Curtailing Lawlessness

Under Whose Restraint Shall We Live?

“Few things are more commonly misunderstood than the nature and meaning of theocracy. It is commonly assumed to be a dictatorial rule by self-appointed men who claim to rule for God.  In reality, theocracy in Biblical law is the closest thing to a radical libertarianism that can be had.”  “Roots of Reconstruction”   R. J. Rushdoony

There are a number of Christians who walk under the Libertarian label, some of them are prominent.  Some seem attracted by its intellectual qualities, others endorse individual freedom, some believe in non-aggression, many site R. J. Rushdoony’s favorable assessment, and others appreciate the big tent.

I am a lover of liberty and an opposer of license.

Libertarians do have a big tent:  In the tent are atheists, agnostics, satanists, homosexuals, lesbians, revolutionaries, Democrats, Republicans, rebels, individualists, koinoniaists, free love lovers, same sex marriage supporters, prostitution condoners, etc.   There is no particular moral standard the only evil is force.

Ayn Rand, often quoted by Libertarians, hated Christianity, Ludwig Von Mises was an agnostic, Fredrick Hayek was an accomplished economist but far from being a Christian.  Individualism and intellectualism attract the scholarly set but do not provide a sound basis for an enduring state.

All Libertarians seem to dance around the light pole of individual freedom.  But the definition of freedom and its extent remains arbitrary. The Libertarian big tent covers a vast philosophical spectrum and an array of quests for freedom running all the way to license.

At a recent Freedom Fest Nelson Hultberg made a presentation that attempted to put a new pair of shoes and the Libertarian philosophy.  Hultberg is a fine writer and a cogent thinker.  In his book “The Golden Mean” and his talk at Freedom Fest he promotes a Libertarian position in the middle of the spectrum between individual freedom and license.

Hultberg is on track; Libertarians need to find a core belief.  At one end are the rabid anarchists who would support violent revolution along with retribution similar to the chaos of the French Revolution; and at the other end are Christians who support the restraint of God’s perfect legal system.

Hultberg strives for a righteous mean by recommending the “Judeo-Christian ethic”.

Libertarians are human with the same proclivity for sin that permeates the remainder of the social structure.  A recent attempt to form a Libertarian community in Chile, South America, is a case in point.  It was called “Galt’s Gulch Chile” from Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”. here

Begun in 2012 by four wealth escapists, expat John Cobin residing in Chile, Jeff Berwick of The Dollar Vigilante, Cobin’s Chilean partner, and Ken Johnson a real estate and anti-aging guru, the project was quickly beset by problems that put its original partners at odds and marred the original plan.  Lots were sold that defied Chilean law because authority to subdivide had not been granted before the sale.   Investors found they could not build on the land they had purchased.

Libertarian investors in the Chilean property did not do enough homework to be sure what exactly they were buying.   Doing such homework is difficult in the U. S. but it is even more difficult in foreign countries where language barriers and unknown prejudices can create enormous problems

In many foreign countries American citizens who are considered wealthy and are targets.  My wife and I made several trips to Costa Rica and Argentina finding it very difficult to invest in property even when Christian ministers were involved.  Read here.  

Jeff Berwick was a strident vocal critic of Johnson but he has decided not to take legal action because of his Libertarian principles.  Though that forebearance might seem laudatory, it is a serious error.  Libertarians tend to avoid the word justice since it involves force but without justice peace cannot endure.

Nelson Hultberg’s well written and well planned speech at Freedom Fest (read here) contained some    serious errors and erroneous contentions.  It is not that truth is missing from Hultberg’s proposal but that the truth he purposes is just another humanistic attempt to conform society to a formula.

Man was not created to govern himself and because he has continued to ignore the Creator and attempted to make his own laws history is a continuous story of tyranny, war, poverty, and starvation.

Hultberg’s reference to the Judeo-Christian ethic has two problems:  One Judaism is not Christianity and most of those who practice that religion harbor a vicious hate for Christians.  Christianity was intended for the people of ancient Israel but was rejected, the Covenant was broken.  An entirely new class of chosen people was created by the New Covenant; the new chosen people are Christians.  Access to the Father is confined to the Son.

Now a word about extremism:  Muslims are a terror to the world because they take their faith seriously.  Christians and Jews are militant but are helpless to combat a religion that enforces its own legal system and understands that victory depends on changing law.  Without an overarching, immutable legal system human beings cannot live in peace.

On too many days I read of some mislead minister who claims God’s legal standards are no longer in force and quotes Scripture to support the contention.  These ministers of the Gospel are accusing the One True God of setting a harmful legal standard for His chosen people.  Do not believe it!  Obedience to Old Testament law, both criminal and civil, would bring back peace and prosperity to a social order that is utterly lost.

We are living in a society that accepts human torture and the murder of millions by war but balks at the killing of one human for blaspheming the Living God.  In America, respect for the Creator of the Universe is less than respect for the state.  It is no wonder that the state has become tyrannical.

The Sixties mantra “God is dead” is still in force across the United States.  Humanism has so thoroughly permeated our churches that a true worshiper of the Living God is no longer welcome.  The lack of action by most American Christians shouts to the world that they do not really believe what they say.

All over America, people are frightened by the prospect of Sharia law.  Muslims are coming and they are bringing Sharia law!  Sharia law requires the death penalty for adultery!  It cuts off a hand for stealing, etc. etc.   While all this is stirring up America’s so called Bible believing Christians they continue ignore the Book they profess to believe; a book that calls for the death penalty for murder, striking or cursing a parent, kidnapping, adultery, incest, bestiality, sodomy and homosexuality, rape of a betrothed virgin, witchcraft, offering human sacrifices, incorrigible delinquency or habitual criminality, blasphemy, Sabbath desecration, propagation of false doctrines, sacrificing to false gods, refusing to abide by a court decision (defying the law) and failing to restore the pledge or bailment.  This is the Law that blesses us and pleases God when it is obeyed, the Law that Jesus, the Son, obeyed to perfection.

Biblical legal penalties are regularly scoffed at by arrogant pagans.  They are anathema to the majority of America’s so called Christian leaders and their followers.  There is some talk of obedience in Charismatic circles but to these Spirit minded Christians it is an ephemeral guidance that is always dubious.  God writes His Law on the hearts of His chosen people but the heart is desperately wicked and untrustworthy.

Few Christians even understand that the main theme of the entire Bible is obedience!  Ancient Israel was rejected for disobedience.  God has not changed He still seeks an obedient people.  We are saved and forgiven by the Blood of Christ but the standard for our behavior is still God’s Law.

While we live in a cesspool society so dangerous that we need guns for our protection we reject the antidote preferring the danger and chaos.   We cringe at God’s corporal punishments which He provided as a benefit considering them a curse while our military kills millions of innocents in far off places.  Now, gentle Christian, I am going to shock you again:  God’s Law provides a righteous system of genocide which over a couple of generations would cull rebellious schemers from the social order and provide for a more peaceful and prosperous existence.

In this video former Congressman and Presidential candidate, Ron Paul, attempts to explain Anarchism.  He emphasizes the non-aggressive foundation of Libertarianism.  Expecting energetic human beings to be placid in the face of disagreement is utopian, it will not happen. Aggression is an intrinsic part of every person, some more than others; if it is directed properly it is good, if wrongly it is bad.   Galt’s Gulch in Chile provides a fine example and highlights the tragic error of failing to seek justice.

Hultberg writes, “Freedom requires rational, irrefutable thought to be won and maintained. If we have built our defense of freedom upon a false philosophy with faulty premises, then we are fighting in vain.”  The statement is correct but the philosophy is faulty.

Human beings cannot enjoy liberty without just restraints.  All of the fine sounding scenarios produced by the best logic and reason fall apart in the face of sinful men.  The musings of pagans will never result in a peaceful society; requirements set forth by intellectual visionaries will quickly be breached and the beautiful picture will be marred by failure.  Liberty is impossible without voluntary adherence to just restraint.

The Constitution of the United States of America was written to govern a virtuous people.  Virtue and tyranny are inversely proportional – as virtue goes down tyranny goes up.   Consider our current society; virtue is seriously diminished while tyranny has become a monster.

R. J. Rushdoony fancied Libertarian anti-statism. God’s Law is not intended to be imposed on any person.  Obedience must be a voluntary matter of the heart. Christian Reconstruction does not seek to impose God’s Will on the social order.  We simply seek to live under God’s mandates and worship Him as the Creator and King of the universe and to work to bring His creation and His people under the peace and prosperity His rule promises.

The question that must be answered is Under Whose Restraint Shall We Live?  God’s or man’s?

P.S. Libertarians do a remarkable job of ferreting out and exposing government lies and tyranny.  They are way ahead of the Christian Church in exposing evil in high places.  Kudos!