In the final episode of 2020, we look at the year in review. From sports and celebrity deaths to Coronavirus and lockdowns, tune in to hear nine Christian Anarchists/Voluntaryist make sense of this year and what we can learn from it, both as Christians and Anarchist, moving into the New Year.
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In this episode, Mark Kreslins takes us through his pursuit of loving God with his mind and how this path leads us to see anarchism/voluntaryism as our fundamental state. What does this entail? Understanding the Gospel through God's words rather than the allure of experientialism. Mark invites us to rediscover the importance of exegesis and hermeneutics in bringing God's word to life for 21st-century minds.
Mark is the principle writer for Love God with your Mind and considers himself but a humble sinner saved by the grace of God. He has an extensive background in politics having previously worked for two “conservative” GOP Members of Congress. He had an insider's view of the evil and corruption in Washington D.C. and understands the solution to the mess there. (Bio Lifted from Mark’s site)
Timestamps and starting points for further exploration:
02:00 Marks background & story
Finding Jesus in the barracks
GOP politics
Laziness of thinking, political missionary work
10:19 Being Patriotic in Church
Name of the Bad Roman Project
13:37 Allure of experientialism
The shiny object of politics
18:52 Constitution is misunderstood
Mark Levin- FOX News Talking Head
23:00 Political pragmatism and moral relativism among Christians
God gives us binary Choices - steal or don’t steal, murder or don’t murder
28:13 Living the Gospel on Social Media
Should Christians defend the state?
29:29 Is there a grey area for God?
Exegesis and hermeneutics
Why don’t we bathe people's feet when they enter our home anymore?
Priscilla and Aquila Corinth, thrown out by Claudius
MacArthur Model of Romans 13
Rebellion is a foundation of the United States, The Declaration of Independence
40:12 Avoiding heated debates online
44:09 The Whiskey Rebellion and talking to people who don’t know the Constitution
God is perfectly Just and Loving, humans are fallen
50:30 How Mark became an anarchist
Can fallen man rule fallen man?
58:00 Mark’s Article - Who is Right, God or Thomas Hobbes?
In this episode of the Bad Roman Podcast, Marine Corps veteran and former atheist, John Dangelo joins Craig for a conversation on the disconnect between what the state does and its compatibility with living the way a faith in Christ challenges us to live. They explore themes of war, contemporary progressivism, and how Christians on the right and left have forgotten how to separate political and religious faith.
As Christian Voluntaryist/Anarchist, we put our faith in Christ, not the authority of man made states. When we take a step back, most of our life, from who’s going to fold the laundry, to where we should go on vacation, or to whose turn it is to pick the kids up from soccer practice is done without government intervention, it is voluntary, it is the true definition of voluntaryism/anarchism. So why did Christians cry out at a man kneeling before a flag rather than kneel before that same flag for the sake of Christ? The realities of this entanglement is what we explore in episode 19 and the cornerstone of what the Bad Roman Project seeks to explore.
Timestamps and resources for further exploration:
00:51 John’s background
Nursing & time in military
Being an atheist
Anti War propaganda (antiwar.com)
01:47 Clinging to faith in political parties instead of in Christ
03:59 Does it benefit politicians on the right to ban abortion
05:24 “Where else would they go”
the state, the Christian, and Trump’s lasting impressions on the Republican party
06:38 Theatrics in place of debate - contemporary progressivism
Social process v. political change
09:13 Evangelical left
Pew data on evangelicals and protestants political bends
13:06 Push back from other veterans on John’s writings
13:57 Talking with other Christians
Being a Sunday school teacher
Thrive Church
15:04 Where is the disconnect for Christians when it comes to war?
How 9/11 was used to rationalize US federal power expanse
18:58 What is the hold up for Christians?
Losing site of faith when talking politics
22:23 The failures of the two-party system & the path to anarchy
Is a third party possible?
Malice and technology reshaping the political landscapes
Voter turnout in the 2016 US presidential election
25:56 Colin Kapernick kneeling and the response from the right
26:37 Overtly political symbols in Church
You cannot be a servant to two masters
Peaceful protest
Anarchist are supposed to be peaceful
29:50 We are anarchist in 99% of our lives
Reject rules, chose it voluntarily
32:10 Collapse of the Soviet Union
Was relatively peaceful, things did not go up in flames
35:40 Government as Mad Max analogy
38:16 John’s plugs
Website: antiwar.com
Personal site: antiwarwarvet.com
Instagram @antiwarwarvet
God Weeps for His Church, article on the Bad Roman website
In this special episode of the Bad Roman Podcast, John Dangelo, Scott Goldman, and Nicholas Harrelson join Craig to help us understand more about addiction. This episode is dedicated to TJ, Craig’s brother who recently passed away and we hope by sharing his story will help at least one person find some light in a dark place. Addiction and mental illness touch everyone’s family in some shape or form. If you or someone you love is struggling we encourage you to seek help. Below is a list of resources, which of course are only starting points.
Suicide Hotline: 800-273-8255
Substance Abuse Hotline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
Timestamps & resources for further exploration:
2:01 John’s Experience with addiction
poly-substance addiction
importance of the disease model
3:15 Nicholas’s Experience with addiction
Opiates & heroin stats
5:05 Scott’s experience with addiction
6:30 CRAIG Background on TJ and why this episode exist
alcoholism
addiction
depression
coronavirus and mental health
suicide rate since corona
alcohol sales since corona
13:20 Dangers of quitting alcohol “cold turkey”
15:03 God loves the addict
millennial suicide rate during quarantine (1 in 4)
20:23 What is a “moment of clarity” for an addict?
21:34 Nicholas describes his moment of clarity
25:11 Scott’s moment of clarity
28:28 How do we reach someone who does not want to be reached, l can you induce clarity?
38:10 How can we better understand addiction and support those affected by it? Is the system set up for failure?
C Car in Connecticut
No clear guidelines for addicts to recover
Chasing the Scream book
53:37 Do addicts not care?
55:43 Addiction changes the brain
57:44 How Portugal successfully decriminalized drugs, reallocated resources to recovery efforts, and changed its addiction rate
58:44 The importance of rediscovering the spiritual realm as an addict
In this episode, Kerry Baldwin is back to talk about her new courses designed to help people of all ages become critical, reflective, thinkers and why this lost skill is becoming more and more crucial. Craig and Kerry begin their conversation by taking a look at how both the public’s and the government's responses to COVID-19 have shifted since April.
They next dive into Kerry’s course where we are invited to reconsider how we think about thinking, learning, and what actually is wisdom? This episode is not about answers, rather it is a beacon to the importance of crafting the question to precede any answer.
Timestamps and resources to start learning more:
1:17 Who is Kerry Baldwin
Kerry’s Facebook page
Coronavirus New Mexico
Governor of New Mexico - Michelle Lujan Grisham
5:51 Shifts in public attitudes toward COVID-19
Bad Roman Episode #2 with Kerry Baldwin
Friedrich Hayek quote about the fatal conceit
11:16 Are coronavirus measures removing our humanity?
Crime against humanity?
13:35 Kerry’s Socratic Seminars
What is it, who is it for?
A brief history of the Socratic method
His death
Ignorance as a starting point for learning
Ignorance vs. stupidity
21:36 Materials Kerry uses in her course and why
Middle schoolers
Kerry’s created lessons
High schoolers
Lessons for the Young Economist, Robert Murphy
Out of Frame Series. The Foundation for an Economic Education
Adults
Lessons & discussions on education, faulty reasoning, manipulation and more!
Weekly Zoom discussions to practice the Socratic Method - learning how to ask good questions
26:53 Social media contrasted with the Socratic method
28:41 Importance of participation in the Socratic method...aka why you can’t skip the Zoom call
Benefits of a coach in facilitating an open learning environment
Starting with asking questions and feeling safe asking them
Answering questions you weren't’ prepared for
33:58 How does this method teach critical thinking?
Different skill levels in thinking - 6 Stages
Reflective thinker
Socrates definition of wisdom - the more knowledge you have about the world the more you realize how much you don’t know
Those with less knowledge believe they know more than actually do - Dunning-Kruger Effect
Socratic method as a way to learn about the world and self
How can these skills help us with social media?
40:09 Understanding how true statistics can be framed to manipulate us
43:04 Kerry’s Socratic seminars vs. lecture-style classes
What does learning look like to you?
Permission to fail and be wrong
Teacher pouring knowledge into student vs. engaged learning
Forced vs. voluntary engagement/participation
50:00 Why we need more people involved in asking good questions and productive methods of conversation
It’s ok not to agree, in fact, we don’t want everyone to agree with us
It’s not about “putting someone in their place”
Social media and the desire to be right, even without understanding why you may be right (or wrong)
53:16 Learning more from being right than being wrong
The “gut punch” of being wrong
Getting comfortable with not knowing
Bruised egos
55:37 What skills do students develop?
Compare and contrast, clarifying issues conclusions and beliefs, understanding the difference between over-simplification and generalization
“Feelings care about facts”
Intellectual humility, courage, and integrity
Independent thinking, self-awareness, fair-mindedness
Perseverance, confidence, and reason
And more!
57: 41 Feedback: What people have said of Kerry’s Socratic Seminars
Don’t underestimate kids!
Giving kids a safe environment to make mistakes and what they will reveal they know
1:01:00 What we can learn from younger generations
Why “old people” may be stuck in their ways - what’s going on in a child’s brain?
1:04:25 Kerry’s plugs
Website: courses.meereliberty.com
Sign up for a course!
In this episode, Craig speaks with Patrick Carroll about his article If You Vote You Can’t Complain. Their discussion explores topics on suffrage in Canada and the United States and possible answers to why voters seem to be growing more and more apathetic to participating in the democratic system.
They explore the problem with “defensive voting” and how it may not be disrespectful to the past to refrain from casting your ballot every 2-4 years. In the midst of a Presidential Election in the US, this episode is an offering to listeners to consider what a vote is, who gives you that right, and who’s Kingdom you may be endorsing by participating in a system that upholds its power through force.
Timestamps and links to start learning more:
01:10 Who is Patrick Carroll
Bubble Zone Laws - Ontario
Libertarianism (3:34)
04:05 What prompted Patrick to write his article “You Can’t Complain if You Vote”
Response to you can’t complain if you don’t vote
Voting as complicity in system you are complaining about
06:26 Explaining low voter turnout
Voter turnout for the USA is around 58% (Craig guess of 50% was close!)
Voter turnout for Canada is - trends
11:29 Let’s (anarchist/voluntaryist) talk to the nonvoters
Building a movement
How many are there?
Explore political philosophies and systems
Rethinking what drives the systems we live in
15:54 Speaking to individuals vs. groups
19:45 Relationship between individualism/collectivism and fallacy of representation
Foundation of Economic Education(FEE), Out of Frame series written by Sean Malone
Suppression of the minority by the majority in democracy
Tyranny majority over the minority and individual
23:38 Justin explains Canada’s political systems and issues he has seen in elections
Canadian government - how it works
Government actually represents a small (partisan) subset of the population
26:10 Popular vote vs. who actually wins in US politics
The 2016 election
Each state has their own presidential election
27:55 Response to “why you should vote” i.e. people have died for the vote, disrespect to suffrage movements, ect.
Is it disrespectful to ask politicians to rule over your neighbors?
Is voting important?
Positive rights vs. negative rights
Positive rights means someone else has a corresponding responsibility (similar to entitlement)
Negative implies someone has to not do something e.g. Freedom of Speech means others have to not interfere with your speech
The “right” to vote only exist in context of the state
Is right to have say in how you are ruled
Misnomer to call voting a right
The “right” to vote only exist in context of the state
Can be seen as right to have say in how you are ruled
Respecting people starts by not ruling over people, which, on the contrary, voting supports
33:11 Is America following the constitution?
“Defensive voting” not possible as voting legitimizes the State
Is America following the constitution?
Actions vs. integrity
Living Constitution vs. Originalism
Undermining the principle of Law itself
George Washington undermines oath to Constitution - Whiskey Rebellion
37:07 Voting and Slavery
“Asking your master implies it is their choice...legitimizing their role as master”
Being principled is most pragmatic approach, “defensive voting” compromise principles
Abolitionist movement was uncompromising
Anything less than total abolition of slavery was not sufficient
Being ruthlessly principled is the way of Jesus
Example: He could have gone on military conquest and overthrown the Romans
41:27 We need to stop pretending
Can a broken system fix itself?
Does it have an interest to?
What message does showing up at the poles send?
44:30 Patrick’s Plugs
Patrick’s article If You Vote You Can’t Complain
In this episode, Craig speaks with Pastor Benje Graves of Vision Community Church Marsing, Idaho about the strong adherence to the Republican Party among Christians and what that says about where those Christian’s hope may lie. Graves shares stories of his experience in working to get his congregation to see the same entanglement in government affairs that this show seeks to explore and expose.
We hope this episode is an invitation for conservatives to explore how showing up as a Christian does not mean showing up to endorse any political party, a modern-day call for a King, but rather Jesus’s life and teachings challenge us to remain on the margins of society in order to live out the Gospel. When we understand what it means to be a part of the Kingdom of God, we can begin to release the fear that too often draws us away from our divine calling. We must not forget that, if we call ourselves Christians, our allegiance is not to a finite and man-made nation but to the infinite Kingdom of Heaven. #NoKingbutChrist is a call to faith, a call away from the broken systems of the world that too often pull us away from living a life in the image of Christ.
Timestamps and starting points for further exploration:
00:22 Episode Intro - Scott Horton Show
01:02 Who is Benje Graves?
01:22 Benje’s connection to Scott Horton
Scott Watson
Benje’s episode with Scott Horton
02:23 Will Grigg, the John Birch Society, The New American magazine, “taking the red pill”
03:17 The red pill tweet Elon Musk(Fox news report) & why Texas; Fox News disclamier
04:19 Charles Stanley
04:41 Individualism, Group-think & importance of getting people to ask the right questions
08:05 Jesus turning tables, what to do with a sword(don’t be Peter), Jesus before Piloit, Christian youth before Trump
09:25 Franklin Graham, the individual on social media, and the idealization of Trump vs. Obama
11:40 Misplaced Hope: Christians saying “it’s all about the next election”, what does it mean to be a part of the Kingdom of God?
The Sermon on the Mount vs. US government
Kingdom Ideals vs. Christian Ideals
13:33 Benje’s experience with Christians turning away from politics
Donald Trump will save us vs. “necessary evil”
First Samuel “give us a King”
18:29 Anarchist Push Back: Have we always had a government?
Godly/Scriptural governance
Was the early Church anarchist?
What should we follow, benefits of understanding the early church and the same way we can come to rediscover the original intent of the constitution (via the arguments of those that were there)
Works Based Salvation: “How in the world do you think you can work your way into heaven” (is registering as republican enough?)
25:02 What can the Temptation of Jesus teach us today - work from the outside in
Two different systems - worldly and Godly
Nationalistic Idoltary - what would the early Church say?
Dominionist Movement - Hope in man v. God
The Kingdom is already here - stop sitting around waiting for Jesus
31:20 Controlling the masses - the government is a fear machine, Christians stay away
Church’s response to COVID-19 as a demonstration of entanglement
“My side can do no wrong” “your side can do no right mentality”
Confirmation bias - the power of wanting to believe something is true
Yemen Crisis - why are we there?
Where is your hope? The supreme court is not Christ
39:51 Benje on push back from and to his congregation
Quick to forgetters
Planting seeds: thoughts, principles & concepts
Looking at what Jesus actually did vs. what we may assume
43:54 Planting seed - taking a long-view of time
We are still saying give us a King - Israel and now the Lord’s message is the same
America (or any country) being great should not be the criteria for God’s people
A vote is an endorsement
“Lesser of two evils”
Trying to change the mafia from the inside out
50:45 COVID-19 lockdowns and mental health
Relationship issue
53:43 Citizens policing citizens on masks
Wear a mask - but let it be your choice
58:43 Benje’s plugs
This episode invites us to ask questions of allegiance, based on the premise that following Christ was, and should remain, a radical act, a difficult call to answer. If we are truly citizens in the Kingdom of God, what place does any modern government have in our lives? With Jesus as our compass, we can build the beloved community; our fight is nonviolent and the weapons are spiritual which is why we invite you to be radical, to be a Bad Roman, to show the world what it means to love your enemies, to help the world experience the love of Christ.
For our third round table, Jason Mock, Scott Goldman, Nathan Chavoya, and Nicholas Harrelson join Craig to share their opinions on two main ideas. The first question comes from a Facebook fan message and is on where our obedience to Christ lays, he asks if “sometimes to be Christian, it meant you had had to be a good Roman”? Secondly, the Round Table takes a look at mandating masks in addition to exploring where identity is derived when we come to understand the Gospel.
Timestamps of Topics discussed:
0:53 Introductions
05:30 Opinions on what is entailed by “Sometimes to be Christian, it meant you had to be a good Roman”
07:35 Romans 13
13:13 “Render unto Caesar”
30:35 Major General Smedley Butler
35:16 Recap of Original Statement
36:17 Opinions on Mandating Masks
1:04:30 Definition of a Coronavirus
You can explore Nathan and Jason’s memes in our Meme Gallery and on our Facebook feed!
Visit Live ReligiousTee to see Jason’s designs.
Visit Nicholas’s meme page Anglo-Catholic Memes for Christian Teens and connect with him on Facebook!
Interested in participating in the next round table? Leave us a voice message with your question or comment, and your question could be included in the next Bad Roman Round Table.
Should Christians be involved in the affairs of the state? Do taxes make us responsible and complicit for the sins of a nation? In this episode, Craig speaks with Bruxy Cavey, pastor at The Meeting House Church in Canada.
