Economist, Mises Institute scholar, and friend Bob Murphy gives his perspective on Romans 13, pehaps the first of several posts on his blog?

Shaun Connell presents a Biblical case for libertarian government.

Judge Andrew Napolitano asks: What is a just war?

Jon Utley at American Conservative magazine (my favorite “conservative” publication) talks about Evangelicals, Ron Paul, and War.

President Obama invokes Christianity to support his policies. Impressively bad on all fronts.

This week on LCC, Doug Stuart reviewed two books for us:

• An Evangelical Social Gospel?
• Hijacked: Responding to the Partisan Church Divide

I found this picture hilarious. If you don’t get it, don’t worry about it, it would take a while to explain…

Here’s another picture, HT George on Facebook:

Awesome.

Have some relevant news and links you want to share? Post in the comments below. I read every comment and respond more often than not. Let me know what you’re thinking!

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News of the Week: War, books, and Romans

David Theroux at the Independent Institute has written an excellent article called Secular Theocracy. You will see many references to C.S. Lewis in the article as well.

It’s funny that after my Washington Post article, I have seen a number of new articles popping up at notable websites such as Relevant Magazine talking about Christian libertarianism. Unfortunately, they rarely seem to link to LibertarianChristians.com or even to the Washington Post article. But more importantly, Christianity and liberty are being talked about together like never before (at least, perhaps not in this generation). This is an exciting development and I think I can safely say that LibertarianChristians.com is a contributor to this trend.

Now for the sad news. We are told that justice should be blind, but we know it never is. Sometimes, though, you cannot help but be mortified by the American justice system. This is what we learned about justice this week:

Run the file-sharing website MegaUpload: get up to 50 years in prison.

Rape and murder one woman: 20 years.

Murder 24 civilians: demotion… and maybe 3 months.

And people wonder why we criticize the State.

Let’s close with a quote from Murray Rothbard:

"The idea of a strictly limited constitutional State was a noble experiment that failed, even under the most favorable and propitious circumstances. If it failed then, why should a similar experiment fare any better now? No, it is the conservative laissez-fairist, the man who puts all the guns and all the decision-making power into the hands of the central government and then says, ‘Limit yourself’; it is he who is truly the impractical utopian."

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News of the Week: On Secular Theocracy and Sentencing.

David Neff at Christianity Today wonders if an evangelical meeting to anoint a presidential candidate is a bad idea.

Three articles at Antiwar.com caught my attention this week: Who Wants War With Iran?, Blood On Whose Hands, and Another Reason Not to Go to War So Often.

William Grigg writes about the current crop of presidential candidates who think state murder is a “moral enterprise.”

I mentioned this article yesterday but I would like to highlight again Anthony Gregory’s piece on LRC about why the left’s excuses for not supporting Ron Paul are ridiculous.

Doug Bandow writes in the Huffington Post about that perennial question, Who Would Jesus Vote For? Should we even ask?

Ron Paul Schools Santorum:

I heard about Word Dynamo from my colleagues at UT, and I have to say it is super fun. If you enjoy wordsmith-ing around, you’ll love this site.

If you have interesting news you would like to share, make sure to post in the comments below!

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

News of the Week, January 15-21, 2012

A quick excerpt:

“Through libertarianism, many Christians have found a way to move past their previous beliefs about politics and embrace a more consistent, more biblical political philosophy. The message of abolishing government power is powerful on its own. In Ron Paul, many Christian libertarians see a leader who points to principles that conservatives and liberals have long forgotten… Libertarianism is not going away, and it surely will take an increasingly prominent place in the political discussion of Christians for years to come.”

Many thanks to the Washington Post for this great opportunity.

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

LCC is in the Washington Post

Let’s consider each amendment in turn.

The First Amendment says that “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.” Government officials, however, have insisted that they can gag recipients of “national security letters” and censor broadcast ads in the name of campaign finance reform.

The Second Amendment says the people have the right “to keep and bear arms.” Government officials, however, make it difficult to keep a gun in the home and make it a crime for a citizen to carry a gun for self-protection.

The Third Amendment says soldiers may not be quartered in our homes without the consent of the owners.  This safeguard is one of the few that is in fine shape — so we can pause here for a laugh.

The Fourth Amendment says the people have the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. Government officials, however, insist that they can conduct commando-style raids on our homes and treat airline travelers like prison inmates by conducting virtual strip searches.

The Fifth Amendment says that private property shall not be taken “for public use without just compensation.” Government officials, however, insist that they can use eminent domain to take away our property and give it to other private parties who covet it.

The Sixth Amendment says that in criminal prosecutions, the person accused is guaranteed a right to trial by jury. Government officials, however, insist that they can punish people who want to have a trial—“throwing the book” at those who refuse to plead guilty—which explains why 95 percent of the criminal cases never go to trial.

The Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial in civil cases where the controversy “shall exceed twenty dollars.” Government officials, however, insist that they can impose draconian fines on people without jury trials.

The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. Government officials, however, insist that a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense is not cruel.

The Ninth Amendment says that the enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights should not be construed to deny or disparage others “retained by the people.” Government officials, however, insist that they will decide for themselves what rights, if any, will be retained by the people.

The Tenth Amendment says that the powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states, or to the people. Government officials, however, insist that they will decide for themselves what powers they possess, and have extended federal control over health care, crime, education, and other matters the Constitution reserves to the states and the people.

Thank goodness we still have Amendment #3! The Cato Institute also posted a little video as well:

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

Is there still a Bill of Rights?

Yesterday, I did an interview with a local news station about the newly-installed scanners in Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. I thought you might like to see the news article and video…

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The fight against body scanners continues

(HT Chris Bevis for the title of this post.)

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

“Is Saul also among the prophets?” or, the Rush Limbaugh flip-flop

But guess what. It’s worse.

CNS News reports that the U.S. State Department says there are now ZERO churches in Afghanistan. Every last one has been destroyed. Razed. Mowed down. Gone.

“The last public Christian church in Afghanistan was razed in March 2010, according to the State Department’s latest International Religious Freedom Report.” There are no longer any Christian schools either.

Ten years, uncountable thousands upon thousands of Afghani lives, seventeen hundred American lives, and $440 billion later, the United States government – those who said they would bring “freedom” and “justice” to the Middle East – have reaped what they sowed. Instead of bringing peace, they brought death and destruction via the longest prolonged conflict in American history. The new “government” that the American government and military forcibly installed with their puppets is even worse than the last.

How dare we ever say that this American government is motivated by “Christian” virtue! This government exists to pillage and destroy, and for Christians to support such folly is utterly ludicrous. War is antithetical to the Christian way of life; it is nothing more than mass murder executed by a gang of criminals – for that is indeed the nature of the State.

Pray for those few Christians left in Afghanistan, that they may flee from the terror wrought by Bush, Obama, and their subordinates. And if you, follower of Christ, still support this war, shame on you.

What would it take for you to reject war entirely? How about the complete and utter elimination of the church from a country? Would that do it?

Thank you, America, for driving every last vestige of desire for war from me.

Read the full article here.

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

There are no more Churches in Afghanistan

The gentlemen at the Freakonomics blog had some excellent things to say about the Ten Commandments of The American Religion. Some of it is hilarious to read, but the more salient point is that these are “meta issues” that form the background of American culture, and we need to understand it in order to fight it. Kudos to James Altucher for some thought-provoking content. Here’s a quick quote:

#3 Thou Shalt Recognize that Some Wars Are Holy. Everyone argued with me in my post about “Name me a war that was worth it.” Apparently some wars are “holy” and can’t be argued against. All I want is to prevent 18 year-olds from dying. That’s the basis of my argument. We can argue all the history we want after that.

Also, if you haven’t checked on LewRockwell.com recently, you really should read Lew’s latest article: The Police State Abolishes the Trial.

Today, every single citizen, no matter how free he or she may feel in daily life, is in reality a sitting duck. You can be made to disappear. There is essentially no way you can escape once the feds sweep you into their net. There is no justice. The total states of the past used to pretend to have trial-based convictions. The total state of the present doesn’t even bother. It just puts a sack over your head and takes you away…

How could this have happened in America? Well, looking back, it seems that it all stems from a single flaw: the belief that the most essential institution in society is the state that protects us from criminality and must maintain a monopoly over justice. Some of the greatest defenders of freedom otherwise have been happy to make this one concession to the state. And this one concession is now a major source of our undoing as a free people.

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Freakonomics on the Ten Commandments of The American Religion, and more.

Click here for the whole article.

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Critical Advice on Precise Language