The Libertarian Christian Podcast

Former Libertarian Party Vice-Presidential candidate, Spike Cohen joins Doug Stuart for a discussion about politics, faith, and libertarian activism. Cohen, raised as a Messianic Jew, recounts some of his personal journey in and out of faith. Cohen explains how he became a libertarian and some significant moments in America's recent history where the left and right were very close to unifying on common cause. He then describes how he's come to understand the single most important issue that affects all others is the monopolization of the monetary system through the Federal Reserve. Responsibility for nearly ever grievance against societal problems and government can be laid squarely at the feet at the central bankers.  Spike Cohen goes on to address some key issues with the broader freedom movement, including the ongoing divide between pragmatists and idealists. He describes this as "our own duopoly" explaining that both sides need each other and maintaining the divide is handicapping our ultimate goal. He's organized a non-profit called You are the Power, dedicated to grassroots municipal level activism with an effective approach. Cohen highlights one story about Pastor Moses and the city of Gastonia, NC that shutdown his homeless shelter, apparently, to secure tax dollars to finance government homeless programs. Finally, he answers the toughest question about how can possibly have a perfect relationship with his wife, Tasha.   Main Points of Discussion: 00:00    Introduction 01:33    How Spike Cohen became a libertarian 04:16    Personal journey with faith and libertarianism 09:49    The brief moments where the left and right were unified in their prophetic voice against empire 16:29    The Federal Reserve and control of the money system as the single most important topic 22:20    How big is your libertarian tent? 25:58    Libertarian messaging post-pandemic 31:00    Advice to libertarians embarrassing themselves on social media 34:01    “You are the Power” - Grassroots activism 38:46    Pastor Moses in Gastonia, NC - Homeless shelter shutdown 42:14    How do we get people interested in activism? 45:55    How do you have a perfect relationship with your wife? 48:32    Concluding thoughts   Resources Mentioned: Spike Cohen: You Are the Power https://www.spikecohen.com/   Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, Doug Stuart is joined by Dick Clark, co-author of Faith Seeking Freedom, to discuss questions related to a Christian's employment or service to the state.Clark is an attorney who is employed by the Nebraska Legislature. He describes himself as an anarcho-capitalist, or radical libertarian, and so not a "beltway libertarian." Clark takes you through his thought process for what sorts of positions, jobs, offices, that someone can do in a particularly Christian way - that is, aligned with our calling as Christians. He also explains why some jobs should be considered off limits for the Christian.   Main Points of Discussion: 00:00    Introduction 01:46    What does Dick Clark do in government? 05:25    What kind of libertarian are you? 07:55    What is the difference between governance and government (the state)? 12:15    Is local government closer to obtaining the consent of the governed? 15:26    What system do we have and is it good? bad? 19:23    How does our calling as Christians ground how we participate in government? 22:24    Is it Christian to repeal welfare programs? 28:20    Would you work for a rival politician? 31:28    Can Christians participate in law enforcement? 42:53    Concluding Thoughts   Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com ★ Support this podcast ★

We're celebrating the 300th episode of the Libertarian Christian Podcast! This episode was streamed live on Friday, November 11th, 2022. To commemorate this milestone, we announced a big new project: The Christians for Liberty Network (CFLN). This is a network of podcasts that share our mission of educating people about the intersection of faith and politics. Joining CFLN are Mike Maharrey of the Godarchy podcast, Jacob Winograd of the Biblical Anarchy (Daniel 3) podcast, and we've also launched a brand new podcast called the Reformed Libertarians podcast, with Kerry Baldwin and her co-host, Gregory Baus, who is new to LCI. In addition, LCI has re-launched Good News, Bad News, with Matthew Bellis, and the Faith Seeking Freedom podcast. We had a lot of fun with this announcement, as we also invited Doc Dixon back on as our special guest. And all the hosts took some friendly jabs at Doug Stuart, the host of our flagship show. Lots of roasting and good times were had, so enjoy the fun now if you didn't catch the livestream! Audio Production by Podsworth Media. ★ Support this podcast ★

Join Doug as he guest appears on Danial Winograd's Daniel 3 Biblical Anarchy Podcast to talk about how to read the Bible as a libertarian. Not only does Doug get into what he and LCI are up to, Doug and Jacob carry on an in-depth conversation about how many Christian libertarians misread the Bible, and how we can treat the Bible as authoritative without thinking of it like we do the constitution. Doug explains why Jesus wasn't a libertarian and how we can live in a world where the state keeps asking more from its citizens. Audio Production by Podsworth Media. ★ Support this podcast ★

Deceiving others for a living - oh wait! That's politicians. Doug is on a comic kick! In this episode, comic magician Doc Dixon unwittingly exposes Doug's affinity for dark humor. Just kidding. This fun and lively interview takes us behind the scenes with the guy who fooled Penn and Teller (link below). And Doc even comedically corrects the idea that magic is deceiving others. Doc Dixon chats with Doug Stuart about being a (Reformed) Christian libertarian and comic magician. Dixon has been featured on Penn & Tell's Fool Us, and successfully fooled them. Like many of us, Dixon came to libertarianism during the Ron Paul Revolution and the libertarian view of economics and monetary policy. Dixon talks about the natural compatibility between Christianity and libertarianism. They shift topics to discuss Dixon's career choice as a magician. Dixon demystifies professional magic by pointing out that it's a learned skill like anything else. How do magicians decide to share their secrets? (And how much is already "out there" thanks to the Internet). What's the community of magicians like? Do they get together to learn from each other? and much more! Of course, the performance is personal and we get to hear how his personality comes out in his work. Do some Christians believe magic deceiving others and so off limits for us? Dixon has a perfect response for this - "there's an unintended hubris there." Not even Las Vegas, in Dixon's view, are the magic shows really superstitious or occult-like. (Though that's not to say everything in Vegas is that innocent.) Dixon and Stuart take a few (more than a few) friendly jabs at one another throughout. So sit back and enjoy this more lighthearted episode of the Libertarian Christian Podcast.   Main Points of Discussion: 00:00 Introduction 02:36 How does Doc Dixon identify? Comedian or Magician 04:38 Doc Dixon's Christian background and how he came to faith 06:10 What led you to Ron Paul? 09:13 Do you believe Christianity and libertarianism is naturally compatible 11:42 Do you incorporate libertarianism into you shows? 16:25 How do you become a magician? 20:08 Magician cocktail parties? 23:16 Are Las Vegas magicians dabbling in the occult in their performances? 27:25 Workshopping magic with other magicians 30:35 Is incorporating humor a part of who you are? 34:26 Dark humor? 37:12 People in other fields you admire? 42:48 Magic over Zoom? How does that experience work? 45:18 Concluding thoughts, Libertarianmagician.com?   Resources Mentioned: Dox Dixon's website: https://docdixon.com Libertarianmagician.com Forthcoming Magician Doc Dixon FOOLS Penn & Teller on Penn&Teller: Fool Us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaDnY5q_mxg ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, Doug Stuart chats with Lou Perez, speaking as a comedian, about his new book, That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy. Perez offers a "behind-the-scenes" of the creative journey for his new book, as well as experiences in the life of professional comedy - especially in today's highly charged and political climate. Lou Perez was the Head Writer and Producer of the Webby Award-winning comedy channel, We the Internet TV. During his tenure at WTI, he made the kind of comedy that gets you put on lists and your words in the Wall Street Journal: "How I Became a 'Far-Right Radical.'" In addition to producing sketch comedy, stand-up, and opinion writing, he's also host The Lou Perez Podcast. Perez details some of the back story to his book. He remarks about how his publisher gave him complete creative freedom to "write the book you want." Perez saw this is a unique opportunity to write about things important to him and the problems he saw brewing about community. He also commented about his experience in 2020 and 2021 when several big names in comedy passed away and the effect that had on him. Don't miss all this and more in our latest episode.   Main Points of Discussion: 00:00 Introduction 03:25 Perez's intrigue with the connection between anarchism and Christianity 05:54 What was the purpose of writing That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore 09:35 Creative, Editing, and Publication process 14:25 The mutual respect and community among fellow comedians. 17:26 What's it like to "bomb" a show? 20:40 What's going wrong with comedy today? 23:46 At what point do you old back from? (Dark humor) 32:51 Is Donald Trump funny? 34:45 Do your kids understand your humor? 36:53 What other things have you done besides stand up? 39:11 The fight you had on Twitter 42:30 Concluding Remarks   Resources Mentioned: Lou's website: https://www.thelouperez.com/ Lou's Wallstreet Journal Article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-i-became-a-far-right-radical-11609370135 Buy the Book! https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637582455 ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, Doug Stuart was invited by Aaron Harris onto the Decentralized Revolution Podcast. Doug and Aaron spoke in depth about a number of topics relevant to libertarianism, Christianity, and speaking to the left about issues of concern to them. How do we present libertarianism to our leftist friends? They're concerned with things that are easy to write off, but to what end should write them off, and are we missing an opportunity? Stuart and Harris dive into some interesting topics including covid, love of neighbor, social sins (social justice), the Marxist tendency to weaponize people and ideas that actually need serious consideration, the destruction of the family, democracy, and so much more.   Main Points of Discussion 00:00 Introduction 05:55 On Covid restrictions from a Christian perspective 15:50 Supporting social justice while opposing the left's solutions 24:26 Define social justice 29:42 How do we talk about real solutions to real social problems? 37:46 Democracy as an impulse to control 41:50 How do we open the eyes of our leftist friends? 47:44 The destruction of the family 52:23 Why is the left disconnected from the systemic injustice of central banking and monetary policy? 53:45 What is the aversion to learning economics? 59:33 How are the different libertarian factions responding to issues of social justice? 1:05:51 What are good resources for understanding and evaluating social justice? 1:10:06 Fascination with Jordan Peterson and his non-theological analysis of Scripture 1:16:54 Closing   Resources Mentioned Is Social Justice Compatible with Christianity? https://libertarianchristians.com/2022/07/01/social-justice-christian-libertarianism/ What About Social Justice? https://libertarianchristians.com/2021/07/20/episode-232/ Critical Race Theory with Phil Magness https://libertarianchristians.com/2022/02/16/critical-race-theory-phil-magness/ Book Review: John McWhorter's Woke Racism https://libertarianchristians.com/2022/03/02/book-review-john-mcwhorters-woke-racism/ Ep 294: Awake, Not Woke: Noelle Mering Helps You Respond to Progressive Ideology https://libertarianchristians.com/2022/09/30/episode-294/ ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, Doug talks to Bonnie Kristian about her new book titled, Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community. She is concerned with the unhealthy skepticism corrupting culture. Bonnie Kristian (MA, Bethel Seminary) is a seasoned journalist who writes on foreign policy, religion, criminal justice, urbanism, civil liberties, electoral politics, and more. Her column, "The Lesser Kingdom," appears in print and online at Christianity Today, and she is the author of A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today. Her work has also been featured in other outlets, including The Week, USA Today, CNN, Politico, and Time. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her husband and twin sons. Bonnie Kristian believes there is a crisis impacting the church that we are only just now becoming aware of. What is it? Not so much a "misinformation" problem as it is a combination of overwhelming information and few skills for processing through it. The constant bombardment of information is a relatively new phenomenon in human history. And it doesn't begin with the advent of the Internet, but with the advent of the television. For most of human history, information has been passed down actively through oral and written mediums. Since the television, it became something visual and passive. Kristian first noticed the problem when interviewing pastors about their concerns impacting the church. Pastors noted a discipleship problem wherein people were only exposed to preaching for one to two hours a week, verses the near constant news and commentary bombarding airwaves during the rest of the week. But it wasn't simply the passive receipt of information, but also a change in habits and behavior including unhealthy skepticism corrupting culture. Kristian notes specific characteristics that are particularly troubling including, time use/management, the mixed quality of available information, the inability to critically assess and evaluate that information, and also, the manner in which media and the news industry produced their content. People began trusting media less, but consuming it more. This shift away from trusting news sources comes from what Kristian believes is a myth. Namely, the idea the corporate media is consciously and maliciously lying to the audience to further a subversive agenda. Kristian, a journalist herself, raises the point that journalists are still trained to avoid writing to support political agendas and parties. (Though she doesn't deny this happens in some cases either). She believes are fair critiques to be made of journalism today, and she addresses those in her book. However, the main driver of news and commentary seems to rest in click bate. How do you get people to click on your link? Kristian points out the old model of advertising-financed news sources doesn't work anymore. But people are willing to pay for their news either. So in some sense, our own behavior of clicking on the most provocative titles, rather than search for and evaluating trustworthy content. Another contributing factor to this unhealthy skepticism is the "death of expertise." Kristian borrows this phrase from author Tom Nichols who points out a problem that expertise is closely tied to an ideal. Its the notion there is an ideal that has "died" and so expertise with it. While we have plenty of examples of misuse of expertise, Kristian wants to emphasize the alternative is untenable. That is, that being completely self-sufficient in our own knowledge of expertise is not possible. When purchase good or services, we're looking for the best quality. That requires expertise. When we drive across a bridge, we expect it won't collapse. That requires expertise. Kristian laments that subject-matter experts have a bad habit of not staying in their lane. But that problem also results from people not recognizing the lane they ought to be in.   Main Points of Discussion: 00:00 Introduction 02:04 Why is unhealthy skepticism corrupting culture? 06:19 Why should Christians be concerned with tribalism, misinformation, conspiracy theories, etc. 11:12 What characteristics are particularly troubling? 14:02 How does our online activity affect our offline behavior? 19:03 Why the shift away from trusting media 27:43 Is click-bait contributing to the problem? 30:42 What the death of expertise & democratized knowledge? 36:09 How do non experts navigate the information minefield? 39:59 Why do we love conspiracy theories? 47:42 Concluding thoughts   Resources Mentioned: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/untrustworthy/411490 https://www.bonniekristian.com/ ★ Support this podcast ★

How can Christians love their neighbors (especially members of family and church) who are falling into the progressive ideology of so-called wokism? Noelle Mering helps you respond to progressive ideology in her new book, Awake, Not Woke. Noelle Mering is a Fellow at Washington DC based think tank the Ethics and Public Policy Center where she co-directs the Theology of Home Project. She is an editor for Theology of Home, co-author of the Theology of Home book series, and the author of Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology. She studied philosophy and theatre at Westmont College in California and did graduate work in philosophy at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Noelle and her husband live in Southern California with their six children. Mering joins Doug Stuart to discuss her work in navigating the intricacies of and foundations for the social implications of woke / progressive ideology. They discuss the characteristics of the woke movement, what it means to be woke, the role of language and why the pronoun issue is so central to change. Mering also explains some of the more philosophical foundations including Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's influence on Karl Marx, and why it cannot be denied that wokism is a cultural twist on Marxism (ie. Cultural Marxism). Mering also explains why this isn't movement isn't actually new, but has been hidden in plain sight through a generational lag. The apparent ubiquity of woke ideology because the fruit of seeds planted decades ago. Mering also offers quite a bit of helpful perspective when interacting with well-intentioned people falling for this ideology vs the "militant true believers" of wokism, as well as the fact this really is, at its core, a deeper spiritual battle concerning our religious beliefs, meta narratives that inform our lives and provide meaning, and why capitulation is no longer an option. Mering brings some clarity of terms like "whiteness" and "white supremacy" and that these things have very little to do with skin color. If you've had questions about these ideas, this is a great episode which parses out the very Christian idea of love of neighbor and walking along the suffering, while not giving into the destructive ideologies that are attacking our society at its very roots.   Main Points of Discussion: 00:00 Introduction 01:50 What does it mean to be “woke?” 03:08 What the characteristics of the woke movement? 05:52 The role of language and power dynamics in the woke movement 09:50 More than a culture war: Attack on truth and meaning 14:20 What are the philosophical origins of the woke movement? 16:17 How do we parse out working out knowledge from the danger of the philosophical foundations? 19:24 Are popular Marxists/Socialists not phased by mortality under communism because it’s “just progress?” 20:55 How does Hegel influence Karl Marx? 24:25 Generational lag and the ubiquity of the seeds of woke ideology 29:22 The difference between well-intentioned people and the militant true believers: how Christianity has fallen victim. 35:26 Tolerance is thrown out the window; it’s about division 39:08 Whiteness; white supremacy - doesn’t have to do with skin color 42:08 Is there a vantage point that “intersectionality” does provide? 47:23 Beyond the sexual revolution in the woke movement and “funneling” children into sexuality; “innocence perpetuate hierarchy.” 52:11 Is there hope in fighting against this? 53:38 Closing Resources Mentioned: https://www.noellemering.com/ https://theologyofhome.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Awake-Not-Woke-Christian-Progressive/dp/1505118425/ ★ Support this podcast ★

In this episode, Doug Stuart interviews former public school teacher, Angela Harders. Harders is author of the book, "Tales of a Toxic Teacher: Exposing the Cycles of Abuse Within Our Schools". Harders discusses her dreams and intentions when she first began teaching, and how quickly those dreams were squelched by the public school system. Many teachers like her share similar experiences, and Harders is calling out the public education, not as "broken" but as operating as it's designed. People who become teachers usually do so because they envision a better world for kids through their education. But reality soon rears its head "within the first 5 minutes" of starting a job as a teacher. Harders explains how the public education system churns out traumatized kids and pass them through to be "society's problems." Not only is the system abusive, but the impact of the abuse cultivates kids who become abusive themselves. Harders, a public school teacher for 12 years, even describes how the zeros she gave one continually absent student were mysteriously changed to 60% (just passing) without her knowledge or consent. Harders rebuffs the tired criticism that public education is "broken." It's not, she says, it operates as expected. Which is to say that it's intended to create submissive, compliant, factory-worker-type followers, ready for employment and trained to never question assigned authority. The complaints, however, that teachers are not given adequate supplies or leeway to be a creative teacher is all true. She had to get creative with her field trips so that students could make some tangible connection to otherwise foreign ideas that even we might take for granted. For example, she describes taking her students to a baseball game so they could understand the assigned reading which involved baseball. Hardships for students abound, but so also do hardships for teachers. As a Spanish teacher, one student asked her why he should care about learning Spanish when he was expected to die by the time he was 18. The public education system is also rife with structural problems, says Harder. The compulsory aspect coupled with the cultural tendency to think of school as glorified babysitting is traumatic. We've all heard the stories of the kids who cry for the parents on the first day (first week, really) of school. Being separated from their parents, at this age, is not normal, and shouldn't be normalized. And yet, it is. Harders challenges parents about the education paradigm by noting that the state usually spends about $15k per student. Would you pay $15k for an education experience like this? No, of course not. But Harders says, the cost is even higher than that. That cost being, the unravelling of the social structure designed for raising the next generation: the family. Harders, a divorce from an abusive marriage, also discovered the hallmarks of abusive relationships are all found within the public school system, and that system often creates what is known as a trauma bond. Where the abused ardently defends their abuser and excuses the abuse. So Harders left the public school system and now promotes unschooling, or what she calls Peaceful Worldschooling. She emphasizes the need to de-school, which means to take active steps to undo the damage done by the public education system. Peaceful worldschooling fits hand in glove with concepts like peaceful or gentle parenting, self-directed or interest-based learning, and using real life as a guiding "curriculum" to ignite the interests and passions of children. Indeed, making manifest the dream she and most teachers have going into this career field. Listen to all this and more right here.   Main Points of Discussion: 00:00 Introduction 03:12 Tales of a Toxic Teacher by Angela Harders 04:47 How quickly did you come to realize were a toxic teacher? 09:22 Public education is not broken 10:34 How did you overcome the design of public education? 12:15 Hardships of students; hardships of teachers 18:03 Structural problems built into the system 23:52 Connections to abuse 28:25 Leave-school, De-school, Un-school (Peaceful Worldschool) 34:16 State education compliance 40:46 Ahhh! Won't my kid just play video games all day?! 44:10 Concluding Thoughts   Resources Mentioned: https://peacefulworldschoolers.com/ https://www.facebook.com/PeacefulWorldSchoolers https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG0XFHxKs6DSDHdQluUNgqg https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Toxic-Teacher-Exposing-Schools/dp/1733428550   Audio Production by Podsworth Media. ★ Support this podcast ★