Christianity and Communism with Southern Catholic Worker
Added 2025-07-16 15:08:24 +0000 UTCIn this episode, Breht is joined by Alex Zambito, the voice behind the Instagram account Southern Catholic Worker, for a wide-ranging conversation on the intersections of Christianity and revolutionary struggle. Together, they explore Alex’s journey into the Catholic Worker movement, how his Southern roots and spiritual convictions shaped his politics, and what the life and teachings of Jesus Christ - himself a Palestinian born to working people - have to offer a world ravaged by capitalism, empire, and despair.
The conversation dives deep into liberation theology, the legacy of figures like John Brown, St. Francis of Assisi, Fanny Lou Hamer, Dorthy Day and Thomas Merton, and the ways theology can inform and animate anti-capitalist resistance. Alex discusses the contradictions between mainstream American Christianity and the gospel's radical call to justice, post-atheism, and the possibilities for a spiritual reawakening amid the decay of late capitalism.
Comments
The absence of liberation theology in American religion fascinates me. My grandfather was a semi proninent priest/writer in the movement in Brazil and iirc worked with Freire, then went on to apply Freire's teachings in post independence Algéria and Angola, so despite being raised without religion I've always strongly associated Catholicism with leftist ideology. The most similar protestant thing (and the closest thing in the USA people are broadly familiar with) is probably Quakerism but from what I can tell from Quaker family members there's a strong presence of people with Quaker morals but no actual relationship to God. Shoutout Nixon for being the most famous Quaker and off setting the like centuries of abolitionism and charity. Great interview overall.
Liam Farley
2025-07-21 19:10:59 +0000 UTCAlex was great! Wish I had met Catholic leftists when I was growing up, but instead I was surrounded by conservative reactionary Catholics who called me radical for basically wanting to treat others how I wanted to be treated lol. Dialectics at play, I became a belligerent atheist for years, finally settling into Zen Buddhism. I have since met many Catholics like Alex who live true to the word and I have all the love and respect for them now. Good work.
Bill
2025-07-20 23:11:25 +0000 UTC
