I always feel like I struggle with a lot of the beliefs behind anarchism, but can I ask how being a pastor works in combination with it? Religious doctrine sounds like it would be at odds. (I'm sorry if this sounds condescending I'm just not smart about political theory and I like hearing people explain their viewpoints)
It's not condescending and a very legitimate question. In fact, it's partly the reason why I said that I have anarchist tendencies but don't call myself an anarchist.
But for me, anarchism is about anti-authoritarianism. Religion can be authoritarian and hierarchical, or can be a free association of like-minded people. I don't see how the second one couldn't fit in an anarchist society. When I read for example Bakunin, I don't recognize religion as I live it everyday; he clearly speaks about something else. Moreover, Jesus himself was quite anti-authoritarian and most political passages of the Bible criticize quite strongly the powerful people, or praise Jesus as a freedom giver (to call the Bible an anarchist book would be at least an anachronism, but the Bible was an influence of the early anarchist thinkers).
