I was thinking -- why don't libertarians seem to be more concerned about issues of religious freedom and why aren't there more pro-life libertarians?
To underscore my question about religion, I visited Cato's website and looked under their areas of research. None of them refer to religion. Isn't religious freedom as important as the rest of our freedoms and one of the primary concerns of the Founding Fathers? I have two possible explanations for this absence:
- Religious freedom is actually quite good in America, leading to little concern about it relative to other issues.
- There is a strong Randian/Objectivist streak running through many libertarian groups. Objectivists reject belief in the supernatural, by definition embracing a form atheism/strong agnosticism.
There is probably some influence from both of these effects, but my hunch is that #2 dominates.
Regarding abortion, I understand why many libertarians would be pro-choice, but I am surprised not to hear more controversy on this issue. Don't babies have natural rights too? Unless there is a clear demarcation or agreement on when life begins, this seems like it should be much more of an unsettled issue in libertarian circles than it seems to be. I think Jane Galt agrees. This also seems to line up with hypothesis #2 above.
If libertarianism is highly correlated to atheism, it is no wonder most Americans aren't very drawn to this philosophy. (At least 90% of all Americans report to have some level of belief in God.) I understand Objectivism and/or rejection of the supernatural is in no way a prerequisite for libertarianism, but there is no doubt there is a strongly perceived connection among the general public. To many people, libertarianism seems to be mostly about legalizing drugs and prostitution. Perceptions matter immeasurably.
Incidentally, most libertarians I know believe strongly in peace. One of the best ways to maintain peace within a country is by guaranteeing religious freedom. Despite much of the rhetoric about religion being a source of violence, this is only true when religious freedom is suppressed. In that type of environment, religious groups are incentivized to try gain political power in order to prevent other groups from forcing them to follow a different religion. When all of them try to grab the same reigns of power, violence often ensues. The US is an excellent example of how insuring religious freedom and creating a genuine free-market for religion helps lead to internal peace. (Despite hyperbole to the contrary, when was the last time you heard of one religious group physically attacking another in the US?)
Why aren't more libertarians advancing notions of religious free-markets and religious liberty? Regardless of a person's personal religious beliefs, isn't religious freedom an important right for everyone?
In the words of Kevin Seamus Hasson, founder of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, everyone should have "The Right to be Wrong".
I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on this. Do you think I'm right or wrong in my perceptions? Why aren't more libertarians religious? Delving into this question would probably help answer why more religious people aren't libertarian.
2 comments:
LewRockwell.com is arguably one of the most trafficked libertarian websites, and is very pro-religion. Here is a LRC search for abortion. And libertarians have debated abortion endlessly, even if the Wikipedia article does not currently reflect it.
"Despite hyperbole to the contrary, when was the last time you heard of one religious group physically attacking another in the US?"
Fox News tells me daily that Islamic terrorists want to kill us good Judeo-Christians, and did so on 9/11.
On abortion, Walter Block has been doing some interesting work lately. See Compromising the Uncompromisable.
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