"Church and State" is an article by Leo Tolstoy written in 1886. It was translated to English and then published by the

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

Benjamin Tucker. In this text, Tolstoy condemns anyone who collaborates with the state in committing a war, and especially condemns the Eastern Orthodox Church for supporting the Tsar's wars when Christianity teaches "Thou Shalt Not Kill."

Legacy

It was republished by numerous, diverse groups, such as the Methodist Episcopal Church and the anarchist paper

Mother Earth Mother Earth may refer to: *The Earth goddess in any of the world's mythologies *Mother goddess *Mother Nature, a common personification of the Earth and its biosphere as the giver and sustainer of life Written media and literature *Mother Earth ...

, edited by

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...

and Alexander Berkman. In 1903, inspired by the Christian, anarchist,

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

message of Tolstoy,

Carlos Brandt Carlos Brandt (11 October 1875 – 27 February 1964) was a Venezuelan author, naturopath, philosopher and vegetarianism activist. Biography He was born in Miranda, Venezuela, the son of a German immigrant Karl Brandt, a coffee planter and exp ...

planned with Tolstoy to have copies of it locally printed in Venezuela.

Criticism

According to literary critic

David Holbrook David Kenneth Holbrook (9 January 1923 – 11 August 2011) was a British writer, poet and academic. From 1989 he was an Emeritus Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge. Life David Holbrook was born in Norwich in 1923. He was educated at City of N ...

, like many of Tolstoy's other works, he advocates for sexual abstinence here, claiming that sex can "exhaust and debilitate" people. He is criticized elsewhere for sexist attitudes here, where Tolstoy says that it's deplorable to see a woman "capable of bearing children at men's work."

References

External links

* Original Text *
''"Church and State"''
from RevoltLib.com *

from

Marxists.org Marxists Internet Archive (also known as MIA or Marxists.org) is a non-profit online encyclopedia that hosts a multilingual library (created in 1990) of the works of communist, anarchist, and socialist writers, such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Enge ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Church and State 1896 essays Leo Tolstoy

Legacy

Criticism

See also

References

External links