Libertarianism is a political and social philosophy that upholds liberty as its core value. In practice, this may look something like “leave me alone to do what I want… I make my own choices”. It’s a wonderful idea if you want to put up solar panels without endless miles of bureaucratic red tape. It’s probably not a wonderful idea if you want raise cattle in your townhouse complex or purchase a battle tank for recreational use.
Murray Rothbard coined the term ‘non-aggression principle’ (NAP) to describe the natural limits of libertarianism. The NAP states that “no man or group of men may aggress against the person or property of anyone else”. In other words, my liberty should not aggress your liberty. Thus, libertarianism only works if you and I accept and respect each other’s liberty. Though I may be free to steal your piano accordion, that would be an aggression against your property.
When God put Adam in charge of the Garden of Eden, He told Adam that he was free to eat any fruit from any tree, except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:15-17 (NIV)
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
The consequence of eating from the forbidden tree? Death. Adam certainly had the freedom to eat from that tree (we know the story…), but the consequence was spiritual death. True freedom, then, is not necessarily ‘free-without-limits’. Human scholars admit this too, as we have seen in the example of the NAP. Rather, true freedom must occur in a particular framework that can sustain it. Freedom left unchecked has every potential to lead to destruction. Add to that a sinful nature and you have a recipe for disaster.
It is important to differentiate between ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’. Freedom refers to an individual’s ability to act without restraints. In other words, to do what you like, when you like, and how you like, without impediment. Liberty improves this notion by adding certain limits, such as the NAP. Therefore, in the strictest sense, liberty is freedom with appropriate societal limits. Liberty is ‘good’ freedom. Theologically speaking, the most important limit to freedom is God and the most important framework for liberty, or ‘good’ freedom, is God’s moral code. Creation cannot aggress the Creator.
Think of the 10 Commandments: the first half concerns our relationship with God and the second half concerns our relationship with men. Jesus summarizes these in Matthew 22:37-40:
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (ESV)
The greatest framework for true liberty, true ‘good’ freedom, is love. But not just any kind of love. The specific agape love for which God has set the precedent. He loved first and showed us how to love. Without His love, we cannot ever know how to love properly.
1 John 4:7-11 (ESV)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Nothing good can come from our flesh, our sinful nature. We could aspire to live with liberty as our most fundamental right, but on what grounds do we establish limitations in order for everyone to enjoy liberty? Without God’s moral code, summarized in love, we have nothing sustainable. Who then can say that I am wrong to play loud music at 1 o’clock in the morning? Why should I care about my neighbour? In reality, the world does not know God or His love. The world does not have a framework in which to truly espouse liberty. Libertarianism is impractical for the simple reason that man is governed by his sinful nature and true liberty is not possible without the framework of agape love.
However, as Paul says in Galatians 5:1, Christ has set us free for freedom. The covenant of grace established by our Heavenly King and the law of the Spirit, which now governs our hearts, frees us from requiring justification by works. In Christ, we are no longer bound to our sinful nature and we experience the truest freedom of all: eternal life in the presence of and fellowship with God Almighty. This is true libertarianism: living perfectly free in the confines of God’s magnificent love without any interference from sin, dysfunctional governments, or cantankerous neighbours!