In an engaging speech to 90 Christian students, Senator Rand Paul warned that federal government does little to help morality, but libertarianism goes hand in hand with the principles of faith.
Paul was speaking at the National Association of Evangelicals’ Christian Student Leadership Conference, which seeks to recruit and encourage young, evangelical students to serve in the government.
Paul warned, however, that the system of government on its own does not hold all the keys, far from it.
“Government’s not going to make us a virtuous society. I think that’s very important when we think about what we want from government and where we’re going,” said Paul.
The Senator expanded, noting that laws made and enforced by government will not make people virtuous, and that they must arrive at that state for themselves.
Paul noted that he has regularly encountered ministers who ask him, ‘What are you going to do to make us a better moral nation?’ to which he answers ‘Well what are you going to do?’
“There has to be a realization that the government can’t do everything for you – you have to be a part of it,” Paul explained.
“They’re not very good at it. They’re so far away from the people, they can’t do it.” Paul continued.
“You say, ‘Well government does do some good for people.’ They probably do, but they’re horribly inefficient at it,” Paul said, adding “Government is best that governs least, so you have more freedom.”
“The more government you have, or the more of your paycheck you give up, the less of your freedom you have,” Paul warned.
Elsewhere during the rousing speech, Paul noted that the libertarian non-aggression principle goes hand in hand with morality.
“You’re probably scratching your head and asking yourself, ‘What’s a libertarian doing talking to a bunch of evangelical students?’” the Senator quipped, adding “Aren’t libertarians crazy?… Aren’t they kind of scary?”
“You hear ‘no rules,’ ‘no laws,’ ‘you can do whatever you want,’” Paul said,noting, “But that’s not exactly what libertarians advocate.”
“The non-aggression principle means that under a libertarian society, if we had one, you could pretty much do whatever you wanted as long as you didn’t hurt somebody else.” Paul stated.
“Most of us don’t rape, murder, do all these horrific things, not because there’s a law against it, but because we have a sense of right and wrong,” said Paul. “We have a moral compass. We have something grounded in religion. We have this sense of virtue.”
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