Over the past year, especially because of the effect of Ron Paul’s presidential candidacy, many honest questions (and many baseless accusations) have been flying around about libertarianism, foreign policy and Christianity. I wanted to take the time to answer a few of these questions from my own perspective.
The first two instalments explained why libertarian foreign policy is neither right wing or left wing. The third argued that libertarian foreign policy is compatible with biblical mandates. Finally, I would like to summarize some criticism from left, right and Christian.
Despite the fact that the Democrats and Christian libertarians have different reasons for supporting a decreased military presence in Iraq, doesn’t the similar result justify grouping them?
Perhaps we should look at a more absurd scenario to judge this principle. My neighbour has a car I like and I offer him $10,000 for it - which he accepts. But what if I steal it instead? Both result in me getting the car from my neighborur. However, one is moral and one is not.
The democrats have no principled opposition to aggression in foreign policy. They are driven entirely by polls (with a few exceptions). Many libertarian Christians, on the other hand, do not support war out of steadfast philosophical opposition to aggression.
I basically agree with these views, but they are not pragmatic. These are merely “theories” which work on paper but cannot happen in real life.
I think the term “theory” is potentially misapplied here. This is not a “theory” in the positivistic sense- where it needs to be “tested” in order to be proved true or false empirically. But the Christian libertarian foreign policy is an a priori argument based on human action and biblical truth. Neither of these foundations require empirical results in order to be verified.
But the more important concern is with the pragmatism of compromising with something one knows to be wrong to achieve a “right” end. Christianity requires us to give the results to God, and walk in faith and obedience. We are not be bend God’s truth to accommodate our political goals - but rather to trust in his sovereignty and obey his gospel. It may not be pragmatic for a soldier to disobey his commanders asking him to kill civilians - but what is the Christian thing to do? It may not be pragmatic for a tax collector to repent and refuse to steal from others - but it is right.
These are the tough decisions for Christians to make because they require us to put our faith into action, despite what our senses and reason tell us. But this does not exempt us from our duty to obey.
“It may not be pragmatic for a tax collector to repent and refuse to steal from others - but it is right.”
I know we’ve discussed this before, but I don’t think the Bible equates taxation with theft. However, if we look at how tax collectors were viewed in the gospels, we find that they had a reputation of being disreputable - not because they collected taxes but because they collected more than what was owed and kept money for themselves. I don’t know that our present tax system in this country allows for people to actually pocket your money, but if that is the case, they definitely need to repent.
Definitely a huge grey area Chris, I agree. Maybe I’ll have to write up my take on tax collecting specifically.
I’d like to read it. However, I will admit my prejudice here. Romans 13 instructs Christians to pay taxes. And of course Jesus himself paid them. So whether collecting taxes is right or wrong is almost a moot point as far as Christian thought is concerned. Its kinda like the question of whether it is right to take someone’s tunic, when Christ says to give him your cloak also.
Well it is correct to pay taxes - no doubt there. But is it correct to collect taxes? Again, just as a soldier doesn’t become exempt from murder when he puts on a uniform, a tax collector is not exempt from theft if he puts on a uniform.
Yeah, I see your point there. I’m looking forward to your article, so I won’t say anything else. Suffice it to say I think you’re going to have a hard time proving this one from a biblical point of view if that is your intention. Alright, I’ll shut up now…
Well, not quite. Just to be clear, are you also contending that deaths resulting from war are tantamount to murder? I know uniformed personnel are not exempt from punishment for homicides outside of combat situations, but I definitely don’t think all killing is murder - particularly when one is in a kill-or-be-killed situation.