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Topic: Why a Christian should be a Libertarian (Read 8663 times)
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LeopardPM
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FWIW, just last night it occurred to me (yes, I'm suprisingly slow sometimes) that what this concept actually does is introduce the Free Market to systems of governance. Properly applied and practiced, any group without a crying need to dominate all others should be staunch supporters, as it gives them the ability to live in their own ways, without undue friction with the local jurisdiction.
ah HA! Exact-a-mundo! and you mentioned somewheres else about people trying slavishly to apply lib truisms in all aspects of society/life.... What you state is exactly my thoughts regarding a true libertarian (although I am thinking it might be even closer to anarchism) society - let everyone try their own thing and the Free-Market will sort it all out. I say let the CR's do what they will with covenants/contracts even to the point of capital punishment, let the amish do their thing, etc etc... and then after a couple of generations (or even shorter, maybe longer) we shall see what works and is 'good'. The capital punishment thing is gonna be tough though... even I am squeemish on having a community that might stone someone for something as insignificant (as I believe) as wearing the wrong type of clothing.... I have a feeling that once we start freeing the state, we will become a media favorite... "Those Free Staters are at it again, one town passed an ordinance that allowed people to marry animals, and, down the road, another town will stone you to death for bringing a donkey within its limits - guess that town won't be getting any of the 'honeymooners' from the first! <chuckle chuckle>" what a grand experiement we shall have for our freedom to dine upon... just trolling on by... michael |
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nothing to say...
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schletty
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When government reduces my freedoms to choose, government diminishes the opportunities I have to glorify God by voluntarily and freely choosing the option most pleasing to God. I must be free to not hire, not serve, not sell to and, even, hate a black man, a disabled person and/or a Christian. I must be free to kill myself, ingest drugs, eat red meat, and drink myself into a drunken stupor. I must be free to fornicate my brains out with as many creatures as are willing. I must be free to keep and/or spend my property, including my money, as I see fit. I must have all these freedoms so that I can decide, so that I can choose not to do these things, so that by choosing not to do these things I can honor and glorify God. Government destroys freedom of choice, and in the process, government destroys my opportunity to please God. Wow! This is exactly along the lines I have been outlining on-and-off for some time. The church is supposed to trust in the Holy Spirit to re-make individuals into the image of Christ. If you give the police power to ecclesiastical authority or ecclesiastical aims to a secular government, you're tramping all over that work. Does someone obey God out of a heart of love, or does he do so out of self-preservation? I have enough difficulty weeding through my motives without obfuscating them with fear of government reprisals. For those who have seen "A Clockwork Orange," does the state make Alex moral by its impositions? NO, they program him to react physiologically to images. In the end, he is a robot. BTW, another image comes to mind (this time biblical): something about a prostitute riding on the back of a giant beast (and it has nothing to do with legalization)  |
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If any form of pleasure is exhibited
Report to me and it will be prohibited.
- Groucho Marx, Duck Soup
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Zack Bass
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You will never find one instance of Jesus petitioning Rome to legislate anything he wanted to accomplish.
But Paul sure played the Rome card at every opportunity. |
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Kelton
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You will never find one instance of Jesus petitioning Rome to legislate anything he wanted to accomplish.
But Paul sure played the Rome card at every opportunity. Ah yes, but petitioning the government to which you claim citizenship for a redress of grievances is a whole different ballgame than asking your government to feed a multitude or turn water into wine. |
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. . .the foundations of our national policy should be laid in private morality. If individuals be not influenced by moral principles, it is in vain to look for public virtue --The U.S. Senate's reply to George Washington's first inaugural address
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Amazing Alfredo
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Earlier this summer, our Southern Baptist Pastor and I were playing golf. In our usual discussion of the freedom Christians have in Christ, we turned our attention to the troubling and divisive issue of abortion. Almost in the middle of my backswing-which should tell you how seriously we take our golf-he stated that, in his opinion, government was an agent of immorality by allowing abortions to happen. I stopped my backswing, turned to him, and asked a question that he has still not answered. If that is true, I said, is God also an agent of immorality because He too allows abortions to happen?
That simple encounter, involving one of the most grace-oriented, non-legalistic pastors I have ever known, captures the essence of what Linda and I want to discuss today, the reconciliation of our Christian and libertarian principles. Evil is the privation of good which ought to be present. God is under no obligation to save us from some sin we might commit (but is, of course, free to do so), nor is He under any obligation to impose temporal penalties (although He retains the right to do so). Civil governments are obligated to punish crimes, like murder, that are demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt. Abortion is murder. For the state to tolerate it is a dereliction of duty, which is evil. |
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« Last Edit: September 29, 2003, 05:08:09 pm by Amazing Alfredo »
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Nothing in life is free except love, and that's not free either.
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corncob
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In my limited experience, it is the issue of abortion that prevents a mass-migration of Christians to the libertarian side of the fence. At least that's what keeps me from claiming libertarianism. They way I see it, abortion is neither a religious issue or a pollitical one. It is all about biology. No one has ever shown me any evidence (sp?) that an unborn is any different that a newborn, and thus not deserving of the fundamental right to not be killed be anyone.
Joey
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Top Dollar
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There is the "Libertarians for Life" group within the Libertarian Party. As you can see from the discussions on this forum, the issue is far from resolved within the LP. Personally, I consider it to be a relatively minor issue which gets a lot more attention than it deserves. There are also people on both sides of the fence in the Republican Party.
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Kelton
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corncob, Top Dollar brings up a good point here. I for one am a pro-life libertarian who finds no inconsistency in libertarian philosophy and opposition to abortion based on one idea: I strongly believe that life begins at conception, it is immoral to take a life. In fact, if you look around, there are a lot of libertarians who are either against abortion or see it as a great fuzzy-gray area. Most libertarians also oppose Roe vs. Wade on Consitutional grounds and states' rights issues, at the least. ------One thing, however, is that I recognize that many people just don't understand it like I do, so I have a high degree of tolerance for people who think abortion is not wrong, I simply think that most people are either ignorant or misguided on the issue, and I recognize that it is a difficult issue and many well-meaning people just don't see it my way for many seemingly good reasons. For that reason, I can tolerate standing with people who do not see the evil in abortion, though I am very clear on my opposition to it, in principle; it is something where I see persuasion the better of force, even if there seems some theoretical justification for seeking to forcefully stop all abortions. That said, I don't think it will do much good to try to outlaw abortions, in a practical sense. I absolutely abhor the thought of making desperate pregnant women into criminals. I also see trouble in sending abortion doctors to jail. In fact, the only measure with which I have any strong support for outright prohibiting is being against partial-birth abortion. The descriptions of viable babies completely delivered outside the mother, except the head, kicking and punching and fighting for life while their skulls are being pierced and their brains sucked-out simply defies argument, it is barbarism that no argument about "it's just tissue" can stand the light of day, the argument about late-term abortions being a women's choice also doesn't stand very well against reason with partial-birth abortion since the passage of months and some of the most difficult parts of pregnancy have passed. The website address for Libertarians for Life is http://www.l4l.org/ . There are people of all different religious persuasions, even atheists who support L4L. |
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. . .the foundations of our national policy should be laid in private morality. If individuals be not influenced by moral principles, it is in vain to look for public virtue --The U.S. Senate's reply to George Washington's first inaugural address
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