For those who don’t care about politics
For those of you like me ( I am still really like this), who do not like talking politics, I write this article to appeal to you. The idea behind not caring about politics is the idea that you just want to be left alone. People of my belief system absolutely agree. If we could help it, we would never talk about politics again. The only reason we talk about politics is that it is necessary to be informed about such things, so we are not bamboozled by slimy, sleazy politicians with their empty rhetoric and promises to do all kinds of things for us on our behalf. This is why the libertarian mantra is do not tread on me, and it is why many libertarians aren’t some geeky political science history buffs but just believe in people being free to purpose their own version of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The coiled snake that represents our mantra shows that as long as you leave me alone, I will not bother you, but I am in a posture of attack if you so decide to violate my freedom.
For the first few years of coming to the liberty movement, I did not know any arguments for it. I did not know the economic arguments or why it was wrong for the government to try and force me to do its bidding. I just knew that I liked to be free to live my life for Christ and wanted a political view that respected my right to live my life without coercion (someone else forcefully acting against my will and desires), instead of allowing me to choose what I wanted to do. I was what I call the stage one of libertarianism. There are those that seem agnostic and carefree about libertarianism as an ideology unless we are talking about there being laws passed to hinder them, in particular.
If you know any libertarians, they are probably in stage two of libertarianism, which is a “cage stage” (this term was popularized when referring to the new zealous Calvinist, soteriological belief that God is absolutely sovereign over all things, including salvation). The good news is you do not need to ever reach stage two of libertarianism. You do not need to be a zealous convertor of those who are outside the camp. All you need to get in the club ideologically is to believe that non-consensual actions of aggression against someone else is morally reprehensible and that people should be free to associate with whomever they want to. If you really hold to those principles, you can vote and act in a way that is consistent with the libertarian principles without being super knowledgeable about all the technicalities.
The libertarian party believes that individuals (whether privately or in business) should both be persuaded to work together mutually. The other two parties believe in forcing their beliefs onto the population, whether it’s the Democrats trying to enforce their sexuality identities on everyone or the Republicans trying to force their view of drug use on everyone by law. As long as you believe that everyone is free to live their life the way they want to and should be persuaded by others freely instead of being forced by the threat of law, you are free from the tug of war that is constantly waging. You, like us, reject all the picking of sides and political warfare that is going on.
I am doing what one of my best friends did for me in this article. I saw much of the fighting between the Republicans and the Democrats and wanted to keep my distance. I had never heard of the libertarian core principle. I happened to agree with it, which is why I was a political party outsider. I did not like how they tried to gain power, so they could attack those who did not agree with them. If you were like me, just know there is a place for you. You do not need to pick sides. Don’t get me wrong, you can pick sides in your personal beliefs. I am a conservative Christian myself, but I do not see the point in trying to force others to be like me if they are not persuaded by my life, the gospel, nor the word of God. No law is going to change that.
Storytime
I want to end this article with a personal story. The friend that told me about libertarianism was visiting with me at a mutual friend’s home recently. We were outside talking for hours, going from subject to subject, and we seemed to agree on many things, even though we found out our personal beliefs were opposite of each other. We ended up bringing up the main two touchy subjects of politics and religion like I have in this article (The conversation we had that day is part of what inspired this article). The girlfriend of ours started changing her body language and shutting down. She became very sensitive and said she did not like talking politics.
We tried to assure her that we were not like most conservative Christians; we did not believe in using our beliefs to bludgeon her over the head. We believed that ideas could be shared between people, we thought that our peeps, the Christian conservatives, had been very politically abusive of people with her beliefs (in mostly goodwill, but just mislead). No matter how well we explained our point, she could not comprehend that conservative Christians could believe in allowing non-religious people to live their non-Christian non-converted lives. She just went into back peddling and guilt mode and tried to change the subject.
If you are the kind of person that agrees with us, that no moral/religious view should be weaponized against other views, welcome to the party. As one of my buddies says, “In the mind of the libertarian, the only true and real libertarian is one’s self.” Aka libertarianism is not a narrow collectivist ideology like the Democrats or Republicans. We are bound together in our love for freedom. So come on in, a person that does not like politics; we do not like it either. If the government were not prone to overstep the legitimate boundaries of its true role, we would never need to discuss this subject at all.
Tim Bankes II
Tim is a Christian author. His worldview that informs his writing is Calvinist, Baptist, and Libertarian. His main series is his Christian picture book series, "About God for Kids", where he discusses the attributes of God in a way kids can digest. He also wrote a Christian Romance novel, libertarian book for beginners, and Christian coloring books. He graduated with a Bachelor's in Biblical Studies from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
He has written a book on freedom called “Are You Free” (If you are into listening to books I have it in audio also, Are You Free Audiobook )and he has written multiple children’s books about God. Be Sure to check out the podcast version of the blog, Labor for Truth Podcast. And check out “The Truth About” Youtube Channel. You can find his works at his amazon author page, https://amazon.com/author/timbankes. He even has a free digital ebook on how God is the creator. Get your free copy today at, Greater Creator .Also If you are into Christian Fiction, he has made his first book in his Futuristic Christian Fiction series free, Her Dying Wish
Some of my other favorite books on these subjects that are great for beginners are: