As I have been noting periodically in this series on liberty, taxation, and theft, I am not issuing a call to action, but rather a call for understanding and recognition. Clearly this is not because action is irrelevant, but rather because rash and precipitous action is usually destructive. Think, and then do. At some point, …
What Became of the Witty Pirate Then
Because taxes can be a form of theft, and because taxes need not be theft at all, a reasonable question to ask is how we can tell the difference. The baseline, the starting point, is that property belongs to the individual. He is the one that Thou shalt not steal applies to. He is the …
Liberty As Durable Goods
In a recent post I claimed that property rights were human rights. A question naturally arose as to whether I was responding to this essay by Brad Littlejohn, which, as it happened, I was not. The impetus for my post came out of a biography of Samuel Adams that I am currently enjoying. Be that …
On Pirate Ship Governance
I have been arguing that Christians need to learn how to stand for liberty, but in order for this to happen they must first learn what it is. And when this happens, they will find themselves saying some outrageous things, like I am about to do. Human rights — which everyone is automatically in favor …
$500 in the Boot
A story is told of a fellow who was mugged in an alley by a band of thugs, and he put up a ferocious fight. After about fifteen minutes, they got him down on the ground, and found just two dollars in his wallet. “Two dollars?” one of them said. “You put up that fight …
When St. Paul Was Fourth and Long
Before getting into the appropriate Christian response to the tyrannies of the arbitrary administrative state, we have to set aside a particular objection that can be marshaled from the Bible. Not only can it be marshaled, let us acknowledge that it frequently is. When I say that Christians should stand for liberty, and I do, …
A Long and Winding Road
We have already seen that Christ is the foundation of every true form of liberty. Civic liberty is an impossibility for a people who are enslaved to their lusts. For such a people, constitutional liberties are nothing but paper liberties — the kind of thin surety that tends to satisfy slaves who need to be …
A Longing for Liberty
One of the things that the Holy Spirit gloriously does in this sorry world of ours is His liberating work. The Holy Spirit is an agent of liberty. The Spirit sets men free, and He does it through the gospel. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; Because the Lord hath anointed me …
The R2K Crucifix Problem
Carl Trueman recently wrote A Church for Exiles for First Things, which you may read here. If you would like, a good response from Joel McDurmon can be found here. But my response to Carl will be a tad shorter than Joel’s — just enough to register a few basic concerns. First, it is undeniable …
The Willies and the Fantods
One of the things I do from time to time is draw lessons for the United States from the history of Israel in the Old Testament. I know that this must exasperate some good folks, making them dance beside their computers in frustration, exclaiming to their ceiling fan that I clearly don’t know that America …