Lions and Eagles

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...

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...

In reply to my last post , I've been asked: So where do these inalienable rights you mention come from? And at what point die they emerge? And do animals have them? Are there any circumstances when these rights could be denied? We are getting into deep philosophical waters here. You asked, and I'll answer. I don't necessarily expect you to agree with me, but we can disagree respectfully. As I said, the idea of a "right" is as I understand it is tied up with the idea of what it means to be human, to be capable of ethical and moral judgement, with a sense of right and wrong. It has to do with living in right relationships with each other as human beings. Who can have the authority to impose such hefty definitions on humanity? That is, I think, a truly God-like power. I happen to believe in the existence of a Creator who exists ouside of time and the universe. As the Declaration of Independence says, I believe that all humans are "endowed by their Creator...

Two things I ran across yesterday are spinning in my head. First, I ran across this link . Duquesne University Economics Professor Antony Davies compares the national debt to a household income. Here's a video from that page: Watch that. Listen twice to what he says at the end. If you take all of the debt, all of the unfunded promises that have been made in Social Security, Medicare, and so on... If you take all of that, and add it up, it outstrips the   economic output of the entire planet. That's right. Our government has promised to pay more money than exists, more money than can possibly exist. In the world. Let that sink in. When I learn this, I think: Ouch. We are screwed. Now, on to the next thing. An old college "sister" of my wife is in Wisconsin taking part in the protests at the state capital. She posted that the state budget shouldn't be balanced on the backs of state workers. I asked whose back it should be balanced on. She replied, i...