WEBVTT NOTE Is Libertarianism Compatible with Religion? 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.160 I never met Murray Rothbard. I still remember the day when I received a postcard in the 2 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:12.120 mail announcing that he had died. I think that he, an agnostic Jew, and I, a devout 3 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:18.840 Christian, would have gotten along just fine since we shared a common enemy, the state. 4 00:00:18.840 --> 00:00:25.640 I still have the postcard and the admiration for Rothbard that I had 16 years ago. I think 5 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:31.080 I think that libertarianism has reached the point where we can safely say that more than 6 00:00:31.080 --> 00:00:37.560 at any time in the last 50 years, a great number of libertarians are religious people. 7 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:43.680 It was 23 years ago, a time when many of us still identified ourselves as liberals or 8 00:00:43.680 --> 00:00:48.600 conservatives, and some of you were not old enough to know the difference, when Rothbard 9 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:55.520 opined that the libertarian movement and the libertarian party will get nowhere in America 10 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:59.040 or throughout the world, so long as it is perceived, 11 00:00:59.040 --> 00:01:04.040 as it generally is, as a movement dedicated to atheism. 12 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:09.200 Nock, Morley, Chodoroff, Flynn, and others were not atheists, 13 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:10.560 he continued. 14 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.880 But for various accidental reasons of history, 15 00:01:13.880 --> 00:01:16.960 the libertarian movement after the 1950s 16 00:01:16.960 --> 00:01:21.080 consisted almost exclusively of atheists. 17 00:01:21.080 --> 00:01:24.400 There is nothing inherently wrong with this, 18 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:54.400 As explained Rothbard, except that many libertarians have habitually and wrongly acted as if religious people in general, and Christians in particular, are pariahs and equivalent to status. Just a few months before this, Rothbard had lamented that he was getting tired of the offhanded smearing of religion that has long been endemic to the libertarian movement. Religion, he said, is generally dismissed as indecilic at best, inherently 19 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:57.320 Evil at Worst. 20 00:01:57.320 --> 00:02:02.260 Although I think that things have greatly improved, many libertarians today are no more 21 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:08.120 accommodating of religion than those in Rothbard's day. Even though many religious people perhaps 22 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:15.120 deserve the disdain of libertarians because of their faith-based statism, religion itself 23 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:20.900 certainly doesn't. It was the non-religious Rothbard who acknowledged that the greatest 24 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:28.900 The most religious and most creative minds in the history of mankind have been deeply and profoundly religious, most of them Christian. 25 00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:36.900 The question I want to address today is simply this. Is libertarianism compatible with religion? 26 00:02:36.900 --> 00:02:49.900 Many libertarians say no. The two are not compatible. Some of them even consider religion to be a greater enemy of human liberty than the state, a proposition that Walter Block has debunked. 27 00:02:49.900 --> 00:02:54.900 Many religious people also say no, the two are not compatible. 28 00:02:54.900 --> 00:03:01.900 In the minds of some of them, libertarianism is just a synonym for libertinism, 29 00:03:01.900 --> 00:03:07.900 an erroneous idea that has also been debunked by Walter Block. 30 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:14.900 Is there any false notion about libertarianism that Walter Block hasn't debunked? 31 00:03:14.900 --> 00:03:19.900 Even some conservatives say no, the two are not compatible. 32 00:03:19.900 --> 00:03:24.900 Thomas Fleming, the editor of Chronicles magazine, considers the phrase 33 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:31.900 Christian libertarians to be as oxymoronic as Christian socialists. 34 00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:35.900 Now, although I have some strong opinions about religion, 35 00:03:35.900 --> 00:03:41.900 and enough degrees in theology to make sure I offend the greatest number of people, 36 00:03:41.900 --> 00:03:46.900 What I personally believe about religion is totally irrelevant. 37 00:03:46.900 --> 00:03:59.900 The question of is libertarianism compatible with religion is a question that Walter Block or the most militant Randian could ask an answer without changing the content of this talk. 38 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:04.900 What you personally believe about religion is also completely immaterial. 39 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:09.900 Whether you think that a particular religion is the absolute truth that you would be willing to die for 40 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:15.020 or that all religions are just a collection of myths and stories mixed with history doesn't 41 00:04:15.020 --> 00:04:17.920 affect the importance of the question. 42 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:24.400 In the end, people are going to side with their religion over the ideas of dead Austrian 43 00:04:24.400 --> 00:04:26.400 economists. 44 00:04:26.400 --> 00:04:30.600 It is therefore imperative that the question be answered. 45 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.900 Libertarians who ignore the question do so at their peril. 46 00:04:33.900 --> 00:04:40.480 If libertarianism is not compatible with religion, then we who believe that the principles of 47 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:46.040 libertarianism are true, just and right must engage in the futile task of trying to get 48 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:51.860 people to abandon their religion to accept libertarianism. We would face the impossible 49 00:04:51.860 --> 00:04:58.540 task of destroying someone's faith in his God and or scripture before we could convince 50 00:04:58.540 --> 00:05:08.460 Now, you may be both a hard-core atheist and a libertarian, but as Rothbard warned, we 51 00:05:08.460 --> 00:05:15.300 libertarians will never win the hearts and minds of Americans or of the rest of the world 52 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:22.940 if we persist in wrongly identifying libertarianism with atheism. Even if Stalin couldn't stamp 53 00:05:22.940 --> 00:05:40.940 The title of my paper is no accident. I think religious people have more of a problem with libertarianism than libertarians have with religion. 54 00:05:40.940 --> 00:05:48.940 I think it is harder to convince a religious person that libertarianism doesn't violate the tenets of his religion 55 00:05:48.940 --> 00:05:55.100 than to convince a libertarian that religion doesn't violate the tenets of libertarianism. 56 00:05:55.100 --> 00:06:00.220 Although some libertarians deserve the disdain of religious people for their libertinism, 57 00:06:00.220 --> 00:06:05.560 I put most of the blame for the need for this talk on religious people because of their 58 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:10.700 ignorance of both libertarianism and religion. 59 00:06:10.700 --> 00:06:16.660 So all that being said, my short answer to the question of whether libertarianism is 60 00:06:16.660 --> 00:06:20.980 is Compatible with Religion is yes. 61 00:06:20.980 --> 00:06:23.100 But since it would not be enough just to say, 62 00:06:23.100 --> 00:06:28.060 I'm religious, I'm libertarian, so the answer has to be yes, 63 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:34.020 thank you, good day, my long answer is what follows. 64 00:06:34.020 --> 00:06:36.620 In order to determine if libertarianism 65 00:06:36.620 --> 00:06:39.140 is compatible with religion, we must first 66 00:06:39.140 --> 00:06:42.140 understand what libertarianism is. 67 00:06:42.140 --> 00:06:45.820 The world is full of mistaken notions about libertarianism. 68 00:06:45.820 --> 00:06:49.780 It is often misunderstood and mischaracterized by its opponents 69 00:06:49.780 --> 00:06:53.900 as discounting human nature and disdaining morality 70 00:06:53.900 --> 00:06:59.620 while being grossly naive and utterly overly utopian. 71 00:06:59.620 --> 00:07:02.700 We've all heard the standard cliches, usually out 72 00:07:02.700 --> 00:07:06.220 of the mouth of conservatives, religious or otherwise. 73 00:07:06.220 --> 00:07:07.860 Libertarians are for abortion. 74 00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:09.860 Libertarians are for drug use. 75 00:07:09.860 --> 00:07:12.020 Libertarians are against religion. 76 00:07:12.020 --> 00:07:15.420 Libertarians are against traditional values. 77 00:07:15.420 --> 00:07:21.540 True, some libertarians may be for and against these things, but so might someone who's 78 00:07:21.540 --> 00:07:28.660 not a libertarian. To get a proper perspective of what libertarianism is, I turn to two of 79 00:07:28.660 --> 00:07:37.660 its greatest proponents, Murray Rothbard and Walter Block. As described by Rothbard, libertarianism 80 00:07:37.660 --> 00:07:44.020 is not and does not pretend to be a complete moral or aesthetic theory. It is only a political 81 00:07:44.020 --> 00:07:48.920 Moral Theory, that is, the important subset of moral theory that deals with the proper 82 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:52.920 role of violence in social life. 83 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:57.980 Libertarianism holds that the only proper role of violence is to defend person and property 84 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:04.360 against violence, that any use of violence that goes beyond such defense is itself aggressive, 85 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:06.740 unjust and criminal. 86 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:12.280 Libertarianism therefore is a theory which states that everyone should be free of violent 87 00:08:12.280 --> 00:08:42.280 The non-aggression axiom is the linchpin of the philosophy of libertarianism. It states simply that it shall be legal for anyone to do anything he wants, provided only that he not initiate or threaten 88 00:08:42.280 --> 00:08:48.920 and Violence Against the Person or Property of Another. That is, in the free society, 89 00:08:48.920 --> 00:08:54.440 one has the right to manufacture, buy or sell any good or service at any mutually agreeable 90 00:08:54.440 --> 00:09:03.440 terms. In his article, Libertarianism or Libertianism, Block compactly states the essence of libertarianism. 91 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:10.480 It is a political philosophy. It is solely concerned with the proper use of force. Its 92 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:14.760 Its core premise is that it should be illegal to threaten or initiate violence against a 93 00:09:14.760 --> 00:09:22.960 person or his property without his permission. Force is justified only in defense or retaliation. 94 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:29.740 That is it in a nutshell. The rest is mere explanation, elaboration and qualification. 95 00:09:29.740 --> 00:09:37.000 And in an article on Plum Line Libertarianism, Block simply says, Libertarianism is solely 96 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:42.760 Clearly a political philosophy. It asks one and only one question. Under what conditions 97 00:09:42.760 --> 00:09:49.120 is the use of violence justified? And it gives one and only one answer. Violence can be used 98 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:55.000 only in response or in reaction to a prior violation of private property rights. 99 00:09:55.000 --> 00:10:03.000 Clearly, libertarianism cannot be simplistically defined, as some Cato guys recently did, as 100 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:07.000 are fiscally conservative, socially liberal. 101 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:13.000 And I should also say that libertarianism is a way of life, it's not a lifestyle. 102 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:21.000 Now that we know what libertarianism is, in order to determine if it is compatible with religion, 103 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:25.000 we must next look at what we mean by religion. 104 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:31.000 Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, these are all considered to be the world's great religions. 105 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.000 That, however, is where their similarity begins and ends. 106 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:38.000 Although they do have some common tenets, 107 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.000 the constraints of my talent and your time 108 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:45.000 mean that we're going to have to narrow our scope. 109 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.000 The focus of my talk will therefore be on Christianity, 110 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:52.000 but not just because I'm a Christian. 111 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:56.000 I suspect that most of the people listening to me right now 112 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:58.000 or will listen to a recording 113 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:04.380 or read a transcript of this talk in the future would identify themselves as Christians. 114 00:11:04.380 --> 00:11:10.480 This is not surprising since the majority of Americans still identify themselves as Christians. 115 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:15.740 This does not mean that America is a Christian nation, regardless of what Islamic countries 116 00:11:15.740 --> 00:11:20.440 and God and country red state Christian fascists think. 117 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:24.640 Who would have thought that those two groups would be in agreement on anything? 118 00:11:24.640 --> 00:11:30.320 It does mean that if we are to reach the majority of Americans with the message of liberty, 119 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:35.840 that we should know whether libertarianism is compatible with their religion. 120 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:39.440 This is a significant year in the history of Christianity. 121 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:44.800 The year 2011 is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Version 122 00:11:44.800 --> 00:11:51.800 of the Bible, so called because it was translated under the authority of King James I of England 123 00:11:51.800 --> 00:11:54.440 beginning in 1604. 124 00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:59.600 But regardless of which version of the Bible is used, to the Christian the Bible is the 125 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:07.700 supreme authority, not the works of Mises or Rothbard, however highly we may regard them. 126 00:12:07.700 --> 00:12:12.740 The Bible is not only the book that has had the greatest impact on Western civilization, 127 00:12:12.740 --> 00:12:18.780 it is the foundation of Christianity. Christians may differ on certain aspects of their religion, 128 00:12:18.780 --> 00:12:23.520 but they are all united in their belief that the Bible is some kind of an authority. For 129 00:12:23.520 --> 00:12:29.200 For a Christian to say otherwise is to reveal that his religion is really meaningless. 130 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:34.120 For a Christian to respect the Bible as some kind of an authority, to the extent that he 131 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:39.640 might reject libertarianism because of it, generally means that such an individual holds 132 00:12:39.640 --> 00:12:44.720 to a high view of scripture or a literal view of the Bible. 133 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:48.880 Obviously, not everything in the Bible is meant to be taken literally. 134 00:12:48.880 --> 00:12:53.940 The Bible contains idioms and figures of speech just like any other form of writing. 135 00:12:53.940 --> 00:13:00.480 And clearly, Christians have genuine differences of interpretation on certain portions of scripture. 136 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:04.440 A literal view of the Bible simply means that one accepts literally things in the Bible 137 00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:09.080 unless it is clear that they are not to be taken so. 138 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:12.120 Miracles and other supernatural events actually happen. 139 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:14.880 The virgin birth was an actual virgin birth. 140 00:13:14.880 --> 00:13:21.840 The resurrection of Christ is a real historical event, and most relevant to the question at hand, 141 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:27.320 the precepts of Christ and the apostles are meant to be obeyed and followed. 142 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:32.080 They are not just opinions or suggestions to be accepted or rejected at will. 143 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:36.960 I only mention all this because some people wrongly believe that a literal view of the 144 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:41.560 Bible is just a tenet of fundamentalist Christians. 145 00:13:41.560 --> 00:13:49.560 The most crude is usually those who are the most ardent Bible literalists that are the toughest nuts to crack when it comes to libertarianism. 146 00:13:49.560 --> 00:13:54.560 It shouldn't be that way, as I will argue in this talk, but that's the reality. 147 00:13:54.560 --> 00:14:03.560 But if those who believe the Bible most literally can be persuaded of the compatibility of libertarianism with their version of Christianity, 148 00:14:03.560 --> 00:14:09.560 then those who take a somewhat less literal view of the Bible will not be far behind. 149 00:14:09.560 --> 00:14:15.520 Let me reiterate that what you or I personally believe about the Bible is irrelevant. 150 00:14:15.520 --> 00:14:22.120 At issue is simply this, if libertarianism is compatible with a Christianity grounded 151 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:27.600 on the authority of the Bible, then we have many possible converts to the cause of liberty 152 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:29.920 in a free society. 153 00:14:29.920 --> 00:14:36.060 But on the other hand, if libertarianism is not compatible with a Christianity grounded 154 00:14:36.060 --> 00:14:42.820 on the Authority of the Bible, then many Christian Americans, if they take their religion seriously, 155 00:14:42.820 --> 00:14:48.280 will be forever hostile or indifferent to liberty in a free society, since the primary 156 00:14:48.280 --> 00:14:55.620 objections to libertarianism are moral. So why do I think that religion, in this case 157 00:14:55.620 --> 00:15:01.360 the Christian religion, is compatible with libertarianism? Let me give you two verses 158 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:07.320 Proverbs of Scripture, one from the Old Testament and one from the New, since Christians accept 159 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:09.520 the authority of both. 160 00:15:09.520 --> 00:15:17.920 Proverbs 3.30, Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. 161 00:15:17.920 --> 00:15:23.480 New Testament, 1 Peter 4.15, But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, 162 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:28.560 or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. 163 00:15:28.560 --> 00:15:32.360 These verses, my friends, embody the essence of libertarianism. 164 00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:37.920 Don't kill anyone, don't take what's not yours, don't do anyone wrong, don't stick your nose 165 00:15:37.920 --> 00:15:43.140 in someone else's business, and don't bother anyone if he hasn't bothered you. 166 00:15:43.140 --> 00:15:45.960 Other than that, do whatever you want. 167 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:52.220 Anything that's peaceful, as Leonard Reed said, for ye have been called unto liberty, 168 00:15:52.220 --> 00:15:54.500 as the apostle Paul says. 169 00:15:54.500 --> 00:15:58.540 The only caveats for Christians when it comes to liberty are to not let their liberty become 170 00:15:58.540 --> 00:16:18.980 The Bible commands the Christian to devise not evil against his neighbor, love his neighbor 171 00:16:18.980 --> 00:16:26.100 as himself, show meekness unto all men, do good unto all men, provide things honest in 172 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:35.940 If libertarianism is not compatible with these things, then it's not compatible with anything. 173 00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:41.100 The Christian is also told in the Bible, And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all the 174 00:16:41.100 --> 00:16:45.620 name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. 175 00:16:45.620 --> 00:16:50.780 And whatsoever ye do, do it hardly, as unto the Lord and not unto men. 176 00:16:50.780 --> 00:17:00.540 Can a Christian assault someone in the name of the Lord Jesus? 177 00:17:00.540 --> 00:17:04.340 Can a Christian steal from someone heartily as to the Lord? 178 00:17:04.340 --> 00:17:07.660 Can a Christian kill someone to the glory of God? 179 00:17:07.660 --> 00:17:11.540 I think the answer to these questions is obvious. 180 00:17:11.540 --> 00:17:16.600 And I also think it is apparent that libertarianism is compatible with the Christian religion. 181 00:17:16.600 --> 00:17:19.100 But I would go a step further. 182 00:17:19.100 --> 00:17:24.640 Not only is libertarianism compatible with the most strict and most biblically literal 183 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:28.300 form of Christianity, it is demanded by it. 184 00:17:28.300 --> 00:17:34.820 The Christian is enjoined in scripture to go even beyond the non-aggression principle. 185 00:17:34.820 --> 00:17:39.340 He is told not just to turn the other cheek, but to endure hardness, endure afflictions, 186 00:17:39.340 --> 00:17:41.420 endure grief. 187 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:45.120 Revenge and retaliation for the Christian are not options. 188 00:17:45.120 --> 00:17:50.580 Some Christians get hung up on Romans 13 and end up making apologies for the state and 189 00:17:50.580 --> 00:17:56.620 its wars. It's too bad they skipped over Romans 12. 190 00:17:56.620 --> 00:18:02.280 Romans 12, bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not. Recompense to no man 191 00:18:02.280 --> 00:18:10.520 evil for evil. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves. Overcome evil with good. 192 00:18:10.520 --> 00:18:15.520 So, if libertarianism is more than compatible with the Christian religion, why do religious 193 00:18:15.520 --> 00:18:21.700 people, Christians, reject libertarianism? Why aren't the majority of Christians libertarians 194 00:18:21.700 --> 00:18:28.900 instead of liberals, conservatives, democrats, republicans, and other assorted statists? 195 00:18:28.900 --> 00:18:34.760 Let me briefly give you some reasons. One, misconstruing libertarianism as a hedonistic 196 00:18:34.760 --> 00:18:40.940 Philosophy Instead of a Political Philosophy, 2. The Poor Presentation of Libertarianism 197 00:18:40.940 --> 00:18:47.700 by Libertarians, 3. Wrongly Thinking that Libertarianism Demands that One Be Pro-Abortion, 198 00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:54.260 4. Morality, the Two-Fold Failure to Make a Distinction Between Vices and Crimes and 199 00:18:54.260 --> 00:19:01.720 Crimes and Sins, and 5. Social Justice, Wrongly Applying to the Government Admonitions Given 200 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:03.960 to Individuals. 201 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:07.040 I have developed these latter three points elsewhere. 202 00:19:07.040 --> 00:19:11.120 On abortion, see my LRC article, Is Ron Paul Wrong? 203 00:19:11.120 --> 00:19:13.060 On abortion. 204 00:19:13.060 --> 00:19:19.000 On morality, see my Liberty Magazine article, An Open Letter to My Fellow Christians, which 205 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:25.640 is based on my 2006 ASC lecture, Christianity and Victimless Crimes. 206 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:31.380 And on social justice, see my little book, The Myth of the Just Price, which is the text 207 00:19:31.380 --> 00:19:36.880 of my 2008 Lew Church Lecture of the same name in which I argue that there should be 208 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:40.960 no government intervention in society or the economy. 209 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:45.720 I've tried in this talk to show why I believe libertarianism is scripturally compatible 210 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:47.520 with religion. 211 00:19:47.520 --> 00:19:52.640 Is everything that has been done in the name of libertarianism compatible with religion? 212 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:54.440 Of course not. 213 00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:58.860 But neither is everything that has been done in the name of religion compatible with libertarianism 214 00:19:58.860 --> 00:20:21.860 I think it is possible that it might someday be said, not only that the greatest and most creative minds in the history of religion have been deeply and profoundly libertarian, but that the greatest and most creative minds in the history of libertarianism have been deeply and profoundly religious. Thank you.