About this Episode

Stephen is from Anarcho-Christian, our brother-in-Christ podcast. He has spent the last 6 years providing an online presence and community for people like us. He has a way of expressing many viewpoints on a hotly debated topic, so we’ve invited him into our conversation on voting.

Midterms are fast approaching. As people who serve only one King, we must consider whether we ought to participate in the kingship of others. Is it ever justifiable to participate in choosing laws and rulers for our neighbors? How involved should an anarchist really be in politics? How involved should a Christian be? Is there a difference? Listen for our take on these and other questions relating to the issue.

Episode Timestamps:

1:45 Unbiased

Not like Fox news
- “We report; you decide
  - (what we tell you because everything we put out is incredibly biased)”
Debating this is good, but not on this episode
- Discuss and let people reach their own conclusions
- Easier said than done because of strong opinion
  - Christians should have nothing to do with voting

3:07 Facebook page disappeared

Because they were getting too popular?
- Facebook didn’t like their message
Flagged unspecified memes
No power or tools to fight back
- Just had to wait
- Found a workaround
Bad Roman page is not allowed to boost posts
- When Craig is drunk, he approves of Nate’s ornery memes
  - Then Craig gets in trouble with
    - Facebook
    - And the show producer
      - Can’t go too far with posts because losing Facebook means losing access to the majority of the fan base
Don’t want to lose what so much work has gone into
Having AnarchoChristian back on Facebook takes some of the heat off Bad Roman

8:14 Should anarchists vote?

Is voting consistent with anarchist philosophy?
Some people separate Christianity and anarchy
- Others feel it’s entwined
- Stephen came to anarchy by growing in his faith
What’s the intent of voting?
What are you voting on?
- Is it federal or is it about your local library?
  - We don’t usually get to vote on community-level decisions
Some anarchists wind up back in the libertarian party
- Saying they’re trying to get a message out
  - Seems inconsistent to be in politics
- You can reach people within the party without joining the party
Pulling out of politics almost feels like joining a monastery
- Away from the evils of the world
- Never going back
- Putting faith entirely on God
  - Instead of faith in God plus worrying about whether the more evil guy wins the election
  - Good for mental health
Defensive political action vs action to bring good
Some people believe they can wield the power to bring about God’s Kingdom
Maybe it’s a neutral decision
- Maybe it’s okay to take political action
- And maybe it’s just as okay not to

19:36 Should Christians get involved in politics?

Should we peacefully protest everything?
Even “setting people free” from the slavery of the current political system
- Is slavery
  - Because they didn’t have a choice
The motivation to vote is that our country is like a train
- The 2 current parties are competing to send the train over the cliff faster
- The libertarian party might at least be able to slow it down
- Other people would rather let it crash and burn
  - We can rebuild better and faster
  - Why focus on something that is doomed?
  - “Empires fall; let it burn” - Craig
Ron Paul actually did make a difference with his presidential campaign
- He got involved to get a message out
- Converted a good number of people to libertarianism
  - Directly and by starting a chain of influence
- Got them involved with each other
- Many have since converted to anarchism
- Most normies will listen to a political candidate before a random dude’s libertarian podcast
But he also proved that the mafia cannot be changed from the inside
- Why should anarchists try to change it by voting or involvement when even the great Ron Paul failed?
- The Republican party blocked him from succeeding
At this point,
- People are frustrated with the government’s response to COVID-19
- They see the immorality
- They see the flaws of a 2-party system
- Inflation is affecting them
- If someone were to get up and speak to them from a political stage, they might move toward anarchy

29:26 Christian anarchy

The early church was anarchist
- So was Jesus
The word ‘Christian’ has come to imply ‘anarchist’ to Craig
- Because it’s obviously how we’re supposed to be
- Voting for someone to rule over your neighbor is not justifiable
  - Jesus said Christians will not lord it over each other
  - We come to serve, not be served
“As a Christian, what do you think is moral about going and trying to put somebody in power over your neighbor?” - Craig
We have to understand that people don’t yet understand
- They don’t grasp the monopoly on violence or voluntarism
- They don’t speak our language or know what we’re referring to
We must look at a person’s heart motive
- Are they demanding a king to replace God?
  - Many Trump supporters are definitely putting their faith in their president
  - Republican is synonymous with Christian
  - People put way too much of their identity in politics
    - And mix it with religion
- If, in 1 Samuel, God says choosing a king is rejecting Me
  - Is voting for rulers now rejecting God?
  - Is it a sin to vote?
- Is a person voting defensively or in an attempt to change the world for good?
  - Their focus would seem to not be on getting a king
Defensive voting
- Asking permission to not be taxed
- Still gives the ruler power
Empires fall
- The US empire is going down
  - There’s no point in trying to save it
- We’re creating money out of thin air, constantly increasing our debt
- People get freaked out by outside forces coming to harm us
  - We’re already being harmed
Inflation
- Didn’t start with Biden
- Trump pumped $2 trillion of fake money into our economy
- People generally blame the government
  - But they don’t know what they’ve specifically done to cause the problem
  - It’s the printing of money without anything behind it
  - It’s taxes and tariffs
- Propaganda
  - Inflation is good!
  - It’s all Putin’s fault!
  - Nobody could have seen this coming!
- Anarchists are generally more aware of what is actually happening
2-party system
- Taught, “We have to beat these guys cuz they’re the worst.”
  - Pick the lesser of 2 evils
- People want to get someone perfect in who will
  - Shut down the Department of Education or the CIA
  - Fulfill their dreams
  - Make everything better
  - The system will never allow them to win
- Small changes have occurred
  - But nothing that will stop the train
50% of the country doesn’t vote
- We’re halfway there!
- People get nervous
  - If we stop, then our enemy will win the election
    - So, maybe if we all jump to the third party, we can beat them all
    - And maybe we can use the system to tackle local issues
All politicians will lie or make exceptions at some point
- Power corrupts
- Even Ron Paul voted us into war
- People might get into politics with good intentions
  - But when you’ve joined the mafia, you’re part of the mafia
  - Unrelated projects slipped into bills
- Same with cops
  - Gotta make compromises to avoid getting fired
- One could go in with the intent of causing a ruckus and not care about re-election
  - But it’s unlikely
  - And what kind of difference could it really make?

49:48 Roe v Wade and other big decisions

So many people are celebrating
It feels nefarious
Government promises of good
- Almost always have something bad attached
- Even if it really is good for one group
  - It hurts someone else
  - Or hurts everyone in a different realm of life
Printing money seems great
- Until a year later when inflation skyrockets

53:26 Just keep following Jesus