Why God Is A Libertarian

MikeT over at CodeMonkeyRamblings has written a post called Why God is not a libertarian.

Make sure you read his other related posts about why God is not a liberal or conservative.

For a long time I've been meaning to write a post on why God IS a libertarian (note the small L) so I'm going to answer Mike's replies line by line then add some things by myself.

Before I continue, I want to be clear that I'm not trying to stuff God in to my political philosophy but rather explain why libertarianism is closer to God's ideal for us than conservatism or liberalism.

Libertarians tend to believe that what you do in the privacy of your own home is no one else's business. God not only disagrees with this, but active conducts surveillance of said "private conduct between consenting adults" and makes legal judgments about that behavior.

Libertarians object to other, very flawed people making it their business what you do behind closed doors. Christian libertarians (like myself) believe that since God made us He can do as he pleases in regards to our lives. Those libertarians that are not Christians have bigger things to worry about than individual sins that others are not privy to.

Libertarians tend to not believe that those with money have any obligation to those that are poor and struggling to make it. God commands believers to feed and clothe the poor. This is problematic to libertarians because if one is not a believer, one is going to Hell.

Only the most ardent follower of Ayn Rand would believe that we have no obligation to the poor. Libertarians assert that giving to the poor is, as the Bible says and individual responsibility and that giving should be from one's heart. God says nothing about having your wages forcibly taken from you and handed over to the poor. Libertarians have no objection to voluntary charity.

Libertarians often oppose the death penalty. God imposed the death penalty for something like sixteen different offenses that ranged from saying bad things about God, to homicide.

By all means, show me where in the New Testament that the death penalty is applicable. I go back and forth on this issue to be honest. On the one hand there are some people that just need to die. On the other hand, I don't really trust the state to have the power of death and use it wisely or judiciously.

Libertarians believe that every individual is sovereign. God says that only He is sovereign, and any sovereignty you have is directly delegated from Him, for His purposes, not to just make you a "sovereign citizen" or something to that effect.

Agreed, but with reservations. Libertarianism never addresses anything beyond the civil realm. It neither denies nor promotes the concept of God. Conservatism purports to govern according to God's laws and to put the force of government behind such. Liberalism actively denies God and actively attempts to squelch Christianity in particular because it's a threat to that philosophy. More on this in a bit.

Libertarians tend to be vehemently opposed to the use of weapons of mass destruction. God has been known to rain down heaping quantities of "indiscriminate mass destruction" on populations that have royally pissed Him off. Where conservatives might nuke Iran for a few small insurgencies around the Middle East and getting nukes, God "nuked" a few cities for engaging in sexual debauchery.

Libertarians are opposed to man using that kind of force against other men at their whim. Do you trust others with nukes? I know I don't. God's judgment is perfect, ours is not.

Libertarians believe that government exists to keep us safe from criminals and foreign invaders and protect our rights. They also say that it cannot stop doing this. God has been known to not only withdraw his protection, but use foreign invaders as a big stick to whack His people with really, really hard.

Now here is where you are dead wrong. No libertarian I know thinks that it's up to the government to keep us safe or protect our rights in any proactive sense. The proper role of government is to adjudicate accusations of violations of our rights and protect us in the event of invasion. If it just happens to be that God sends invaders to conquer us, then we will be unable to defend our borders and your point is moot.

Libertarians believe that animals have no rights. God gave animals a right to rest on the sabbath, and said that a righteous man will have regard for the life of his animals. We all know what happens to men who aren't righteous in God's opinion... (hint: a decidedly non-libertarian outcome)

Believing that animals have no rights is not the same as believing that it's OK to be cruel to animals. And yes, God says to let your beasts of burden rest on the Sabbath as well.

**I'll add more to this later when I have time.