“[R]eligion, or the duty which we owe to our creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and this is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.”
–Virginia Bill of Rights, Article 16
Source: Founder’s Quote Daily, a service of The Patriot Post. To subscribe, link to http://patriotpost.us/subscribe.php.
2008 December 24
I often hear libertarians who also uphold religious altruism as an ideal express this type of sentiment. The problem with it is that there is no justification for the notion that giving to others is only justified if one chooses to freely do so. A religious altruistic statist may come back and equally say that ensuring people do God’s work of service to others is intrinsically more valuable than making it so that people can choose to freely do so. It ignores opposing moral positions that look not on the choice to perform an act of service of service as moral but the act itself. Why do you think that the duty we owe our creator can only be directed by reason and conviction rather than the state?