another slap in the back of the head for libertarian mobs D. NO morality
Quoting: beau voir The word you're looking for is "libert
ine," not "libert
arian." 61% of American libertarians identify as Christian in one form or another, and 23% of us are evangelicals. I'm Southern Baptist. Switched from United Methodist a couple years ago because the UMC got too left-wing for my tastes.
[
link to www.prri.org (secure)]
Yes, philosophically, libertarians are tolerant of bad behavior, but that doesn't mean we advocate it. In fact, a lot of us advocate
against it on practical and Christian, if not philosophical, grounds. Legality and morality are two very different things, after all, and Jesus calls His followers to a higher standard than society at large. For instance, you may have come across a good number of posts I've made against the LGBT agenda. That doesn't mean I think being a member of the Alphabet Society ought to be illegal, but I certainly don't think it ought to be praised and pushed the way it is in our media. God gives us free will, and that free will allows us to make sinful choices.
This is analogous to the government redistributing wealth. Liberals think they are being virtuous by voting other people's money to groups they deem more deserving, and some misguided Christians agree with them, but from a Christian standpoint, my money being taken from me and given to someone else doesn't make me virtuous even though it might go to someone in need, and it doesn't make me compliant with Christ's command to help the poor because that money was forcibly extracted from me, not freely given of my own goodwill.
Over the years, I've found it's a very difficult situation being a Christian libertarian. Evangelicals will think you're some kind of pagan when you tell them, for instance, you don't have any problem with gays getting married in the courthouse because any human being should be free to contract whatever domestic situation he pleases so long as it's between consenting adults. On the other hand, leftist Christians will tell you you're a homophobic bigot for not agreeing gays should be able to get married in the church itself.
Bottom line, libertarianism is not inconsistent with Christianity. If you believe in free will and are a Christian, you really should be a libertarian politically.