What Kind Of "Christians" Are These People

My great-grandmother was wont to say "There's nothing like a 'good Christian' to work up a powerful hate." I wish it weren't true, but with the doings of the Westboro Baptist Church and stories like this Interracial Couple Banned From Kentucky Church my wishes appear to be far from fulfillment.

"In a move to 'promote greater unity' among its body and the Pike County community it serves, a small Kentucky church voted to ban interracial couples from membership and from participating in certain worship activities, Kentucky.com reports."

Opponents of gay marriage have claimed that if we allow gays to marry we will head down a slippery slope that will start will allowing polygamous marriages and end with pedophiles, zoophiles and necrophiliacs 'marrying' their preferred partner. Are we seeing them traveling the slippery slope in the other direction? Will they try to overturn Loving v. Virginia next? Can we imagine Jesus' reaction to this sort of thing? Would he embrace the congregation of the Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church (ironic name, that) or would he cast them out like the money changers at the temple?

I am sure if you search the Bible carefully enough you can find justification for all of your hatred and petty bigotries, but the Christian God I learned about in church was a loving God. A God whose son dined with sinners and tax collectors, who held out his hands in protection over an adulteress, saying "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." The vengeful God, the angry God is the God of the Old Testament. The God of the New Testament, which was supposed to supersede the Old, that God is a loving, compassionate tolerant God who would never turn away any who honestly wished to worship him, no matter their skin color, no matter the color of their lifemate.

Some might ask "but what does this have to do with libertarianism?" Good question, I'm glad you asked! At its core, I believe libertarianism is about tolerance and acceptance, reminiscent of the old Pagan saying: "An it harm none, do as you will." You want to smoke tobacco or pot? As long as it isn't harming me or my property, go ahead. You want to drink til you puke, fornicate til you pass out, eat paté de foie gras for breakfast lunch and dinner? As long as it isn't harming me or my property, go ahead. As a libertarian I am willing to tolerate any behavior that does not harm me or my property. In For Us The Living Robert Heinlein postulated a future United States very different from the one we live in today. The root cause of that change was a simple Constitutional amendment which stated:

"Every citizen is free to perform any act which does not hamper the equal freedom of another. No law shall forbid the performance of any act, which does not damage the physical or economic welfare of any other person. No act shall constitute a violation of a law valid under this provision unless there is such damage, or immediate present danger of such damage resulting from that act."

The ultimate freedom is the freedom to be left alone. Left alone to worship at my community church and left alone to fall in love with whomever my heart desires.