Why Christians Must Be Liberals

To commit a moral act requires three things. First, the act must be itself good in its effects. Second, one must do it entirely of one’s own volition. Third, one must be fully aware of its nature.

And the same three considerations apply to sin.

Has anyone else noticed that this is in itself a powerful moral argument for limited government? Free will requires freedom. The more choices the government takes from us, the more it does in our behalf, the fewer the opportunities to do either good or evil. Given that we were created with free will as moral beings, this is a negation of our worth and our significance as humans.

Freedom means the freedom to act morally.

Therefore, while government is needed to maintain social order, to protect the weak from the strong, to prevent acts obviously and intrinsically evil, it should never intrude where there is not a compelling reason to do so.

To “legislate morality” is a contradiction in terms.