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The Bad Roman: Christian Politics for Modern Times

The Bad Roman: Christian Politics for Modern Times

Written by: Craig Harguess
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Are you a Christian who feels disillusioned by politics?

Do you see political systems—whether democratic, authoritarian, or otherwise—promising change but often leaving you unfulfilled? As followers of Christ, our calling isn’t tied to any earthly power; it’s to live like Jesus, no matter the political landscape.

On this podcast, we explore what it means to set aside man-made allegiances—be they national, partisan, or ideological—and instead take up the Cross. Host Craig Harguess, a former neoconservative Southern Baptist Republican turned pacifist and Christian Voluntaryist, delves into the complex relationship between faith and political power. Through conversations with everyday Christians, church leaders, and even non-Christians, we challenge the ways politics can distract us from God’s work. True change starts where we are—because when we live like Christ, the world around us shifts, regardless of who holds power.

New episodes release bi-weekly.

Learn more at www.thebadroman.com.Copyright 2023 The Bad Roman Project All rights reserved. Christianity Ministry & Evangelism Political Science Politics & Government Spirituality World
Episodes
  • Flock Cameras, Privacy, and the Surveillance State with Jon Padfield

    Flock Cameras, Privacy, and the Surveillance State with Jon Padfield
    May 21 2026
    Should Christians care about privacy? The surveillance state does not need your worship; it just needs your fear. In this episode, Craig talks with Jon Padfield of Business Reform about Flock cameras, license plate readers, data brokers, and why Christians should question any system that treats neighbors like suspects and calls it safety. Jon brings experience as an engineer, former Indiana state representative, professor, and Christian privacy advocate. Together, he and Craig unpack the old line, “If you have nothing to hide, why worry?” and ask the better question: who gave Caesar the right to decide what counts as wrong? This is not just about cameras on poles. It is about fear, consent, courage, and the way surveillance trains people to obey before anyone even gives an order. Can Christians simply shrug and say, “I have nothing to hide”? Jesus did not call us to outsource our courage to Caesar or trade neighbor-love for state-managed safety. They dig into: Why the “nothing to hide” argument failsHow Flock cameras expand beyond stolen-car searchesData brokers, insurance companies, and digital profilingPublic records, local pushback, and privacy lawsChristian resistance in a watched world 📖 For Full Show Notes: http://thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-161 🤝Connect with Jon Padfield🤝 YouTube: Business ReformBuy Me CoffeeTour: Brush Fires of Freedom TourPrivacy tool mentioned: DeFlock MeLinkedInX: @Dr_Jon_PadfieldTikTok: businessreform Listen & Reflect: Listen Listen for the way Jon connects technology, public policy, business, and faith. Ask yourself where surveillance has already become normal in your own town. Reflect Where have you accepted “safety” language without asking who gains power from it? Have you ever used the phrase “nothing to hide” without thinking about who gets to define guilt? Read Read Matthew 10:16–31 and Psalm 146. Sit with Jesus’ call to be wise, fearless, and loyal to God above rulers. Practice Look up whether your city or county uses Flock cameras. Talk with one neighbor about privacy, consent, and what it means to love people without treating them like suspects. Key Moments: (00:00) Should Christians care about privacy? Flock cameras and public unease (01:23) Meet Jon Padfield Business Reform YouTube channel (03:00) Surveillance changes behavior You Already Have a Reputation Score (05:25) The “nothing to hide” fallacy (06:00) What Flock cameras are Deflock mapping tool (09:30) Beyond license plates (12:00) Daycare camera concerns Audit logs from Dunwoody daycare (17:54) Who decides what is wrong? (20:37) Local, state, and federal use (22:30) Who owns the data? Flock’s perpetual license Data retention concerns (24:20) “Investigation” as a search reason (27:08) Pushback and privacy laws Ring Superbowl backlash (28:15) Local wins against Flock (31:00) Federal privacy law concerns (34:21) Data brokers and insurance companies (41:30) How cameras appear without debate (45:56) Consent and government power (49:30) The four boxes (52:32) Christian resistance and voting (55:00) Jon’s case for engagement (1:02:54) Brothers, not enemies (1:04:00) Pragmatic limits on surveillance (1:07:00) Safety arguments (1:28:00) Where to find Jon (1:29:13) Closing and support 🔗 Ways to Get Involved in the Project 🔗 Blog submissions:https://www.thebadroman.com/contribute-to-the-blogConnect with us on social:https://www.thebadroman.com/social-linksWant to get more involved? Request to join the private discussion group on Facebook (Bad Romans Only!!)Explore the No King but Christ Network:https://www.nokingbutchristnetwork.com/
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    1 hr and 31 mins
  • Revelation 18, Ephesians 6, and the Love of Money with Brandon Kroll

    Revelation 18, Ephesians 6, and the Love of Money with Brandon Kroll
    May 7 2026
    What happens when Christians stop looking to government to do what only Christ can do? Brandon Kroll returns to explore Christian anarchism, Revelation 18, Ephesians 6, the love of money, and the spiritual powers at work behind the systems we trust too easily. What begins with the merchants of Babylon becomes a deeper reflection on empire, deception, money, and whether followers of Jesus should keep trying to fix the world through the kingdoms of this age. This episode traces the tension between earthly power and heavenly citizenship, asking where our loyalty really belongs when Christ calls us out of fear, control, and allegiance to Caesar. They Explore: Christian anarchism and allegiance to ChristRevelation 18, merchants, and deceptionEphesians 6 and spiritual warfareThe love of money as a loyalty issueMerchant power and America’s rootsDigital control, dependence, and fearChristian nationalism and the lure of powercitizenship in heaven and what belongs to Caesar 📖 For Full Show Notes: http://thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-160 🤝Connect with Brandon Kroll🤝 Previous Bad Roman Episodes EP 123 Patriot or Saint with Brandon Kroll Mana Daily Podcast on YouTube Mana Daily Podcast on Spotify Mana Daily Podcast on Rumble Mana Daily Podcast Patreon Listen & Reflect Listen: Listen for the way Brandon and Craig connect money, empire, and spiritual warfare, not as abstract ideas, but as real pressures that shape how we live and who we trust. Reflect: Where have we asked government, wealth, or political order to give us the peace and security that belong to Christ alone? Where have fear and comfort made us slow to question empire? Read: Revelation 18:23, Ephesians 6:10–20, 1 Timothy 6:6–10, and Philippians 3:20. Pay attention to what Scripture says about merchants, rulers, money, spiritual powers, and the citizenship that belongs to heaven. Practice: This week, name one system you trust for safety, comfort, or control, and ask whether that trust has taken a place in your heart that belongs to Jesus. Key Moments: (0:00) Is Christian anarchism a good place to be as empire grows? (3:20) Revelation 18, merchants, and deception (4:44) America founded by merchants (6:58) Articles of Confederation and federal control (7:33) Property, money, and public voice (24:18) Saints, rulers, and the governments of this world (35:03) Technology, feeds, and programmed belief (36:53) Ephesians 6 and the real battle (37:20) Government, demons, or both? (49:14) Rome, Charlie Kirk and Christian nationalist imagination (50:40) Restrictions, surveillance, and forced “Christian” order (59:23) Fear, compliance, and getting back to normal (1:00:00) Voting, agency, and what we hand to government (1:02:41) Caesar, land and sea, and citizenship in heaven Consider Supporting the Show 💕 Help us keep the lights on! 💕 Support the show at http://thebadroman.com/donate. Every gift helps, and everything beyond production costs goes to local charities in Memphis, Tennessee. 🌶️ SALSA THE LOVE 🌶️ Want to support the project in a tastier way? Grab Bad Roman Salsa at https://badromansalsa.com. Every jar helps fund more No King but Christ conversations and keeps this work independent. Want to support the project another way? Share this episode with a friend and ask: Have I trusted the systems of this world to do what only Christ can do? 🔗 Ways to Get Involved in the Project 🔗 Blog submissions:https://www.thebadroman.com/contribute-to-the-blogConnect with us on social:https://www.thebadroman.com/social-linksWant to get more involved? Request to join the private discussion group on Facebook (Bad Romans Only!!)Explore the No King but Christ Network:https://www.nokingbutchristnetwork.com/
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • The Law vs. The Gospel | Paul, Galatians, & Christ with Cody Cook

    The Law vs. The Gospel | Paul, Galatians, & Christ with Cody Cook
    Apr 23 2026
    What if the gospel is not just about being declared right, but about being rescued from a world that keeps trying to enslave us? Cody Cook returns to the show for a conversation about Galatians, law, union with Christ, the present evil age, and the spiritual powers Jesus came to defeat. What begins as a discussion of Cody’s book Delivered from the Evil Age of the Present becomes something deeper: a reflection on how we read Paul, what Galatians 4 is really saying, and why the gospel is bigger than being declared right. This episode traces the movement from law, slavery, and the “elementary principles of the world” toward rescue, adoption, new creation, and the kind of allegiance that belongs to Christ alone. They Explore: Galatians and the question of law or Christold, new, and apocalyptic readings of Paulunion with Christ, adoption, and being made newthe “present evil age” and rescue through Jesusstoicheia and the “elementary principles of the world”spiritual powers, slavery, and the scope of salvationordo amoris, J.D. Vance, and nation-first lovewhy Christian nationalism distorts our loves 📖 For Full Show Notes: thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-159 🤝Connect with Cody Cook🤝 Book: Delivered from the Evil Age of the Present: How Jesus Brought About a New Creation by Subverting the Powers Behind Nationalism and Ethnic Identitarianism Explore Cody’s Books: The Anarchist Anabaptist, The Pocket Anabaptist, Fight the Powers, What Belongs to Caesar? Podcast and writing: Cantus Firmus Libertarian Christian Institute author page X: @CantusFirmusCC Podcast: Cantus Firmus Website: cantus-firmus.com Bad Roman Episodes with Cody Cook: EP 89 God's Country or Jesus’s Kingdom? Navigating the Nexus of Nationalism and Faith in America EP 99 Navigating Revivals in Christianity with Cody Cook EP 128 The Anabaptist Way: Rediscovering Radical Christianity with Cody Cook Listen & Reflect Listen: For the way Cody widens the frame of Galatians, not into a narrow debate about law and grace alone, but into a deeper conversation about rescue, slavery, the powers, and new creation. Reflect: Where have we reduced the gospel to being declared right while resisting the deeper change Christ brings? Where have nationalism, tribe, or political identity competed with our belonging to Jesus? Read: Galatians 1:3–4, Galatians 4:1–11, Luke 10:25–37, and Philippians 3:20. Pay attention to what Scripture says about rescue, adoption, spiritual slavery, neighbor-love, and the citizenship that belongs to heaven. Practice: This week, take one identity you hold tightly—political, national, tribal, or religious—and ask whether it has been shaped more by the present age than by the Kingdom of Christ. Key Moments: (0:00) Can law make us right, or only Christ? (1:26) Why Cody wrote this book (4:13) Different ways people read Paul (9:27) Courtroom, table, and battle (15:08)“We wanna be declared right” (20:23)Why Galatians 4 matters (34:13) Ordo amoris, J.D. Vance, and nation-first love (57:48)Athanasius, incarnation, and the defeat of evil (1:01:23) Christians, weapons, and the words of Jesus (1:06:16) Where to learn more Consider Supporting the Show 💕 Want more episodes that keep our loyalty with Jesus, not power? 💕 Support the show at thebadroman.com/donate. Every gift helps, and everything beyond production costs goes to local charities in Memphis, Tennessee. 🌶️ SALSA THE LOVE 🌶️ Want to support the project in a tastier way? Grab Bad Roman Salsa at badromansalsa.com. Every jar helps fund more No King but Christ conversations and keeps this work independent. Want to support the project another way? Share this episode with a friend and ask: Have I reduced the gospel to being right, instead of letting Jesus make me new? 🔗 Ways to Get Involved in the Project 🔗 Blog submissions: thebadroman.com/contribute-to-the-blogConnect with us on social: thebadroman.com/social-linksWant to get more involved? Request to join the private discussion group on Facebook (Bad Romans Only!!)Explore the No King but Christ Network: nokingbutchristnetwork.com
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    1 hr and 8 mins
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