Humans don’t like being told what to do. Shocking, we know!
In Episode 2 we explore one of the three freedoms David Graeber and David Wengrow postulate in The Dawn of Everything, the freedom to disobey. We start with how the freedom to disobey is expressed in the Old Testament prophets' relationship to the priesthood and the monarchy, and do a deep dive into I Kings 22 where Ahab and Jehoshaphat plan a battle with Aram. Only one prophet, Micaiah, is willing to say anything contrary to what Ahab wants to hear. (It’s a wild passage and Phil has never heard anyone preach on it in a lifetime of church attendance.)
We then explore how the freedom to disobey applies to contemporary issues like voting rights and in particular, the many problems with taking away the franchise of convicted criminals—even after they have completed their sentences.
No beers for this episode. Neither of us were in the mood to drink, which is a shame really.