Libertarianism and Christianity both have a common cornerstone central to their belief system found in the belief that we ought not be bound to others. In respect to Christianity, freedom from bondage mainly concerns the weight of sin that burdens every human due to the fall of mankind. People are set free from sin’s grasp by the shed blood of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ as He was crucified at Calvary 2,000 years ago. For those who repent and acknowledge their need for Jesus as their savior, a peace comes upon them as they now experience a restored relationship with God the almighty.
Aside from rescuing souls from eternal death, one might say that Jesus was a pioneer libertarian in other respects. Throughout His ministry He constantly dealt with religious leaders of the day known as the Pharisees and Sadducees. While commissioned to keep the law and traditions prescribed by God, these leaders instead lorded over the people by burdening them with additional requirements beyond the Laws of Moses as they were intended to keep which Jesus confronted them on. They even perverted civil liberties. In one instance, the Pharisees brought forth a woman they claimed was caught in adultery. For one thing, we do not even know if they witnessed the alleged affair which is important because 2-3 people must be present at an alleged incident for a conviction. Secondly, there is the principle of reclusion which is maintained with juries today. As Jesus told them that the one who has not sinned may cast the first stone, it became apparent that none of them were fit to try her as each walked away. However oddly enough, in another instance a Pharisee who befriended Jesus, defended Jesus’s civil liberties to his fellow Pharisees by saying, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
While stating prior that we are free from bondage, that does not mean that we are free from authority. Prior to his departure, Jesus said to the disciples, “All authority on Heaven and on Earth has been given to me.” In Romans 13 the Apostle Paul tells us that all authority comes from God which reinforces Jesus’s claim to His disciples as noted. Paul, here specifically references civil government, stating that this institution exists to maintain order by punishing evil doers who are those that infringe on the rights derived from the 10 Commandments, namely the right to life and to own property. Finally, we are not free from God’s will, manifested through His Providence.
However, the right to self-govern provides us many options. This includes which school we attend or send our kids to, where we work, which financial institutions we work with, which gym to join, our doctors, what media we expose ourselves to, etc. While we exercise self-governance in many instances that means placing ourselves under authority. Even when obtaining our dream job, there will be supervisors we must report to. When, becoming a member at a bank or a gym which you chose, there are still guidelines to follow. If a person moves into a neighborhood with a homeowner’s association, they must pay their fees and abide by their covenants. Those who runs businesses are not guaranteed customers, so they are in a sense accountable to the market’s demands.
Though this system of voluntary exchange profits society abundantly, we must go back to Jesus’s ultimate purpose for coming here which was to save sinners from eternal damnation while giving them new abundant life. Knowing that people needed and still do need salvation it is not a surprise that people by nature do not recognize Jesus as an authoritative figure. Furthermore, if ten people were stopped on the street and were asked what the purpose of civil government is, you would probably get over ten explanations. Very few recognize that the civil government’s authority comes from God and that it is limited to what He commissions it for.
As a result, over time people have sought power over individuals and have exercised favoritism to certain groups by using the civil government to centralize control. Once obtaining power, sinful man does not want to relinquish it but rather expand control despite infringing on people’s rights. In the voluntary exchange description people exercise their rights in a cooperative way and are free to cease their activities if they no longer benefit from them. This is not the case when the civil government goes from being God’s minister of justice to forcing it’s will thus hindering peaceful exchange. Those in power see greater benefit in maintaining their bureaucracy than preserving freedom.
Consider some government programs that exist by force thereby prohibiting freedom. Education is a great example. Control over education extends from the Federal, State, to the local level. Since, by force the perpetuation of bureaucratic agencies along with the schools our tax dollars support, a healthy exchange of resources guided by individual choice is greatly prohibited. Bureaucracies by nature with education being no exception are extremely costly as they lack a mechanism to monitor their cost. To put it plainly, poor performance rarely has an adverse effect on governmental agencies’ budgets. So, with the power brokers’ ongoing thirst for power and the message given to the public that without public schools there would be complete disaster despite high performing private schools, and success with volunteer exchange, we are still stuck with corruption, violence, students inadequately prepared for the workforce, and struggles to obtain things like new schools and infrastructure enhancement.
The social welfare system is another great example. Since it has been around for so long many in society have looked to government to meet people’s needs and like with education presume there would be complete disaster if the social programs were not in place. What many do not realize is that the U.S. was the most benevolent country in the world during the 19th Century prior to the social welfare system’s creation. Not only that, but public philanthropy also has a crowding out effect meaning that the resources drawn by the government for it’s programs could have otherwise gone to private charity. It’s worth noting that a private charity is accountable to it’s donors whereas politicians and bureaucrats have no incentive to stop directing our tax dollars to the various social programs regardless of their performance in regards to helping people. The disturbing reality is that given enough funds case workers have little reason to limit people coming on to welfare or to ween them off. Welfare and unemployment insurance are examples of two programs that have adverse effects on the economy as they keep people out of the workforce. Our businesses need hands but the fewer people there are in the workforce the more labor costs rise and the more difficult it is for unskilled laborers to find work. Government needs to step back from the philanthropy business and allow private help to assist the needy in their local communities. As mentioned, private help is held accountable for the way they allocate resources and most importantly improve people’s lives whereas the government is not.
I briefly mentioned economic impact stemming from government help efforts such as welfare, unemployment insurance, and often disability insurance thus limiting the labor supply leading to higher costs and hindering opportunities. Minimum wage and occupational licensing are two other prime examples. Since it’s inception roughly 100 years ago, increases in the minimum wage have always been followed by increases in unemployment amongst unskilled labor. Occupational licensing also has a negative impact on the poor as labor costs increase when workers incur higher costs related to their occupational training and examinations. These cost increases are often passed onto consumers which people are known to see periodically when they get haircuts for example. Regarding the poor, licensing costs are especially damaging because each time they rise the more difficult it becomes to enter given industries. They are also a downright infringement on individual liberty when women for example are told they cannot braid and style hair for other women in their neighborhood without a license. These government actions all lead to an underground economy. With minimum wage as an example, increases make it more costly to hire unskilled laborers so combine that with increased labor cost stemming from government social programs keeping people out of the workforce, it is no wonder American businesses hire outside our borders.
Ideally, people in society should govern themselves and the civil government should only intervene when a person’s ability to govern themselves is infringed upon. While I mention the negative impacts that our government policies have had, there of course have been times throughout history where we have seen ruthless dictators slaughter millions of people including their own. I think it goes back to the heart shaped void that every person has which nothing they can do will fulfill it. For some, it is not enough to control oneself so they must control a friend or family member. Then, a larger group to the extent that they feel they can better plan the lives of the masses. I often wonder if more people looked to Jesus to fill that void and accept His Lordship how that would affect their view of self-govern ship.
In His Image 