Things I've Said

Category: Politics

  • Why Christians Should Be Against Drug Prohibition

    I don’t use illegal drugs, nor do I promote their use.  But I am very much against the prohibition of drugs.  There are many reasons for this but this short article will address two reasons that I think Christians in particular should be against drug prohibition.

    The first reason applies to naturally occurring drugs, such as marijuana:

    Genesis 1:11-12
    And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

    It is one thing to disapprove of the use of marijuana as an intoxicant, it is quite another thing to make the plant illegal to grow or possess.  The plant is good, and has many practical uses. If God thinks it’s good, that should be enough reason for Christians to believe that it is good.

    Next, free will:

    Genesis 2:16-17
    And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

    Most Christians believe that God gave us the ability to choose between good an evil because He wanted to man to love Him.  He put man in the Garden of Eden, put a tree in the garden, and told man not to eat from it.  Without that tree, there was no free will.  Without free will, we could not be moral agents – we could be neither bad nor good.  And without free will we could we love God.

    How can man be greater than God?  If God allows people to be free to choose between right and wrong, surely it is not man’s place to try to take away that freedom.

    The laws of man should punish man for interfering with the rights of others, but not prevent a man from making bad choices.

  • Who’s for Big Government?

    Republicans claim that Democrats worship government, and that they willingly sacrifice freedom in favor of big government.  Many democrats seem to think of Obama as a paternal figure, at least, and perhaps an anointed priest.  Then again, the Republican adoration for the president and government intrusion, and government power was nothing less than religious fervor during Bush’s reign.  And they still go weak in the knees when Reagan’s name is mentioned aloud.

    Republicans claim that they want a smaller, less powerful government, then gorge military and law enforcement with every dollar and every honor that they can. While screaming about how dangerous big government is, Republicans are desperate to provide inexhaustible resources to the parts of the government that actually have the ability to take your freedom.

    While proclaiming how much they love individual liberty, Republicans side with the government every time government agents beat or shoot some suspect. Liberty loving Republicans will curse the government for prohibiting dumping toxins in a river, then claim “He should have complied!” is a good enough reason for the government to kill a person.

    From where I sit, it looks like both Democrats and Republicans love big, powerful government.  Both parties want to give more money and power to the government, they just have different agendas for how the government should use those resources.

  • Walmart is Better than Government

    Have you ever noticed that Walmart never fails you? I don’t like Walmart, for a lot of reasons. But I know that every time I go into their stores, I’m going to find the toothbrush that I need, tee shirts with some ridiculous slogan, and a baseball bat.

    Why does Walmart serve all my needs, every time? Is it because they love me? Is it because they are concerned about my welfare? No, it is because they want my money. If they don’t have what I want, I will go across the street to Target. And once I go to Target, I won’t go back to Walmart again until Target fails me.  Walmart has a very strong incentive to always have the things I want.

    This is the funny thing about human nature. Although the government claims to be there to help us, it has very little incentive to actually give us what we want. Meanwhile, we know full well that Walmart is not in business to help us. They are in business for their own personal gain. Yet, they struggle far more energetically to give us what we want than the government does. And Walmart pays it’s employees with money that we freely give, not with taxes that are taken from us with the threat of physical force.

    Maybe it’s time that we stop putting our hope in presidents, or the federal government, or even the state and local governments. Maybe there really is something to this whole “free market” idea.