Bitcoin is anarchy. The implications of such seem to upset Christians that want governmental submission, as called for by many places im the gospel.
But if bitcoin is anarchy and anarchy cannot be compatible with Christianiry, is Bitcoin evil?
What about the maths that enable bitcoin to exist?
Christians have their own very narrow beliefs based on zero proof of work. Bitcoin does not negate their beliefs one iota. Bitcoin doesn’t even have an opinion about their beliefs. So why then do Christians try to project their opinions about bitcoin? Just my 2¢
It's a worldview conflict. Bitcoin shapes worldviews in a similar way Christ does.
False Christians. That's most of them. The ones who make a show of their piety are not in the body of Christ, and you can see it because they misinterpret literally everything they possibly can. Its like its on purpose. There's a high chance that a false Christian will see this and respind in an angry or passive aggressive way. They are Antichrist.
Its ego vs Christ. You can't follow both. Its ego that imposes opinions on everything and demands conformity. So if you see that, there's a pretty good chance that the rest of what they think is baloney. So... Most Christians.
Bitcoin is the opposite of anarchy. It is a set of unchangeable (or difficult to change) rules. These rules can be examined by anyone with a desire. It is open and transparent. It's inclusive. It's honest.
If bitcoin upsets Christians, it's almost surely from a lack of true understanding.
I believe bitcoin deeply aligns with the will of God and His commandments.
Anarchy is inherently christian.
God gave us free will so that we could choose to be with him
Likewise, anarchy the absence of coercion, letting people choose what they do
You are not moral if you only do something because fear of the consequences. And you are not in a real relationship if your partner is forced to be with you
Bitcoin is also the verification of theology. If it is the quantum computer as I argue then it doesn’t rebel against God, it reveals His order.
It models a universe where truth is not declared by rulers, but discovered through work. Where value is not assigned by decree, but earned by sacrifice. Where time is irreversible, memory is sacred, and justice is enforced without preference.
If Christ is truth, and Bitcoin is truth made computable, then it is not rebellion it is alignment.
Not the rejection of authority, but its purification. A system where no man can lie, and no power can rewrite history.
Bitcoin doesn’t oppose Christianity.
It’s seemingly the physical proof.
This is a quite new idea to me, and I am just beginning to try to grapple and understand it all.
"Purification of authority"
That's a good framing.
Bitcoin is the narrow gate. No title, no force, no deception passes through.
Only proof. Only truth. Only work.
Authority without sacrifice is cast out.
What remains is purified and refined.
Bitcoin is going to demand the reunion of physics and theology. Materialism is dead and gone.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Ephesians 6:12 NIV
This hit me this week after my daughter was telling me about the Armor of God. It stuck hard with the idea of Bitcoin going against rulers, but not rules. I like the next parts even more:
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
Ephesians 6:13-18 NIV
Belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, and feet wrapped in the Gospel of peace. None of that goes against Bitcoin’s ethos.
Do you think bitcoin is anarchy?
I think it is as far as the no rulers piece. I don’t think any human can change the course it is on.
I have struggled with the word anarchy as a Christian, in general. I believe with a deep faith that there is a Leader of the Universe. I find over and over in scripture where we are warned not to put human leaders in charge. We continue to do that and continue to fail. To BTC (be the change) we should stick to biblical teachings at our foundations, with Jesus seeking moral principles.
The church I attend has a slogan that really fits well with Bitcoin.
-Know God
-Find Freedom
-Discover Purpose
-Make a Difference
Bitcoin doesn’t impede any of that and empowers a ton of it, clear down to allowing me more time for prayer and scripture studies.
What say you?
I believe bitcoin to be anarchy. I'm just wrestling with the implications of that as it pertains to Faith.
Archony (a word more true to the original root, “archon”) is one state of mind and anarchony is another state of mind, a polar opposite. The former shuns responsibility in favor of a beastly collective hive-mind, whereas the latter embraces responsibility in accordance with the rules of the universe.
All worldly religions are merely a children’s book cover for what the true teachings hold. The exoteric story of Jesus, for example, is probably based on astrotheology, a blueprint recycled throughout the ages in various religions, based on the movements of celestial bodies, entrancing the masses.
The esoteric teachings of Christ are a different story - to live in accordance with the laws of the universe, that are powerful beyond any one man or any group of men, or AI, or even alien overlords. It is the idea of doing no harm, the golden rule, and unity consciousness. The idea of self-defense is also a vital component of preventing and arresting harm.
Nature, in order to be commanded, has to first be obeyed. Instead, the current deceptive system promises that we can each become gods in our own realms - hence the acceptance of any religion, any artificial construct, any virtual reality, to make us think and feel that we can, even for a brief moment, supersede the natural law.
Of course, that won’t work, and the man who yells “I don’t believe in karma or responsibility ” eventually meets his demise. That is the faith of archonists - those who give their consent to a fake omnipotent power, without discernment and verification. “Don’t trust, verify” is a good wake-up mantra, but so is “Trust, but verify,” once a group forms in order to work toward a common goal. Many bitcoiners have been led astray and many will lead others astray…
After all, no religion, no technological solution, no psychedelic substance will help mankind evolve without trust where appropriate or through blind trust where greater discernment is warranted.
Thus, discernment should be exercised in every discipline, and Bitcoin the community/software/hardware network is only one tool towards awakening. I see awakening happening thru many disciplines, and Bitcoin is only one of them. To study Bitcoin properly is to study every other vitally important discipline, and to study any other discipline (permaculture for example) properly is to study Bitcoin, in due course. Jack Spirko is one example of a permaculturist turned bitcoiner.
One must train hard and study everything!
🤝
Rather, do you think anarchy is incompatible with Christianity?
Seems pretty clear to me in 1 Samuel that our “leaders” are the problem and God didn’t want us to have them anyways.
“Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.””
1 Samuel 8:10-18 NIV
Bitcoin is a tool, a weapon, utilized by people.
It puts bumpers on the lane which ensures people cannot go off down the tyrannical gutter, but we are still bowling.
Do you believed anarchy is incompatible with Christianity?
If the purpose, function, or end of “anarchy” is to abolish “the state,” the it is incompatible with reality itself, not just Christianity.
Good states bad states, there will always be nations.
Non-voluntary relations with asymmetrical power dynamics are inherent to human nature.
It’s silly attempting to scrub it out.
Anarchy is "without rulers". Who rules bitcoin?
Who rules a hammer?
The person using it?
I think the thread we are picking at and the confusion here comes from overlapping two discrete domains.
Bitcoin changes how we relate to each other, how we are societally all connected.
But it does not change the principled nature of our relations.
Alters the particulars, not principles.
Enhances our human potency, but not actual human form.
The hammer is not a fundamental underpinning of society with broad implications.
Yes, I acknowledge the particular characteristics are different, but the principles are the same.
It is in the same way any tool is.
If we never discovered the use of a hammer, it is true that the particular implications would be broad and societal.
The internet changed how we relate to each other, not “that we relate”
bitcoin is no different.
If human nature is immutable, anarchy seeks the impossible.
Where does bitcoin exist?
It’s information in a database, on a network.
It exists in objective reality.
It’s just as “physical” as gold.
It doesn’t exist in our mind.
Bitcoin impossibly exists as a framework for money without rulers.
maybe that’s the conflation causing all the trouble.
money is an objective tool brought into existence intersubjectively by people
and rulers of people are people
ruling money is different than ruling people
money without rulers is different than people without rulers, even though both domains touch at “people”
yes i agree bitcoin does remove the rulers from money the way we are talking about it here.
but it does not follow that bitcoin would remove rulers of people.
and yes, it changes the dynamics, and i would bet my life rulers will be >100x the quality of rulers we have today.
I think that is the place we go on different pages.
Do u agree ruling money and people are distinct?
thx for the back and forth, its been enjoyable and good mental exercise 🙏
Those rule frameworks seems different but Bitcoin and the underlying cryptography enable a form of law that is inviolable, we just now have the money to go along with it. That expands the scope of discussion a bit. So by proxy of bitcoin and cryptography we have a new paradigm for ruling people as well as money. So what are the theological implications?
Likewise, I enjoy all the feedback!
Iirc it was Paul who wrote the lines that kowtow to the government. But Paul's Christianity, while it has merits, isn't Jesus' Christianity. The story he tells about his conversion is like... Okay, cool story, but it has nothing to do with me, and I'm following what Jesus said, or trying to. Jesus was way more anarchistic. I can't help noticing that the Roman state did everything it could to stamp out some churches, while endorsing others... and it just so happens that the Pauline churches were the ones endorsed. I can that sus.
Interesting. Was that an origin of the Roman Catholic church?
Yes, Paul could be called the founder of the Roman Catholic church, though I'd add caveats like the churches already existed and maybe Constantine is and maybe that one pope that demanded supremacy over the eastern churches and didn't get it is. It seems like there was some bitterness between some churches over Paul being seen as usurping Peter's place.
And there was this long procession of church fathers writing important texts and being saints for a long time before being declared heretical long after their death. Marcion and Clement of Alexandria are examples. This is why I say that modern Christianity is the result of repeated purity tests. If you read Origen, there's just no reason to call it heretical, unless the purpose is a political purity test designed to create enemies. Its statism. Same with Arius, and you cab still observe the silly attacks on Arianism made by Orthodox, who seem to need to maintain the attack for centuries, but if you read what he actually said, there's no problem and there was no need to create the Nicean Creed, and even Constantine wrote to the bishops that they were being ridiculous.
But what followed was mass murder... And over time, the hundreds of different churches and ways of understanding Jesus Christ were replaced with one church - the Pauline church. And Paul was either a statist or knowingly courted state sponsorship, and I think it contrasts sharply with what Jesus said.
Erm, so I don't mean this as a critique on the Roman Catholic church, or on Paul. I think both were/are doing their best. Its just history. I'd have no problem with attending a catholic mass.
I have my gripes with the Catholic Church but mainly with organized religion as those tend to be organized by humans. Being raised Catholic probably has something to do with it too
I see these "ex Catholic" posts around the internet all the time, like its so terrible somehow. Its actually growing on me.
Depends entirely on one's moral principal. What determines right & wrong?
This much us clear after talking with my pastor friend.
The Bible and Christ's teaching are the guiding light for morality IMHO.
A ruler that doesn’t change its length is simply a true measure. This ruler only appears as anarchy when every other ruler is made out of elastic rubber and everyone is confused on the measurement of things. Bitcoin is monetary truth. Christ is Lord and died on the cross for our sins. The Bible is the word of God.
Anarchy is without rulers, not without rules
