Category Archives: Religion

UPDATE II: Judge Andrew Napolitano: Some Libertarian (A Good Lawyer Counters)

Individual Rights, libertarianism, Paleolibertarianism, Private Property, Religion

The much-lauded Judge Andrew Napolitano, a feature speaker on some heavy hitting libertarian forums; quoted ad nauseam by these outlets too—does not appear to believe in the most basic of liberties: absolute freedom of association and the rights of private property. The Judge—supposedly a libertarian who should support the spirit of a law in furtherance of freedom of association and property rights—objects to giving individuals who want to exercise these individual rights, however, obnoxious, a legal standing to argue their case in a court of law.

WATCH.

UPDATED I: FACEBOOK THREAD & The Cult of Personality.

I suggest people listen again to the Judge. Moreover, it’s so stupid the way these TV personae acquire their fans who will defend them no matter. I’ve been following the Judge long enough to know he is a Reason-type, left-libertarian, who supports Civil Wrongs legislation. Look at the hot mess he made here.

UPDATE II: Jim Ostrowski is excellent, as always. Listen to a good lawyer as opposed a blowhard TV persona:

As I understand Indiana law, the only plausible libertarian position is to support the (very wimpy) religious defense statute. All laws banning private discrimination are to be opposed. This statute carves out a small slice of liberty in an otherwise loathsome legal regime. Liberty always trumps equality, including equal protection of the laws. It does sound like the Judge opposes this statute which position is NOT libertarian.

Also, as I argued on my page, the liberty required to carry out one’s religious obligations is far more that the right not to be shot on the way to church. The pioneers of liberty, many of whom were deeply religious, understood this and supported liberty in the fullest sense of the word (the right to do what you wish with what you own) precisely in order to meet one’s one religious obligations.

Further thoughts on Indiana–

Sandy Beach, WBEN.com, is a social moderate but fiscal conservative who opposes a religious exemption to civil rights laws. He appears not to realize that the very same principle that allows progressives to force business firms to serve this or that designated group, that is, the state’s right to force its alleged values on individuals, ALSO justifies all the taxes and regulatiions that Sandy presumably objects to, e.g., Obamacare. Liberty is seamless and so is progressivism!

Sandy made the point that being forced to do business with this or that group doesn’t threaten their religion. He misses the point. To be able to carry out one’s religious views, one needs liberty in all things, e.g., to be charitable, one needs the fruits of one’s labor. To raise your children properly, one needs the fruits of one’s labor as well. To visit the sick or prisoners, one needs time, energy and even money. All state coercion interferes with one’s religious moral duties.

Now that the progs have made quick work of several uber-conservative politicians, they smell blood in the water and will now go after religious groups more aggressively. You may laugh but I know the progressive mind fairly well. They start out attacking a thing but soon end up banning it.

Ron Paul On The Indiana Law

Ann Coulter, Private Property, Religion, Ron Paul

Ron Paul on the right of private property vs. the demand to be served; the freedom to associate at will vs. forced association:

Although there are differences between your average housebroken conservative and his emphasis on religious freedom, as opposed the libertarian emphasis on property rights and the right of the individuals who own and control these businesses to use their property as they wish—Ann Coulter is thoughtful on the topic.

Watch her.

Thoughts On Flash Forgiveness

Christianity, Judaism & Jews, Justice, Morality, Pop-Culture, Religion, The Zeitgeist

“Thoughts on Flash Forgiveness” is the current column, now on WND. In it I find myself in some agreement with New York Times columnist David Brooks. An excerpt:

… Brooks’ trouble is the breakneck speed in which he shifted into a discussion of forgiveness [for NBC’s Brian Williams]. Is this not premature? Brooks, moreover, is also plain wrong in claiming that transgressors are treated “barbarically” when they “violate a public trust.” In a culture steeped in moral relativism, this is simply untrue. Paris Hilton debuted her public life with a self-adoring pornographic video. It only increased her profile. Likewise Kim Kardashian, who has been bottoms-up ever since her maiden performance. Her sibling, as vulgar, has visited the White House. Barack Obama lied intentionally when he vowed, “You can keep your healthcare if you want to,” but all was forgiven and forgotten. The president’s latest lies are that ISIS is un-Islamic and that “Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding.” These fables are cut out of whole cloth. The same goes for the web of lies “W” wove on the matter of WMD in Iraq. On and on.

Still, boilerplate Brooks is tempered by some solid points about the need to perform penitence before being granted clemency …

Read the rest. “Thoughts on Flash Forgiveness” is now on WND.

‘Humanitarian Corridor’ Requires Heroic Efforts

Christianity, Foreign Policy, Iraq, Religion

They are “cultural anomalies,” wrote Washington Monthly correspondent Laura Rozen, with respect to Qubad Talabani and Kurdistan, the region he represents. “His most distinctive attribute may be that he represents perhaps the sole triumph to emerge from postwar Iraq: a relatively peaceful region free of foreign troops, eager for American protection and open for business.”

Similar information was imparted in “Bush Betrays The Kurds,” back in 2007:

The Kurds are the only sect in Iraq that has been consistently loyal to America—the Peshmergas assisted American forces in the north during the invasion. Not one American soldier has been killed in that region. Kurds are also the only group to have made good on their newly found freedom. Monocultural Iraqi Kurdistan is an oasis in the democratic desert that is Iraq, “where business is booming and Americans are beloved.
“When visiting Kurdistan,” … “one can see nation-building wherever one looks—Kurds are building their country day by day. There are more cranes here than minarets and there’s a run on cement.” No wonder the constructive Kurds want nothing to do with the destructive Iraqi Arabs, who’ve persecuted them in years past and have now turned on one another.

Talabani, a most affable and intelligent Kurdish statesman, spoke to CNN simpleton Wolf Blitzer. Refusing to harp on legalistic definitions of genocide, Talabani stressed that absent assistance, the Yazidis, who’ve “maintained pre-Christian beliefs and practices from Nineveh and Babylon,” would be doomed (as has been the fate of the Christians of Iraq).

It would be essential to fashion a humanitarian corridor through which to facilitate a safe passage for the besieged on Mount Sinjar, advised Talabani.

Where are the Europeans in all this? The Israelis? The head of the Vatican? (Another simpleton, the new Holy See is no match to his predecessors. In fact, Jorge Bergoglio is more of a bumpkin than expected. Still, people love a populist, socialist fool.) Can’t the Vatican afford to cobble together a private army of crusader-mercenaries to pave the way out—and off the mountain—for these Iraqi innocents?

Fabricating a “humanitarian corridor” to allow the Yazidi safe passage will require the heroic efforts of other human beings.