103. Fiction as a Mirror for Anarchy and Faith Insights with Joseph Macolino

About this Episode

Join us as we embark on a captivating journey with Joseph Macolino, a masterful storyteller whose love for fantasy began in childhood. Joseph shares the evolution of his fictional universe, Evorath, and the tales that populate its thousand-year timeline. Drawing inspiration from literary giants like Tolkien and Orwell, Joseph crafts narratives that resonate deeply with themes of governmental skepticism and the pursuit of a society aligned with the teachings of Christ. His trilogy stands as a testament to the power of fiction in challenging our beliefs and illuminating the path to Christ's kingdom.

Throughout our conversation, we thread the needle between fiction and reality, exploring how the characters in Joseph’s fantasy series confront the winds of change, transitioning from a structured monarchy to a society where Christian anarchist principles reign supreme. This isn't just about creating another world; it's about challenging the status quo, questioning the reader's long-held beliefs, and presenting a tapestry of upheaval that resonates with both historical and contemporary political movements. The tales shared offer more than escapism - they invite introspection and boldly propose a life governed by faith rather than fear

Wrapping up our expedition into Evorath, we delve into the lives of characters who are as multidimensional as the world they inhabit. Villains reveal vulnerabilities and heroes grapple with the unforeseen repercussions of their deeds. Through them, we glimpse a society in flux—a monarchy giving way to a republic, and ultimately an anarchist community living out these principles. It's more than just a fantasy series; it's a reflection of libertarian turned anarchist ideology and the perennial quest for a harmonious existence. Join us for this imaginative and thought-provoking episode that's sure to provoke discussion and maybe even inspire a reevaluation of the way we view our world and the powers that govern it.

Connect with Joseph Macolino:

• Evorath.com

• Follow Joesph on Amazon

• Advanced Reader Copy (Arc Reader)

Episode Timestamps:

Timestamps:

01:08 Exploring Anarchy Through Fiction

•  Introduction to Joseph Macolino, inspired by Tolkien and Orwell.

• Creation of the fictional universe Evorath, developed from high school to college.

• Joseph's trilogy explores themes of questioning government authority and discovering Christian principles.

12:35 Spreading Christian Anarchy Through Fiction

• The intersection of fiction and Christian anarchism is highlighted.

• Influence of various texts, maintaining a critical perspective.

• Story arc in fantasy series depicts the transition from monarchy to an anarchist society, paralleling historical movements.

• Aim to challenge preconceptions and promote Christian anarchism through storytelling.

19:59 Discussing Writing, Influence, and Christianity

• Focus on Evorath's world-building, where humans are divinely created.

• Discussion on media influence and personal experiences of non-conformity.

• Importance of writers in highlighting societal propaganda and Christian resistance.

• Emphasis on living according to Jesus' teachings despite potential opposition.

28:22 God Is Strategic

• A personal anecdote about a significant encounter and the concept of divine timing.

• Reflection on the creative process and progress in writing projects.

• Introduction of the 'Bad Woman Project' and a call for support.

• Teaser for the content of upcoming books without giving away specifics.

31:46 Expanding on Book Two Characters

• Insight into Averath's characters, including the villain Yazook Stahl.

• Exploration of shapeshifter species and character development.

• Themes of power, corruption, and societal improvement are examined through character arcs.

39:46 Fantasy Series and Libertarian Ideology

• Introduction of diverse races and characters in the third book.

• Characters question tribal loyalties, leading to the formation of a new community.

• Discussion on societal ideals, comparing the fictional society to voluntarism.

• Upcoming books to delve into the complexities of a society striving for harmony post-trilogy.

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51. Jesus the Anarchist with Alexandre Christoyannopoulos and Nicholas Harrelson

In this episode, Alexandre Christoyannopoulos, author of Christian Anarchism, Tolstoy's Political Thought, and Essays in Anarchism and Religion, joins your host Craig Harguess alongside our beloved Bad Roman contributor, Nicholas Harrelson, from across the pond. He literally wrote the book on Christian anarchism. Alex is French and Greek, he is from Belgium and has lived in the UK since 1997. He holds a BA in economics, a MA in international relations and European studies, and a Ph.D. in politics and religion. He has studied all the major thinkers in anarchism and written several academic publications, which you can (and should) explore on his website.

In addition to being an expert scholar on Christian Anarchy, Alex is a teacher, lecturer, and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. On the show, he shares what he has learned, about Jesus and Anarchy and how we can better examine our own philosophy on the topic.

The episode is a wide-ranging conversation that covers everything from pacifism and turning the other cheek to Romans 13 and the many strains of anarchism – how we can all work together? Was Jesus really an anarchist?

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:

2:15 Alex’s Timeline

• Did not start off life religious

• Grew up in Belgium with Greek and French parents

• Went to uni in England

• Near the end of his MA, developing curiosity in religion

  • Literally finished his degree as 9/11 happened

  • Decided to pursue Ph.D. in the relationship between religious and political structures

    • Started studying what Jesus said

    • Then found Tolstoy

      • Changed Ph.D. to his political/religious philosophy

      • Tolstoy takes Jesus literally and applies His teaching to the state

      • But there are gaps

        • He ignores Paul

        • He doesn’t address “render unto Caesar”

    • Went down the rabbit hole of other writers about Jesus and politics

    • Wound up with a thesis on Christian Anarchism

      • Goal: to take what others have said about Jesus’ political views and weave them together

7:52 Craig’s Timeline

10:36 Interpreting Scripture leads to anarchy

• You can make the Bible support almost any point you make

  • But it’s pretty clear and consistent on love and non-violence

    • Turning the other cheek is what sets Christianity apart

    • The cross is an example of love and forgiveness even unto death

  • It’s often the rejection of violence that leads to the rejection of the state

    • Christianity, if followed consistently, means rejecting violence

      • The state is violent

      • The state causes citizens to be violent

      • It claims a monopoly on “legal/good” violence

  • The average Christians firmly believe we need to infiltrate the state

    • “There’s no evidence of Jesus using the state to promote His message of peace.” - Craig

15:00 Nick’s Timeline

• Liberal

• Southerner, patriotic

• Military: 2 tours in Iraq, wounded, many friends committed suicide after

• Worked in the senate 3 years

• Came to pacifism from reading Tolstoy

  • Reconciled Christianity with his new view on the world

• Recognized the state runs on coercion and violence

  • “I came to realize that, to remain consistent, I had to probably be an anarchist as well.” - Nick

• Identified with Tolstoy’s military experience

• Sunday Christians

  • “It’s like we go into a church and turn on this mindset, and then we leave the church and think nothing of it for the rest of the week.” - Nick

  • Tolstoy offered consistency

18:08 Following the Early Church

• “Not everything that can be done through the state has to rely on violence in order to achieve anything, but a lot of it does. A lot of laws ultimately rely on the threat of violence.” - Alex

• The Early Church had nothing to do with Rome

  • Some of them knew Jesus

    • Maybe we should follow their example

• It’s risky and uncertain to go against the status quo

24:19 Anarchism vs Christian Anarchism

• In anarchism, there is a spectrum from very confrontational to strictly non-confrontational

• Christian spectrum

  • From turning over the tables to turning the other cheek

• But we must resist evil, even if we cannot use violence

27:20 Turning the other cheek

• Not passive action

• Surprises attacker

• Makes observers question who is in the right

• Gives you the higher moral ground

• Clearly communicates that you do not approve of what the attacker is defending

30:01 Violence or Pacifism? 

• Martin Luther King Jr. followed in the way of Gandhi

• “You’re going to push the state away a lot quicker by being non-violent because the state only understands violence.” - Craig 

• A lot of people have emulated Gandhi and had peaceful movements of resistance

• A study was done in 2011 compared different campaigns against oppression,

  • Nonviolent ones were twice as effective 

  • and more likely to last peacefully after the oppressors had been defeated

  • All fights against oppression are more likely to fail than succeed

• Reacting violently pulls the enemy together against you

  • Non-violence might cause some of the people involved to question what they're doing

• Martin Luther King jr. learned a lot about his nonviolent tactics from Gandhi

  • C.S. Lewis would argue that all truths point towards God

  • Gandhi was a fan of Jesus but didn't like the way Christians were living

  • Dr. King learned a lot about how Jesus lived and taught from a non-Christian

• A lot of Christians take inspiration from Tolstoy

  • but they're afraid to admit it

  • He's an "awkward Christian" because he doesn't hold to some theological views

• “Go back to the source– as in picking up the Bible, reading it and thinking, ‘Well, this is more radical than they tell us every Sunday.’” - Alex

• Anabaptists and Catholic Workers are good current examples of peaceful radicals

41:15 Jesus and Paul

• Simplify. Focus on Jesus.

  • Theology gets so messy and confusing

  • We are not followers of Paul

  • If Jesus was really the son of God and rose from the dead, shouldn't we view him as the most important person to follow?

• Romans 13

  • The chapter on obeying government

  • Addressed in Alex's book

  • Maybe an exegesis on The Sermon on the Mount

  • Must be read In the context of chapter 12

  • Nick's sermon

44:17 Anarchist societies

• Monastic orders

• The Benedict Option

  • Communities that defy the state simply by ignoring it

• Tolstoy believed that Jesus’ orders were not to become separate from the world but to live within it

  • To be different, maybe even “awkward”

    •  but not withdrawn

  • The Catholic Workers have a community in rural areas

    • but hospitality houses in urban places

48:19 Anarcho-capitalism?

• A hot potato topic

• Most anarchists believe that their ideals push people toward mutual aid

  • Capitalism is fundamentally against that

    • It’s about competition

    • And individual land ownership

      • Which, at the end of the day, requires some sort of police force to enforce

      • What happens when your accumulation of land starts to be to the detriment of others?

52:34 Secular versus Christian anarchists

• Often work together just fine

  • Usually, there's some line drawn

    • Won’t work with violent groups

    • Won’t work with capitalists

• Some anarchists can't stand the idea of having Christ as King

  • They won't even ally themselves with Christian anarchists

• Craig: Why do we allow labels and divisions? There’s bigger fish to fry.

  • “We have the same goals: to see the state go away and to live our life peacefully.” - Craig

    • They don’t have to have Christ as King in order to be allies

• Many anarchists say you must revoke religion to join

  • Because there must be no authority

  • Others just say we must be against the state

• Christians reject the state for 2 general reasons

  • Violence

  • Idolatry

  • Some people say rejecting the state is not enough to call yourself an anarchist

• What everyone can agree on

  • We're against domination

• Most anarchists find themselves passionate about connected issues

  • These are not necessarily addressed in the Gospels

    • But anarchists see them as essential

      • And get upset if others don’t

• “Keep it simple, Stupid” - Craig

1:03:17 People's entrances into anarchism

• From different political sides

• Different religious views

• Different economic philosophies

• Everyone takes small steps 

• Maybe instead of getting mad at people for thinking differently, we should just be patient

  • Maybe they'll eventually learn

  • No need to scream in horror at the very notion of anarcho-capitalism

  • “[If] it's an avenue through which people come your way, then don't close it.” - Alex

1:06:27 Ideological Scale

• Communism emphasizes equality over freedom

• Capitalism/liberalism emphasizes freedom over equality

• Anarchism tries to hold both in equal importance

  • Defends against both communism and capitalism

  • But who will take care of the vulnerable?

    • With great freedom comes great responsibility

      • We should use our freedom to help

1:09:21 Liturgical versus Protestant Christian Antichrists

•  Most come from Protestant backgrounds

  • They are encouraged to read and interpret scriptures for themselves

1:14:48 The first Jewish government

• 1 Samuel 8

  • The Jews choose a state instead of God

  • When Jesus comes, they expect Him to rule according to the type of government they had demanded

    •  rather than the type of rule they had before there were kings in Israel

  • Satan tries to give Jesus a kingdom, 

    • but he already had a Kingdom  

    • He didn't want the earthly one Satan offered

1:16:30 God uses the state

• Something that He wishes we rejected, but He still uses nonetheless

  • Despite what’s evil or problematic about it

• This doesn’t mean we do everything the state demands

• Pay your taxes

  • But give everything else to God

• God wants us to have faith in Him rather than the state

• Follow Jesus’ example rather than the state’s demands when they conflict

• Everything warned about in Samuel, our US government is doing

• “Why are you going to put these people in power when you've already got a king? The best king of all?” - Craig

1:19:40 Were Jesus and the Early Church truly anarchists?

• Yes…

• But the term “anarchist” didn’t exist back then

• And the Roman Empire was different from our form of government

• Answer expounded on in this The Stockholm University Press publication (go directly to the chapter discussed)

• It gets complicated 

• … but yes

1:22:25 Plugs

• List of Publications

• Free Version of Christian Anarchism

• Email

Recommend starting with Christian Anarchism to get a general understanding

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