Autonomist Faith Is Upstream Of That

As anyone else who exists in 2025, I must wake each day to confront all the affairs, all the questions, of society. Shall I be a capitalist? Shall I be a socialist? Shall I follow Yoshihiko Noda, or Jair Bolsonaro, or Abdelaali Hassani Cherif? Shall I embrace progressivist politics, or defend Hayekian economics? Which team am I supposed to be on today?

Autonomist faith is, and will forever be, silent on so many matters. It isn't that our faith is a "big tent" welcoming all comers. Rather, it is that our faith is concerned with the individual's soul, mind and body. Our souls thrive through privacy, to peacefully live free of coercion and compulsion, and allow other souls the opportunity to rightly choose.

On societal decisions, even of those related to privacy, choice, and personal safety, my faith doesn't claim any revelation. Can you legislate the movement of the hurricane? Can you vote for the sunrise? Does your finance minister command the tides? It would be best if we create societies that acknowledge the primacy of soul and privacy, but society and authorities will inevitably form and mutate in so many ways that disappoint and violate. And yet, the soul exists, and it is nourished by privacy.

As our faith and our congregation continue to evolve in the coming years I expect allegations that Autonomist beliefs are aligned to certain economic theories, political parties, and social movements.  Many groups have come before that have claimed an interest in privacy and autonomy.

But the rain falls on the just and unjust alike. The tree's fruit nourishes the pilgrim and the invader. Is privacy for the soldier, or the rebel, for the politician or for the activist?

Autonomist faith is upstream of that. Autonomist beliefs are concerned with each soul, mind, and body. Downstream of each person's healthy soul, mind and body is their authentic participation in community. By the time questions of societal turmoil, coup, supreme opinion, or economics arise, I am mostly interested in how coercion and compulsion are wielded within that society.

How best to organize your society's courts, or enforce a law, or house the impoverished? A variety of attractive paths are available for those of our faith. Quarreling about theories of society isn't what our beliefs are about. Autonomist faith is upstream of that.