Christianity abjures the use of force no less than does libertarianism. Begin with the Christian concept of salvation through faith itself. God does not force His saving grace on anyone; the person must come to Him, genuinely desire to be absolved of punishment for sin via Jesus Christ, and ask for salvation, which only then is granted.
Consider the Biblical verse "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3: 20). I consider this to be one of the most libertarian verses in the entire Bible. It implies directly that Jesus does not force His will on anyone. He does not command coercion against anyone, least of all that anyone be converted by force. This has important implications for the Christian libertarian attitude toward any of a number of social phenomena of which Christians do not approve (and of which many libertarians either do approve, accept, or are neutral toward).


_________________________________________________________


It has been said that a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged. In like manner,
a libertarian is a conservative who's been mugged by the government.

"It's the law!" is not a moral argument. It is an argument based on the threat of force.

. . .the argument for limited government does not rest upon the notion
that the government always does undesirable things,
but on the idea that if it can, it eventually will.

The same government that has the power to ban a private house on the beach also has the power to sell the beach to Wal-Mart or build a nuclear power plant on it. Since the Founding Fathers understood that a Marcus Aurelius was always followed by a Commodus, they tried to construct a system that would prevent either. Good central government, even when it exists, is a short-lived beast.

To love Jesus Christ and individual freedom;
that is what it means to be a Christian Libertarian.


ChristianLibertarian.net
Copyright 2008 Glenn Luttrell

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
1 Peter 2:16 NIV
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God's appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.  
Romans 13:1
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed. . . ."
U. S. Declaration of Independence

This page was last updated on:
May 25, 2008

  "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Jesus  said to him, "'Love  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest  commandment. The second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the law and the prophets depend  on these two commandments."
Matthew 22:36-40

  "Our rulers can have no authority over natural rights, only as we have submitted to them. The rights of conscience we never submitted. We are answerable for them to our God. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others." - Thomas Jefferson
Source: THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL or COMMON LAW. 1995,
Howard Fisher The Message Company, Sante Fe, NM (p. 45)
http://www.theism.net/authors/zjordan/docs_files/stone_files/stone.htm
Christianity abjures the use of force no less than does libertarianism. Begin with the Christian concept of salvation through faith itself. God does not force His saving grace on anyone; the person must come to Him, genuinely desire to be absolved of punishment for sin via Jesus Christ, and ask for salvation, which only then is granted.
Consider the Biblical verse "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3: 20). I consider this to be one of the most libertarian verses in the entire Bible. It implies directly that Jesus does not force His will on anyone. He does not command coercion against anyone, least of all that anyone be converted by force. This has important implications for the Christian libertarian attitude toward any of a number of social phenomena of which Christians do not approve (and of which many libertarians either do approve, accept, or are neutral toward).


_________________________________________________________


It has been said that a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged. In like manner,
a libertarian is a conservative who's been mugged by the government.

"It's the law!" is not a moral argument. It is an argument based on the threat of force.

. . .the argument for limited government does not rest upon the notion
that the government always does undesirable things,
but on the idea that if it can, it eventually will.

The same government that has the power to ban a private house on the beach also has the power to sell the beach to Wal-Mart or build a nuclear power plant on it. Since the Founding Fathers understood that a Marcus Aurelius was always followed by a Commodus, they tried to construct a system that would prevent either. Good central government, even when it exists, is a short-lived beast.

To love Jesus Christ and individual freedom;
that is what it means to be a Christian Libertarian.