entering aries season // long live the Rojava revolution // the kin-dom is at hand! Brought to you by Friendly Fire Collective Two dozen comrades were arrested in East Lansing, including two Quakers, protesting against Richard Spencer An update For those who may have missed it, several Quakers, including members of Friendly Fire Collective, were arrested during the protests against Richard Spencer’s event at Michigan State University. We put out a write-up as soon this happened, which you can read here. We have several updates. All comrades arrested, which were about two dozen, have been bailed out of jail. That said, the fight is far from over. Seven comrades are facing felony charges including Blair Ellis, a member of our collective. They are currently collecting evidence to pack on more felony charges and have a window of four years to reopen charges.



Support in the Quaker community Last week, a few hours before Blair was scheduled to appear in court, Friends from Red Cedar Monthly Meeting hosted a simple lunch and meeting for worship. Local anti-fascists and Quakers shared presence and sat in the Light together. Support from the Quaker community was not just a local phenomenon, as Friends all over the world have been donating to the bail funds and praying for these comrades. This has been incredibly encouraging for the Friends on trial and all radical Friends, as there is hope that Friends are learning to embrace the prophetic culture so vital to early Friends. About 100 supporters, mostly anarchists and radical organizers, including Chelsea Manning, as well as 23 Quakers, filled up the courtroom in support of Blair and others on trial. The collective defense agreement & moving forward

The defendants are determined to work together. While outlining ways they could could stand in solidarity with each other and not let the state play them against one another, they came to consensus on working with an autonomous legal collective to form a CDA (collective defense agreement). They are working with a number of the J20 Defendants in order to learn from their experience, as well as Solidarity & Defense and a team of 16 lawyers from the National Lawyers Guild. Many were offered pleas and some have been threatened with more charges, but the defendants are trusting the lawyers to secure better outcomes than what is currently being offered.



Fascists have been continually doxxing and harassing the defendants. Their lawyers have filed motions to keep media out of the courtroom because of a concern for the defendants’ safety as well as motions to seal portions of their records that make them vulnerable to attacks from the Right. All these motions were denied. Continue to hold these comrades in the Light. If you are in Michigan, please consider offering court support. For more information, you can email the collective: friendlyfireinfo@protonmail.com Financial support is still needed for the defendants. The lawyers are paying out of their own pockets in order to help these defendants. Many of the defendants are traveling from other states, and one of the defendants has to pay for surgery due to injuries received from Nazis. You can donate to the legal fund for the defendants on their fundedjustice page. May the charges be dropped! May fascism crumble! Whiteness is anti-Christ! All cops are apostate!

Kin-dom come! "Those who cannot see Christ in the poor are atheists indeed."

–Dorothy Day Hold in the Light Rojava, or Syrian Kurdistan

For those in Afrin, for their protection. As I write this, Afrin has effectively been taken over by Turkish forces, many of which were recruited from ISIS. They have already killed hundreds of civilians - many of which are children.

May this ethnic cleansing come to an end. May Erdoğan and his fascist regime know the rebuke and judgment of the Lord.

Lord, have mercy on the YPG and the Kurdish people.

Long live the Rojava Revolution!



The comrades arrested in East Lansing, Michigan, who stood up against white supremacy

For the felony charges to be dropped.

For the Friends community to continue to unite in support for our arrested collective members, and all arrested comrades.

For the complete healing of one of the Friends who was hospitalized due to a bacterial infection, likely from the dirty jail cell he was held in.

For all those comrades who have been unjustly charged.

We thank you, God, for their prophetic work. May the alt-right continue to crumble!

Death to fascism! Kin-dom come! The coming May Day retreat in Philadelphia

For all those considering coming.

For all those who have decided to come.

For all those traveling from afar.

For all those planning the retreat.

May this be a space where kin-dom can manifest.

May the Christian/Religious Left be strengthened and gain prophetic fire. Division in the anti-fascist movement

For all anti-fascist affinity groups and networks in the US, and abroad.

For comrades to listen to one another.

For there to be healing.

For there to be fresh fire to fight fascism and build a new world in the ashes of the old.

Grant anti-fascists a vision for a way forward.

We declare that the old world is passing away, and a new one is emerging! Also, Friendly Fire was briefly mentioned at the end of the new episode of The Magnificast, a podcast we love and support. We recommend this past week's episode, Episode 52: Anarchy and Christianity Redux for , which gave a fair and needed critique of Jacques Ellul's articulation of Christian anarchism. What do we mean by "Whiteness is Anti-Christ"? Our collective members were arrested last week holding a banner that boldly proclaimed that “Whiteness is Anti-Christ.” Even some left-leaning liberals have been bothered by this statement. We stand by this statement and believe it needs to be said, but for those confused or offended by this statement, let’s unpack this statement a bit.



When we’re talking about whiteness being anti-Christ, we’re not just talking about skin color. We’re not saying that all white people are damned for their skin color. This statement isn’t a condemnation of all white people but rather a rebuke against an oppressive social order, which is whiteness. So what is whiteness? Much of how we think about race, especially in terms of dividing races between white, black, brown, red, and yellow, is due to the work of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach and other German scientists in the 1800s. They formulated these identities for the purpose of justifying and excusing imperialism. Whiteness is a cultural construct, not a biological reality. That isn’t to say skin color doesn't exist but the categories of "race" that various skin colors are sorted into (which is different from ethnicity) are socially constructed, and not for good ends. As one white Friend put it, “The only evidence you need for whiteness being a social construct is how it’s possible for ethnicities to become white. My Italian ancestors became white probably by abandoning anything that culturally didn’t fit with WASP society (such as being ‘too loud’ and ‘ethnic’) and adopting anti-Blackness. Mediterraneans weren’t ‘white’ upon arriving in this country because Whiteness is defined in significant part by behavior, class, and other standards of WASP society (interestingly, a long running study wherein researchers interviewed 12,000+ people and then the researcher designated the person’s race found that 20% of people’s perceived race changed over time as their education level, employment, and criminal records changed.). We assimilated to Whiteness, and suddenly Whiteness allowed for more melanin than it previously had.” Though there is some flexibility in how whiteness has been conceived over time, essential to whiteness is white supremacy. As Frances Henry puts it in The colour of democracy: Racism in Canadian society:

"‘Whiteness,' like ‘colour' and ‘Blackness,' are essentially social constructs applied to human beings rather than veritable truths that have universal validity. The power of Whiteness, however, is manifested by the ways in which racialized Whiteness becomes transformed into social, political, economic, and cultural behaviour. White culture, norms, and values in all these areas become normative natural. They become the standard against which all other cultures, groups, and individuals are measured and usually found to be inferior."



It’s not being white that’s a problem. It’s the cultural hegemony of Whiteness as a value system. Because of this, Whiteness is not neutral. In our current reality, it is, as Frances Henry put it, whiteness is “the standard against which all other cultures, groups, and individuals are measured and usually found to be inferior.” Where does this leave white people? Recognizing all of this as true isn’t enough. White people cannot hide behind their “wokeness” to claim that they are not racist. Work needs to be done. White people need to be aware of how their privilege benefits them daily and they need combat and dismantle systems that make this true. They need to help other white people become as anti-racist as possible. And still, no amount of work done can be done to completely absolve one of their complicity or liberate them from their whiteness. All white people are complicit in white supremacy. Racism and white supremacy is a force and sin that is integral to how white people in the United States, Canada, Europe, and even elsewhere, are socialized and how they operate. The work of an individual doesn't take away the fact that white colonialism lead to the system we currently live in. This may not be a satisfying answer for some Christians seeking “forgiveness”, but I think white Christians need to accept this tension in order to create a way forward. For white Christians to truly be accomplices to black and brown people, their understanding of repentance and salvation may need to shift. Popular Evangelicalism teaches a “cheap grace” - that if we say sorry to God and put our faith in Jesus and his work on the cross, we are absolved of all our of sins and are “saved.” I think we can locate the power to conquer racism in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and can access this power through the Holy Spirit, but we need to understand that we are called to constantly “renew our minds.” Repenting of racism for white people isn’t just a one-time deal. This is an aspect of their salvation that needs to be worked out in “fear and trembling.” Whiteness is a force and sin that white people will need to combat within themselves, and in the world. The good news is that there’s a God of generous grace willing to empower white people to live into active anti-racism and will constantly offer to liberate them from whiteness.



Those who marched with this banner at the Richard Spencer protest are members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), a religious tradition that prides itself in its prophetic work. The majority of Quakers in the United States are white, and whiteness is a painful deception and sin that US Quakers also have to repent of and exorcise from their lives and spiritual communities. This banner was a prophetic word against Richard Spencer and his alt-right cronies but also a prophetic word to the Society of Friends and the white Church as a whole. Whiteness is anti-black, anti-life, and therefore anti-Christ. May we yield our power to those forced into meekness, those subjugated by the white supremacist, capitalist system, so that they may inherit the earth. New episode of Friendly Anarchism!



A new episode from Friendly Anarchism is out! Not only do we love this podcast because it's hosted and produced by a member of Friendly Fire, but because it's lovely in every sense. It's the only podcast out there that explores the marriage of radical leftism and Christian mysticism. This is needed and good work. The conversations had in each episode are warm, loving, fiery, and extremely informative.



Listen to "Episode 36: Affinity Groups, Cognitive Euphony, And Acting From Good Faith with Isaac" when you have a chance. Here's a quick description:

"Spoke with my friend of circumstance Issac about the Lansing protest, small(big) acts of solidarity, gratitude, athletic musicianship, simplicity, implicit power, affinity groups, instilled hierarchies, being a touring musician, the tyranny of structurelessness, DIY music, balancing idealism and experience, dislodging power, leadership, rules vs. no rules, voluntary association, taking credit for work, intellectual property and creative commons, church+capital+culture, the Western Wall, churches as a socialist enterprise, Friendly Fire, acting from faith and fact, anarchism as a way of life, thanking flowers, ableism, sneetches, light/dark, concurrent contradictory realities, cognitive dissonance, cognitive euphony, and fun with new equipment."

In the spirit of International Workers’ Day, the May Day retreat will be a worship gathering for Christians and mystics with revolutionary leftist convictions. Our hope is that this space will be a time of collaboration and fellowship intended to foster the emergence of a Christian/Religious Left.

www.friendlyfirecollective.wordpress.com/retreat

We will be marching on May Day, feeding the hungry, and retreating to some cabins for workshops, prayer, and worship.



We have extended the application due date till 3/29.

Also, we want to offer as much scholarship as possible with those who cannot afford such a trip.

If you have a few dollars to spare, consider donating to our GoFundMe: Also, we want to offer as much scholarship as possible with those who cannot afford such a trip.If you have a few dollars to spare, consider donating to our GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/friendly-fire-retreat xoxo,

planning committee

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☭ ❤☭ ❤☭ ❤☭ The People's Devotional The Kin-dom of God is within I have some friends where you can tell they experience their bodies as a residence, as a space. With some of them, it’s like they’re visiting their bodies. In their eyes you see them peaking into this world. Their minds are their sanctuaries. I’m not like that. I experience my body as my self. In fact, sometimes I struggle to stay in my mind. Or stay in my feelings. Often, I struggle to discern my own emotions. Too many times I’ve been on a run and finally my rage, or heartbreak, or fear, rises up from my chest and catches up with me, and I’ll continue running into these feelings, sobbing, shouting in tongues, finally knowing. It feels like my body has to be pushed into my soul. I think this is why I’m such a pentecostal. My body is how I know God. When I came to know Jesus, I felt it. It was emotional, yes, but first it took over my body. There were weeks of confusion over feeling compelled by Jesus, and I didn’t necessarily want to be. I tried to push it away. That felt like a dangerous route to go down, a silly one, too. But I was falling in love, I just didn’t quite know it. Until I fell on my knees, feeling possessed by this love, and prayed. My whole body felt bathed in love and I shook and shook, and there I knew God in Christ. Charismatic worship went against my sensibilities. But it’s what I hungered for. The freedom to be wherever I was at, and the freedom to go wherever I felt the Lord leading me, was exciting. In the back of the church sanctuary I’d claw the sky reaching for God, rapidly speaking in tongues, expectant, but yielded, and I’d let the Spirit run throughout my body. I wasn’t formulating a prayer, or knowingly seeking any answers from God, but as I moved into the rhythm of my body, the secrets of my heart would bubble up. I’d begin to feel what I protect myself from feeling, and I’d begin to see what I protect myself from seeing, and I’d be confronted, and pulled into healing. And yet, somehow, I ended up in Quaker circles for a bit. And I continually claim to no longer be Quaker. But every so often I stumble into the meetinghouse, surrounded by expectant seekers and I meet the Spirit of God. I peak into her kin-dom. The first ten, fifteen, twenty minutes sometimes feels like an exam, and I can feel myself slipping into dissociation. But I let my mind run, and with the accompaniment of the Spirit, I let my mind be hushed. It takes time, and patience, but I make space for the Spirit of God. And often, I’ll meet the same Spirit I meet shouting at the back of church sanctuaries. It’s the same love I met in Jesus almost ten years ago. That seed of God’s kin-dom in me is fed by Light. I need both. I need to break into the love of God, and I need to wait, silently, and make space for her to pour in. The reality is that both are yielding. Both are faithful. Even when I am shouting, I am simply trying to find God’s rhythm in that moment. I am trying to catch up with her. It feels like breaking in, but really, I am claiming my inheritance of Mystery. We can’t force sanctification or for God’s grace to pour out - but it will come. The kin-dom is within us, and it is among us. It’s our inheritance. We just need to make space for it. And sometimes we have to pound on heaven’s door, arms waving, tongues rolling, and other times we have to sit, eyes closed, embracing the danger of silence.



That brings me to the need for a diversity of tactics, and how followers of the Jesus-Way should support radical political change.



I am not convinced that a political revolution will usher in God's kin-dom. There is no political ideology that perfectly reveals the nature of God or the Way of the kin-dom. That being said, revolutionary work, namely cultivating power in and through the people, can till the soil of this world for the kin-dom of God to take root. We are building a world we believe in, one where it is easier to be empathetic and do good. Such a world is one that God's kin-dom can have space and freedom to peak in and manifest.



There are demonic systems in place that cannot be reformed or transformed. This includes the State. They need to be abolished. Weeded. Plucked out. We were called to destroy these things (Ephesians 6). Work will be done in order to "smash the state," but the majority of Jesus-people will not be able to do much of that work in good conscience. I think for the most part, the Church will be called to live into a prefigurative politics, living into the world we believe in. We are called to build up dual power, to create alternative systems for mutual aid, and to effectively make the State irrelevant.



I see a time coming where those following Jesus will be gathered into supporting movements of liberation throughout the globe. They may not lead them, and they may not take part in their more militant actions, but they will provide material and spiritual support, and help build alongside them. A diversity of tactics has proven to be vital to revolutionary and effective social movements, from the anti-war movement in the 60s to the Civil Rights Movement, to the Kurdish liberation movement and Zapatistas in Mexico. We cannot let Empire rebuking the militance and so-called violence of the oppressed be reason for siding with empire. We must always stand in solidarity with the oppressed, in their fights for liberation and self-determination.



Under capitalism, all things have been baptized in violence. We can pretend "keeping our hands" means not taking a side, and we are therefore innocent of any violence, or we can recognize that any support of empire is violent and see power for what it is, and be present to the needs of those fighting for their survival. We cannot let a "letter of the law" stance on non-violence make us into tools of empire.



May a remnant rise that embodies solidarity. May we be gathered to build a new society - one that lifts up and centers those long-subjugated, forced into meekness, by the state and systems of this world. May we be willing to till the soil of this world, even if it means laying down our lives, so that we may be ready to receive God's kin-dom. The kin-dom of God is at hand, among us, within us - may we be ready to take hold of it.