Libertarianism versus the Modern Pharisees, part 2

In the previous post, I started talking about the ways libertarianism is often attacked for being immoral, un-Christian, and unfit for society. Some people want to argue that moral path, the Christian path is to claim authority over other people, to use the authority of government to place legal burdens on other people. My response was (and is) that no, that is not the moral and Christian way. It is not the example laid out for us in the Bible. Today, I will talk about the idea that libertarianism is self-centered and callous, and that for this reason it is immoral or un-Christian. Spoiler Alert: I don’t agree.

Libertarianism versus the Modern Pharisees

Libertarianism. If you listen to some people, they will tell you that word, libertarianism, means selfishness and callousness, that it signifies a shallow and childish ideology that cannot address the complex problems of the complex world in which we live. Only liberal ideas, conservative ideas, progressive ideas, et cetera, can address the real and complex problems of the world. And of course, so they claim, libertarianism therefore cannot be considered compatible with the moral teachings of Christianity. Their solution? Have government do something, and by do something they mean make their moral preferences into laws. This makes them, in my opinion, equivalent to the depiction of the Pharisees seen in the Gospels of the New Testament.

Spiritual Discipline: Who Is the Greatest?

Yes, I know, this post is late. It should have been up about four days ago. Oh well. Anyway, today the topic is leadership. What sort of advice on leadership is found in the Bible? (Hey there, Dominants, you might want to pay attention.) There are a lot of lessons about leadership in the Bible, but I am going to focus on a pair of passages from the gospels. And just so you do not think the Spiritual Discipline column is somehow unrelated to the rest of the blog, I believe these passages have a bearing on how Dominants should handle leadership within D/s relationships.

Spiritual Discipline: Who Is My Neighbor?

Yes, students, it is time for another Spiritual Discipline post. Last time we covered a few things about me as a teacher of spiritual things. This time, I will transition to a full lesson from scripture. This column is still establishing a foundation (no pun intended), so I will cover a lesson I consider a fundamental one.

Spiritual Discipline: First Things First

Yes, at long last, the Liberate One online Bible study is here. It is called (as you can see above) Spiritual Discipline. No, that is not a title anyone suggested, but it is one I thought of after getting suggestions from a few readers. So thank you, readers. And since this is the first of (what I hope to be) many, I should start by explaining what this column is to be.

Project August: Day 27 – Wherein I Talk about a Problem Many Churches Have

I think I got an actual suggestion of a post on another blog. A pair of posts actually. It is an odd suggestion for this blog, but I am going to take it as a suggestion anyway. I would not have chosen these posts or their topic, but what the heckity darn? Why not? Stretching things a little never hurts. Unless you pull or overextend a muscle. That hurts. Anyway… Where was I? Oh yes… For the Tuesday, August 27, 2013, entry in Project August the topic is…

Project August: Day 24 – A Little Christian Theology

Let us speak a little today of theology. Yes, theology, more specifically Christian theology, is part of my interests too. I know, I know. Christianity, libertarianism and D/s is an odd trio of things to blog about. But I do it anyway, ignorer of ordinary that I am. Today’s topic for Project August is the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

Project August: Day 4 – Are Libertarianism and Christianity Incompatible?

Today being a Sunday and myself being a Christian, I went looking for something theological to write about. And eventually I found something. Apparently, some people consider libertarianism to be incompatible with Christianity. Obviously, I disagree. So on this Sunday, August 4, 2013, I am going to look at an objection some Christians have to libertarianism.

Christianity and D/s

As promised and at long last, I am going to address the question of how I reconcile my Christian beliefs with D/s. The first thing I want to point out is that in truth I do not believe they need to be reconciled as such. “How can that be?” you ask incredulously. Well, if you will be patient, I will explain. And by “be patient” I mean to warn you that this is going to be a long post.

The Bible, Marriage, and Well-Meaning People

Yes, I have been gone a while from this blog. I know your heart pines for my words. Life is life.

Anyway, In my rummaging around links I find here and there, I came across a link to a Huffpost Religion article by someone named Greg Carey. Under his byline, it says he is a professor at Lancaster Theological Seminary. I’m sure he is very smart and highly educated. Please do not mistake what I am about to say as a criticism of his intelligence or education. Much of what he has to say in the article certainly has merit. But there is a specific comment he makes with which I take issue.

One other passage frequently surfaces in weddings but rarely in mainline Protestant churches, the Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodists and United Church of Christ congregations that invite me to speak. Ephesians 5:22-33 commands wives to obey their husbands and husbands to love their wives. Conservative Christians may try to explain away the offense of this passage, but there’s no escaping its ugly reality. Ephesians calls wives to submit to their husbands just as children must obey their parents and slaves must obey their masters. See the larger context, Ephesians 5:21-6:9.

The “offence of this passage”, “it’s ugly reality.” I’m more offended by those kind of comments than by the passage. But I’ll come back to that in a moment.

Carey says “Ephesians calls wives to submit to their husbands just as children must obey their parents and slaves must obey their masters.” Ephesians makes no such direct comparison. At no point does Ephesians say women should obey in the manner of children or slaves. The comparison is made by Carey (and others) but not by Paul. Paul the Apostle, the author of Ephesians, is talking about relationships between people. The passage to which Carey makes reference is basically the second half of a longer passage in which Paul is talking about how believers ought to behave as they interact with other believers. I am sure it is offence to many modern eyes to see someone talk about how slaves should behave, but Paul was addressing the nature of the society in which he and the members of the church at Ephesus lived, not the society of a 21st century USA.

Which brings me back to the “offence” of Paul telling wives to obey their husbands and husbands to love their wives. It’s not an offence unless you are offended by the idea of Paul writing to the audience of his time. If you are, then you should probably also never read things like King Solomon’s Mines or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. As someone I used to know liked to say, “If you’re offended, it’s because you’re offendable.” In other words, sometimes your offence is no one’s fault but your own. I suggest this is the case with Mr.Carey and his reading of Ephesians.

And just what the heckity darn is ugly about saying that husbands should love their wives as Christ had loved all of us? Paul also says husbands should love wives as the husbands love themselves. As a husband nourishes and cherishes himself, he should do the same for his wife. How is that ugly? Carey does not say. 

Oh I know. He meant the part about wives obeying their husbands. Frankly, more women ought to try obeying and respecting their husbands. And no, I did not say women should stop thinking for themselves or remain in abusive relationships. Just because you can conflate these things does not mean you should.