The Bad Roman: Christian Politics for Modern Times

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 it’s compatibility with living how Christ calls us to live. They explore themes of war, contemporary progressivism, and how Christians on the right and left have forgotten how to separate politics from faith. For show notes and to learn more about this week's guest please visit thebadroman.com/episodes No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

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 know love is struggling we encourage you to seek help. In the show notes, you will find a list of resources to help you or your loved one. To learn more about this week's guest and for full show notes please visit thebadroman.com/shownotes No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

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. To learn more about this week's guest and to find show notes please visit thebadroman.com/shownotes No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

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. No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com To learn more about this week's guest and for full show notes please visit thebadroman.com/shownotes

In this episode, Craig speaks with Pastor Benje Graves of Vision Community Church in 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. To learn more about this week's guest and for full show notes please visit thebadroman.com/shownotes No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

Would early Christians recognize the behavior of today’s Christians? In this episode, Craig is joined by authors Keith Giles and Jason G. Porterfield for a conversation on how the early church understood our affiliations to the state, the poor, and violence. What events and leaders have contributed to the modern Christian’s entanglement and increasing fascination with the state. How do we move through the world with Christ at the center, bearing no flag but carrying our cross, while being thrust into the affairs of the state from infancy? 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. To learn more about this week's guests and for full show notes please visit thebadroman.com/shownotes No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

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. Want to be a 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. To learn more about The Bad Roman Project and for full show notes please visit thebadroman.com/episodes. No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

Should Christians be involved in 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. The conversation was sparked by a video Bruxy made explaining the separation of Church and State as an actual separation. They explore the importance of reading Romans 12 before Romans 13, how pacifism is not equivalent to inaction, and how we might go about “planting a pebbles in people’s shoes.” To learn more about Bruxy, read his writing and explore his teachings please visit his website bruxy.com! For full show notes, to learn more about The Bad Roman Project visit thebadroman.com/episodes No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com If you have a question about this episode or any previous episodes leave us a voice message or send us an email and your question or comment could be on the next Bad Roman Round Table!

This week Craig speaks with Stephen, the founder of AnarchoChristain, about his journey to Christian Anarchism. They discuss Stephen talks about the roots of entanglement with the state Stephen's life, if the youth may be more capable of #NoKingButChrist thinking, and the false Messiah syndrome that, as we move closer to the 2020 US election, seems to be plaguing American minds in the midst of a pandemic. This episode reminds us that the work of building the Kingdom is generational--it’s on God’s time. For full show notes, to learn more about The Bad Roman Project visit thebadroman.com/episodes To learn more about AnarchChristian and connect with Stephen you can visit his website & Facebook Page. If you have a question about this episode or any previous episodes leave us a voice message or send us an email and your question or comment could be on the next Bad Roman Round Table! No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

Do we need a government? Does Anarchy reject the biblical understanding of a fallen world? For our second round table, Craig, Abby Cleckner, Scott Goldman, and Jason Mock, discuss the misunderstanding of pacifism as a form of inaction. The conversation explores how the fallen nature of man is exactly what calls us to follow the eternal Kingdom of God versus the rise and fall of empires and governments of men. This round table challenges us to consider how we can meet violence not with inaction, but with creativity, with a radical love for our enemy. We are reminded in this episode that, God will take care of the evil, and what we are called to do and should focus on is growing the Good. Do you live out of love or do you liver out of fear? We challenge you to, in the face of conflict or violence, choose the power of radical love, that same love that we often forget God has for us and everyone we meet have met or ever will meet. Violence and force are the tools of man, love requires us to transcend ourselves and be more, we invite you to be creative in the face of conflict, of violence, we invite you to love. Want to be a 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. To learn more about The Bad Roman Project and for full show notes please visit thebadroman.com/episodes. No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

In this episode, Craig speaks with Jessica Green about leaving Liberalism, finding God, and being “politically homeless.” While most guests on The Bad Roman Podcast have found their way to Anarchy from the right, Jessica brings us a story from the other side. Did we mention she used to be an Atheist? Jessica explains how she got so far left, it started looking like the Right, and how the Bible came to life for her in the midst of her political wandering. To learn more about Jessica Green and for full show notes please visit thebadroman.com/episodes. To learn more about and connect with Jessica Green follow her on Twitter @LibKitWitch, on Youtube, and visit her website. You can also find her podcast, The Jessica Green Show, wherever you like to listen. No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

This week Craig speaks with Kevin Craig about his websites including, Would Jesus Celebrate Independence Day? Spoiler alert: Jesus would not be waving a star and stripe flag at your local firework show. In this episode, we invite you to examine why and what exactly we celebrate on the 4th of July through Jesus’s eyes, and this can help us untangle from an Archist mindset. If you want to dig deeper, don’t worry, Kevin has a (few) website(s) for that, you can find them all as well as full show notes at https://www.thebadroman.com/episodes. For more ways to connect with The Bad Roman Project Visit our Facebook page! No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

Craig speaks with Aree Spivey and Brian Grant from the music group Failed Kingdoms about becoming Christian-Anarchists and their perspectives on the current state of American society following the events of George Floyd’s death. Connect with Failed Kingdoms: Facebook, SoundCloud, Instagram For full shows and to learn more about The Bad Roman project please visit thebadroman.com. No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

Craig talks with Michael Maharrey to discuss his article The Trump Administration Wants to Resume Prosecuting Medical Marijuana Users in States Where It’s Legal. Mike serves as the national communications director for the Tenth Amendment Center and founder/host of the GodArchy website and podcast. Mike has spent most of his adult life studying constitutional history, political philosophy, and economics, and this conversation touches on all of those elements! For full shows and to learn more about this week's guest and The Bad Roman project please visit thebadroman.com. No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

In this episode Craig is joined by Keith Giles, author of Jesus Untangled, and our contributor Abby Cleckner. The conversation centers on Keith’s book and his entire Jeus-un series. Keith helps us reframe our perspective of Christianity from that of worshipping a book about Jesus to moving into a growing and personal relationship with Christ Himself, or what Keith refers to as being Jesus-centered instead of Bible-centric. Jesus is who we have been called to follow out of fear and into love— not the state, not the pastor, but Jesus. For full show notes and to learn more about Keith Giles, his work, or The Bad Roman Project, please visit thebadroman.com. No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

Abby Cleckner, John Dangelo, Scott Goldman, and Jessica Green join Craig to discuss the topic: how would you respond to a Christian who believes the state is necessary to protect our liberties? The conversation explores the relationship of the Christian in Jesus’s time and how today's Christians and atheists alike can benefit from taking a refreshed look at what the past may be able to teach us. For full show notes, ways to support the show, or to record a question for us to discuss on the next Bad Roman Round Table please visit:https://www.thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-4 No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

Bivocational minister and former gubernatorial candidate for Arkansas, Mark West, sits down with Craig to talk about his article Jesus Is Why #ILeftTheGOP, published on GodArchy. Mark reminds us that to spread the gospel we must be witness to it with every person we meet. When we become blinded by our religiosity we tend to forget we do not get to choose our neighbors, but every one of God’s creations is our neighbor that we are called to love. No matter what group someone may appear to be a member of, Christians are called to show them the love of Christ rather than to force our Faith. Real change can begin in conversation, a human to human invitation to listen be witness to another can bring about change in the heart. To follow Mark’s tracking the Coronavirus and explore his blog please visit his website. You can also learn more about and connect with Mark on Twitter & Instagram. For full show notes and for ways to connect with the Bad Roman Project please visit thebadroman.com. No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

In this episode, Craig speaks with independent researcher, writer, and fellow podcaster Kerry Baldwin to discuss her article The Virulence of Moral Panic, published by the Libertarian Christain Institute. The conversation centers on how the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic can be understood as Moral Panic, a term borrowed from criminal psychology, that sheds light on the factors that push societies to act in certain ways. To learn more about Kerry Baldwin and for full show notes please visit: https://www.thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-2 No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

What does economics have to do with the Kingdom of Heaven? In our first episode Craig sits down with our blog contributor, Abby Cleckner, to discuss her article Austrian Economics and The Kingdom of Heaven, the weirdness of war, and so much more. You can read Abby's latest blog post and learn more about the Bad Roman Project by visiting thebadroman.com. For full show notes please visit:www.thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-1 No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com

Lay down your flag and pick up your cross this Spring 2020. Join your host Craig Harguess, as he explores the entanglement of Christians and the state. And remember, sometimes being a good Christian meant being a bad Roman. To learn more about The Bad Roman Project please visit: www.thebadroman.com