The Libertarian Christian Podcast

Mike Maharrey has been in the libertarian Christian space for a long time. In this episode he steps back from politics entirely and talks about his own story: a decades-long journey through evangelical Protestantism that eventually landed him in Eastern Orthodoxy. What drove the move, what he found when he got there, and what he'd say to other Christians who feel spiritually restless.Check out Mike's show on the Christians for Liberty Network:The Godarchy PodcastAudio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com ★ Support this podcast ★

Adoption belongs at the center of the pro-life conversation, not on its periphery. Yet Christians who can speak fluently about abortion policy often go quiet when the topic turns to adoption -- what it means theologically, what it demands practically, and why it is one of the most concrete pictures of the gospel available to the church. In this episode of the Libertarian Christian Podcast, host Doug Stewart and guest Jacqueline Isaacs make the case that the theology of adoption is not a sentimental add-on to Christian ethics but a load-bearing wall.Jacqueline serves as managing editor for the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics, president and chief content officer of Bellwether Communications, and adjunct professor of business at Cumberland University. She and Doug both have personal stakes in this conversation: Doug is himself an adoptee, and Jacqueline and her husband completed the adoption of their son about two and a half years ago. What makes this episode work is that the theology flows from lived experience, not from abstract argument.The episode moves through the personal stories, the economic and demographic realities of adoption in America, the church's specific calling to support adoptive families, and the rich Pauline theology that makes adoption more than a social good -- it makes it a sign of the gospel itself. Here is the argument the episode builds.Additional Resources:Libertarian Christian Podcast:Ep. 436: Sympathy for a Scrooge, with Jacqueline Isaacs -- Jacqueline's previous appearance on the show; a natural companion for listeners who want more from this guest.External Reads:"The Joy of Our Adoption" by Jacqueline Isaacs, Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics -- Jacqueline's personal account of her family's adoption journey, referenced in the episode. Available at tifwe.org.Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com Use code LCI50 for 50% off your first order at Podsworth.com to clean up your voice recordings and also support LCI!Full Podsworth Ad Read BEFORE & AFTER processing:https://youtu.be/vbsOEODpQGs  ★ Support this podcast ★

Host Cody Cook sits down with Patrick Carroll, a sharp libertarian opinion journalist based near Toronto whose writing appears in outlets like the Mises Institute, Libertarian Institute, AIER, and FEE (where he once served as managing editor). Carroll's Substack, Against the Left, regularly dismantles progressive arguments from a free-market vantage point—and this conversation dives deep into one of his most provocative pieces: “Why SNAP Spending Should Be Cut Even If Charity Doesn’t Replace It.”The episode centers on the dramatic events of late 2025, when a record-breaking U.S. government shutdown stretched into its second month. By early November, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) faced a funding lapse. The Department of Agriculture announced that the roughly $100 billion annual program—serving about 42 million Americans, or one in eight—would not issue full November benefits. Chaos ensued: food banks reported overwhelming demand, long lines formed, and media stories highlighted desperate families suddenly without their usual grocery support.Left-leaning commentator Carl Beijer seized on the crisis in a Jacobin piece, declaring it definitive proof that private charity cannot substitute for state welfare. Overwhelmed pantries and panicked recipients, he argued, exposed the fantasy of market-based solutions replacing government safety nets.Carroll pushes back hard. He concedes the short-term strain on food banks but argues the episode reveals more about SNAP’s overreach than charity’s inadequacy. With little advance certainty (the shutdown’s duration remained a day-to-day uncertainty), private organizations had scant time to scale. Yet many still responded impressively—businesses like DoorDash offered free meals, churches and local groups rallied, and some food banks pivoted quickly. Had there been months of clear notice, Carroll contends, the charitable response would have been far stronger.More controversially, he challenges the scale of need SNAP addresses. Citing a 2021 USDA study, he notes that 39% of recipients are obese, 26% overweight, 33% normal weight, and only 3% underweight. This, he says, shatters the media stereotype of widespread starvation and suggests the program subsidizes far beyond genuine hardship—often enabling poor lifestyle choices rather than preventing famine.Carroll proposes an initial 50% cut, returning spending to roughly 2007 levels after years of ballooning budgets. He acknowledges “food insecurity” statistics (around 13% of Americans) but critiques their definitions, which can include anyone who occasionally buys cheaper groceries or skips a preferred item—hardly a crisis justifying $100 billion annually.The discussion turns philosophical and theological. Carroll invokes the “negative contact hypothesis”: while meeting marginalized groups often reduces prejudice, direct exposure to many in poverty can erode naive sympathy when observers see patterns of self-inflicted hardship—addiction, unwise relationships, financial irresponsibility. Anecdotes from YouTuber Caleb Hammer’s Financial Audit series reinforce this, as do studies showing that more well-off people’s support for redistribution weakens after real contact with the poor.From a Christian libertarian perspective, Carroll emphasizes voluntary generosity over state coercion. Jesus warned against lording authority over others (Matthew 20); early Christians practiced communal sharing without petitioning Caesar for taxes. He praises historical mutual-aid societies and modern examples like Mormon welfare systems as superior, more personal, and non-coercive alternatives to centralized bureaucracy.Addressing bleeding-heart objections, Carroll entertains the sequencing argument: enact free-market reforms (deregulation, free trade, ending occupational licensing and minimum wage barriers) first to boost opportunity and reduce poverty, then phase out welfare. He’s sympathetic but rejects indefinite delay—some cuts can and should happen now without catastrophe, especially given SNAP’s questionable targeting.This episode is bold, data-driven, and unapologetically challenging. It refuses easy compassion narratives, forces listeners to grapple with uncomfortable stats, and calls Christians to prioritize peaceful, voluntary charity over state redistribution. Whether you bristle or cheer, it’s a thought-provoking case for rethinking welfare in a free and faithful society.Links:Patrick's SubstackPatrick's piece Why SNAP Spending Should Be Cut Even If Charity Doesn’t Replace ItPatrick’s Twitter/X: https://x.com/PatrickC1995David Beito's book From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com Use code LCI50 for 50% off your first order at Podsworth.com to clean up your voice recordings and also support LCI!Full Podsworth Ad Read BEFORE & AFTER processing:https://youtu.be/vbsOEODpQGs  ★ Support this podcast ★

Jennifer Townsend—adjunct instructor, death-and-dying scholar, and Heterodox Academy campus co-chair at Western Michigan University—challenges the ideological monoculture dominating higher education. Awarded for promoting open inquiry and viewpoint diversity, she shares how she openly defends free speech on a left-leaning campus without hiding her views. The conversation dives into Jonathan Haidt's moral foundations theory, the limits of identity-based diversity, the value of listening to understand (not just to win), and why free inquiry remains essential—even when bad ideas persist. Townsend also critiques credential inflation, encourages trades over debt-laden degrees, and describes classroom strategies that shift students toward nuanced, less knee-jerk thinking.Books and resources mentioned:Heterodox Academy website: heterodoxacademy.orgJennifer's Substack on death and dying: The EndJennifer's Instagram accounts (death education, death book club)The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan HaidtMan's Search for Meaning by Viktor FranklDon't Label Me: How to Do Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Without Sacrificing the Truth or Your Own Soul by Irshad ManjiHow to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide by Peter Boghossian and James LindsayThe Three Languages of Politics: Talking Across the Political Divides by Arnold KlingOn Liberty by John Stuart Mill Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com Use code LCI50 for 50% off your first order at Podsworth.com to clean up your voice recordings and also support LCI!Full Podsworth Ad Read BEFORE & AFTER processing:https://youtu.be/vbsOEODpQGs  ★ Support this podcast ★

Economist and author Bryan Caplan returns to discuss his latest book, You Have No Right to Your Culture. Bryan explains why genuine “cultural preservation” would require totalitarian control over children and future generations, why most cultural change comes from generational shifts rather than immigration, and why appeals to a “right to culture” only seem to appear when immigrants are involved.Doug and Bryan dig into Western civilization’s global influence (“Westtoxification”), the rapid cultural transformations in places like the UAE and Japan, and whether Western culture is really “under attack” or simply winning the world by passing the market test. They contrast perceived threats from immigration with the rise of critical theory and “wokeness,” and Bryan lays out his famous “Caplan compromise” on open borders—keyhole solutions like limiting welfare and voting while radically expanding migration.The conversation also covers:What Bryan actually means by “culture” and why you don’t have a right to others practicing yoursWhy true cultural preservation implies a deeply totalitarian mindsetWestern civ, liberalism, and how the Enlightenment reshaped bothColonialism, anti‑colonialism, and why peace often matters more than political controlWhy fears of a coordinated partisan “open borders” plot are largely fantasyCohesion, “turning the other cheek,” and how to actually build social peace in a diverse societyBryan’s debate strategy as the “passive‑aggressive Jesus”Lightning round: best meal, most overrated destination, surprising cultural practices, and dream dinner guestsAudio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com Use code LCI50 for 50% off your first order at Podsworth.com to clean up your voice recordings and also support LCI!Full Podsworth Ad Read BEFORE & AFTER processing:https://youtu.be/vbsOEODpQGs  ★ Support this podcast ★

Nicholas Quient, pastor and New Testament PhD candidate specializing in Pauline and apocalyptic studies. He contrasts Lutheran/Reformed and New Perspective readings with an apocalyptic Paul who depicts Christ's invasion against cosmic powers. Short segments explore justification as liberation, church vs worldly authorities, political implications, and where to start studying Pauline apocalypticism.

Caleb Franz, writer and historian who authored The Conductor, uncovers Reverend John Rankin, a powerful Ohio River Valley abolition figure. He recounts Rankin's theological case against slavery and his hands-on work on the Underground Railroad. Franz also traces Rankin's influence on figures like Harriet Beecher Stowe and Ulysses S. Grant and explains the archival detective work behind the biography.

Joel Miller, former publishing executive and author of The Idea Machine, explains how books act as conversations across centuries. He explores the physical form of books, how formats shape interpretation, and how reading preserved and propelled science, faith, and literacy. They trace historical moments from monks and Charlemagne to the printing press and weigh modern trade-offs with digital tools and AI.

Jim Babka, longtime libertarian activist and commentator, offers mimetic theory–based political analysis. They unpack Trump’s “second first year,” focusing on symbolic moves like the Gulf renaming and Greenland push. Discussion hits the Iran bunker strike, ICE’s theatrical tactics, and why the Epstein files have reshaped 2025 politics.

Javan Lapp, a manufacturing executive, amateur historian, and Mennonite writer, walks through Pilgram Marpeck’s 16th-century Anabaptist vision. He explores incarnation-shaped ecclesiology, the tension between voluntary faith and state Christianity, embodied sacraments and practice, debates with spiritualists, and the call to cruciform humility in church life.