Not everyone is born a libertarian, and even those who were must come to it on their own terms. We believe in the importance of hearing the stories of others, including what they wrestled with, what they rejected, what they embraced, and how their journey led them to where they are today. We know these stories are important to share, not because each of us is a hero, but because heroism is found in all efforts of any size to pursue a Christian ethos and embrace a way of life that enables and encourages flourishing. We offer you these stories as an encouragement and inspiration to help you bolster your faith in the Lord and your belief in human freedom.
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Iโm an independent researcher and writer, an education entrepreneur, and co-host of the Reformed Libertarians Podcast. Iโm Principal Educator and socratic guide at Vita Nova Academy Of Albuquerque, a learner-driven mastery-based microschool. My writing, podcasts, and seminars at MereLiberty.com focus on challenging prevailing paradigms in politics, theology, and culture, from a confessionally-Reformed biblical and philosophical perspective. Among others, I address such topics as abortion and views of womanhood. Additionally, one of my primary interests is in promoting a Reformed view of libertarian anarchism.โ
I was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico in a politically and theologically conservative home. I was baptized, catechized, and confirmed in faith at a local Missouri Synod Lutheran (LCMS) church. My mother, raised Irish Catholic (the only person Iโve known with a BA in Home Economics) was never interested in politics. But my father[1] was. And his views shaped mine as I grew up.
He was a Green Beret, Vietnam veteran, working for the Federal Department of Energy by the time I was born. He was more or less a constitutionalist (as he understood it) and registered Republican. His major influences, as I recall, were Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, and to a lesser extent Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot. I was enamored with my fatherโs sense of patriotism, duty to uphold the Constitution and Americaโs founding principles, and distrust of the government. Among other things, he impressed on me the importance of not working for (or depending upon) the government, insofar as it was possible.
In my experience, Lutherans donโt often have any sort of robust political theology. This may be because their view of Godโs โtwo kingdomsโ (in conscience and external matters, respectively) tends to separate politics from spiritual concerns. In any case, my parents were actively involved in both the fledgling homeschooling movement and prolife activism. One of my dadโs religious influences at the time was Francis Schaeffer[2], a Presbyterian minister who promoted the prolife cause among conservative Protestants. My three brothers and I were homeschooled in our younger years, before it was legal in New Mexico. We spent many field trips at the State legislature as my and several other parents worked to legalize it. Although, in later years, I attended both Lutheran and government schools.
I distinctly recall attending a number of prolife events with my parents and brothers. What I took away from those experiences at the time were the religious and emotional appeals of the movement. The emotional appeal being the graphic nature of abortion. The main idea was that the hearts and minds of those who supported abortion would be changed if they were adequately exposed to the horrific reality of what abortion actually is. The religious appeal, at least among so-called Evangelicals, seemed to be that Scripture alone is sufficient and effective to argue against abortion. I later came to the conclusion that, while both appeals have a certain degree of merit, they are ultimately naively reductionistic and therefore insufficient and ineffective in changing the social, political, and economic facts and beliefs that contribute to the legality and practice of abortion.
In 1996 I followed the Clinton v Dole US presidential election, in which so-called โpartial birthโ abortion was specifically at issue. I turned eighteen in 1999 just in time to vote in the Bush v Gore election. Not yet recognizing the political theater that such elections are, I became engrossed in cable โnewsโ about the drama.
Meanwhile, I was enrolled at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in the Fall of 1999. I intended to double major in Medical Lab Science and Political Science because of my support for the prolife cause.
I was strengthened in my understanding that contemporary legal arguments for abortion had no basis in biology, the Constitution, or human rights. And I came to recognize how such arguments were erroneous attempts to separate personhood and rights from being human.
While attending UNM, I was exposed to Evangelical (Non-denominational) Baptist beliefs and worship through the Baptist Student Union. Some classmates there tried to persuade me that I wasnโt actually a Christian if I didnโt have a conscious conversion experience and hadnโt been baptized as a professing believer. I was deeply shaken by this, and sought out my Lutheran pastor to assuage my anxieties about whether I was saved. My Lutheran pastor did a good job of doing that. And thatโs all I wanted for the moment. He also gave me several introductory pamphlets that contrasted Lutheran and typical non-denominational beliefs on baptism and eschatology.ย It wasnโt long before I had more questions. Regrettably, my questions werenโt really answered. My pastor was still seeking merely to emotionally reassure me. Not finding the more theologically substantial answers I was then seeking, I eventually became discontent with the LCMS altogether.
Over the next year or so, I tried to work full time while fitting-in college courses when I could, without much success. Motivated partly by a misplaced sense of patriotic duty following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and partly by the prospect of medical lab education and job experience, I enlisted in the US Air Force in the Spring of 2003. I also got married that winter. By 2005 I was pregnant, and accepted the offer of an honorable discharge. I took that option at eight months pregnant and came home to NM.
While I was pregnant the baptism question came up again. This time, I wanted a more thorough understanding of what Scripture actually teaches. I wanted to be more confident in what I believed. Either I would baptize my infant son in the Lutheran church, or I would become Baptist; raising my children as Baptists. However, mostly through exposure to the teaching of the Presbyterian minister R.C. Sproul[3], the next two years of study would unexpectedly lead me to the Reformed (Presbyterian) perspective.
By the time I came to the Reformed view of baptism, I had already given birth to my first two children, born about a year apart. And I had them baptized in the LCMS in 2007. We were attending a non-denominational church at the time. That church was largely opposed to the Reformed Faith, and I didnโt yet know of any Reformed or Presbyterian churches in the area to join.
2007 was also the time running up to the 2008 housing crash. The GOP primary was in full swing and, still a registered Republican, I had the first opportunity to vote in the presidential primary. But there were 13 candidates at one point, and I had no idea how to choose from among them. Knowing what I did about the Constitution, I reviewed its statements about the role of the Executive. As I watched debates, heard candidates speak, and read their campaign platforms, I realized that among them all, only Ron Paul[4] paid any attention to the Constitution.
Listening to videos by former Libertarian Party presidential candidate, Michael Badnarik, I learned more about the Constitution and Bill of Rights. I read Badnarikโs book, Good to be King[5]. He explained that property tax was renting from the state property you owned, and that a driverโs license was a grant of permission to use your own car. This perspective was paradigm-shifting for me. I decided to vote for Ron Paul, but ultimately couldnโt. He dropped out before the primaries reached New Mexico[6]. Instead, I voted for Chuck Baldwin (no relation) of the Constitution Party[7]. I voted once more for President in 2012, for Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party. I havenโt voted for a presidential candidate since, though I will still vote on referendums.
In the following four years, I experienced two parallel journeys: one towards full-fledged libertarianism, and the other towards full-fledged Reformed theology. In 2012, we left the non-denominational church we had been attending. After considering several supposed Presbyterian congregations, we began attending a small Orthodox Presbyterian church (OPC)[8]. That year I started mereliberty.com with the goal of challenging the false paradigm of left vs right, and of promoting a libertarian perspective.
The housing crash and bailouts in 2008, the so-called โAffordable Care Actโ in 2010, Ron Paulโs second run for president in 2012, and all the GOP shenanigans increasingly disillusioned and radicalized me. I was primed for anarchism, but couldnโt yet make that leap, mostly because of my misunderstanding Romans 13 and not seeing how non-monopolistic, polycentric law was supposed to work. Itโs said that it takes only six months to become anarchist once you accept libertarianism. From 2008, it took me 8 more years. In the meantime, I was active locally in municipal politics. But, I was ultimately disillusioned[9] when I realized the city is also run by unelected people, namely, the City Manager and City Attorney.
In 2014, my family and I officially became members of the OPC. And by 2015, I completed my Bachelorโs of Arts in Philosophy from Arizona State University.
During these same years I came to realize (belatedly, as is all too common among those who are abused) that my husband was abusive towards me and our children, verbally, emotionally, and financially. He never took responsibility or expressed remorse for his mistreatment and fits of rage. When confronted by our pastor, he refused to listen. The elders of our church supported my decision to divorce in 2016.
Later that year, in a Reformed libertarian online discussion group, a friend had asked what my remaining objections were to libertarian anarchism. Before the year was over, I had been introduced to the writings of economists Ludwig Von Mises and Murray Rothbard. Especially Rothbardโs anarchist political philosophy[10] and a better understanding of the confessionally Reformed view of Romans 13[11] resolved my objections. In many ways, my parallel developments in theological and political understanding dovetailed, and I became a convinced Reformed (libertarian) anarchist.
My understanding of our God-given self-ownership, property rights, and corresponding obligation of non-aggression, resulted in the consistent conclusion that monopoly states are inherent aggressors and so, illegitimate. I began to understand more clearly how non-monopolistic civil governance is both prescriptively ordained by God, and a realistic possibility, even โor especiallyโ in sinful human society. (At the end of this essay, along with several other resources, is a playlist of episodes addressing our answers to minarchist objections.[12] It explains some of the key points that persuaded me of libertarian anarchism.)
It wasnโt until I became aware of Jeff Durbin[13] (a Baptist pastor) and the Abortion โAbolitionโ movement sometime in 2016, that I would take up the prolife defense again. I published a libertarian critique of prominent prolife and prochoice views.[14] On the prolife side I pointed out that the lack of economic understanding contributed to addressing abortion in an overly-narrow and reductionistic way. On the prochoice side,[15] I pointed out that the broader leftist appeal to protecting marginalized groups was fundamentally undermined by their own arguments favoring abortion.ย
In 2019 I published a two part episode attempting to articulate fetal rights in terms of self-ownership. In December 2019, I was invited to debate Walter Block[16] on his โevictionistโ position at the Soho Forum. In 2020, most states around the world began implementing lockdowns and other disastrous measures in response to COVID.
The policies of the New Mexican governor were especially tyrannical in prohibiting gatherings, and mandating business closures, masking, and pushing vaccinations. When she could no longer keep people away from church, she mandated worshippers not to sing or take the Lordโs Supper. She would make frequent public addresses that were fear-mongering and threatening. The parallels between abusive personal relationships and the inherent tyranny of the state became more apparent than ever. Not only do states depend on aggression, but also mass psychological manipulation and financial control to perpetuate their abuse.
That same year, I began collaborating with my co-host, Gregory Baus, on developing the Reformed Libertarians Podcast. Recognizing the tremendous need, we committed ourselves to promoting an understanding of libertarian anarchism grounded in a distinctively Reformed faith and worldview. And by late 2022, we began publishing episodes with the Christians For Liberty Network through the Libertarian Christian Institute.[17]
Since 2020, a lot of libertarians Iโve known online abandoned libertarianism entirely. The lockdowns and other leftist policies in government and its crony institutions were enough for them to oppose non-aggression as a practical principle. They went full โpost-libertarianโ and began promoting a statist strategy on behalf of supposed traditional values. They believe their re-embrace of violence and authoritarianism is โputting away (the) childish thingsโ of libertarian principles. If anything, such post-libertarians only reveal that they themselves held to certain ideas childishly.
However, I remain fully convinced of what we at Reformed Libertarians call the Boetie Option. As we explain in episode 8,[18] The Boetie Option is a strategy of the peaceful โunderthrowโ of the state. Itโs an active strategy of educating a critical mass of the population, towards withdrawal of compliance with the stateโs tyranny. A critical mass need not be a majority; it is the smallest number required to sustain a chain reaction.
It may be that the promulgation and wide-spread embrace of Christianity is requisite to achieving a more just and free society. But that will only be hindered, and cannot be helped, by the use of aggression. In any case, I am devoted to the propagation of the confessionally Reformed Faith and church, because Iโm convinced it is the most faithful expression of biblical Christianity.[19] I also believe Reformed Christianity provides the truest and most robust grounds for understanding all of human life as God has revealed it to be, whether political normativity, or how we should oppose abuse in other societal spheres. I pray that others will join us, as we promote these things through the Reformed Libertarians Podcast.
โSee the written version of this essay at libertarianchristians dot com for endnotes with links to further resources. This has been a reading of โFrom Lutheran Republican to Reformed Libertarianโ by Kerry Baldwin.โ
[2] In A Christian Manifesto, Schaeffer highlights Samuel Rutherfordโs book Lex, Rex and the Reformed โpolitical resistanceโ view shown in this bibliographyย
[3] For example, see Sproulโs booklet What Is Baptism? Another helpful resource is Lee Ironsโ And The God Of Thy Seed in 8 parts on infant baptism and covenant nurture.
Kerry Baldwin is an independent researcher and writer with a B.A. in Philosophy from Arizona State University. Her writing focuses on libertarian philosophy and reformed theology and aimed at the educated layperson; challenging readers to rethink prevailing paradigms in politics, theology, and culture. She is a confessionally Reformed, orthodox Presbyterian, in the tradition of J. Gresham Machen (1881 - 1937), an outspoken libertarian and defender of Christian orthodoxy.
Articles posted on LCI represent a broad range of views from authors who identify as both Christian and libertarian. Of course, not everyone will agree with every article, and not every article represents an official position from LCI. Please direct any inquiries regarding the specifics of the article to the author.
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Civilly, individuals are prohibited from intiating aggression against others. Non-aggressive immorality may be addressed by non-civil entities such as the church.
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Christians aren't disobeying 1 Tim 6:10 so long as they aren't pursuing money as an end in itself. It's the love of money that's prohibited, not the mere accumulation of it.
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Christians aren't disobeying 1 Tim 6:10 so long as they aren't pursuing money as an end in itself. It's the love of money that's prohibited, not the mere accumulation of it.
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Historically libertarians have not been settled on the abortion issue, and we argue that abortion is a violation of the non-aggression principle and therefore anti-libertarian.
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God has provided people the tools that we need to face these challenges, starting with the first garments he fashioned for Adam and Eve from animal skins (Gen. 3:21)
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