Ep. 214 Explaining Libertarianism to Skeptical Christians
Doug Stuart and Dick Clark of the Libertarian Christian Institute talk about the book they co-authored (with 2 others) that answers tough questions.
Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:
- The YouTube version of this interview.
- The book Faith Seeking Freedom: Libertarian Answers to Tough Questions, by the guests and co-authors. #Commissions Earned (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)
- The homepage for the Libertarian Christian Institute and their Facebook page.
- Help support the Bob Murphy Show.
The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.
About the author, Robert
Christian and economist, Chief Economist at infineo, and Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute.
This false reading of the Bible, based on mistranslations, is seeded by the enemy.
The truth is at christogenea.org.
Good episode! I like the open borders part especially.
With regard to God as fundamental property owner, vs humans as ordinary property owners … in my mind that’s the ultimate example of the phrase, “Laws are for little people”.
I have no problem using the brain and the muscles that, errr someone, has provided for me to battle against floods, or drought, or wind. Practically all of what humans do, is stand up to the forces of nature … that’s why I live in a house because nature only provided for me to live in a tree, and I did not accept the tree as good enough. That’s why I grow a decidedly man-made garden because I don’t enjoy eating bark or lichen. I work as an Engineer, I bend nature to my will every day … it has its risks but you know it’s a living.
I’m an empirical atheist … and although I don’t believe in God I like to remain skeptical … by order of The Scientific Method I must at least allow that evidence in some physical form would convince me … if it was testable. Let’s suppose a giant twelve foot high old man turned up one day, with a big beard, wearing sandals and a toga and glowing skin, flicking idle lightning bolts here and there, but when you try to look him straight in the eye, your face starts melting off until you glance away. That would be convincing … I could believe in something tangible like that. That ain’t ordinary nature I can understand and plan how to work around, that would be something unique and extraordinary.
This would not be proof that he was exactly the God of the Christians, but near enough for my purposes.
The big guy says, “I need to take your house” … what could anyone say under the circumstance? Speaking for myself I probably would not bother to start debating libertarian theory and the finer points of homesteading. *shrug*
Getting away from the theoretical proposition there … I will say that if there is a God then he/she/it has been generally extremely law abiding (to be best of my knowledge) and does not, on the whole, pop out of nowhere to do weird things and make arbitrary demands. Perhaps that’s what I want to see because I prefer the concept of an orderly universe, but you must have noticed that there are a very large number of things that behave in well understood and predictable ways … this means something!
Another way of looking at is would be Epicurus, “There is no such thing as justice in the abstract; it is merely a compact between men.”
Jesus Is Lord