I come from a fundamentalist Christian background. God said it, I believe it, and that settles it. And of course I COULDN'T be wrong about what God said or its application. That ideology told me to stay in an abusive marriage. It told me that any depression was just a spiritual problem. It told me that I could never ride alone in a car with someone of the opposite sex and all kinds of other things that I am sure you could imagine.
I am over that! Or am I? There has been more than one time that I have stopped and said “Oh shit, I went from Christian fundamentalist to Libertarian fundamentalist!” That’s understandable during the “cage stage” (that first year when you first discover liberty and would do less harm if you were just locked in a cage) but not so understandable after that.
What is interesting is that the word “fundamentalist” is not a bad thing. It means one believes in the fundamentals of something. But it has come to mean something else - a connotation that YOU have it down pat; there’s nothing to learn; and you must lead everyone else to the light--usually in the most abrasively fanatical way possible.
Now one may think I am referring to ----- the dreaded “radicals” or “anarchists” here. I’m not. We have our fair share of Moderate Fundamentalists-- with their True Way, and their hit list of Heathens. We see them calling for the heads of anyone who DARED to disagree with them on the Issue of the Day. As if there could be no good reason - or good faith mistaken reason - or different perspective.
And if you are a radical---- well I am not just referring to Them. I am also referring to Us. We have the same issue. There are no grey areas. There is no reason for disagreement other than wanting to water down the party and crap on principles. That’s it. Rothbard said it, I believe it, that settles it.
##We all need to get over it. Yes there are some truly bad actors. And yes, you need to figure that out and oppose. But that isn’t done over one issue and it isn’t done by refusing to acknowledge that others may disagree for honorable reasons. Not everything is so black and white. Or black and yellow.##
I am still a Christian. There are some from my old crowd who don’t think so because I affirm gay and trans folks and think parts of the Old Testament are downright revolting if taken “literally.” I am a radical Libertarian. There are some of my current crowd who don’t think so because I don’t think that being as rude and insulting and cold as possible is a sign of purity or honour or worthy of reward and emulation.
Here is the big reveal: that is human condition--and at the end of the day, we will all be a little bit right, a little bit wrong, and mostly somewhere in between. At the end of the day it is the human connections that matter.
At least that is where I am at today. I could be wrong. And so could you. So let’s meet up for a drink sometime.
