"Christianity and Libertarianism and the Consent of the Governed."

From Laigle's Forum.

Thus, I don’t feel like merely calling myself a Constitutionalist is sufficient. I add the ‘libertarian’ modifier in order to make clear the principle that I believe was shared by the founders. They believed that people ought to be free and the government at all levels ought to mind its own dang business by and large but if there was an extremely compelling reason for the majority to inflict its will on the minority, there would at least be a process that would protect the minority’s rights. Certainly, times change, and new circumstances manifest that weren’t dreamed of by the framers, but they built into the Constitution a way to handle such things that makes a great deal of sense to me today- not that anyone these days actually uses those mechanisms. They’re just as likely to ram it through to the Supreme Court, bypassing the legislative branch altogether, ala Roe vs. Wade.

We are now so far away from the Constitution- including at the hands of Republicans- that it is hard to see how we can make our way back. I think this is what people are seeing. Christian conservatives are coming to this conclusion, if they haven’t already. The ‘limited government’ Republicans sell them down the river all day long and the pool of available freedoms grows shallower every day. Where does one turn? Self-preservation. . .

Now, as it happens, I am inclined to believe that it is possible to reconcile these statements from the Declaration of Independence with Biblical principles. Indeed, it is because I take them very seriously that I feel like I need to add the modifier ‘libertarian’ to my self-label.

Do you know why libertarians from the right are ostensibly on the rise? It is simply because of this: on a grand level, individual by individual, moment by moment, imperceptibly, but definitely, removing their consent from this present government.

They are doing this unconsciously. It isn’t a deliberate decision. It is a movement along a spectrum, and I don’t even think that they themselves know what they are doing. But they are doing it. Confusing the matter, they aren’t alone. There are people of many diverse political and worldview stripes that likewise have decided (for different reasons, I’m sure) that they don’t like direction the ‘Republic’ has taken.