Free is Beautiful by Randy England uses the scriptures, the writings of the Saints, and the Catechism to show why Catholicism is essentially libertarian.
The Angelic Doctor taught that criminal punishment “belongs to those sins chiefly whereby one’s neighbor is injured. Thus," he explains, "human law prohibits murder, theft and such like."
Randy England is a writer, retired criminal defense lawyer and member of St. Peter Catholic Church in Jefferson City, Missouri. He is a former prosecutor and grew up near St. Louis, Missouri.
Catholics who object to libertarianism tend to base their objections upon misunderstandings about what libertarianism is. Complaint #1: There is more to life than liberty One complaint is that libertarianism is insufficient as a guide to Christian life. In other words, the critic claims (rightly) that the non-aggression principle is not the answer to every
Discrimination laws—as applied to private parties—play on the fear that, without government to keep people from favoring one person or group over another, social progress would be set back by decades. They fear that protected groups would be excluded from jobs, schools, neighborhoods, and places of business. The criteria that foster inclusion in the so-called
Given a choice, ought we look first to peace or to war? To agreement or to strife? To freedom or compulsion? The Christian libertarian will ask this question of his fellow Christians: When the community has a problem to solve or has a worthy goal to reach, do we demand a solution which requires state
Human society is composed of individuals. They form numerous associations for survival, companionship and every other human need. Whether the group is a family, a church or any other co-operative effort, every institution derives its purpose and original authority from its individual members. Society has an order that must be respected; an order than does
The last presidential election (between a boorish, unprincipled billionaire and an unlikable, war-mongering party hack) seemed to mark a new low in a process that purports to choose the best possible rulers for a great nation. Last week the president tweeted a warning to Joe Biden: “Welcome to the race, Sleepy Joe. I only hope
There was once a boy who was a fan of old gangster movies—too much of a fan, it seems, because he developed a fear that grown-ups were hiding some awful truth. He began to suspect there was this huge criminal gang that forced all adults to pay “protection money.” He wondered how old he would
Saints Thomas Aquinas and Augustine taught that an unjust law is no law at all: “As Augustine says, ‘that which is not just seems to be no law at all‘: wherefore the force of a law depends on the extent of its justice. Now in human affairs, a thing is said to be just, from
The question I want to ask is: Having given us free will, did God intend that some men should sit on his throne, in his stead, and enforce his will by violence upon other men? Clearly, Jesus did not commission his Church to use compulsion to make men believe or behave, or even to pay
In Jesus’s comments on the temple tax, Jesus noted that neither he (the divine son of God), nor his followers (sons of God by adoption) were obligated to pay the tax. Then he instructed Peter to pay it anyway to avoid offending the authorities. At the time, Jesus had bigger fish to fry and had
In “Jesus and Taxes: The Temple Tax,” we examined the first of Jesus’ statements about the duty to pay taxes. In that instance, Jesus began by noting that he was not obligated to pay the tax, but then instructed St. Peter to pay the tax for both Peter and himself. This instruction to comply with
