Adam invites Domenic Scarcella on to talk about his book, Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen, and what lessons the Stations of the Cross (the story of Jesus's crucifixion) can teach about how Christians (and us all) should view their relationship to the state, and to their fellow humans.
00:00 — Intro. Meet Domenic Scarcella, author of Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen!
01:22 — Adam asks: What is the "way of the cross"? What is the teaching of this event meant to convey to the faithful?
07:18 — Why write this book? And what makes someone a good or bad neighbor or citizen? What duties do good people owe to the state? And what makes a "good cop"? Should Christians reflexively "back the blue"? Why or why not?
16:28 — Domenic asks Adam what a critical passage of the book means to him, an atheist. The answer may surprise you! Also, Domenic takes Christians to task for using evil means to (ostensibly) accomplish good ends. This is a fool's errand.
20:25 — Adam asks whether Domenic thinks Christians in America are moving (slightly) away from statism these days. Could it be? Domenic wants to resurrect the ethos of "the early church".
25:29 — What is the place of hierarchy in Domenic's thesis? The state imposes hierarchies, but are all hierarchies inherently bad things? What of natural ones?
29:00 — What is Domenic's approach to understanding the defensive use of force? What does the bible have to say about this?
31:50 — What does it mean to "outsource your ethics"? Who does this, and why? Where do we rightly learn our ethics? When and how should we question these? What is a "God-centered order"?
44:05 — Can a good Christian be an agent of the state? Should they enter government?
47:16 — Adam makes a pitch for people to go to hamannature.substack.com to become a paid subscriber and see the 2nd half of this great interview!
50:15 — Outro, plus, Adam praises Domenic's book.
Book mentioned: Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen
Adam's other show: Natural Order Podcast
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