Can a Christian Be a Libertarian?
Norman Horn of LibertarianChristians.com wrote a piece in the Washington Post this week entitled, "Can a Christian be a libertarian?," on the On Faith blog.
Here's an excerpt:
Christians in American politics have argued for years that God endorses the political agenda of Republicans or Democrats, but is there a third way to think about the relationship between God and government?
Christians from the left and the right are increasingly turning to libertarianism not because it is a “middle ground,” but because it is an entirely different way of thinking about government and power.
The core of libertarianism is the non-aggression principle: that the initiation of force against person and property is immoral, and it is in many respects a kind of political corollary to the Golden Rule. Thus, Christian libertarians think that government power should be limited, sound money and truly free markets should return, aggressive war must cease and civil liberties must be preserved.
Our own Jacqueline Otto has written a two-part series on the topic: A Christian Libertarian?
Here's an excerpt from part one:
For some reason, society has not allowed a role for someone who is both Christian and a libertarian.
Christian opposition to libertarianism is not new. The debate over Ayn Rand, called by some the "high priestess of the Church of Mammon,” has been relentless within Christian circles. Even on this blog, a whole page is dedicated to collecting the arguments. Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism is inherently atheistic, and the debate persist over whether her limited-government and free-market beliefs can be extricated from objectivism as a whole. Many Christians say that they cannot be separated. Two Cents blogger Nathan Hitchens has said that there is “profound hypocrisy” in a Christian supporting any part of Ayn Rand’s philosophy.
And an exceprt from part two:
I recently blogged about Christian libertarians. In closing I said, "Is it contradictory to be a Christian and a libertarian? … I do not know. But it is certainly a question worth asking." In fact, it is a question I have been considering with great fervor and sincerity.
My political affiliation on Facebook is “freedom,” and according to my Two Cents bio, I hope “to always be known as a lover of liberty.” Since I am a Christian, does that make me a Christian libertarian? Some would say yes, but I do not like to use the term because “libertarian” has such varied meanings in today’s political culture.
What are your thoughts on Christian libertarians? Let us know in the comments.
4 people are talking about this
I've been calling myself a Christian libertarian for years. I've given speeches, written and blogged about the topic several times. I always point out that I Samuel 8 lays out a case against big government. Republicans and Democrats both favor big government, they just think government should do different things.
The problem is that laberils have become increasingly less liberal, and conservatives largely due to the Bush experience have enthusiastically been rediscovering what Reagan called the heart and soul of conservatism libertarianism (or liberalism, I really don't think modern laberils should to continue to use the term liberal they are basically social democrats in the European sense).The reason libertarians are better able to work with social conservatives, is that historically and traditionally they do share a commitment to individual liberty. The areas in which social conservatives inconsistently advocate a neo-theocracy are, though troubling, fairly limited and relatively new. But Liberty is a motivating core belief for both. I recall how the liberal press was stunned that the Alliance Defense Fund was actively supporting the Bong Hits 4 Jesus kid in the Supreme Court. The reason was they feared if high school administrators could silence smart ass stoners then they would start doing the same to Christian kids. But, Progressives/liberals are not generally motivated by such overriding commitments to liberty in general. Indeed, it is astounding how progressives spent years railing against George Bush's general constitutional vandalism and the Patriot Act in particular. But, once the progressives were in power it turned out they only wanted to do a little tinkering with the Patriot Act it did not deeply disturb laberils to the core as it did libertarians.Frankly, libertarians, to their distress, find Barack Obama to be less sensitive to liberty issues than George Bush. Liberals can not even believe that an intelligent person could sincerly feel that way it simply doesn't register with them. So, like the president, they assume the opposition is just engaged inmore of the old partisan politics (and been bought off or bamboozled by the special interests ).So in the end I have to agree with your friend the netroots and modern laberils do not really care about individual liberty. Libertarians can have political coalitions with the left to a limited extent on certain things e.g. immigration, gay rights. But they can never really be political allies because they are motivated by two antagonistic ideas libertarians above all else value the freedom of the individual. Modern laberils are motivated by a sincere desire to uplift humanity generally and believe this can best be done through a strong central government with an enlightened technocracy a collectivist idea that libertarians not only reject as false but makes them sick.
There is no perfect system. A Christian should always first and foremost be a Messianic Monarchist. That doesn't mean we remove ourselves from politics today, but we must remember that any position we take is a temporary compromise. That being said, if you look at the Garden of Eden, it was basically a libertarian society. It the time of the Judges they had an extremely limited government. But as a result everyone did what was right in his own eyes. So the people cried out for a king. But Samuel (and God in the Mosaic Law) warned them that king will increase the power of the government and take all the best things from his people. I feel like we're in the same place today, crying for a king instead of waiting patiently for the kingdom of God.
Thank you for these provoking arguments. As a Christian, sometimes I feel "alone" in my libertarianism. Yet I cannot seem to abandon my combination of beliefs--that is, believing in a God whom I ought to glorify through everything and believing in a government that is existent for the sole purpose of protecting rights--despite the rarity of said views. Thus I have found this blog very encouraging and I look forward to reading more. Thank you and God bless!
Join the Discussion