In this episode, Craig speaks with Caleb Kesterson about his journey to Christian-Anarchy, what the Anabaptist can teach us about Christianity, and his articles, Tolkien and the Night Watchmen State and Tolkein and Power.
Caleb is passionate about peace and was raised in Assemblies of God tradition before finding alignment with the anti-war and Jesus-centric approach of the Anabaptist. He now runs a home church, in an effort to foster discipleship and bring the teachings of Christ into the larger society.
Craig and Caleb finish their conversation by exploring Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and what Tolkien has to teach us through the novels about a voluntary society. We all know the books are better than the movies, and thankfully Caleb is here to give us that insight for a Christian-anarchist perspective.
You can connect with Caleb on Twitter @CalebMK5 and find his articles on the Bad Roman Blog.
Timestamps & starting points:
1:51 Caleb’s Background
Works Agriculture
Runs a home church
4:16 Anabaptist, the State & the Early Church
Anti War movement
Caleb wants to see an Anabaptism that goes out into the world and meets people where they are vs. isolates
11:49 How Caleb found the Bad Roman Project
Don’t always see anarchy, Christianity, and peace together
13:55 Christian Right vs. Christian Left
“Punch people in the mouth lovingly”
Left is honest about Tyranny, Right more secretive; but both do the same things
Trump vs. Obama supporters
January 6th was trying to keep their master in office
21:00 Absurdities of Statism
Biden bombing Syria and not ending “conflict” in Yemen vs. what he said
Lysander Spooner - defensive voting
Fallacy of defensive voting
You are still voting for someone to have power over your neighbor
Fear voting is the worst voting
Endorsing tyrannical actions overseas and at home
“Shooting people at the borders” is not a Christian sentiment
26:35 Craig’s Social Media Strategy for making people think
Baiting conversation, not to change minds, but for the curious ones in the comments
Showing concern for QAnon supporters mental health
28:26 Is Craig in a cult?
Many ways to read the bible
Anabaptists start with what Jesus said/did and work from there
Jesus, “you’ve seen me you see the father”
Let’s get back to Jesus
Jesus came not to cause division
With 30,00 denominations there is clearly some division
32:05 Caleb’s First Article:
Disclaimer: Caleb is not a Tolkien expert
Minarchism
Tolkien’s Shire is voluntary
Hardly any positions in government
There is a sheriff
A governor
Hierarchy established through family origin
rangers chose to protect the land they are not forced
38:37 Article #2: Tolkien and Power
Gandolf’s rejection of the ring and the pitfalls of power
John 6 Jesus rejects being king over people by force
Matthew 25 Jesus explains his new kingdom