Bonus Episode: Replies from David VanDrunen On State Illegitimacy

Summary – Bonus: Replies From David VanDrunen On State Illegitimacy

In this bonus episode, we interview Dr. David VanDrunen. We consider his reply on several points to Pastor Taylor Drummond’s critical article that we discuss in episode 17. The title of that article is “Fool’s Gold?: A libertarian analysis of VanDrunen’s account of state legitimacy” and it examines particular arguments in David VanDrunen’s book Politics After Christendom.

VanDrunen expresses his appreciation for Drummond’s article and our episode discussing it, raises questions concerning immoral complicity if the state is taken to be illegitimate, offers some clarification about his (up to this point) not having differentiated monopoly states from non-monopolistic civil governance in his writing, raises questions concerning what sort of consent is normative for the customary legal order’s own legitimacy and its authorizing function, raises the question of when abuse or injustice might categorically disqualify one from rightfully possessing authoritative office and its relation to political resistance, and, at the end, responds to our proposal how a fuller, non-aggressionist view of proportionality in the lex talionis of the Noahic Covenant entails a conclusive argument in favor of the exclusively “protectionist” purpose of civil governance law. [Direct mp3 download]

https://reformedlibertarians.com/bonusC

View transcript

Main Points of Discussion

Additional Resources

• About David VanDrunen
  – author page at Mongerism
  – bib at ResearchGate
• Episode 17: David VanDrunen’s View Of Civil Government, with Taylor Drummond
• “Fool’s Gold?: A libertarian analysis of VanDrunen’s account of state legitimacy,” by Taylor Drummond
• Politics After Christendom by David VanDrunen
• “The Protectionist Purpose of Law: A Moral Case from the Biblical Covenant with Noah,” by David VanDrunen
• Episode 2: What Does Romans 13 Say About Civil Government?
• Episode 8: The Boetie Option – the peaceful underthrow of the state
• Episode 14: Does Political Representation Make Sense?, with Gerard Casey
• Episode 15: Can Christian Civil Government Be Theocratic?
• Episode 18: Politics And The Church’s Mission: What Should The Church Teach About Civil Government?
• Audio of Answering 10 Objections to Libertarian Anarchism by Roderick Long