Ron Paul: True Liberties Come From Our Creator, Not the Government
At the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference, presidential candidate Ron Paul used the Bible to show evangelicals why big government is bad and how their fight to protect faith and family are all rooted in liberty.
Paul roused the conservative Christian crowd on Friday as he recounted the story of the Israelites and their pleas for an earthly king. He used that story, found in 1 Samuel chapter eight, to explain to the faith conference why big government is morally wrong for America.
He told the crowd that the Israelites had a perfectly good family system prior to their first king and did not need a governing authority to care for them.
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Similarly, he told the crowd, "I don't think we need a king, and we don't need Washington to act as if they're the king of this country."
In the Bible, the prophet Samuel advised against a king, enumerating the problems that arise if the Israelites did so. Paul loosely paraphrased those problems to illustrate the dilemmas that exist when you have a government that is taking power from the people.
"He says the king will take your young men and the young women to be used in the government. They're going to tax you. They're going to over burden you and you're going to have to work so much time, like 25, 35 45 percent of the time, for the king."
Samuel's thinking, he noted, was astute advice for then and now. Paul maintained that by demanding the American government to provide assistance for broken families, job creation and more, its citizens have essentially appointed a king over themselves.
Paul echoed the U.S. Constitution in his call for limited government.
"We have, as a people, lost our confidence and our understanding of what true liberty is all about and where it comes from," he summed. "It doesn't come from the government. Our liberties come from our Creator."
Though the Texas congressman is affiliated with the Republican Party, he has been a staunch libertarian for years.
Paul first ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988 and still considers himself a strong advocate for liberty, according to his congressional webpage.
On the webpage, his list of freedom principals include statements such as rights belong to individuals, not groups; the lives and actions of people are their own responsibility, not the government's; and government exists to protect liberty, not to redistribute wealth or to grant special privileges.
Purist libertarian principals have become controversial because of topics such as the control of illegal substances such marijuana and cocaine. Libertarian Purists say that there should not be federal restrictions or regulations on drugs of any kind.
Paul, as a purist, has defended this stance saying, "If you have the inconsistency, then you are not defending liberty."
During Friday night's speech, Paul tried to show evangelicals how libertarian beliefs are connected to their passions as well.
Paul told the crowd of his career as former obstetrician, delivering over 4,000 babies, and established himself as pro-life, stating, "As an OB doctor, let me tell you, life does begin at conception."
He said that being pro-life is an important part of being a libertarian.
"Most of us (libertarians), we respect liberty and freedoms. That's what we're engaged in, protecting freedom. So if we do not have high respect for life, how can we be dealing with our personal freedom, our personal privacy?" he reasoned.
Life is a precursor to liberty and though liberty, Paul said, Americans are free to practice their faith, homeschool their children and truly be free.
"Without liberty, we do not have what has made this country so great," he asserted.
