More room at the table

One of the things that happens if you watch politics enough is that you can agree with people you used to disagree with, without even changing your mind. It happened over the War in Iraq, as you had the old school Bushies (from his dad’s time) and the hard right isolationists saying that the war was a bad idea because it proposed an unworkable doctrine.

I am on record (if you dig through the archive here…and I keep meaning to finally update the main page, but I barely have time to blog any more…but I digress) as saying that the biggest problem with the Bush Doctrine is that it doesn’t make plans for “After the big touchdown.”

So, as I’ve watched Andrew Sullivan’s posts show his turn from Bushie to Independent conservative, it’s fascinating to watch how he has come around to the view many of us Liberal Libertarians have had for a long time: The convergence of Religion and Politics is wrong for both.

The money quote:

The problem with Christianity for those who seek earthly power is that Jesus explicitly renounced such power. Socialism and left-liberalism and "compassionate conservative" are really devices with which the state assumes the moral obligations of the individual - and increasingly robs the individual of the resources to be charitable herself. Christianism - of both left and right - is not just a variation of Christianity. It's an attempt to coopt Christianity to empower the political leader. That's why the politicians like it: it gives them the moral highground, and more money, and eventually more power. All of which leads to less freedom and less genuine faith.

Nice to see you at the table Andrew. Too bad you weren’t there 8 years ago when many of us were pointing out Bush’s “My favorite philosopher is Jesus” statement was putting chills up our spines.

BTW, us Liberal Libertarians have often held that a Government program to help people isn't charity, it's protect against the Capitalism system, which is as flawed as most any other system. I, of course, learned it at a young age playing Monopoly, but some people have trouble understanding the lesson that without Government Controls, in a capitalist system, money inevitably flows upward, creating a permanent underclass, which undermines our society. I also remember hearing about it in Sunday School, but I didn't go to Republican Free Market Church like the ones that seem to be springing up like Football stadiums.

And since I'm starting to wander all over the place, I'll just stop and try to come up with a good way to put my thoughts on this into a coherent form.