For many years, I was attracted to libertarian principles. Laissez-faire economics makes sense, and stands up to real-world testing, where other economic theories fall apart. However, critics of libertarianism argue that the resulting society is going to be incredibly cruel for the poor and for those people who (because of history, ignorance, stupidity, or whatever other factor) cannot take care of themselves. This critique struck me as being highly valid, and prevented me from fully embracing libertarianism. It’s not a wonderful society if you have to step over the bodies of people dying in the streets.
After many years of contemplation, I have arrived at the conclusion that libertarian principles of small government, limited government power, and individual freedom can only result in a decent society if a strong majority of the people living under such a system are genuinely and sincerely religious. In the West, that means most variations of Christianity or Judaism or certain flavors of Islam. For practical purposes in the United States, that means Christian.
With a social matrix made up of people who actually believe that God requires that they take care of the needy and act decently toward one another, the government can be kept on a tight leash. We don’t need Federal welfare programs if every community is stuffed full of churches fighting over the privilege of feeding and caring for the poor. We can afford to have a government with limited powers if people take care of their neighbors instead of expecting the state to do it.
Secularists hate this vision of America, and for good reason. In a Christian country of libertarian principles, the answer to social problems comes in individual spiritual redemption and the pursuit of salvation - not from academic think tanks or political lobbying groups. It should be acknowledged that such a society would impose costs on non-believers, who would probably feel excluded from the social matrix. This feeling would be genuine, and based in reality.
