The Bad Roman: Christian Politics for Modern Times

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 the Iranian people, and why the underground church continues to thrive despite decades of persecution.

The conversation also turns to the present. Ara discusses Iranian Christian asylum seekers detained by ICE, the challenges facing refugees fleeing persecution, and the responsibility Christians have to speak for those who have no voice.

Along the way, Craig and Ara wrestle with difficult questions about war, government power, national loyalty, and what it means to follow Jesus when political solutions seem inadequate.

At the heart of the discussion is a reminder that the Christian's ultimate citizenship is not found in America, Iran, or any earthly nation, but in the Kingdom of God.

“I'm proud US citizen, but most important, I'm a heaven citizen.” — Ara Torosian

Whether discussing persecution abroad or immigration policy at home, this episode calls listeners back to a simple but challenging truth:

Jesus is King.

📖 For Full Show Notes: http://thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-162

Key Moments:

(00:00) Government oppression and Iranian Christians

(00:37) Meeting Ara

(02:01) Ara’s background

(03:32) Discovering the Bible in Farsi

(04:06) Childhood under government propaganda

(07:00) Pressure on Christians in Iran

(10:17) Following Jesus when it costs

(11:28) Smuggling Bibles into Iran and house arrest

(12:43) The underground church grows

(15:03) People versus regimes

(17:10) War, freedom, and mixed Iranian views

(30:57) Craig presses the Jesus question

(33:32) Ara’s struggle with war and peace

(34:46) Presenting, not protesting

(35:37) Government worship in churches

(37:03) Politics inside the church

(48:38) ICE arrests and asylum seekers

(52:03) Masked agents and trauma

(54:00) Broken immigration system

(55:44) Children praying for their dad

(56:08) Speaking because he can

(58:00) What Christians should show

(59:36) Silence and complicity

(01:01:03) Life belongs to Jesus

(01:03:11) Bad Roman Salsa break

(01:03:54) How many Christians in Iran?

(01:05:30) Where to find Ara

(01:07:14) Lakers, Luka, and closing

🔗 Ways to Get Involved in the Project 🔗

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:

📖 For Full Show Notes: http://thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-161

Listen for the way Jon connects technology, public policy, business, and faith. Ask yourself where surveillance has already become normal in your own town.

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 Matthew 10:16–31 and Psalm 146. Sit with Jesus’ call to be wise, fearless, and loyal to God above rulers.

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.

(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

(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 🔗

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:

📖 For Full Show Notes: http://thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-160

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 another way?

🔗 Ways to Get Involved in the Project 🔗

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:

📖 For Full Show Notes: thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-159

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 another way?

🔗 Ways to Get Involved in the Project 🔗

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:

📖 For Full Show Notes: thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-157

Listen & Reflect

Listen: Listen for the way Jordan describes his political awakening, not as a trend or rebrand, but as a slow unraveling of conservative politics, Christian nationalism, and trust in authority.

Reflect: Where have our political beliefs been shaped more by media, fear, or tribal loyalty than by the teachings of Jesus? Where have we confused conservative Christianity with faithful discipleship?

Read: Matthew 20:25–28, 1 Samuel 8, Psalm 146, and Romans 12. Pay attention to what Scripture says about rulers, power, coercion, and the way God’s people are called to live.

Practice: This week, take one belief you hold about politics, government, or authority and test it with a simple question: Does this reflect the way of Jesus, or does it rely on the kind of power He warned us not to trust?

(0:00) Jordan Grant joins the show

(4:35) Jordan’s background: Texas, finance, medicine, and faith

(8:38) 9/11, Bush-era politics, and the conservative script

(10:46) Talk radio formation and becoming a “cage-stage conservative”

(13:25) Younger people, military disillusionment, and questioning authority

(17:53) Medicine, the state, and forced trust

(18:28) Medical school and the authoritarian mindset

(19:30) Authoritarian systems inside modern medicine

(26:43) COVID, church shutdowns, and Christian compliance

(28:37) Reformed theology, Romans 13, and civil magistrate thinking

(40:14) Ron Paul, conviction, and the church’s blind spots

(57:47) Wrestling with Scripture, certainty, and honest questions

(1:04:48) “Not so among you”

(1:05:48) Practical advice for fence-sitters

(1:08:20) Christians should be thinkers

Support 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 another way?

🔗 Ways to Get Involved in the Project 🔗

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 Explore:

📖 For Full Show Notes: thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-157

🤝Connect with Scipio:

Listen & Reflect

Listen: Listen for how early the episode contrasts the way of Jesus with systems built on secrecy, influence, and protected power. That contrast carries the whole conversation.

Reflect: Where have we learned to trust what feels strong, connected, and in control more than what is honest, open, and faithful? Where have hidden loyalties shaped us without our noticing?

Read: Read John 3:19–21, Matthew 5:14–16, Matthew 23:27–28, and 2 Corinthians 4:2. Sit with the difference between what lives in the light and what depends on the dark.

Practice: This week, before defending any leader, movement, institution, or system, ask one question: Is this teaching me to walk in the light with Jesus, or to trust the kind of power that protects itself behind closed doors?

Key Moments:

(0:00) Opening the question: Freemasonry, Christianity, and the state

(1:15) Meeting Scipio Eruditus

(2:12) War, patriotism, and the breaking of trust

(5:16) Fraternities as a gateway into deeper questions

(6:43) The initiation experience that shook him

(8:28) Freemasonry and the making of the modern world

(9:24) Patriotism losing its innocence

(10:14) The “mystery” question

(11:05) Secret societies and conspiracy against church and state

(12:26) Ancient religion, Babylon, and Egypt

(13:32) The unfinished pyramid and “the great work”

(14:25) The oldest heresy returns Genesis 3 

(18:04) Lower ranks, hidden knowledge, and the shield of charity

(29:01) Why such a small group carries so much influence

(30:30) The Morgan Affair

(31:46) Political dominion and suppression of scandal

(49:09) Symbols on the currency

(50:39) Allegiance, Lucifer, and false light

(53:17) “Further light in masonry”

(58:58) Is Freemasonry still driving government today?

(59:17) Can Christians make government righteous?

(1:12:20) Where to find Scipio’s work

Support 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 another way?

🔗 Stay Connected with the Project 🔗

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 we trust Caesar more than Jesus.

In this episode:

Rightful liberty and the equal rights of others

Freedom, free will, and the teachings of Jesus

Why legal does not always mean moral

Slavery, immigration, voting, and Christian witness

“Render unto Caesar” and what belongs to God alone

📖 For Full Show Notes: thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-156

Listen for how early the episode defines rightful liberty. Everything else builds from that one distinction.

Reflect: Where do we call something freedom when we really mean control? Where do we demand rights for ourselves that we deny to others?

Read: Galatians 5:1, Matthew 22:15–22, and 1 Samuel 8. Then hold them next to Jefferson’s definition of rightful liberty and sit with the tension.

Practice: Before you defend any law, policy, border, or political habit this week, ask one question: does this honor the equal rights of others, or violate them?

Key Moments & Starting Points:

0:00 Rightful Liberty

1:04 Safety Over Freedom

2:20 Cal’s Liberty Journey

3:45 Jefferson’s Definition

6:21 Equal Rights Of Others

9:27 Sympathy And Empathy

12:50 Freedom In Christ

14:20 Slavery And Immigration

15:12 Rejecting God’s Gift

16:45 Image Of God

17:30 Slavery Never Really Left

20:00 Render Unto Caesar

22:45 War And Repentance

24:07 Unconditional Love

25:15 Broken Christian Witness

27:20 One Human Family

30:24 The Golden Rule

31:30 Rendering To Caesar What Is God’s

34:00 Jesus Rejected The Kingdoms

35:30 Why The World Rejects Us

37:15 Hate Cannot Heal

43:00 Asking For A King

44:05 What Jesus Never Did

45:30 The Temptation Of Power

47:00 Rights Come From God

49:45 Proper Exercise Of Liberty

54:57 The Full Jefferson Quote

56:30 Patrick Henry and the Anti-Federalists

57:42 Forensic History

58:40Learn The Real History

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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

🤝 Connect with Paul Lazzaroni 🤝

Cross and Cornerstone (Website / Blog + Articles)

C&C Facebook Page

No King but Christ Network (Paul’s work is featured there): nokingbutchristnetwork.com

Paul’s Personal Pages

Instagram

Facebook

YouTube

TikTok

Try This Week:

📖 For Full Show Notes: thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-155

Key Moments & Starting Points:

(0:00) Jesus or Caesar?

(0:45) Meet Paul Lazzaroni

(1:27) “Is Trump Barabbas?”

(2:20) The Barabbas Mindset

(8:36) Why Paul Doesn’t Vote

(17:57) Wilderness First

(47:30) Modern Babylon

(47:57) Mindsets and Mimic Kingdoms

(53:33) What Is Cross and Cornerstone?

(55:32) Why “Cornerstone”?

(57:16) Writing, Learning, Humility

💕 Want more episodes that keep loyalty with Jesus, not power? 💕

Support the show at thebadroman.com/donate. Anything helps—and everything beyond production costs goes to local charities in Memphis, TN.

🌶️ SALSA THE LOVE 🌶️

Want to the support the project in another way? Share & Start a Conversation Send this episode to a friend and ask: Am I trusting Jesus’ cross-shaped way… or trusting force to hold it all together?

Listen slowly. Love boldly. No King but Christ.

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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 society together. They examine what a voluntary society might look like in real life—how cooperation could replace coercion, why consent matters more than compliance, and what changes when no one gets a special pass to use force “for the greater good.”

Along the way, Craig keeps circling back to Jesus. If we wouldn’t threaten our neighbor to make things right, why do we trust systems built on threats? And what does it say about our faith when Christian nationalism feels more practical than the Sermon on the Mount?

This episode gives listeners language for naming fear, tools for thinking beyond power, and space to ask a deeper question beneath the politics: Do we actually trust the way of Jesus to hold a people together?

Their conversation digs into:

Why “law and order” feels safe—and what it costs

What a voluntary society actually means (and what it doesn’t)

Contracts, incentives, insurance, and reputation as alternatives to force

Why voting isn’t the same as consent

Fear as a driving force behind Christian politics

Christian nationalism as a discipleship problem, not just a political one

A simple test: would this be okay if my neighbor did it?

Try This Week:

📖 For Full Show Notes:

Key Moments:

(00:00) Voluntary Society: “Wouldn’t That Be Chaos?”

(00:45) Welcome Bob Murphy

(06:19) Why Bob Avoids the “Anarchist” Label

(07:19) Sermon on the Mount + Politics That Fit Jesus

(10:57) “I Don’t Have to Have a Plan”

(11:33) Salsa Break: No King but Christ

(12:14) Chaos Theory: Contracts

(14:37) “Institutionalized Aggressor” + Imposed Rules

(33:14) Insurance as Due Diligence

(34:03) Incentives: Background Checks + Risk

(46:57) “Give the Experts Guns” Problem

(58:27) “Aren’t Insurance Companies the Government?”

(1:03:24) Where to Find Bob + What He’s Building

(1:04:22) Wrap-Up + Possible Part 2

💕 Want more episodes that keep loyalty with Jesus, not power? 💕

🌶️ SALSA THE LOVE 🌶️

FREE: Share & Start a Conversation

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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 conviction.” Craig urges us to stop outsourcing love to Caesar and get back to simple, neighbor-first faith that looks like the Sermon on the Mount.

If you feel the tug between cross and country, this conversation gives language, laughter, and a clean path forward, to put Jesus over team, platform, and flag.

Their conversation digs into:

Get the book: Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding A True Faith

Listen to the Book on Spotify like Craig did!

LinkTree

Instagram: @aprilajoy

Facebook: April Ajoy

X (Twitter): @aprilajoyr

TikTok: @aprilajoy

Podcast: The Tim and April Show, YouTube, Instagram, Apple Podcast, Spotify

Try This Week: an enemy by name; refuse to excuse violence because “it’s my side”; choose presence over outrage.

📖 For Full Show Notes:www.thebadroman.com/show-notes/episode-153

Key Moments:

(00:00) Waking up from Christian nationalism

(01:04) Finding April’s work

(02:18) “Good Christians” and blind spots

(03:25) April’s current projects

(10:31) Threads vs. tables

(12:48) Flags in the sanctuary

(15:05) The “Jesus juke”

(18:22) Fear and propaganda

(26:10) From conviction to control

(30:44) Stop outsourcing love to Caesar

(45:50) Where to find April

(52:12) No King but Christ

💕 Want more episodes that keep loyalty with Jesus, not politics?💕

🌶️ SALSA THE LOVE🌶️ 

FREE: Share & Start a Conversation

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