Is civil disobedience a Christian duty or a dangerous misreading of faith?

In this episode of Uncommon Sense in Current Times, I continue my discussion with activist and author Shane Claiborne in a thoughtful and at-times tense conversation about Christian civil disobedience, theology and public policy.

Both of us agree on a foundational truth: a Christian's ultimate allegiance is to Jesus Christ—not the state. But from there, the conversation reveals deep and meaningful disagreements about how that allegiance should be lived out in real-world policy decisions involving guns, immigration, welfare, justice and government authority.

Claiborne argues that love for "the least of these" must be the guiding metric for Christian action, even when it leads to nonviolent resistance against unjust laws. I counter that love must be grounded in obedience to God's commands and propose a clear biblical framework for when civil disobedience is truly required.

This episode does not offer easy answers—but it models civil discourse, biblical reasoning and the hard work of thinking clearly in a polarized age.

📘 Get my latest book "Bold Not Belligerent" on Amazon: 👉 https://a.co/d/eGTPSYS

💭 A different way to reflect this week:

• Do I define love primarily by compassion or by obedience to God's truth?
  
  
  
• Where might sincerity be replacing biblical discernment in my convictions?
  
  
  

📌 In this episode, we explore:

✅ When civil disobedience becomes a Christian obligation

✅ Competing biblical frameworks for love, justice and obedience

✅ Matthew 25 vs. Romans 13—how should Christians interpret both?

✅ The dangers of Christian nationalism and state idolatry

✅ Whether compassion alone is a sufficient guide for public policy

✅ Guns, immigration, welfare and the role of government vs. the church

✅ Loving political opponents without excusing error or injustice

✅ Why fear and comfort often silence faithful obedience

📢 TAKE ACTION:

🙏 Ask whether your convictions are shaped more by Scripture or culture

🧠 Examine political beliefs through a biblical—not partisan—lens

🗣 Speak truth with humility, clarity and courage

❤️ Refuse to replace Christ with any cause, party or ideology

🔗 Follow Peter Demos:

Website: https://www.peterdemos.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterdemosofficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peterdemosofficial

Twitter/X: https://x.com/peter_demos

🙌 SUBSCRIBE for bold conversations at the intersection of faith, freedom, and truth in a world gone mad.

#PeterDemos #UncommonSensePodcast #ChristianCivilDisobedience #FaithAndPolitics #ShaneClaiborne #BiblicalWorldview #ChristianLiving #ChurchAndState #TruthMatters #ChristianPodcast #FaithInPublic

What happens when following Jesus puts you in direct conflict with the laws of the state?

In this episode of Uncommon Sense in Current Times, I speak with activist and author Shane Claiborne to explore one of the most uncomfortable—and misunderstood—questions facing Christians today: When does obedience to God require disobedience to government?

From feeding the homeless in defiance of city ordinances, to protesting war and unjust policies, to confronting Christian nationalism head-on, this conversation challenges easy political categories and forces believers to wrestle with allegiance, authority, and love in public life.

Claiborne reframes "civil disobedience" as divine obedience, arguing that faithfulness to Jesus sometimes demands nonviolent resistance to unjust laws—and that the church's role is not to serve the state or rule it, but to act as its conscience.

📘 Get my latest book "Bold Not Belligerent" on Amazon: 👉 https://a.co/d/eGTPSYS

💭 A different way to reflect this week:

• Where does my primary allegiance actually lie—Christ or comfort?
  
  
  
• Have I confused unity with peace, or silence with faithfulness?
  
  
  

📌 In this episode, we discuss:

✅ What "divine obedience" really means for Christians

✅ Biblical examples of faithful resistance (Daniel, the prophets, the early church)

✅ Why love—not rebellion—is the motive behind Christian civil disobedience

✅ The difference between the church as the conscience of the state vs. its servant

✅ Why Shane Claiborne rejects Christian nationalism

✅ How nonviolent action exposes injustice without abandoning conviction

✅ Whether justice can become an idol—and how to guard against it

✅ Why caring for the vulnerable is not a political issue but a gospel mandate

📢 TAKE ACTION:

🙏 Examine where fear or comfort may be silencing obedience

🧠 Test your political assumptions against Scripture—not party loyalty

🗣 Engage injustice with courage, humility, and love

❤️ Remember: justice is what love looks like in public

🔗 Follow Peter Demos:

Website: https://www.peterdemos.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterdemosofficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peterdemosofficial

Twitter/X: https://x.com/peter_demos

🙌 SUBSCRIBE for bold conversations at the intersection of faith, freedom, and truth in a world gone mad.

#PeterDemos #UncommonSensePodcast #ChristianDisobedience #DivineObedience #ShaneClaiborne #FaithAndJustice #BiblicalWorldview #ChristianLiving #FaithInPublic #ChristianPodcast #SocialJustice #ChristianNationalism #TruthMatters

What happens when the United States conducts a high-risk special operations mission to capture a sitting head of state?

In this episode of Uncommon Sense in Current Times, I speak with a military legal expert to break down the reported U.S. operation targeting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro—examining the legal justifications, military strategy and global implications behind one of the most extraordinary actions in modern Western Hemisphere politics.

This is not just a story about drugs or Venezuela. It's about sovereignty, self-defense, foreign adversaries operating in America's backyard, and a dramatic shift in U.S. posture toward cartel states and hostile regimes.

From UN Charter law and historical precedents like Noriega and Eichmann, to oil money funding terror groups, to what this signals for Mexico, Colombia, Iran, Russia and China—this episode connects the dots the headlines won't.

📘 Get my latest book "Bold Not Belligerent" on Amazon: 👉 https://a.co/d/eGTPSYS

💭 A different way to reflect this week:

· When does law enforcement become national self-defense?

· What happens when sovereignty is used as cover for global harm?

📌 In this episode, we unpack:

✅ Why the operation is framed as a capture mission, not a kill mission

✅ The 2020 U.S. narco-terrorism indictment against Maduro

✅ How Article 51 of the UN Charter is being used to justify action

✅ The connection between Venezuelan oil money, Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas

✅ Why this signals a revived Monroe Doctrine / "Trump Doctrine"

✅ What this means for Mexico, Colombia and cartel-controlled states

✅ Lessons learned from Iraq, Panama and past regime removals

✅ Why targeting kingpins rarely stops drugs—but still matters geopolitically

✅ The risks of power vacuums, insurgency and regional instability

📢 TAKE ACTION:

📖 Learn how international law actually works—not how it's portrayed

🧠 Think critically about sovereignty, security and moral responsibility

🙏 Pray for peace, restraint and wisdom among global leaders

🗣 Talk about hard truths without partisan blinders

🔗 Follow Peter Demos:

Website: https://www.peterdemos.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterdemosofficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peterdemosofficial

Twitter/X: https://x.com/peter_demos

🙌 SUBSCRIBE for bold conversations at the intersection of faith, freedom, and truth in a world gone mad.

#PeterDemos #UncommonSensePodcast #Venezuela #Maduro #USMilitary #Geopolitics #InternationalLaw #WarOnDrugs #MonroeDoctrine #ForeignPolicy #NationalSecurity #FaithAndCulture

Is the shift from saying, "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays" really harmless—or is it a warning sign of something much bigger?

In this special episode of Uncommon Sense in Current Times, I break down why the so-called "War on Christmas" isn't about outrage or nostalgia, but about how cultures change—slowly, subtly and often without resistance.

Using history, data and real institutional examples, I share how small language shifts are often the first step in much larger cultural transformations. What begins as "inclusivity" or "neutrality" can quietly become exclusion of Christian worldview from public life altogether.

This episode isn't about being angry—it's about being aware.

📘 Get my latest book "Bold Not Belligerent" on Amazon: 👉 https://a.co/d/eGTPSYS

💭 A different way to reflect this week:

· When cultural change feels "small," how do we discern whether it's actually significant?

· What responsibility do believers have when truth is softened in the name of comfort?

📌 In this episode, we unpack:

✅ Why Christmas—unlike other Christian holidays—is uniquely targeted

✅ The real reason "Happy Holidays" only appears in December

✅ Institutional examples where "Merry Christmas" was discouraged

✅ Why the "Jesus wasn't born on December 25th" argument misses the point

✅ A 5-step pattern every major cultural revolution follows

✅ How language shapes morality before laws ever change

✅ Why persuasion always comes before persecution

✅ What history teaches us about ignoring "small" cultural shifts

📢 TAKE ACTION:

🎄 Speak truth without fear or hostility

📖 Understand how language shapes worldview

🕯 Be alert to cultural drift—not reactionary, but intentional

🙏 Celebrate Christmas boldly, with clarity and conviction

🔗 Follow Peter Demos:

Website: https://www.peterdemos.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterdemosofficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peterdemosofficial

Twitter/X: https://x.com/peter_demos

🙌 SUBSCRIBE for bold conversations at the intersection of faith, freedom and truth in a world gone mad.

#PeterDemos #UncommonSensePodcast #WarOnChristmas #MerryChristmas #ChristianWorldview #FaithAndCulture #CulturalShift #TruthMatters #Christmas2026 #BiblicalPerspective #LanguageMatters

What happens when faith collides with geopolitics, trauma, abortion policy, philosophy, and the hard questions Christians often avoid?

In this Best of 2025 episode of Uncommon Sense in Current Times, Peter Demos brings together some of the most compelling conversations of the year—spanning theology, international affairs, trauma recovery, pro-life advocacy, and civil dialogue with ideological opponents.

From redefining what Christians mean by faith, to confronting Iran's regime, to exposing new abortion tactics, to debating morality with an atheist philosopher—this episode is a snapshot of why uncommon sense matters now more than ever.

Each segment challenges cultural assumptions and calls believers back to grounded, courageous, biblically rooted thinking in an age of confusion.

💭 A different way to reflect this week:

• What beliefs do I hold because they're true—and which ones do I hold because they're comfortable?
  
  
  
• Am I willing to examine my own biases as honestly as I examine others'?
  
  
  

📌 Featured conversations include:

✅ Greg Koukl on redefining "faith" as justified trust grounded in reality

✅ Robert Jeffress on why the Second Coming is often neglected—and why it matters

✅ Lana Silk on the underground Christian movement in Iran

✅ Evan Owens on dignity, community, and real trauma recovery

✅ Dr. Ingram Scott on abortion pills, abuse, and post-Roe realities

✅ Steven Law (atheist philosopher) on humanism, bias, belief, and secular morality

✅ Why civil discourse still matters in a polarized world

✅ How Christians can think clearly without surrendering conviction

📢 TAKE ACTION:

📖 Re-examine what you believe—and why

🧠 Practice intellectual humility alongside biblical confidence

🙏 Pray for persecuted believers around the world

🗣 Engage culture with truth, courage, and clarity—not fear

🔗 Follow Peter Demos:

Website: https://www.peterdemos.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterdemosofficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peterdemosofficial

Twitter/X: https://x.com/peter_demos

🙌 SUBSCRIBE for bold conversations at the intersection of faith, freedom, and truth in a world gone mad.

#PeterDemos #UncommonSensePodcast #BestOf2025 #BiblicalWorldview #ChristianThinking #FaithAndCulture #TruthMatters #CivilDiscourse #ChristianPodcast #GregKoukl #RobertJeffress #LanaSilk #EvanOwens #ProLife #StevenLaw

Christmas is often wrapped in nostalgia, warmth and familiarity—but what if the real story is far more disruptive than we remember?

In this episode of Uncommon Sense in Current Times, I sit down with author and theologian Dan Darling to uncover the subversive power of the Christmas story through the lens of his book, The Characters of Christmas. Far from a sentimental backdrop, the Nativity is a declaration that God has entered a broken, violent world—not to affirm earthly power, but to overturn it.

By examining the lives of Joseph, Zachariah and Elizabeth, the shepherds, the Magi, and even King Herod, this conversation reveals a consistent pattern: God works through ordinary, faithful people—often on the margins—while worldly power reacts with fear.

Christmas doesn't ignore pain. It confronts it with hope.

💭 A different way to reflect this week:

• What if the Christmas story isn't meant to comfort our routines—but to disrupt them?
  
  
  
• Where might God be working quietly in your ordinary faithfulness right now?
  
  
  

📌 In this episode, we explore:

✅ Why Christmas is a deeply subversive and world-changing event

✅ How familiarity can numb us to the power of the Incarnation

✅ Joseph as a model of quiet, immediate obedience

✅ What Zachariah and Elizabeth teach us about faith during long silence

✅ Why shepherds—not kings—received the first announcement

✅ How the Magi model genuine truth-seeking and humility

✅ King Herod as the timeless picture of fear-driven worldly power

✅ Why Christmas offers hope without denying brokenness

✅ How God still works through ordinary people today

📢 TAKE ACTION:

📖 Re-read the Christmas story slowly and intentionally this season.

🕯️ Resist autopilot faith—lean back into awe and wonder.

🙏 Bring both your joy and your grief to Christ this Christmas.

🔗 Follow Peter Demos:

Website: https://www.peterdemos.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterdemosofficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peterdemosofficial

Twitter/X: https://x.com/peter_demos

🙌 SUBSCRIBE for bold conversations at the intersection of faith, freedom, and truth in a world gone mad.

#PeterDemos #UncommonSensePodcast #CharactersOfChristmas #DanDarling #ChristmasMeaning #Incarnation #FaithAndCulture #BiblicalTheology #NativityStory #ChristianWorldview #AdventReflection #HopeInBrokenness #TruthAndFaith

Most Americans are still focused on abortion, but another life-and-death issue is advancing quietly, rapidly, and with far less resistance.

In this episode of Uncommon Sense in Current Times, I meet with Daniel Breeden, Executive Director of Tennessee Right to Life, to expose what many aren't talking about: the accelerating legalization of euthanasia in the United States and its dangerous overlap with abortion, mental health policy and cultural apathy.

With 11 U.S. states already legalizing euthanasia, and models like Canada's MAiD program expanding to include mental illness, loneliness and even minors, this conversation sounds a clear warning. The fight for life didn't end with Dobbs—it simply shifted fronts.

This episode connects the dots between abortion pills, mental-health loopholes, state-sponsored death, and the deeper spiritual crisis driving what many now call a culture of death.

💭 A different way to reflect this week:

· What happens when compassion is redefined as ending life instead of protecting it?

· If mental health can justify abortion, what stops it from justifying euthanasia next?

📌 In this episode, we discuss:

✅ Why euthanasia is no longer a "foreign issue" but a U.S. reality

✅ How 11 states have already legalized medically assisted death

✅ The alarming expansion of Canada's MAiD program

✅ Why mental health is becoming the most dangerous legal loophole

✅ How abortion pills undermine state-level pro-life laws

✅ The post-Dobbs strategies of Planned Parenthood and abortion networks

✅ Why the elderly, disabled, depressed and lonely are most at risk

✅ The connection between abortion, euthanasia, and state-sponsored death

✅ Why Christian apathy may be the greatest obstacle of all

✅ The role of fasting, prayer and grassroots action in cultural change

📢 TAKE ACTION:

🙏 Commit to intentional prayer and fasting for the protection of life

📚 Educate yourself and others on euthanasia laws in your state

🗳 Get involved locally with pro-life organizations

🤝 Support pregnancy resource centers and life-affirming ministries

🔗 Follow Peter Demos:

Website: https://www.peterdemos.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterdemosofficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peterdemosofficial

Twitter/X: https://x.com/peter_demos

🙌 SUBSCRIBE for bold conversations at the intersection of faith, freedom, and truth in a world gone mad.

#PeterDemos #UncommonSensePodcast #ProLife #Euthanasia #AbortionDebate #CultureOfDeath #RightToLife #DanielBreeden #FaithAndPolitics #MentalHealthPolicy #LifeEthics #ChristianWorldview #PostDobbs #TruthOverComfort

Is polygyny actually permitted by Scripture—or is it a misreading of the Bible shaped by culture, confirmation bias and flawed theology?

In this episode of Uncommon Sense in Current Times, I walk listeners through both sides of one of the most controversial theological debates in the modern church: the biblical case for and against polygyny.

On one side, Pastor Rich Tidwell argues that plural marriage is biblically lawful—and in some cases even prescribed—based on Old Testament precedent and the claim that "sex is marriage." On the other, I work through dismantling his framework, showing why descriptive biblical narratives are not prescriptive commands, why the "sex = marriage" premise collapses logically and morally, and why both Jewish history and the New Testament consistently point to monogamy as God's design.

This episode isn't about shock value—it's about discernment. If Christians can call anything "biblical" by isolating verses, what guardrails remain?

💭 A different way to reflect this week:

• When Scripture describes something, how do we know whether God is revealing truth—or warning us through human failure?
  
  
  
• What happens when we confuse what God allows with what God desires?
  
  
  

📌 In this episode, we explore:

✅ Rich's strongest biblical arguments for polygyny

✅ RIch's claim that "sex creates marriage" and why it fails both biblically and logically

✅ Why Old Testament plural marriages were descriptive, not prescriptive

✅ Evidence that monogamy was the Jewish norm before Roman influence

✅ Why "cleaving" in Scripture implies exclusivity—not multiplication

✅ How symbolic passages (Israel/Judah, Christ and the churches) are misused

✅ Why the New Testament sets a higher standard for marriage and leadership

✅ The demographic, economic and moral flaws in "polygyny solves birth rates"

✅ Why this debate matters far beyond marriage—it affects how we read the Bible itself

📢 TAKE ACTION:

📖 Read Scripture in context—especially when claims sound "new but ancient."

🧭 Test every argument, no matter how many verses are quoted.

🗣️ And don't confuse cultural frustration with biblical permission.

🔗 Follow Peter Demos:

Website: https://www.peterdemos.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterdemosofficial

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peterdemosofficial

Twitter/X: https://x.com/peter_demos

🙌 SUBSCRIBE for bold conversations at the intersection of faith, freedom, and truth in a world gone mad.

#PeterDemos #UncommonSensePodcast #BiblicalMarriage #PolygynyDebate #ChristianTheology #Discernment #ScriptureInContext #FaithAndCulture #ChurchLeadership #BibleTeaching #TruthOverTrends #ChristianWorldview #MarriageCovenant #TheologyMatters