66. To Vote or Not to Vote with Stephen of Anarcho-Christian
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
“Christ set us free, not the United States of America.” - Craig
He has our best interest at heart
Guaranteed, the state does not