The Bad Roman: Christian Politics for Modern Times

Was America founded as a Christian nation, or was it a nation founded by Christians?

There's a difference, and it's one Craig wants people to take seriously.

As claims about America's Christian identity circulate through churches, social media, and political campaigns, Craig welcomes Daryll Bryant of REAL Xians to examine the history behind them. Daryll's article, America Is Not a Christian Nation, challenges a familiar assumption: Christian influence on America's founding doesn't necessarily mean the United States government was established as Christian.

Together, Craig and Daryll explore the religious beliefs of the Founding...

Craig used to be a “back the blue” guy. When police hurt or killed someone, he could reach for the familiar answer: they should have just obeyed.

George Floyd made that answer harder to live with.

In this episode, Jason Bassler of The Free Thought Project returns to talk about ICE, masked federal agents, accountability, and a question that cuts through a lot of the politics: Is legality morality?

Then the conversation moves to something Craig has only recently started noticing around his own town: Flock cameras.

What begins as a disc...

Tyler Boyd used to say the Pledge of Allegiance without thinking much about it. Then one word started bothering him: “indivisible.”

At first, he simply stopped saying that word. Eventually, a bigger question followed: If Christians already confess Jesus as King, what exactly are they promising when they pledge allegiance to a nation?

Craig sits down with Tyler, co-creator and writer at The Christian Exile, to discuss his article, “The Case Against Christians Saying the Pledge of Allegiance.”

Together they wrestle with the meaning of faith, loyalty, obedience, and allegiance—from the Greek word pisti...

The State of Arkansas told Brenda “Granny” Smith to stop attending births.

She wadded up the cease-and-desist letter and threw it away.

Brenda had already spent years helping mothers when she found herself facing state scrutiny, an arrest warrant, legal bills, and what she says were eight years of Facebook screenshots collected as evidence.

Why keep going?

Because Brenda believed God had called her to stand beside women who needed help, and she was not willing to let fear of the state become more important than obedience to Christ.

That...

Adam Stump asked two congregations if they knew Christians lived in Iran. Not one hand went up.

We hear plenty about Iran as an enemy, a government, or a military target. But how often do American Christians think about the people living beneath those labels, including fellow Christians?

Adam joins Craig to talk about Christians in the Middle East, Iranian converts worshiping in underground churches, and what happens when nationalism teaches us who our enemies are before Jesus teaches us how to love them.

Adam puts it simply: “We have tried bombs and bu...

Does questioning your theology mean you're losing your faith, or could it mean you're finally taking faith seriously?

Craig sits down with Jon Kinder of The Geeky Preacher to talk about Christian deconstruction, church hurt, political allegiance, Christian nationalism, pacifism, hell, the rapture, and what happens when inherited beliefs stop looking like Jesus.

Jon's deconstruction began in two places: politics and a hospital bed.

Growing up in rural Christian culture, Republican politics and Christianity seemed almost inseparable. Then books like Greg Boyd's The Myth of a Christian Nation challenged Jon to judge political...

When the U.S. wages war in the Middle East that American Christians support, do we remember that some of the people beneath those bombs are fellow Christians? And even when they are not Christians, how can we forget that Jesus calls us to love our neighbor and enemy alike?

Mennonite pastor, writer, screenwriter, and activist Nathan Perrin joins Craig for a conversation about the people Western headlines often leave out. Nathan has spent nearly a decade working alongside Assyrians, Kurds, Palestinians, and other Middle Eastern communities through local organizing and visits to northern Iraq.

...

Ancap Tim returns to discuss his new album, It’s Not Left vs. Right, and the story behind the song inspired by the phrase, “Sometimes being a good Christian means being a bad Roman.”

Drawing from his life as a musician, homesteader, homeschooling father, and Christian anarchist, Tim explains why allegiance to Jesus must come before allegiance to government, party, or nation.

This is not a call to become more anti-government. It is a call to become more like Christ.

They dig into:

When did we start believing that someone has to be in charge?

Maybe it's one of the oldest stories we tell ourselves. If the right people hold power, everything will be okay. If the wrong people do, everything falls apart.

But what if Jesus was inviting us into a completely different way of living?

In this special bonus episode, Craig catches up with longtime friends of the show Larken Rose and Amanda Rose ahead of Approaching Humanity, an upcoming gathering in Sedona. What begins as a conversation about an event quickly becomes something...

What if the biggest political threat facing the church is not opposition, but formation?

Brian Drinkwine returns to The Bad Roman Podcast to discuss his new book, Kingdom Over Empire: Recovering the Gospel from Political Captivity.

Drawing from his own journey through conservative evangelical politics, Brian explains how empire shapes what Christians fear, whom they treat as enemies, and where they place their hope.

This is not a call to switch parties. It is a call to recover undivided allegiance to Jesus.

They dig into:

What happens when the faith you inherited no longer looks like Jesus?

Josif Wright joins Craig to talk about leaving Christian nationalism, questioning the flag-and-cross mixture, and learning to trust Christ instead of political power. Josif is a teacher, coach, hospice chaplain, church speaker, and author of The War Within: My Story.

The conversation later turns toward his son Ryan’s decade-long struggle with addiction. Craig also shares memories of his brother TJ, whose battle with alcohol ended in 2020. Together, they ask what families and churches can do when control fails, shame makes things worse, an...

What does it mean to follow Jesus when governments demand your allegiance, your silence, or your fear?

In this episode of The Bad Roman Project, Craig sits down with Ara Torosian, an Iranian-born Armenian pastor who grew up under the Islamic Republic of Iran, served in the underground church, and now pastors Iranian Christians in Los Angeles.

Ara shares his journey from reading the Bible in Farsi as a teenager to smuggling Bibles, enduring house arrest, and witnessing the explosive growth of Christianity in Iran. He explains why many Western Christians misunderstand both Iran and...

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 deci...

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...

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 tr...

Jordan Grant joins Craig for a conversation about conservative Christianity, political deconstruction, Christian nationalism, and the long process of questioning power. What begins as a story about talk radio, Republican politics, and growing up inside a conservative Christian world becomes something deeper: a reflection on authority, coercion, medical culture, and what happens when the teachings of Jesus start pulling us away from the systems we once trusted. This episode traces Jordan’s shift from political certainty to a more honest struggle with faith, power, and the kind of allegiance that belongs to Christ alone.

They Explore:

Not everything that competes with Jesus looks dark at first. Sometimes it looks polished, powerful, and close enough to the truth that people stop asking questions. In this episode, Craig and Scipio Eruditus explore Freemasonry, Christianity, and government, tracing both the bigger history and Scipio’s personal path from Afghanistan war veteran to active critic of the powers he once believed were worth defending. What unfolds is a conversation about secrecy, loyalty, and whether followers of Jesus are being formed by Christ or by a world that teaches us to trust what happens behind closed doors. 

They Exp...

What if the freedom we defend is really just control in disguise? In this episode, Craig and Cal Robbins dig into rightful liberty, the idea that true freedom comes from God and must honor the equal rights of others.

From Thomas Jefferson to Galatians 5, they explore the difference between liberty and license, why legal does not always mean moral, and what it means to say No King but Christ in a world shaped by fear, borders, voting, and state power. This is a sharp, Christ-centered conversation about free will, neighbor love, and the lies we tell when...

Is Trump Barabbas? In this episode, Craig sits down with Paul Lazzaroni (Crossing Cornerstone / No King but Christ Network) to talk about the Barabbas mindset, our craving for a strongman savior, political control, and “winning,” even when it contradicts Jesus’ way.

We explore modern Babylon, the wilderness formation of God’s people, and why “Jesus is Lord” can’t be a slogan that still needs Caesar’s power to do the work.

Topics covered

Christians often say “Jesus is King,” but live as if someone else has to keep order. Every system promises order. Few ever ask what that order costs. Craig sits down with economist Bob Murphy, author of Chaos Theory, to explore a disruptive question many Christians have never been invited to ask out loud: What if law, safety, and social order didn’t require rulers at all?

This conversation isn’t about voting, parties, or political strategy. It’s about discipleship. Craig and Bob wrestle with fear, control, Christian politics, and the quiet assumption that force is necessary to hold a...

Are we wrapping the cross in a flag? How far can party and country go before our Christianity must say “stop”? Craig sits down with April Ajoy, author of Star-Spangled Jesus and co-host of The Tim and April Show, to talk about growing up inside Christian nationalism and learning to follow Jesus instead of the party line. The point is not to chase outrage, but to measure all power by the words of Jesus. God first, always.

They cover flags in church, fear-based politics, and the quiet shift from “this is my conviction” to “the state should enforce my c...

Was the shooting of Renee Nicole Good murder or self-defense? We use this case as a clear, real-world test of state power. Craig and Larken Rose ask how far a badge can go before our Christianity must say “stop.” The point is not to chase outrage, but to measure authority by the words of Jesus. God first, always.

You’ll hear a step-by-step look at the key moments on video, why the second and third shots matter most, what “watch his feet” reveals, why a doctor was turned away, and how “Have you not learned?” exposes a culture of fea...

Judge faith by the neighbor who gets help, not the hype of our politics. Episcopal deacon Gerri Endicott shows how preaching turns into rides, meals, and quiet care. She explains why she leads with “I follow Jesus,” a simple line that lowers walls and points to a Person, not a brand. Judge faith by the neighbor who gets help, not the volume of our politics. 

Craig and Gerri test faith by its fruit. They sort out what happens when Christianity gets pulled into national politics. Gratitude for a country is good; loyalty belongs to Jesus. Gerri also names...

Do non-Christians see Jesus, or politics, when they look at us? Tasha Heath doesn’t identify as a Christian but has been around the church her whole life. She also worked inside party politics and saw enough behind-the-scenes behavior to step back. From the outside, her read is simple: basic kindness and steady presence change more than ballots and online fights ever will.

Craig and Tasha ask the hard question: how do non-Christians perceive Christians, and is our politics-first posture helping or hurting the gospel? They dig into hypocrisy, homelessness, prisons, and why the church must find a...

Craig and Arkansas friend Misty Hubbard trace their journey from “vote harder” conservatism to No King but Christ. They talk about propaganda, “paid patriotism,” online Christian rage, compassion that crosses borders, and why the solution isn’t a better party but a deeper allegiance to Jesus and His Kingdom.

How Mike Gaddy shattered Misty’s sense of civic religion, with the haunting question “When have you ever voted yourself more free?”, and what happens when your faith starts sounding more like a campaign ad than the Sermon on the Mount. 

In the end, this isn’t a call to find a...

Are borders tyrannical or necessary? Returning guest Chris Polk helps us dismantle the political theater around immigration and ask what allegiance to Jesus looks like when the state shows up with masks and rifles. From truck-stop stories to John 4, they explore why restricting movement may be the worst tyranny and how ordinary neighbor love beats team-red/blue fear.

Chris argues both parties fed the ICE machine, shares a Cuban car rescue story that needed no papers, and reminds us that Jesus walked through Samaria, not around it. If Mary and Joseph fled Herod today, would we demand...

What if Judas wasn’t just a betrayer, but the first to politicize Jesus? Judas’s story exposes a much older problem: the temptation to make Jesus “fit” the system. Domenic Scarcella (author of the book and Substack Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen) returns to argue that Judas tried to make the Messiah more respectable to rulers, trading costly faithfulness for public influence. From the temple clashes of Holy Week to today’s culture wars, they trace how disciples drift when we ask Jesus to fit the system instead of following Him out of it. 

Domenic explains why anti-Christ...

When Christians step into politics, how much compromise comes with the territory? Can we preach about loving enemies on Sunday while voting to bomb them on Tuesday? Jake Doberenz, host of Christianity Without Compromise and author of the Smashing Idols newsletter, joins us to explore what happens when believers trade the cross for a ballot, and call it discipleship.

From a high school election that may have been rigged to the very adult reality of war-making, political idolatry, the allure of power, we ask: what happens to our witness when we outsource sin to Caesar?

...

Is political loyalty pulling our hearts away from Jesus? 

Craig speaks with Brian Drinkwine, a pastor and church planter who’s seen both the beauty and the brokenness of the American church. After one of Brian’s posts about Charlie Kirk’s death went viral, he found himself in the middle of a national conversation about faith, politics, and misplaced allegiance.

Brian shares his story, from growing up in a strict Baptist home to planting churches across the country, and how he learned that following Jesus means laying down every other flag. Together, he and Craig t...

Matt Mouzakis returns to the podcast to wrestle with one of the most debated questions in the church: What does Scripture really say about women in ministry? From Genesis to Paul’s letters, we unpack how mistranslations, cultural assumptions, and bad theology have sidelined half the Body of Christ for centuries.

Was Eve really just Adam’s “rib”? Did Paul command women to stay silent in church forever…or was he correcting a local crisis in Ephesus? And what does “headship” actually mean when Paul calls Christ the head of the church?

Many of us were taught to...

What if stepping into a voting booth is less about freedom and more about forcing your will on your neighbor?

Craig sits down with writer Jeb Smith to wrestle with a question many Christians and libertarians rarely stop to ask: Is voting consistent with the values we claim to hold?

Jeb, author of Is Libertarianism Consistent with Voting?, argues that casting a ballot contradicts the very heart of libertarian “live and let live” principles. And for Christians, the stakes are even higher. Jesus never told us to hand power over our neighbors to Caesar. He call...

What happens when a Christian stops voting and starts questioning everything?

Craig sits down with musician Ancap Tim to trace his journey from a Republican poster child (yes, he really had George W. Bush on his birthday cake) to a Christian challenging empire through music, faith, and bold conversation. 

Tim shares how his journey through politics, theology, and touring Christian musician led him to a deeper understanding of what it means to follow Christ alone: no party, no empire, no king but The King.

They talk about:

Curious about turning your backyard into a mini-Eden? This episode's for you. We're chatting with Corey Ellerbe, the green thumb behind Old 37 Homestead on YouTube. He's gone from rookie gardener to homestead pro, and he's spilling the dirt on how you can too.

But we're not just talking tomatoes here. Corey and Craig dig into how growing your own grub can be a sneaky way to stick it to the state. Plus, they explore how getting your hands dirty can actually bring you closer to God.

Whether you're a seasoned gardener or...

Ever wondered how someone goes from being a die-hard statist to embracing a "no king but Christ" worldview? Patrick Green, creator of the 100 Fold Testimonies podcast, shares his journey from a statist Christian to embracing "no king but Christ (King Jesus)". 

Patrick's journey is a rollercoaster of faith, doubt, and revelation. He opens up about his Catholic upbringing, his struggles with infertility, and the three-phase process that led to his spiritual awakening. It's a raw and honest account that'll have you questioning your own beliefs.

Patrick's journey unfolds in three distinct phases:

Explore a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of Jesus' identity: his kingship. Duncan Palmer and Matt Mouzakis dive into the literal meaning of "Christ" (from the Greek Christos) as "King," revealing how modern translations have obscured this powerful concept.

Key points:

The discussion highlights how referring to Jesus...

Ready for a deep dive into government, violence, and Christian ethics? Patrick Carroll, a seasoned libertarian thinker, is back to dissect the core beliefs of statists, revealing how even well-intentioned government supporters inadvertently endorse violence. This eye-opening conversation challenges listeners to reconsider their views on political power and its compatibility with Christian teachings.

Key topics include:

Are Christians becoming useless in today's world? Craig teams up with Zachary Gomez, a theology whiz who also fixes houses, to shake up what you thought you knew about Jesus and taxes.

They rip apart the famous "render unto Caesar" line. Spoiler alert: It's not about paying your taxes! Instead, it's a sneaky jab at people who love the government too much.

Here's what you'll get in this episode:

Is the government really looking out for your best interests? Jeffrey Hann, author and anarchist thinker, returns to The Bad Roman to challenge everything you thought you knew about government, critical thinking, and personal freedom. 

He argues that our education system is deliberately designed to create "literacy slaves" - individuals smart enough to work but not to question authority. But is this just another conspiracy theory, or is there truth to his claims? Here's what's on the menu:

Think you understand taxes, citizenship, and your legal identity? Think again.

In this mind-bending episode, Craig sits down with legal researcher and educator Brandon Joe Williams to explore the provocative world of legal loopholes, sovereignty, and tax-free living. From squaring off with the Employment Development Department to establishing foreign trusts, Brandon’s personal journey is as unconventional as the legal theories he unpacks.

Together, they dive deep into topics like:

What happens when immigration policies clash with Christian values? Craig sits down with Larken Rose to dissect the complexities of immigration, focusing on the criticisms of past and current policies across administrations, what is novel about Trump’s border approach, and the inconsistencies in how some Christians approach these issues. The conversation challenges listeners to scrutinize their beliefs and the language surrounding immigration.

Key Topics: