Intern Speech - A Defense of Stateless Marriage

On Monday, we had to do speeches in the Cato Intern class. I was out of town Wednesday through Friday of the previous week and I have no access to my Cato email at home, so I didn't know about the speeches until the morning of. I got in at 9 and I had to have my speech ready by 10. Needless to say, it is not my best work but I support the points I was trying to make. Here it is, in all its glory!

"We as libertarians believe that less is more (in terms of government anyways.) Libertarians agree, almost completely, on eliminating government’s role in a variety of issues, but there are still a few issues where large disagreements remain. Take marriage for example: there is a large group that believes the government should be involved in order to protect everyone’s rights while another group believes that government has no place in marriage.

In my opinion, marriage should be a personal issue and not regulated by the government. While it may cause some problems with the current tax code, adoption laws, etc., marriage should be removed from the state’s authority, and left up to churches and organizations.

Government should not be involved in this very personal institution. Marriage should be left to individuals and their churches and / or organizations. I say organization for those who do not attend church or practice a religion. If I, personally, do not believe that homosexuals should get married, I would go to a church that does not allow that. If I wanted to get married to another man or I supported others that do, I could find a church that supports gay marriage. It’s that simple. No laws have to be passed. No one is forced to accept another’s morality. When we try to legislate our morality, things get really messy, really quick.

With this approach to the subject, problems do arise. I personally have a passion for working with kids and I plan to adopt when I get older. The first questions and issues I have with a stateless marriage, have to deal with adoption. What happens when a couple adopts and then they break up? Who determines custody of the child? To be honest, there is no easy answer to this. When dealing with children, more precautions are needed. They cannot protect themselves like adults can. An option to deal with the adoption problem would be to set up agreements before the adoption takes place as to how it would be handled if a divorce came about. Another, less pleasing option, would be to require adoption agencies to set up these agreements before hand. This would require state intervention, but it would be nothing like the marriage monopoly that we currently have. Also, because state has the authority to protect its citizens, if children are being hurt by their parents or are being mistreated due to the circumstances they are in, the state could step in.

If a couple has children on their own, the same principals would apply. Hopefully they would set up an agreement as to the children, but in the divorce settlement they could also sort out the issue.

On the same lines, what happens to property and possessions when there is a divorce? If a couple believes that this will be an issue (not all will obviously) they can write up a contract with a lawyer to go along with their church wedding agreement. By making sure that they have an agreement set up before, they will have no problems if they separate. Property issues are much easier to deal with than the issue of children.

In order for the state to get out of the marriage business we would also have to reshape the tax code. The institution of marriage is so intertwined with the tax code, everything must be shifted. The government uses this pairing to try to encourage certain moral activities (like getting married instead of living together to pay less taxes). The government should not be in the morality business. A fair tax or a flat tax system would eliminate the reason for tax incentives and allow marriage to be free from the tax code.

While there are problems with removing the state from marriage, they can be resolved with a little thought and practicality. However, if we continue to allow the government to control marriage, it will dictate what we believe in regards to morality and invade even further into our personal lives."

Welp. This is it.

Wow. This is it. El fin. The end. I'll be heading back to Lynchburg tomorrow for graduation on Saturday. After four years of my life, I'm ready to move on. Don't get me wrong; I loved my college years! They were amazing! But now, its time for me to move on. At this point I don't know what that means. I could be in DC (my ultimate wish, I think) or I could go back home (also a very good choice.) I had thought I would be for sure heading back to Lynchburg but it doesn't seem like thats a very strong option right now. If you're actually reading this, shoot a prayer up for me so that I can know what God whats and that I have peace with whatever it is. Thanks guys.

Christians Above Politics? Not Hardly.

One thing I hate more than anything else: a Christian who believes it is morally beneath him to participate in things that are not 100%, to-the-max, faith-related. Their goals are correct – God must be the center – but you cannot cut out everything. The biggest issue is politics. I have met so many, many people that think politics don’t matter or that they are too dirty for Christians. How far from the truth can you get? In order to continue to witness and to minister to those around you, you have to be able legally do so. It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that, either. In order for your voice to be heard, you have to protect your freedom of speech.

To impact this world for Christ, you have to be in this world. Sitting on the sideline watching everything pass you by will not give you a platform to speak from. We have to be active in this world – in all areas – in order to be, first, seen and then, heard.

Not to continually get on my soapbox but possibly the reason that Christians don’t want to become active in politics is because they see the contradictions of the two major parties. Republicans, the typically Christian party, voices support for freedom but never actually supports it completely. Democrats support freedom as long as you don’t get too Jesus-y on them. There is no happy medium… But wait! There is! Libertarianism allows everyone to have the freedom to do whatever they want. Yes this will allow bad things to happen but people are more likely listen to the message of Christ if your not trying to legislate their beliefs away (either side).

Celebrate Justice, Not Damnation

“Justice has been done,” according to a statement Obama made late last night. Osama Bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan. This one man had harmed and killed many thousand people across the world. He was the architect behind the World Trade Center terrorist attack in 2001 which killed over 3,000 Americans. We should celebrate the fact that he can no longer hurt innocent people around the world. His organization can, and probably will, continue his fight however. While this man was undoubtedly vile and evil, the celebration of his death is not something I, personally, can take part in.

Last night on Facebook – and probably Twitter as well – there were numerous posts celebrating Osama’s death. While a celebration for justice and the men and women in the military is right and I would say, necessary, celebrating a man’s death is wrong. As a Christian I cannot do this. I also saw one status on Facebook last night that read, “Burn in hell, Osama. God bless America.” This status was from a Liberty student. This shocked and appalled me. How can a God-fearing Christian wish for someone to go to hell? No matter what his crimes were, Christ loved him and died for him.

I completely support our military, don’t get me wrong. This is not to degrade them or their contributions. They have served valiantly for their country (albeit in a war that is illegal and immoral) and they should be treated as the heroes they are. A side note: Ron Paul’s argument that Osama could have been dealt with by a small force is a good one. Wasting ten years and trillions of dollars on one man, seems like a waste when it could have been done in a much simpler way.

After this event we must be on our guard. He had so many devoted followers that so deeply believed in his convictions that there will be backlash from this. They will come after America and her allies. We must be on guard.

Christ calls us to love our enemies. He wanted Osama to see His love, but in the end, Osama did not. This is a sad fact, but one that we live with. With this, we should not judge all Muslims this way. They are a group of people who Christ loves just as much as any Southern Baptist congregation here in the States. It is our job to reach them. Occupying their lands and constantly fighting them, is no way to further the Gospel. A conversion at gun point is no conversation; it’s a last ditch effort to save one’s skin. Ezekiel 18:21-24 says, “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.” This plainly shows that God does not enjoy death, even the death of the wicked. However, it is the punishment for our sins. Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” If everyone has sinned, should we not celebrate at every funeral?

My convictions lead me to value human life over most anything. I deeply enjoy my liberty but I would sacrifice it to save a life (as long as it was my choice, not a government’s). I am a fierce advocate for the pro-life movement and I could never support a candidate that did not support life as well. While Osama did not share my deep rooted convictions, he was still a life. I wish he was given a trial so at least if the death penalty was used, it would be just. In our attacks on the compound where Osama was killed, the U.S. killed several children. Was that a fair trade? I’m not so sure. Their lives were extinguished after just a few short years. That is something that should be mourned.

I am happy that this is now over. Osama, a man who has caused so many so much pain and death, is now gone. Through this however, another man is now burning hell. This is no reason to celebrate.

Practice what you preach!

As a libertarian, I don’t believe throwing money at a problem solves it. We have seen time and time again where the government tries to “fix” one of its programs by giving it more funding. It hardly ever works. More often than not it needs a revamping or a handoff to the private sector. When a situation in my life (intern housing) came up, I was almost too quick to toss money at the problem instead of fighting it. I’m glad I held off because God used the Career Center at LU to fix things for me. They went well beyond their jobs to help me. Awesome folks there despite the disagreements I have had with them. So basically, when push comes to shove, do what you say.

Drawing to a close or a new start? We'll see...

On Monday the Washington Semester Folks from LU took us out to eat at Carmine's (a very nice Italian restaurant) for the end of the semester. In my spare time, I applied for the Lynchburg District Court Deputy Clerk position. Haven't heard anything back but who knows. I used Caitlyn's phone and scanned several business cards into it. I definitely want a smart phone now. haha

On Tuesday, I delivered all of Cato's papers by myself. It didn't take too long though. I did CT and we finished up the CJUS week. We talked about how to deal with police (after we had to deal with police the night before. Ultimate Frisbee on the capitol lawn.) We also went to the Freshman Hill Briefing.

On Wednesday, we went to the freshman hb.

On Thursday I wasn't feeling so well so after I did CT I went home and napped. For four and a half hours. And I took medicine. And orange juice. I think it worked. While sleeping I received an email from Bob Goodlatte's office about the resume I sent. I have an interview this week for a staff assistant position. Wish me luck!

On Friday my parents came up and we had lunch. We also went to the People's Church (new NCC) for a Good Friday service. We watched Robinhood and Gulliver's Travels as well.

Saturday I helped with the Eggstravaganza for Ebz. I had a blast! We all had dinner at Barracks Row at this Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican place. It was good.

Sunday we went to Ebz for the Easter service and then we went to Eastern Market. That night we went to Columbia Heights to see Jason play drums at the Gala NCC location.

Criminal Justice Week at Cato

Well last week was criminal justice week at Cato (and today because we didn't finish on Friday). We watched a video and had a discussion each day. I really enjoyed it.
Monday - I did Cato Today (MWF) and our topic for CJUS Week was legalization of drugs.
Tuesday - I worked on Caitlyn's RSS feed and the topic for CJUS was the 2nd amendment and safety
Wednesday - I did Cato Today and the topic was plea bargaining. That video made me very mad. People are tricked into taking pleas by the system. Horrible
Thursday - The topic was wrongful convictions. Also another video that made me mad. Basically people were arrested falsely, then they were forced to rat on someone (making it up) to enter into a plea bargain, and then that person was arrested. And the cycle repeated until there were 7 guys. Finally a random guy was caught and he said he did it by himself, but the other guys were still locked up. Stupid system.
Friday - I did Cato Today and we had a Hill Briefing on Transportation with Randal O'Toole. Pretty interesting. We also had the State of the Institute where Ed Crane and David Boaz spoke. Those guys are awesome! Ed is a funny guy!
Saturday - I helped fill the communion bags for NCC
Sunday - We went to Fort Stephens and got to see the cannons and the place where Lincoln came under fire