Lew Rockwell: Bionic Mosquito: 'Liberalism and Christianity: Liberal Christianity'

Source:Disqus- Christian-Conservatives vs. Christian Liberals. 

Source:The New Democrat

“Leftism: From de Sade and Marx to Hitler and Marcuse, by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn (EvKL) examines what he calls “Real Liberalism” in chapter 13 of this book. I think it is worthwhile to capture his understanding of this political and economic philosophy.

Let us look at the verbal meaning. The root is liber (“free”). The term liberalis (and liberalitas) implies generosity in intellectual and material matters.” 

From Lew Rockwell

Liberalism and Christianity implies at least that they're two different things when the fact is there's a fundamentalist and even theocratic version of Christianity way over on the Right, the Christian-Right in America represents that movement. There's a social democratic version of Christianity way over on the Left, that has been lead by people like Reverend Martin L. King, Reverend Jesse and many other left-wing preachers. And there is a liberal version of Christianity that is less government centric than the social democratic version and even the fundamentalist version. That is more about treating people the way you would want to be treated. About respect and earning the respect of others by how you treat people. 

As someone who is not a Christian of any sect or a member of any other religious sect, but who is also not an Atheist, but an Agnostic I actually agree with some of the Ten Commandments.

Thou shalt not kill: meaning we shouldn't take innocent lives.

Thou shalt not steal: any moral person can agree that theft and burglary are wrong and immoral.

The Golden Rule is not a Ten Commandment, but it's a great rule and gets back to one of my points about Liberal Christianity having to deal with respect which is do unto others as you would have done to you. Treat people the way you want them to treat you. Don't live life thinking you're superior to everyone else and that it should be someone else's honor just to be in your presence. And therefor you can get away with being a jerk ( to be generous ) around other people simply because you're better than them and they don't want to lose you.

Live and let live: here's a moral value that Liberals and Libertarians at least can fall in love with. Also goes to Economics Professor Walter Williams broader definition of property rights which also goes to the liberal value of free choice. Which is free people should be aloud to live freely and don't need big government trying to manage their personal affairs for them and telling them how they should live. Short of hurting innocent people with our personal freedom and choices.

Goes back to two of the Ten Commandments that I mentioned earlier which are thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not steal. Add thou shalt not abuse others either physically or verbally. Thou shalt not rape would be another good example of this. Thou shalt not hurt innocent people with what they're doing especially children and women. The second one some might believe is sexist, but so what.

I'm not a Christian of any sect, but someone with my liberal values could get into a liberal version of Christianity instead of Christians trying to use government to manage people's lives for them and punish people simply because of how they communicate or what they do with their personal times and lives because they see those choices as immoral. Or the Christian-Left, trying to turn government into some national charity and perhaps even replacing charity with some national welfare or charity state using it to take care of the poor by taxing the rich, instead of using government to empower the less-fortunate to be able to take care of themselves. If there was a Liberal-Christian sect like I mentioned, I could become a Christian myself.

Lew Rockwell Show: John V. Denson- Strategy For Peace

Source:Lew Rcokwell Show- John W. Denson.

Source:The New Democrat

I'm not going to touch the thing that John Denson said implying that Britain, started the war against Germany. That is just the type of thing that you have to listen to when you listen to Lew Rockwell. As well as things like the CIA and Lyndon Johnson assassinated President John Kennedy.

But as far as what this is supposed to be about a Strategy For Peace, looking at it from a Liberal Internationalist perspective the policy for achieving that I believe is fairly simple. Harder to execute and perhaps even harder to get passed. But at risk of quoting Ronald Reagan, you do that by being strong at home. You don't waste tax dollars on the military, but you're strong enough to the point both militarily and economically that another country would be crazy to want to attack you, or attack one of your embassies oversees. Because they know you could either destroy them militarily, take out their current regime, or economically bankrupt you, or a combination of all of those things.

Instead of trying to police the world by yourself, or taking our regimes simply because you don't like them, (2003 Iraq War comes to mind) you work with your allies to keep potentially dangerous, or dangerous regimes at bay and in a box. You work with the people on the ground who you can work with in those states to see if they can knock the current regime out of power. You also incentivize those rogue states to improve their behavior. To not be so authoritarian with their own people. To not invade other states, to not fund terrorists. And you work with your allies so these rogue states don't become so strong that they become such a problem that a military option could never be on the table.

A lesson from the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. Don't attack and invade countries that aren't threats to you. Don't try to fight for people who aren't willing to fight for themselves. Some countries are destined to fail and fall simply because the people there aren't willing to do what it takes to see that their country can succeed, or at least become stable. And that is when you sort of have to let nature take its course. Even if that means a new authoritarian regime that you don't like comes to power there. Like the Communists in Vietnam. We stayed out of Cuba for the most part at least during their civil war and we should've done the same thing in Vietnam and perhaps Korea as well.

Peace is not easy which means it is not easy to achieve. America has its own experience with their own civil war when the Unionists  won the battles and the war. But where the Confederates won the aftermath and whatever peace that both sides were able to achieve. With the brutality that the Confederates were able to get way with against the former African slaves. But you can achieve peace when you don't try to do everything yourself. You play your part and allow and demand that your allies do the same thing. You live by the standards and human rights that you say you want for the rest of the world in your own country. And you're strong enough to make it clear that it would dangerous if not suicidal to try to attack you.