Podcast, 2022
Craig Harguess
51. Jesus the Anarchist with Alexandre ...
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22. Brian Zahnd, Kathi Peters, & David Peters - Postcards From Babylon

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For our first podcast of the New Year we sat down with pastor, author, and Comino walker Brian Zahnd and Kathi and David Peters, the founders of Global Stories Films, to discuss their joint project, Postcards From Babylon. Postcards From Babylon is a long-form documentary featuring Brian, as he investigates possibly the most important question for the church in North America today: How does the church stay faithful to the beautiful way of Jesus while situated in one of the most divisive political climates in our nation's history?

If are able and would like to contribute to our Postcard From Babylon Premiere Fundraiser to fund seven tickets, please visit: www.thebadroman.com/fundraiser

Timestamps & staring points for further exploration:

01:07 Kathi’s Background

4:13 David’s Background

  • Media Pastor

  • Independent Filmmaker

  • Making Postcards Documentary

10:19 Christian Nationalism - Trump Worship

10:42  Biran’s Story

12:30 America as a Biblical Babylon 

  • The shift needed in the evangelical church

  • Manifest Destiny Fallacy of Empires

  • Churches and flags

19:10 The film and challenges in production during corona

21:23 Early church and government

  • Constantinian Shift

  • The American Context may be getting worse, but this is not a new phenomena

  • Baptism made early Church strangers in their own worlds

  • World Wars and Nationalism between Christians

  • Trump will be hard to recover from

27:55 Motivation for making the documentary

31:02 Ambassadors for Jesus

  • Limited ability in sharing the gospel, requires consistent messaging as representatives of Christ

  • Calling the church to account

33:15 Political Rhetoric and compromising hope in Christ as King

  • Exiles by baptism

  • Live in the political reality, but don’t belong to it

  • Call to a counterculture of Christ

37:55 Bearing witness for Christ and those who do not yet know Him

  • The Republican party can not be the Christians future

  • Conservative push back: if we are Democrats, the Democrats are in trouble

  • Can like Trump’s policies, but cannot defend his behavior/character

  • Speaking truth to power   

43:22 Staying Faithful to Jesus in a divisive political culture

  • Can it be done through politics?

  • Is the church an alternative politics

    • Perhaps, but this does not mean directly

  • Politics of Sermon on the Mount

53:25 Brian’s plugs

Learn more about Kathi and David’s work on their website or Facebook page.

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21. Year End Round Table - All Things 2020

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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.

If you are interested in donating please click here.

[please check back for show notes*]




**if you need any questions answered sooner, please send us an email) thank you for your patience!

20. Mark Kreslins - Loving God with Your Mind

 

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

10:19 Being Patriotic in Church

13:37 Allure of experientialism

18:52 Constitution is misunderstood

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

29:29 Is there a grey area for God?

40:12 Avoiding heated debates online

44:09 The Whiskey Rebellion and talking to people who don’t know the Constitution

50:30 How Mark became an anarchist

 58:00 Mark’s Article - Who is Right, God or Thomas Hobbes?

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19. John Dangelo - The Battle of Two Faiths - Politics & Christ

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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

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”

06:38 Theatrics in place of debate - contemporary progressivism

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?

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

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

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18. TJ's Story

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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.

  1. Suicide Hotline: 800-273-8255

  2. Substance Abuse Hotline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

  3. Hub site of resources

  4. Find an AA meeting 

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


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17. Kerry Baldwin - Asking Better Questions

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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 

5:51 Shifts in public attitudes toward COVID-19

11:16 Are coronavirus measures removing our humanity?

13:35 Kerry’s Socratic Seminars

21:36 Materials Kerry uses in her course and why

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

  • 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?

  • Neuroplasticity

1:04:25 Kerry’s plugs

 
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16. Patrick Carroll - If You Vote You Can’t Complain

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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

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

11:29 Let’s (anarchist/voluntaryist) talk to the nonvoters

15:54 Speaking to individuals vs. groups

19:45 Relationship between individualism/collectivism and fallacy of representation

23:38 Justin explains Canada’s political systems and issues he has seen in elections

26:10 Popular vote vs. who actually wins in US politics 

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? 

37:07 Voting and Slavery

  • Larken Rose video 

  • “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

  • Lysander Spooner on defensive voting 

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

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15. Benje Graves - Misplaced Hope: Political Idealization among American Christians

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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 

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?

13:33 Benje’s experience with Christians turning away from politics

18:29 Anarchist Push Back: Have we always had a government?

  • Godly/Scriptural governance

  • Was the early Church anarchist?

  • Tertullian

  • Constantinian Shift

  • 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

31:20 Controlling the masses - the government is a fear machine, Christians stay away

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

53:43 Citizens policing citizens on masks 

58:43 Benje’s plugs

 





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14. Keith Giles & Jason Porterfield - Fight Like a Christian

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14. Keith Giles & Jason Porterfield - Fight Like a Christian

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.

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13. (Christian) Anarchist Round Table #3 - Put Your Mask On & Be a Good Roman

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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 being part of the next round table? Leave us a voice message of your question or comment and your question could be on the next Bad Roman Round Table.