Or vs And

Left or Right

Republican or Democrat

Liberal or Conservative

Religious or Atheist

The problem with these labels is the way the word "or" separates them.
Mainstream media chooses the angle in which a story will be portrayed.
Christians take a stand for righteousness and have difficulty separating sin from sinner.
Liberals and conservatives want to force people to adopt their private lifestyle in the public arena.

Let me explain who I am politically and personally. I am a registered republican and a conservative Christian. At the same time, when I consider others, I think like a libertarian. My lifestyle choice is my decision and I believe others have the right to choose their own personal lifestyle.

"Why am I not a registered libertarian?" you may ask. The reason is that we have allowed a very restrictive political system that does not want to respectfully recognize any third party. If I could vote in a primary for a libertarian, and that person would received equal recognition from our mainstream media, I would. See my blog "Color by Number"  to help you understand.

The word libertarian scares some people. To the person on the left or right, it seems like their decisions conflict with personal beliefs. Those who are libertarians seem to get a little emotional in their expression. They have a tendency to scream and yell when their rights, or the rights of others, are being violated. They are very passionate for each individual and react the same way a mother responds when her child runs into the street. Over all, what seems to be contradictory beliefs is looking at each issue as defending freedom "or" restricting freedom.

As expressed in our Declaration of Independence, libertarians believe that all men, have rights endowed by their Creator. These rights, not given by man, are removed by man when laws are passed to restrict them. The only time that the government should be involved in a persons life is when that individual violates the rights of another person.

For example, creating a dam across your property removes water from all others down stream, violating the rights of other property owners. So does dumping pollutants into the same stream making the water unusable. In this case the government has the right to come to the defense of all who have been affected, returning the rights of the individuals downstream and forming a reasonable punishment (Eighth Amendment) for the one who restricted those rights.

An example of government overstepping its boundaries is the idea of a marriage licence. Even though this seems like a little thing, this does give government a choice on a subject that should have never be theirs to begin with. This is a decision between 2 people and the official (church or public) that agrees to marry them. Instead of both sides of this issue having the ability to make a personal decision, we allowed our government to go after churches and businesses who refuse to encourage same sex marriages.

Roe vs Wade is another area where rights are being restricted. The rights of the child are being violated by not allowing them to live.

The idea of being a libertarian lines up with the foundation of how our government was originally established. We can have different lifestyles, communities, and beliefs but still respect one another as individuals. The idea of the libertarian also allows government to swiftly intervene when a lifestyle, community or beliefs violates the rights of another individual. In this case, the government is not restricting freedom, but defending it.

Even though this opens opportunity of people to make unwise decisions, it keeps hearts open to the Truth. An example of this thought is the internet. Even thought it has opened huge areas of illegal and immoral activity, we still utilize the good it can do and appreciate the open source of expression that allows me to write this blog. In other countries these expressions would get me arrested and in some, killed.

As expressed my blog "How Much Do You Know"  we live in the greatest time and have the greatest government system for reaching the lost. I want many future generations to live in a country where they are free to express their love of Christ without government intervention.

Libertarian-ism is not the answer to all of our problems. We need to continue to seek the Lord and his direction for our country.

On the other hand, this is the best system to respect the rights of one another as:

Left and Right

Republican and Democrat

Liberal and Conservative

Religious and Atheist