FLAGLESS

Ryan’s Revolution Reading List

So I’ve had a reading list requested from me several times in the last few weeks.  Any of you reading this who know me know that I read profusely and never make any decision without first consulting multiple sides of an argument in print.  Of course, fewer and fewer of you who read me are people I know.  Sooo…yeah.  I read a lot.

Anyway, here are the books, articles, and musicians I recommend you read.  If you care to read.  Which you should.  I have included links to various bookstores that carry these if you want physical media and links to ePubs and PDF’s if you don’t.

• The Machinery of Freedom, David Friedman (DON’T END HERE.  Friedman misses crucial aspects of the truly free market and his systems of privatization are not that good.)  (Physical | PDF)
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• Man, Economy, and State, Murray Rothbard (This is an economics treatise.  It is rough sledding and 1000+ pages.  Like any book of this size, read the chapters that look interesting to you.  You really will benefit from understand Austrian Business Cycle Theory though.)
  (Physical | ePub | PDF)
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• Human Action, Ludwig Von Mises (If you like Ron Paul, you have to read this book.  Paul goes nowhere without this tattered old tome.  In fact, I would advocate that you can’t really be a Paul supporter in good conscience and not read this book.) (Physical | ePub | PDF)
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• No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority, Lysander Spooner (If you’re brainwashed into believing that the Constitution is somehow still an authoritative document, you need to read this.) (Physical | HTML)
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• For a New Liberty, Murray Rothbard (So you want practical?  Here it is.  The quintessential Libertarian tome!) (Physical | ePub | PDF)
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• Resist Not Evil!, Clarence Darrow (Sure, he defended Scopes.  Get over it.  People can be wrong about some things and spot on about others.) (Physical | ePub | PDF)
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• Advocates of Free Markets Should Embrace “Anti-Capitalism”, Gary Chartier (Necessary.) (PDF)
  Also:  Libertarian Anti-Capitalism, Charles Johnson (Again, necessary.) (HTML)
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• Agorist Class Theory, Wally Conger (I haven’t read this entirely, but what I have read is gold.  Read it.) (PDF)
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• Anarchy as Order, David S. D’Amato (HTML)
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• The Myth of a Christian Nation, Gregory Boyd (So you think America was founded a Christian nation?  Wrong!) (Physical)
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• Love & War & The Sea In Between, Josh Garrels (I have no idea where this guy falls politically but he appears to be the only “Christian” musician who even remotely understands my life.  All the others are off with their heads stuck in the heavens and apparently have no idea how to apply the Biblical gospel to everyday life.  That or they’re just out for money.) (Free Download)
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• Ending Tyranny without Violence, Murray Rothbard (HTML)
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• The Bible, God (This book is only last because most of you asking for my reading list already read it.  However, I could babble about Rothbard and Mises forever and it would make no difference if they had nothing true to say.  Here’s the deal:  The Austrian/Voluntarist/Agorist/Anarchist scheme lines up squarely with Biblical truth when it comes to championing human rights and revealing and opposing the Satanic influence of the state.  In a way, the Bible is the original resistance manual.  Just go read Acts if you don’t believe me.)

So there it is.  Ideas are found in books!  Ideas change the world!  Read, read, read!

Ryan Day Thompson, Contributor
Flagless: A Christian Anarchist Cooperative

Logic and the foundation of the non-aggression axiom (Part 1c - Conclusion)

(This blog begins to pose questions about the role of a Christian – if any – in civil government. I will further develop these questions in a later blog. For now I will only begin to bring in some superficial concerns)

“Our love to God is measured by our everyday fellowship with others and the love it displays.” - Andrew Murray

“If individuals live only seventy years, then a state, or a nation, or a civilization, which may last for a thousand years, is more important than an individual. But if Christianity is true, then the individual is not only more important, but incomparably more important, for he is everlasting and the life of a state or civilization, compared with his, is only a moment.” – C.S. Lewis

Part 1c

The God of Holy Scripture is the ultimate omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent judge needed for justice to exist (see part 1b); the One whom Kant determined must exist in order for the idea of justice to have meaning. Some might want to debate if the Christian God is the correct standard and this does make for an interesting discussion. Yet for the sake of space it will have to be addressed in a different blog. For now I will continue by working under the knowledge that the character of the God revealed through the Bible makes Him a logical basis for ultimate moral standards such as the non-aggression axiom.

As Christians we have a foundation for believing there is a supreme moral law and that an unchanging Holy God shared this standard to His people. Communicating through Moses, the ultimate moral law was passed down in the form of the Ten Commandments (Exodus, Chapter 20). Coercive governments (aka, modern idea of the state) violate not only non-aggression principle, but more importantly – for the believer – they violate God’s commandments as well. But, how is this so? Precisely how does the modern state break or abuse the commandments of God? The last 6 of the commandments speak specifically as to how we are to treat our fellow man – all of whom were created by and in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27, Job 33:4, Psalm 119:73, Psalm 139:13-16: Isaiah 44:2, et al). Let’s take a closer look at two of the commandments: numbers 6 and 8.

Commandment 8 states: “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15) However it must be acknowledged that through both taxation and inflation the government of the United States steals from its citizenry. Through fear and coercion a portion of all earned/spent monies are pilfered by the civil government. Some will argue that as citizens we are bound to provide funds to our civil government, therefore it is not stealing. But are we, those who did not assent to the words contained in the constitution of the United States, bound to obey such demands? As Lysander Spooner eloquently stated, “If, then, those who established the Constitution, had no power to bind … their posterity, the question arises, whether their posterity have bound themselves?” Others might suggest that Christians are bound to support the civil government. Christian, ask yourself this: if the civil government is behaving immorally by violating the commandments of God – such as using coerced tax dollars in order to initiate force against innocents, or to commit acts of mass murder,– are you justified in actively participating in it?

Stating, “Thou shall not kill,” the 6th commandment is a prohibition against unwarranted killing (Exodus 20:13). Nevertheless, all civil governments have historically participated in wars which were not supportable under the theory of just self-defense. The question the Christian needs to consider is how actively participating in the state makes him culpable for those unjust acts of aggression. Does involvement in the coercive state make one culpable for the moral crimes perpetrated by it? In his classic work, “The Instititues,” John Calvin asserts that while restrictions are pointed out in the commandments, positive action is also required. The believer should not only stand against murder, but do all they can to protect life. Ask yourself if this can be done while turning a blind eye to the actions carried out by an imperialistic state.

Furthermore, in the New Testament Christ taught us that He came to fulfill the Law, not to destroy it. As recorded in Matthew 22:37, “Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’” Also, in Romans 13:8, Christians are told to, “to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” Force, violence, and emotional manipulation are not actions of a loving people – are not actions of the Christian. Additionally, Christ has told us that His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Christian, we are citizens of the kingdom of Christ and are strangers in this world (Genesis 23:3-4), here to be His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) – bringing Him glory. Consider if enthusiastically endorsing a compulsory (and violent) government can accomplish this. Moreover, help your older children not only ask themselves these questions, but logically come to conclusions. They should understand what God requires of His covenant people.

Allowing our kids to question our beliefs – both political and religious – can be a frightening thing. Yet, embrace it! The internal struggle between “what ought to be” and “what is,” is a great springboard for the discussion about the philosophy of ethics. Learn alongside of them. Pick up a book on introductory logic and work it with them. Harness their natural curiousity and give them the tools they need to become a thinking people. Show them that the natural should’s and ought’s written in their conscience have a base in the ultimate standards of God’s Law.

Recommended book lists for parents and children

Introductory Logic http://www.amazon.com/Introductory-Logic-James-B-Nance/dp/1591280338/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316809337&sr=1-1)
Intermediate Logic http://www.amazon.com/Intermediate-Logic-James-B-Nance/dp/1591280354/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316809380&sr=1-1
Material Logic http://www.amazon.com/Material-Logic-Traditional-Approach-Thinking/dp/1930953577/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316809531&sr=1-1
Gordon Clark’s books http://www.amazon.com/Gordon-Haddon-Clark/e/B001K7XOAK/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1316809472&sr=1-1
Cornelius Van Til’s books http://www.amazon.com/Cornelius-Van-Til/e/B001JS7F00/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1316809446&sr=1-1
Mere Christianity http://www.amazon.com/Mere-Christianity-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652888/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316809301&sr=8-1
Greg Bahnsen’s books http://www.amazon.com/Greg-L.-Bahnsen/e/B001KCWMKI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1316809420&sr=1-2
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