Sunday, November 29, 2020

Book Review -- Faith Seeking Freedom: Libertarian Christian Answers to Tough Questions

BOOK REVIEW — Faith Seeking Freedom: Libertarian Christian Answers to Tough Questions

129 pages, by Dr. Norman Horn, Doug Stuart, Kerry Baldwin, and Dick Clark

FULL DISCLOSURES:

  • Kerry Baldwin has been a Facebook friend for several years now.

  • I don't profess to be a Christian of any denomination or sect or whatever. Organized religion and I simply don't do well together.

With those out of the way . . . .

Faith Seeking Freedom is easy reading, in that the authors don't try to cram you chock-full of data and information and jargon, such that you would feel overwhelmed by it all.

When the authors cite Biblical content, they put the citation right there in the same paragraph as the point that they're making, so you don't have to keep flipping back and forth to the end of the chapter or the end of the book. This is probably for the best where electronic versions are concerned. Also, for those inclined to have a Bible nearby to check on the authors, it's right there where you can compare and contrast the authors' points against the Bible verse(s) itself.

The authors don't attempt to take sides where the big divisions of libertarian thought occur, such as the minarchy vs. anarchy debate, or whether or not to be involved in the LP, with the exception of the abortion issue.

SPECIFIC POINTS

[Page numbers cited here are what listed is on the particular page. The actual pages on the PDF version that I used for this review will be that number, plus 10 pages.]

Chapter 2 (The Libertarian Basics, pp. 23-34) gives the reader a decent summary of the Non-Aggression Principle and how it applies to everyday life.

p. 26, part of the answer to Question #13 (How do libertarian Christians account for people who violate the non-aggression principle (NAP)?) takes on the minarchy vs. anarchy question rather well — the authors explain both sides without explicitly favoring one side or the other. (Disclosure: I personally lean towards the anarcho-capitalist side.)

p.39, Question #25 (Do libertarians believe any and every government is illegitimate?) also tackles the minarchy vs. anarchy adroitly, explaining both sides without favoring one or the other.

pp. 67-68 give a succinct and principled response to the "What about roads?" shibboleth.

OK, enough spoilers.

Do me a favor Do yourself a favor — Go and get a copy and read it for yourself.

SUMMARY

Faith Seeking Freedom is an easy-to-read, principled guide for Christians who are seeking to understand libertarianism, on par with Inclined to Liberty by Louis Carabini, The Law by Frederic Bastiat, or Down With Power by L. Neil Smith.

Go get a copy, read it, then tell your friends and family.


NOTES

  1. Reposted —

    1. Personal blogs and micro-blogs — Diaspora* / Facebook page / Flote / Gab / Goodreads / Gorf Social / Liberty.me / Minds / Pocketnet / Spreely page / Twitter / VK / Wimkin page / Wordpress / YouMe Social

    2. Albuquerque Liberty Forum — Facebook page / Spreely page

    3. KCUF Media — Facebook page / Spreely page

    4. New Mexico Libertarians — Facebook group / Facebook page / Minds group / Spreely group / Spreely page / Wimkin group / Wimkin page

    5. The Old Drunken Old Irrvelivents — Facebook page / Spreely page

    6. The Weekly SeditionFacebook page / Spreely page / Twitter / Wimkin page / Wordpress


Copyright © 2020 Mike Blessing. All rights reserved.
Produced by KCUF Media, a division of Extropy Enterprises.
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Wednesday, November 25, 2020

What is "Spaceport America" but a Political Classhole Slush-Fund?

Facebook always yields instances of the Political Classholes getting caught with their pants down and their hands in the cookie jar —

Peter St. Cyr
Tuesday, November 24, 2020 at 10:32 AM

An Independent audit confirms serious operational and management problems at Spaceport America. I repeatedly told embattled Director Dan Hicks he could not write his own public records law. This facility was constructed with taxpayer money and needs to be transparent to avoid these kinds of problems in the future. Click to read the report here: https://osa-app.org/uploads/2020/66dacc30-9870-49f4-874a-f4b26d09aaa6/Spaceport Authority - Investigation of Complaint Final Report.pdf

And what exactly has been launched from "Spaceport America" besides a few suborbital flights?

Wasn't Virgin Galactic the "anchor tenant" for whom Reichsgovernor Richardson built this particular elephante blanco?

From SpaceNews — Virgin Galactic declares Spaceport America ready for SpaceShipTwo, by Jeff Foust, 15 August 2019 —

Virgin Galactic didn't give a date for when it expects SpaceShipTwo to arrive at the spaceport — WhiteKnightTwo will return to Mojave to fly it to New Mexico — but that when it arrives the company will start with a couple of glide flights to test those upgraded flight controls and to get familiar with the airspace.

Once those are done, "we'll be ready for rocket-powered flights," he said. While there is no set number of powered test flights planned before SpaceShipTwo is ready for commercial operations, Moses noted there are currently eight hybrid rocket motors stockpiled at the spaceport.

Two other SpaceShipTwo vehicles are under construction in Mojave. Moses said the first of those two should be ready to begin flight tests in 2020.

At this rate, will Virgin Galactic be ready to launch anything by 2120?

Considering Virgin Galactic's pre-COVID glacial pace of operations where "Spaceport America" is concerned, on top of the Beer Bug-inspired shutdown mania, it's probably safe to say that 2020 is a write-off at this point.

But there's always 2021, right?

Go ahead and feel free to make that bet.

But hey, at least "Spaceport America" has a nice new lounge that Governess Chipmunk can use to host one of her COVID-non-compliant parties

For what it's worth, that State Auditor's report that St. Cyr linked to above is great fun, if you get your kicks by reading about some of the ways that the Political Classholes have fun at our expense.


NOTES

  1. Reposted —

    1. Personal blogs and micro-blogs — Blogspot / Diaspora* / Facebook page / Flote / Gab / Gorf Social / Liberty.me / Minds / Pocketnet / Spreely page / Twitter / VK / Wimkin page / Wordpress / YouMe Social

    2. Absurdist Discordian Party of New Mexico — Facebook page / Spreely page / Wimkin page

    3. Albuquerque Liberty Forum — Facebook page / Spreely page

    4. Discordian Absurdist Party of New Mexico — Facebook page / Spreely page

    5. Egg McMuffin for President — Facebook page

    6. KCUF Media — Facebook page / Spreely page

    7. New Mexico Dissent and Expose — Facebook page / Spreely page

    8. New Mexico Libertarians — Facebook group / Facebook page / Minds group / Spreely group / Spreely page / Wimkin group / Wimkin page

    9. Resist Marxism New Mexico — Facebook page

    10. Split the State New Mexico — Facebook page / Spreely page

    11. The Old Drunken Old Irrvelivents — Facebook page / Spreely page

    12. Vote Dumpster Fire — Facebook page

    13. Vote the Air — Facebook page

    14. Vote the Air NM — Facebook page

    15. Wood Chipper — Facebook page