Apparently the president of students for libertine,
Alexander McCobin, wants to take
the LGBT battle overseas.
The gay rights battle is far from
over for libertarians. In fact, for those who strongly believe in gay rights,
now may be one of the most important times to pick up the banner and march
forward. While legal equality has been achieved for individuals in the United
States regardless of sexual orientation, there is a long way to go for the
recognition of gay rights in many other parts of the world.
An interesting choice of words: a “battle,” “pick up the
banner and march forward” regarding “other parts of the world”; very
militaristic, almost
religious.
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to
war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the
foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!
A renewal of the Crusades, perhaps:
The Crusades were expeditions
undertaken, in fulfilment of a solemn vow, to deliver the Holy Places from
Mohammedan tyranny.
I will come back to this shortly. Meanwhile, back to young Alexander:
Homosexuality is illegal in 77
countries; it is punishable by death in 7 of them. Only 21 countries recognize
same-sex marriages as legal nationwide.
He provides a
link to an interactive map, identifying the legal status of same-sex
relationships in every country. Guess
where you will find the concentration of countries where homosexuality is
illegal. I will give you a hint:
The Crusades were expeditions
undertaken, in fulfilment of a solemn vow, to deliver the Holy Places from
Mohammedan tyranny.
For good measure, Russia is thrown in there as well (convenient
for Alexander). Interesting…many of
the same targets of US military aggression are targets of Alexander’s cultural
crusade. A match made in…well, I don’t want
to get all religious.
Alex recognizes there may be criticism of his position:
There will certainly be critics of
the idea that either the US libertarian or LGBT Rights movement should get
involved in the affairs of other nations.
You think? Especially
by residents in some of the countries targeted
by this US libertarian / LGBT marriage?
Many residents of these countries might wonder why US libertarians are taking
the gay fight overseas instead of working at home to end the destruction caused
by their American government via sanctions, bombs and drones.
After all, which “transgression” more significantly violates
the rights of more people in these supposedly unenlightened countries? A few gay people don’t have equal rights, vs.
100% of the population blanketed by death from above?
But I don’t want to divert the focus from McCobin’s call: “…now
may be one of the most important times to pick up the banner and march forward.”
I say: Alexander the Great, pick up the banner and march
forward. Deliver your holy places from cultural
and religious tyranny.
I will not be a critic – in fact, I strongly encourage the
effort: there are 77 countries where you can start, but 7 are in the most
desperate need. Start with these.
The Gay Army indeed. Well said, BM.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the seven countries man?
ReplyDeleteHow shall I do my part in spreading the gospel of freedom (not, of course, synonymous with what we now call "the gay agenda," "the feminist agenda," etc.), oh my friend the Bionic Mosquito?
Cut from the elaborate language, and get to the chase.
I personally have no problem with the idea of "spreading liberty by force and violence" or "crusading for liberty." What I do have a problem with, however, is (1) killing innocents, (2) spreading "thick libertarianism" of the leftist sort and tainting its name, (3) an abandonment of personal responsibility, (4) a failure to appreciate the religious and socio-cultural complexities, and (5) other things that violate the libertarian creed.
Oh, btw, some sources (perhaps rightly) mention that at least initially the Crusades were more or less libertarian militia projects coming to the defense of person and property within the Holy Land of Palestine. It was later on that it turned into a quite terrible atrocity.
For the seven countries, go to the map. I have provided the link.
DeleteAs to spreading liberty by force or violence, as you suggest, it can't be done. Ideas can't be successfully spread by force. Force and violence (in this context) are completely incompatible with libertarian theory.
I'm increasingly convinced that genetic predispositions play a big part into whether someone is libertarian or not. Some people like Ron Paul and Lew Rockwell were clearly born with non-authoritarian personalities. These people are the tiny minority. I'm the kind of person that had a reach libertarianism intellectually. People like me are not few. If I had to take a guess, about 25%. Then the remaining vast majority have an inborn disposition towards statism, and would undermine any libertarian arrangement in which they lived.
DeleteThat's why libertarianism can't be spread by force. In fact libertarianism requires separation from the statists. This means that the open borders libertarians are dead wrong. Worse, there are definite racial disparities in inclination towards libertarianism, which is why libertarianism has come under attack because it is non inclusive, indicative of white privilege, or just plain racist.
Bionic Mosquito, you seems to love to read into what people are saying. I don't know who McCobin is, but he doesn't say, or even hint at, using military action to pursue a gay rights agenda anywhere in this post. This seems to be all in your imagination. Or, if McCobin has a history of promoting an aggressive foreign policy, then you should link to at least one article where he does so. Also, while U.S. military aggression may be a greater evil for the inhabitants of some foreign land than persecution of gays, that does not mean libertarians are obligated to only write, promote, and discuss that issue.
ReplyDeleteIf McCobin is supposed to be a libertarian and against war, why is it so hard for him to say so?
DeleteBionic has written about McCobin before. Google it.
There is also this ~
https://deindividualistinternational.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/mccobin-and-rand-get-it-wrong/
Why is it that you are here nitpicking things? You obviously disagree with something but you have left the reason unstated and you are nitpicking instead. What other reason could there be for your constant needling on irrelevant matters?
One negative effect of the initial 2008 and later 2012 Ron Paul Presidential campaigns is that libertarianism became "popular" and a lot of people that don't get non initiation of aggression and libertarianism started calling themselves "libertarian". This has sown a lot of confusion out there, giving the thick (state loving) libertarians an opportunity to coopt and denude the libertarian movement.