Enjoyed the video! I’m not Catholic and I see soteriology quite differently, I can immediately see that non-agression should characterize Christians. From Augustine to Aquinas to Luther and Calvin, various Christian men have include discussions of rulers and governing authorities in their writing, albeit not as much as many of us would like, if only to have more understanding and clarity. The 10 Commandments make it clear that we are to love our neighbor and not aggress against him or his property. There is even the clear implication that we are to not only be not aggressing against him, we are to seek his good. The times in which they wrote certainly influenced the men mentioned. When the Church had power equal to or greater than the State, there is the temptation to drift into theonomy, rule by the Law of God. Thankfully Aquinas and Augustine saw the error that this would be, as fallen man is unable to keep that Law. Thus, victimless crimes should not be written into law. Nobody was aggressed against.

As you have set about addressing Catholicism, I will try to make a similar application to non-Catholics. I don’t mean to suggest that the Church of Jesus Christ is not catholic, as it is. There is a very strong and distasteful movement in Protestant denominations to support aggression by the state and call their support good Christian behavior. While my own Reformed congregation makes a consistent effort to see the only Christian nation as being the Church of all believers, and that there is no place for the state in worship services or church affairs, much of them are caught up by the seduction of patriotism and nationalism, which is uncharacteristic of the Christian presence in the US prior to the past century.

Thanks for your writing and your website. I know that I will learn much.