Lions and Eagles

“...And our roads would be private toll roads as government would  not build roads across private lands, so that nice interstate system we have today,” wouldn’t have existed under Libertarian rule.” Roads and Infrastructure It’s predictable. Every election, every two years, four years, eight years, you can count on political candidates campaigning on the promise to fix the nation's “crumbling infrastructure”. Those are the exact words that they will use. And no matter what they do while in office, we'll hear that exact same tune at the next election. Another certainty: Every couple of years, we are asked to vote a new tax onto ourselves. A SPLOST. A penny sales tax for education. A tax on certain items for senior services. A special trust for firefighters and first responders. An allocation for environmental protection. We are always told that if the tax doesn't pass, essential projects and programs won't be funded. The taxes pass, and still the money isn't al

“...Of course having “recreational drugs” be legal is a great selling point I’m sure for some folks….” Drugs For some folks, recreational drug use may be a selling point. For myself, I have no desire at all to use drugs recreationally, and I only reluctantly use them even under doctor's orders. But I still support the Libertarian position on the drug war. Namely, that it is ineffective, unfair, and immoral. If you read what I had to say on prostitution, you shouldn’t be surprised by what I have to say here, either. When you make the sale of any given thing illegal, you don’t end that sale. You drive it into black markets, where bad people profit because bad people are the ones selling. People who might actually want help out of their situation are scared out of seeking it, because they are afraid of being thrown in jail. Theologically, I believe that careless drug use is a sin against the self and against God, but I do not believe it should be treated a crime. The body is a

“...They would want a Mercenary Military vs a Standing Military. Also no military bases anywhere across the globe. Supporting their “live and let live” philosophy so that our enemy’s would never want to attack us, because we no longer are an imposing threat to them….” War and the Military Ah, foreign affairs and national security. This is going to be deep water. Our approach to this should be in line with our morality, otherwise we have no high ground. I'm game. Let's warm up with a few relevant quotes: [Jesus] said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.” -Luke 22:36 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword….” -Matthew 26:52 “War. Huh. Good God, why'all. What is it good for?” -Edwin Starr What do Christians believe about war? There's no one answer. At one end of the spectrum, some are

“....Abortion on demand, no limitations of course....” Abortion Is that really what Libertarians believe on abortion? The truth is, not really. “Don't hurt people and don't take their stuff.” That's libertarianism in a nutshell as expressed by Matt Kibbe and many other libertarians. As a Christian, I think that “love thy neighbor as thyself” can be a stronger rule for life, but the libertarian rule is a decent starting point. Many Libertarians, including atheist Austin Peterson , recognize that the child in the womb is a person. If you're going to say “don't hurt people”, that has to apply to abortion as well. Yes, there are pro-life Libertarians. And, yes, it can get contentious. Libertarians may be hesitant to outlaw abortion outright. There are the concerns about women in medical difficulty, and victims of rape who have already suffered a loss of their freedom. Still, it is quite possible to argue in these cases against late term abortion on the ground

“[Libertarians] have no issue with prostitution, including child prostitution(as long as its mutual). Abortion on demand, no limitations of course. They would want a Mercenary Military vs a Standing Military. Also no military bases anywhere across the globe. Supporting their “live and let live” philosophy so that our enemy’s would never want to attack us, because we no longer are an imposing threat to them. Of course having “recreational drugs” be legal is a great selling point I’m sure for some folks. And our roads would be private toll roads as government would not build roads across private lands, so that nice interstate system we have today,” wouldn’t have existed under Libertarian rule.” My last post got some attention from my friends. One friend challenged me to get into areas Libertarian ideas and Christian ethics might seem to conflict, and explain how I resolve them. Another made the claim above, which I think will be a good starting place to explore. There's a lot of

I am a Christian. I am a Libertarian. This is not a contradiction. In fact, I believe that Libertarianism is the most Christian political worldview. I understand that there are many Libertarians who are not Christian, and many Christians who are not Libertarian. But I believe that these two worldviews fit together. Please let me explain. As a Christian, to use the words of Ravi Zacharias, I believe that the supreme ethic that God has given to us is Love. Love for God, love for each other. That is why He gives us free will, and why freedom and liberty are so precious. Without freedom, you can have obedience, but you can't have love. With freedom, you can love, and you can choose to give obedience and love to one who is worthy. The political Left says, we need to care for our fellow humans. And indeed we have that obligation. When we care for each other, we are following God's commandment to love one another. But the political Left's solution is to create a syste

I'm going to do something different this time. In the past, I've looked at the candidates at the order they appear on my sample ballot. (If you haven't looked at your own sample ballot, you really owe yourself a visit to the Georgia My Voter page .) This time, I'm changing it up a little. Three-candidate races are actually interesting, so I'm going to give them top billing. Two-candidate races, not nearly so interesting, they get pushed down. One-candidate races get ignored altogether, as I have in the past. Last of all, as always, I will look at the proposed constitutional amendments and ballot referendums. Interesting races  For Governor  BRIAN KEMP Republican  STACEY ABRAMS Democrat  TED METZ Libertarian  I’m tired of playing the Red and Blue game. The only thing Kemp had going for him was that he wasn’t Cagle. Other than that, his appeal is strictly "good old boy" Trumpian.  The only reason to vote for him is if you don't like Democr

Today was the first ever national test of the system which can send Presidential Alert notices to almost every cell phone in the country. We've joked about it, which is good. We've also wondered, do we need to be worried that this could be abused? Is the ability to send a national, “no opting out” text message too much power for a President known for rash tweets?  One thing to ask is whether there is a law from Congress that allows the Executive Branch to implement this system and strictly controls its use. And in fact, there is just such a law. This is from the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2015:  Except to the extent necessary for testing the public alert and warning system, the public alert and warning system shall not be used to transmit a message that does not relate to a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other man-made disaster or threat to public safety.  Okay, good. As long as the President keeps to this rule, and only send

Written to a friend: Good sir, you've done good, and you have done it well. To answer your questions: We are definitely called upon to love and serve those in need. Opening up to people in a very personal way, getting into their lives and letting them into your own, is scary and difficult, and it makes you very vulnerable. But it's the only way to truly know what they really need. There are some people out there really are just looking for a handout, and giving it to them does no good. There are others who really do want a way out of their situation, but for some reason or other they just keep hurting themselves. And then there are the folks who have just had really bad luck. It takes getting to know a person to know whether what they need is simple material help, or a new perspective on how to get past their stumbling blocks, or whether the best love for them is tough love. It's a calling that we all have, that most of us fail at least sometimes, but some are blessed w

I know that it's super last-minute, but I've finally got my voting decisions for tomorrow's Republican primary. First observation: Negative campaigning via Google. As I was searching for Hunter Hill, the top link was a “sponsored” page on Clay Tippins’s website criticizing Hill. Searching for Geoff Duncan and Rick Jeffares gave me “top links” to pages paid for by David Shafer. Interesting. For Governor L.S. "CASEY" CAGLE EDDIE HAYES HUNTER HILL BRIAN KEMP CLAY TIPPINS MARC URBACH MICHAEL WILLIAMS I am leaning strongly towards Hill in this race. Here's an article of interest . The top contenders are Cagle (currently At. Governor), Kemp (currently Secretary of State), and Hill (state senator, former Army). Cagle lost my support especially over that Delta issue. While I appreciate the sentiment of supporting the NRA and the second amendment, I am disgusted by the pandering and the threat of using government power to force others

Yes, it's another Reddit DebateReligion post. In this case, I'm answering a fellow who put forth the idea that God is too "big" to care about our sin, and that demanding a sacrifice to pay for it would be a sign that God is brutal. Here's my answer: If one of my daughters starts wilfully ignoring household rules and basic manners, and starts bugging her sisters, how does it possibly affect me? Why would I expect an apology? The disobedient child's disobedience disrupts the whole household. It reflects poorly on the parents. If my two daughters are fighting, I can't just sit idly by. The form of my intervention may vary from scolding, to temporary separation, to punishment. I've had to take stuffed friends away at night, and from their reactions you would think that I was crucifying them. Certainly they don't think that any punishment is fair when they are going through it. But then, I'm the one with the greater perspective here. We don't

Yes, it's another Reddit "debate religion" question that I felt driven to take on. And here's what I had to say: I've known people who have been healed of poor vision, breathing troubles, and other ailments from prayer alone. I also know folks just as faithful who have prayed and not been healed. Here's the thing: God is not some genie, you rub a lamp and get your wishes granted. Prayers are not magic incantations, they are conversations and petitions that may be granted, or not. As Gandalf said of himself, do not take God for a conjurer of tricks. In the Chronicles of Narnia, it was often remarked that Aslan isn't a tame lion, after all. No one I know who is really practiced in prayer for healing ever promises 100% results. There are people who make that sort of promise, and they are generally hucksters. It's no contradiction to believe that there are both real healers and fraudsters, any more than it is a contradiction to believe that there are b

Here's another train of thought inspired by reading atheists on Reddit . "If God is so all-powerful, surely He can prove His existence to me! I might believe if there were any evidence!" Let's be real, atheist friends. I respect you, but I don't think you're giving enough credit here to the human capacity for skepticism. And skepticism can be both good and bad at times. There was at least one time during Jesus's ministry when an actual voice from Heaven told a crowd, "I am the Lord, this is my Son, listen to what he has to tell you." And some in the crowd said, "Meh, thunder." So, even presented with direct proof, people came up with alternative explanations. Can you honestly tell me that if I were to show you a sign from God right now, out of the blue, that you wouldn't look for a hoax behind it? Of course you would, and it's sensible to do so. With photoshoppers and video manipulation neural networks producing more impressive

This question was posed by an atheist on on Reddit some days ago, and I have been mulling over how I might answer it since. Instead of replying in that environment, I thought I might put my answer here. Really, I have a number of points to make to answer that challenge. 1) He is much better at giving attention than I possibly can be. For me to give time and attention to one thing, I generally have to take time and attention away from another. God exists outside of time, so He doesn't face this difficulty. Imagine history is layed out like a book to you: You can spend all day reading and rereading one page, or skimming back and forth between chapters. That's what it's like to be outside the timescale experienced by the characters.      Furthermore, our issues of size are not an issue to God. He can look at galaxies in one moment of eternity, then look at atoms the next, and still have plenty of "timeless time" for each of us in between.      This isn't an