\u201cI Teach Them Correct Principles and They Govern Themselves\u201d \u2013joseph smith
Issue 2
December 2007
\u25a0Am I an Anarchist?By David Forrest
\u25a0In Defense of Blackwater, Gangs and Neocons
By Ron Madson, Attorney at Law
\u25a0Borders from an Eternal PerspectiveBy Tyler Bushman
\u25a0Cooperation: A Common Principle of Mormonism
and AnarchismBy Jason Brown
\u25a0Economic Democracy and Mormon Workers
By Warner Woodworth, BYU
\u25a0Killing for Gain: American Intervention in Iraq
By Will Vanwagenen

\u25a0Nephi\u2019s Vision \u2013 Honesty in Time of WarBy Joshua Madson
\u25a0A Brief History of Peasant TolstoyansBy Cory Bushman
\u25a0Means and Ends in a Post 9/11 WorldBy Joshua Madson
\u25a0Why I am Serving in IraqBy J. Dawkins

\u25a0Co nt r i b u to r s
\u25a0N av i g at i o n
\u25baHold your mouse cursor on the name of an author to see
a brief bio and an introduction to his or her article
\u25baClick on the name of an article to go there
\u25ba
INDEX
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2
The Mormon Worker\u25c6Issue 2
\u25ba
scriptures say that He will be our King and rule over the
whole earth; but will it really be a government in the sense
o\ue001 what we see in the world today? Hardly. Christ having
had all things made subject to Him does not \ue001orce us to
submit. With that being so, why on earth would he change

that? The state rules by \ue001orce and coercion through \ue001ear. Christ operates on a much di\ue001\ue001erent \ue001requency. It brings to mind a statement made by Joseph Smith, that we all are

\ue000amiliar with, that he made when questioned about how he
can govern such a great number o\ue001 people:
\u201cI teach them correct principles, and they govern them-
selves.\u201d
With that being said, do we human beings have the

capacity to govern ourselves without intervention on the part o\ue001 the state? Does necessity really breed invention in the case o\ue001 the state? Are the current ills o\ue001 society merely

a product o\ue000 government rule and the state\u2019s ability to con-
vince us o\ue001 the necessity o\ue001 its survival? I recall speaking
with a \ue000riend once on the subject o\ue000 communism. He spoke
highly o\ue000 it and even remarked that the intellectuals should

rule because they know what\u2019s best since they are smarter than those they rule. I can understand why my \ue001riend and others think communism is a good idea. Everyone has a job, \ue001ood, clothes, shelter, etc. However, nearly all aspects o\ue001 your li\ue001e are controlled or owned by the state. There is little to no room \ue001or \ue001ree will and what is a man without

his agency? It is the total embodiment o\ue000 Luci\ue000er\u2019s plan.
How can people progress or prosper under such a system?
Where can we \ue000nd true liberty and the total embodiment
A Note to Our Readers

The Mormon Worker is an independent newspaper/jour- nal devoted to Mormonism and radical politics. It is pub- lished by members o\ue001 the LDS Church. The paper is mod- eled a\ue001ter the legendary Catholic Worker which has been in publication \ue001or over seventy years.

The primary objective o\ue001 The Mormon Worker is to mean- ing\ue001ully connect core ideas o\ue001 Mormon theology with a host o\ue001 political, economic, ecological, philosophical, and social topics.

Although most contributors o\ue001 The Mormon Worker are members o\ue001 the LDS church, some are not, and we accept submissions \ue001rom people o\ue001 varying secular and religious backgrounds.

The opinions in The Mormon Worker are not the o\ue001\ue000cial
view o\ue001 The Church o\ue001 Jesus Christ o\ue001 Latter-day Saints.
In solidarity,
The Mormon Worker
THE MORMON WORKER
140 West Oak Circle
Woodland Hills, UT 84653
Subscribe to our print edition:
www.themormonworker.org
themormonworker@gmail.com
http://themormonworker.wordpress.com
Am I an Anarchist?
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INDEX
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3
The Mormon Worker\u25c6Issue 2
\u25ba
o\ue001 the Father\u2019s plan?

During the course o\ue001 these thoughts, and in no way by accident, I had been introduced to a new idea. I maintain a blog and a \ue001ellow member o\ue001 the church and blogger le\ue001t me a comment concerning one o\ue001 my posts. Upon visiting his site, something struck a chord in me. I had \ue001ound the

answer to the question I hadn\u2019t realized I was asking mysel\ue000.

The answer was Anarchy. Growing up in a system o\ue001 state \ue001unded and state controlled \u201deducation\u201d, I had been given the impression that anarchy was somehow a bad thing \ue001or it was lawlessness and chaos. Maybe at one point in time,

or even \ue000rom someone else\u2019s perspective, that was true.

However anarchy, as what I have come to \ue000nd out \ue001or my- sel\ue001, is merely the absence o\ue001 the state. It is the epitome o\ue001 \ue001ree agency, but that does not mean it must be \ue001ree agency without consequence. Law and order can still exist, just in a di\ue001\ue001erent and more natural way than what we are used

to. I\ue000 the state exists, it should only exist to protect the
liberty o\ue000 its people and I think that was the original vision
o\ue001 this country. The question to ponder though is: \u201cWhat
is the state doing \ue000or/to us?\u201d Is the state protecting our

liberty? Or, is it just \ue000nding new and cra\ue001tier ways o\ue001 tak- ing it \ue001rom us without us knowing? I\ue001 you wanted to steal something \ue001rom me, the easiest way would be to distract my attention away \ue001rom that which you are trying to take. Could we be a prosperous people in this age o\ue001 existence without the state?

Even though our belie\ue001s might di\ue001\ue001er, we can still \ue000nd
common ground as human beings who both acknowledge
the other\u2019s \ue001ree will. How is it that we can send satellites
into the \ue000ar reaches o\ue000 space, but we still rely on those who
are equal to us, not greater, to rule us? Even i\ue001 I were to
believe that a person lives in sin, it is not God\u2019s way, or will
\ue000or that matter, \ue000or me to try and \ue000orce that person, through
legislation or other \u201clegal\u201d means, to live as I believe. Now

I can however share my belie\ue001s in a loving manner and I might even call that person to repentance, but nowhere in the scriptures am I commanded to become that person\u2019s ruler because o\ue001 their views or way o\ue001 li\ue001e. When it comes

down to it I alone will be held responsible \ue000or my behavior.
It says the \ue001ollowing in D&C 101:78-79:

\u201cThat every man may act in doctrine and principle per- taining to \ue001uturity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable

\ue000or his own sins in the day o\ue000 judgment. There\ue000ore, it is not
right that any man should be in bondage one to another.\u201d
Now to the original question: \u201cAm I an Anarchist?\u201d
The more I study and ponder the subject I can com\ue000ort-
ably say, \u201cYes\u201d. While I do \ue000eel order is necessary, I do
not \ue000eel an ever increasingly intrusive \ue000orm o\ue000 government
is synonymous with order. Ruling people through \ue001ear is
not order. Order is peace\ue001ul, but people ruled by \ue001ear is
a volatile situation just waiting \ue000or the catalyst that will

surely erupt into chaos. I\ue001 anarchy were to prevail, then it is not to say that corruption shall be put to rest. However, i\ue001 all men are \ue001ree then one man\u2019s corruption will not have the impact it has today. I do not believe that everyone in a position o\ue001 power is corrupt, but I do believe the corrup-

Am I an Anarchist?
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