A friend recently shared this dialogue with us here at TPOL:

We’ve encountered this attitude for decades, as followers of the Messiah (Jesus the Christ). And not just from “secular people:” people in denominations sometimes have a similar attitude.

But we’ve also encountered a very similar situation with many people with different political philosophies (or just ideas) other than libertarian. Especially those who reject the ideas of free-market anarchism. Sometimes it is precisely analogous to the above. But other times, it is the other side of the coin:

Non-libertarian: You want it to be legal to do X.
Lover of liberty: Yes, it shouldn’t be legal to do X. You should be free to do X.

Non-libertarian: So you are promoting doing X. You are saying it is good to do X. You may even want to do X yourself!
Lover of liberty: No, I think that it is wrong to do X. But I believe that you should make that decision, not have politicians and bureaucrats decide for you.

Non-libertarian: So you want me to do X even though you think it is bad for me. You must hate me.
Lover of liberty: No, I don’t want you to do X. I may even try to persuade you that it is wrong to do X. I want what is best for you and others. But I do not believe I should force you to not do something unless you are physically aggressing against me or others. Otherwise, you’re free to do whatever you wish.

Non-libertarian: Says one of two things: (1) You are just a hypocritical, hateful, stuck-in-the-mud, right-wing, extremist. Or (2) You are a hypocrite and want to do X but don’t want to admit it.

No doubt many readers have had similar conversations.

It is sometimes difficult for people to understand the difference between advocating for the right to do something, versus advocating for doing something.

What can we do about it? As in the scripts above, we can (and indeed should) explain the difference. Sometimes time and time again. And behaving accordingly. It is an important part of teaching people to love and live in liberty, to attain to regaining the liberty that all people are entitled to.

The other side of the coin? There will constantly be people who argue long and loud that “this is one thing that you have to have government do.” And advocates that want to convince us to endorse one or another scheme that empowers government more. Once again, we must be able to answer them. We may believe that something “would be nice” but not at the expense of liberty.

(For us here at TPOL, these are great examples of why being a libertarian (small case; lover of liberty) is the only political philosophy we see as compatible with serving the Lord: New Testament christianity. Not most of the denominations and sects we see today that claim to be “christian” but instead are allied with human government and with hierarchies and philosophies that are at heart incompatible with what Jesus and His apostles taught. We realize that many libertarians are not “people of faith” (as some christians will describe themselves). We respect them and can work with them in the cause of liberty. (Yes, even those who think that YHWH (God) is a mean old man up in the sky (or even an “imaginary” mean old guy up in the sky.) Why? Because we agree with them on the importance of human liberty, and we know that they will no more try to force us to accept their view than we will force them to accept ours.)