THIS IS A CRUCIAL TOPIC RIGHT NOW! ~MFP
Imagine that the United States had had a system of public churching for 230 years, a system in which the federal government owned and operated public churches alongside private churches. This state-run system of public churches would be run by government employees, including ministers, and be financed through taxation. Prayers and prayer books would be devised by the federal Department of Religion. A compulsory church-attendance law would mandate that all children in the nation be taken to either a private or public church for services every Sunday.
Imagine also an ongoing, longterm crisis in religion. Political conflicts over who would be employed as ministers, what prayers and prayer books would be used, what people should wear to church, and what time church services should be held. The services are highly regimented, with schoolchildren bored or, even worse, detesting God. When people ask what can be done to resolve the religion crisis, the most popular response is: Tax and spend more money to fix the system, including paying higher salaries to church personnel in order to attract better people into the public church system.
One day, a libertarian shows up at a public church meeting and says: “I’ve got an idea on how to resolve the public-church crisis. Let’s just separate church and state. No more governmental involvement in religion at any level of government — federal, state, or local. No more public church buildings. No more church taxes. No more compulsory-attendance laws. A total separation of church and state.
You can imagine people’s reaction: “Are you crazy? Why, if people weren’t forced to send their children to church, the entire nation would end up being immoral. Before long, everyone would be hating God, maybe even worshipping Satan. And where would the poor go to church? Only the rich would have churches to attend. You’ll never convince people to go along with such a radical, extreme idea. You might as well give it up and just help us come up with ways to reform our public-church system. We’ve definitely got some problems here but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
Healthcare liberty
Isn’t that the response of many people today to the libertarian idea of separating healthcare and the state? The thought of getting rid of the FDA, the Center for Disease Control, federal planning, management, and regulation of health care, medical licensure, and Medicare and Medicaid scares some people to death….Read More