Why I Believe in Limited Government

C.S. Lewis explains why I am a believer in a small, weak government and individual rights:

I am a democrat [believer in democracy] because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that every one deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they're not true. . . . I find that they're not true without looking further than myself. I don't deserve a share in governing a hen-roost. Much less a nation. . . . The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters. ("Equality," in C. S. Lewis: Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces, ed. by Lesley Walmsley [London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000,] p. 666).

Both my Christian beliefs and American heritage give strong support to notions of individual rights and limited government.  My economic training consistently and strongly underscore these notions.

I have often wondered why Christians were not more suspicious of government solutions to social problems and not more in support of smaller government?  Why would any believing Christian want to put more power into the hands of sinful men?  It seems that a genuine belief in the Fall of Man leads to many similar conclusions reached by considering politicians to be self-interested actors.  I fear this is something the Founding Fathers knew well that many (most?) Americans have since forgotten....

(HT Joe Carter)