CRAIGforCONGRESS
Missouri's 7th District, U.S. House of Representatives

  
 
 

 

Liberty Under God
IS THE BASED ON THE
Zero-Aggression Principle
Congress should:
  • reject "archism," which is legislation or public policy which relies on the initiation of force, coercion, or violence as a means of achieving political or social goals.

L. Neil Smith has written:

No matter what you may hear to the contrary—generally from certain political types who wish to derive some benefit from being called a libertarian, but who can't (or won't) make the cut ethically or politically—the one thing that sets genuine libertarians apart from other people is their strict adherence to the "Zero Aggression Principle." This is the way that principle has been defined in the online virtual pages of my weekly opinion journal The Libertarian Enterprise:

A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being for any reason whatever; nor will a libertarian advocate the initiation of force, or delegate it to anyone else.

Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim.

Although the Zero Aggression Principle seems to have a number of historical sources, it's unclear who first thought of this extremely simple yet revolutionary formula. Thomas Jefferson got it right—"No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him"— consistent with the concept that rights are negative, and making the all-important distinction between initiated and defensive force.

If you look the matter up, say, in Wikipedia, what you'll see, for the most part, are a lot of noble-sounding excuses for not living up to the demands this principle places on us. What they all boil down to, in the end, is sophistry, which, according to Dictionary.com, is nothing more than "a subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, but generally fallacious method of reasoning", in this case transparently aimed at getting around the principle without appearing to be unprincipled.

The problem—for the sophists, that is—is that, once the Zero Aggression Principle has been brought into the ethical discussion, nothing can ever be the same again. Anyone ... who is aware of the Zero Aggression Principle and refuses to live by it, or promise to, is giving himself away. He is the bad-guy, at least potentially, reserving to himself a right that he mistakenly believes he has, to beat you up or even kill you, should he deem it necessary or simply convenient sometime in the future. What he's saying is that he cannot be trusted, not as a friend, not as a neighbor, not as a colleague, not as a comrade.

Government cannot be trusted.

Government is force

"The Government" Defined

The presence of "the government" brings disorder in our society. "The Government" sends the wrong message. It says "Whenever you're frustrated, and things don't go your way, you can resort to force or threaten violence to get what you want."

  • Want to raise a little extra money, but can't persuade anyone to give you any? Put a gun to the head of the next American you see. Threaten to lock him up for a few years with psychopaths and felons if he doesn't cough up.
  • Did someone in the next city break into your home and steal something? Drop a "smart bomb" on his home and destroy everyone in his neighborhood!
  • It's OK to violate the Eighth Commandment ("Thou shalt not steal")
  • It's OK to violate the Sixth Commandment ("Thou shalt not kill")
  • Need somebody to help you? Enslave as many people as you need!
  • Don't call it "armed robbery" -- call it "taxation."

More and more Americans are seeing that there are a thousand and one things that can be done to reduce crime and solve social problems that are peaceful and do not involve force or violence. Some ideas are found here.

A truly Free Market is based on persuasion. If all transactions are voluntary, both parties have been persuaded that the trade will be to their benefit. If you can't persuade me to buy your product, you have to develop a better product. That's a good thing.

The Libertarian Party is the party of principle. To publicly affirm what we believe -- and to ensure that our party never strays from our principles -- we ask our members to proudly sign this statement:

I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals.

This is simply a short-hand for everything contained in "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." Government bureaucrats have forgotten this. Most Americans would never even think of running their businesses the way the government runs theirs.

Persuasion vs. Coercion:
this is the heart and soul of capitalism.

next: "The State" as Criminal

Additional Statements on Violence and Coercion

A third-party candidate has virtually no realistic chance of unseating any Republican in Congress.

The main purpose of this campaign is not really to win an election, it is to persuade people to become libertarians -- that is, to reject the use of force and threats of violence as a tool of social change. Once they make that shift in thinking, of course, they can publicly declare that point of view with their vote.

For key platform statements against violence, coercion, and the initiation of force, see our webpages on peace, violence, beating swords into plowshares, and the pages that are linked in those three pages.

A Google search shows that this denunciation of violence and coercion is a central theme of this website:

Violence (search):

Persuasion, not Coercion
Congressional Issues 2008 GOVERNMENT Order without Violence ... You Are A Libertarian if you abhor violence and do not resort to it in your daily life. ...
Order without Violence
Archists attempt to convince us that when things don't go the way we would like them to go, we can resort to violence to change matters. ...
What is an "Archist"
Even if nothing will be changed by violence, that's OK, because making them ... When preaching fails to gain a convert, the archist resorts to violence or ...
"The State" as Criminal
Defenders of the State are quick to contend that society would be plunged into crime and violence without the State to hold back the floodtides of depravity ...
Capitalism vs. Socialism
To say “I am not a capitalist” is to say “I support the use of violence to get what ... Find someone who is called a "capitalist" who uses the violence and ...
The War on Drugs
In other words, government should protect us from the violence of others but not initiate violence against us. The government should not be allowed to steal ...
Homosexuality
... my friends on the Religious Right not to initiate force or violence (either as "gay-bashing" or in the form of criminal laws) against homosexuals. ...
KEVIN CRAIG for Congress
You've been trained to think an "extremist" is a hate-mongering bigot, irrational and prone to violence. But why cannot one be extremely loving, sensible, ...
Memorial Day 2008
Shouldn't a Christian nation like America have a day to honor those who withstood the temptation to violence and vengeance and chose peace instead? ...
A Nation "Under God"
The violence and confusion of Brownson's time would diminish somewhat; Marxism would make little headway in the United States. ...
What is the Libertarian Party?
Socialism always involves the initiation of force against the innocent. The consistent Libertarian will never approve the initiation of force or violence. ...
The Nature of Government
and threats of violence. Consider this opinion from the Los Angeles Times .... "The Government" is institutionalized violence, systematic murder and theft. ...
Liberty Under God
Because I oppose the violence, I support "theocracy." Specifically, I believe we should move in the direction of a pure Christian Theocracy. ...
Controlling Pornography
And the few who take steps to stop pornography usually do nothing more than ask the government to inflict violence on pornographers. ...
Why I am Running
Not content with persuasion, they resort to threats of unspeakable violence against those who do not want to give their family's money to Democratic welfare ...
Attack on the Bill of Rights
To fight government and criminal violence, Americans need the means to defend themselves more than ever, yet we are being legally disarmed. ...
Worldview: Your Philosophy of Life
... Stopping Pornography w/o Violence, Prescription Drugs, Prison, Privatization ... Victimless Crimes, Victims' Rights, Violence, Voluntary Associations ...
Fundamental Tax Reform
Real tax reform begins with the recognition that taxation is extortion, the seizing of income or property under threats of force or violence. ...
Welfare and Charity
In other words, government should protect us from the violence of others but not initiate violence against us. The government should not be allowed to steal ...
China
True freedom begins in the heart: the power to resist the temptation to initiate force or violence against others just because they won't do your bidding. ...
Why Leaders Should be Christians
The nation is exposed to foreign violence and domestic convulsion. Vicious rulers, chosen by vicious people, turn back the current of corruption to its ...
The Draft
In other words, government should protect us from the violence of others but not initiate violence against us. The government should not be allowed to steal ...
Abolish the Federal Government
The use of violence against tax collectors -- muskets, cannons, or new weapons -- can never be justified. Our only weapon is persuasion. ...
Crime
"When things don't go the way you want, use violence to solve your problems. ... The government has become a bizarre violence-worshipping cult, ...
Education
But states defined "persistently dangerous" schools to insure that almost no children can escape violence. A Colorado school with a thousand students could ...
Politics as Salvation
Those who worship the State as their Messiah are willing to initiate force or threaten violence against the innocent in order to obtain salvation for ...
Controlling Pornography
And the few who take steps to stop pornography usually do nothing more than ask the government to inflict violence on pornographers. ...
Tobacco and the Rule of Law
and represent the initiation of force and threats of violence against others. http://KevinCraig.US/libertarian/ It doesn't seem like we have much in common, ...
Taiwan
A "Second Amendment" approach is an ethical toxin; even if Taiwan could be armed sufficiently to defeat China, she would be forever poisoned by the violence ...
"Hate Crimes"
... crimes which happen to be "politically incorrect." Violence against a politically-favored group is not more important than violence against you or me. ...
Iraq
... Security • Terrorism • The U.S./Islamic-Oil Connection • National Security • Afghanistan • Defense • Defense Budget • Sanctions • Violence • Peace ...
India-Pakistan
... STRATFOR.com : India • Government policy hurts agriculture in India • India as a World Power: Changing Washington's Myopic Policy • Violence in India ...
The "Endorsement" Test
... being under the direction of reason and conviction only, not of violence or compulsion, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, ...
Promote Christianity
That power will either be used to cultivate the Christian religion, or it will be used to destroy it and harvest the fruits of violence, theft, and misery. ...
Sexuality and Culture
not impose heterosexual monogamous culture on America by threats of force and violence;; oppose legislation which penalizes or undermines heterosexual ...
Evangelism and Social Order
More than a little violence was unleashed against various immigrant groups. These organizations not only did not accomplish their purpose, but also did much ...
Why I am Judgmental and Intolerant
May these verses help us, not to be judgmental for the sake of being judgmental, but to exalt God's Law, and replace the ugliness and violence of the world ...
Reclaiming the War Powers
... Security • Terrorism • The U.S./Islamic-Oil Connection • National Security • Afghanistan • Defense • Defense Budget • Sanctions • Violence • Peace ...
Police
The police whose voices are heard on the tape are using the power of the sword -- coercion and violence -- to make an arrest in the "War on Drugs. ...
Pornography
While there are good arguments for attempting to protect children from pornography using the strong-arm of the State, this only adds violence to the social ...
"National Security"
Although the Zidonians of Laish at the time of the Judges may have been at peace, their worship of idols matured into violence and tyranny. ...
Labor Relations Law
Enmons (1973) that prohibits federal prosecution of unionists for acts of extortion and violence when those acts are undertaken in pursuit of "legitimate ...
Gentleness
Because conversion is the result of God's Spirit, I do not attempt to force others through violence or threats. I am committed to showing personal care and ...
Socialism is Evil
Socialism is institutionalized violence. Walter Williams: Socialism is Evil • Socialism vs. Capitalism: Which is the Moral System by C. Bradley Thompson ...
Gambling
... tax dollars studying the already-documented effects of gambling; not do anything to attempt to eliminate gambling by coercion or threats of violence ...
Persuasive
Committed to changing hearts and minds rather than resorting to violence or threats. Removing another's obstacles to belief by being. Patient. ...
Frankness
In a world of defiant homosexuality, unmasked hatred, and widespread violence, I cannot afford to keep my religion out of the public square. ...
Why Homosexuals Should be Hated
Christianity teaches love for enemies, not hatred (where "hatred" takes the form of making sinners suffer, violence, vengeance, or "vigilante justice"). ...
Victims' Rights
JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIM (lp); Victim's Rights by Gary North; What is Justice - JusticeFellowship • CRIME (lp); Crime & Violence (lp); Crime and Violence (lp ...
Feminism and Pornography
Government is power; government is organized violence. If it exists it is advancing someone's agenda. If it is advancing the agenda of the pornographers, ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - December 15, 2007
... Foreign Intervention • Security • Terrorism • The U.S./Islamic-Oil Connection • National Security • Afghanistan • Defense Budget • Sanctions • Violence ...
Gender Discrimination
There is no greater force for violence in the world than the socialist State, ... FMF promotes non-violence and works to eliminate violence against women. ...
Creationism
Here is how creationism turned me against violence and the "military-industrial complex." That in turn made me an anarcho-creationist, an opponent of the ...
Eminent Domain is Theft
The government will seize the property by force, and use lethal violence to keep the owner away, giving the owner no more than $X in compensation, ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - September 15, 2007
... Security • Terrorism • The U.S./Islamic-Oil Connection • National Security • Afghanistan • Defense • Defense Budget • Sanctions • Violence • Peace ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - November 3, 2007
Cheney's Victory in Iraq • Holocaust Denial in the Service of War • "Do Violence to No Man" • War and Public Relations • Petraeus: America Safer? ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - April 19, 2008
Globalization • Violence • The Abolition of America -- CNN's Lou Dobbs; Abolishing the Government -- America's Founding Fathers vs. the Bush-Clinton Regime ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - December 22, 2007
... Foreign Intervention • Security • Terrorism • The U.S./Islamic-Oil Connection • National Security • Afghanistan • Defense Budget • Sanctions • Violence ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - June 7, 2008
In Iraq, they've helped bring violence down to its lowest point since late March of 2004. Civilian deaths are down. Sectarian killings are down. ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - November 3, 2007
Cheney's Victory in Iraq • Holocaust Denial in the Service of War • "Do Violence to No Man" • War and Public Relations • Petraeus: America Safer? ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - November 17, 2007
Ultimately, it is the worship of violence. Earlier this week, I visited Berkeley Plantation in Virginia. The story of this historic setting goes back nearly ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - April 12, 2008
While there's more to be done, sectarian violence, civilian deaths, and military ... Fifteen months ago, extremists were sowing sectarian violence; today, ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - October 20, 2007
It is sinful and immoral to take money from Jones under threats of violence to give to "the poor children." It is unconstitutional for the federal ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - September 29, 2007
It is sinful and immoral to take money from Jones under threats of violence to give to Graeme Frost. -- even if Graeme Frost is poor. ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - January 12, 2008
The "right" to "exist as a nation" is the "right" to impose one's will on a minority by force and threats of violence. The United States federal government ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - October 6, 2007
It is sinful and immoral to take money from Jones under threats of violence to give to "the poor children." It is unconstitutional for the federal ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - March 8, 2008
... Foreign Intervention • Terrorism • The U.S./Islamic-Oil Connection • National Security • Afghanistan • Defense • Defense Budget • Sanctions • Violence ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - May 17, 2008
No Jewish person, nor the "government" of the "nation" of Israel has the right to use violence or initiate force against non-Jews to take possession of ...
Missouri Farm Bureau Philosophy
Using force or threats of violence is wrong. This is the heart of the "Free Market" philosophy. 2. "Improving commodity prices" is a bad goal. ...
Missouri Farm Bureau - Moral Issues
... displeasure with television shows containing obscenity, sex, violence and obscene language which are being presented to the American viewing public. ...
The National Duty to Not Be "Secular"
... finally, that, turning the hearts of our enemies from the violence and injustice which sway their councils against us, He would hasten a restoration of ...
Exposing Self Deception
Violence is never the answer. But neither are ignorance, apathy, inaction, or wishful thinking. These politicians took a solemn oath not to do this. ...
Congressman Ron Paul on Abortion
The authors of the Constitution intended for criminal matters and acts of violence (except for a few rare exceptions) to be dealt with at the state level. ...
The Real Tax Burden
Violence is wrong, but so is apathy. Take action. Do something. Vote for Kevin Craig in November. He's the only candidate who promises never to raise any ...
W.W.J.D.?
Kevin Craig wants to change the way people think about capitalism, socialism, violence, personal responsibility, and above all, Jesus Christ and the Bible. ...
Iran
The taproot of violence in our society is our intent to use nuclear weapons. Once we have agreed to that, all other evil is minor in comparison. ...
Against the Tide
Congress should. cast votes based on Christian ethics, against the tide of secular corruption and violence. "Against the Tide" is the title of a book by ...
John Lofton Exclusive Interview with Jim Gilchrist
Both the ACLU and communists believe that the use of force or threats of violence are useful tools. Gilchrist's use of the term "anarchists" in this context ...
Jill Lepore: Prior Convictions - The New Yorker -- An Anarcho ...
The State being the institutionalization of vengeance and violence, a truly Christian nation is therefore a State-less nation. ...

Coercion (search):

Providence, not Coercion
Congress should. rely on the Protection of Divine Providence, as the Signers of the Declaration of Independence did. ...
Persuasion, not Coercion
reject all legislation which relies on the initiation of force, coercion, or violence as a means of achieving political or social goals ...
Controlling Abortion
MORALITY AND CULTURE How to End Abortion Without Government Coercion .... the power of "the sword": the 90% have been coerced into silence and inaction. ...
Tobacco and the Rule of Law
Use of government coercion to fight tobacco encourages government coercion in other areas: .... I do not believe in using government coercion and ...
Capitalism vs. Socialism
Capitalists believe in persuasion, not coercion. .... reject all legislation which relies on the initiation of force, coercion, or violence as a means of ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - January 12, 2008
The United States federal government has no Constitutional, moral, Biblical, political, ethical, or pragmatic justification to use government coercion to ...
Order without Violence
... created in the Garden of Eden, and the construction of institutions based on Humanistic power: coercion and violence. It is the history of Politics vs. ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - July 21, 2007
As there is no more important distinction in all of political economy than that which divides coercion and non-coercion, such combinations tend to blur this ...
Immigration
The Colossus of Rhodes - Symbol of Power and Coercion America's Statue of Liberty is not about power, or collective unity arrived at by government coercion. ...
David Chilton on Immigration and Population
National greatness does not come about through legislation or governmental coercion. Ronald Sider’s call for a “guaranteed national income”[3] is geared ...
Fundamentalism
All three groups retain pagan notions of kingship, political domination, and coercion. All three groups reject laissez-faire capitalism and embrace state ...
Jill Lepore: Prior Convictions - The New Yorker -- An Anarcho ...
Faith answers to truth, not coercion. Reason answers to faith. Reason presupposes in faith that the mind of man was created by a reasonable Creator. ...
The War on Drugs
This is not a problem which can be solved by "getting tough" on drugs, that is, increasing government coercion and decreasing Constitutional liberties. ...
KEVIN CRAIG for Congress
True religion cannot be advanced through the use of government coercion, ..... I am not out to impose any religion on anyone using the coercive power of the ...
"True Religion"
This is why Christians demanded the First Amendment: they wanted these disagreements to be worked out without government coercion. ...
Welfare and Charity
In the days following the terrorism of 9-11, Americans showed themselves to be charitable beyond measure, without government coercion. ...
Education
... and because parents should have authority to choose the education their children will receive, government coercion is inappropriate. ...
Controlling Pornography
MORALITY AND CULTURE How to End Pornography Without Government Coercion ... by pro-porn forces: the 90% have been subtly coerced into silence and inaction. ...
The Supreme Court's War on God
But nobody in this case was coerced. No denomination was favored over any other ..... The "psychological coercion test" gives a lone atheist the right to ...
National Service
Social order is neither created nor maintained by the coercive apparatus of "organized government." Social order is not the result of threats and negative ...
Missouri Farm Bureau Platform and "Liberty Under God" -- Table of ...
Every attempt to achieve a short-term objective by resorting to government coercion, regulation or subsidy is a move toward Socialism and away from the ...
Euthanasia
Family members should be free to deal with the dying without government threats and coercion. But their decisions should be informed by a Christian ...
Police
The police whose voices are heard on the tape are using the power of the sword -- coercion and violence -- to make an arrest in the "War on Drugs. ...
Gambling
... tax dollars studying the already-documented effects of gambling; not do anything to attempt to eliminate gambling by coercion or threats of violence ...
Ozarks Virtual Town Hall - October 20, 2007
It is coercion and compulsion based on threats of violence. One way we are practicing cooperative conservation is through our efforts to preserve our ...
Missouri Farm Bureau - Welfare
It will never be solved by a government that claims to be "secular," short of massive enslavement and coercion. We believe our current system discourages ...
Missouri Farm Bureau - Natural Resources
As long as "incentives" are not funded by federal coercion. We believe that state and local agencies should be allowed to assume the job of assessing the ...
"Founding Presidents Not Christian"??
What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. And to support roguery and error all over the ...
Congressman Ron Paul on Abortion
... contained in the PATRIOT Act. HR 10 characterizes terrorism as acts intended “to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion. ...
Why I am Running
Because the education of children is intensely personal and inescapably value-laden, government coercion is inappropriate. Atheists should not be taxed to ...
Blessed Are the Peacemakers
... confiscating money for war-making from Americans using government force and coercion, government should confiscate money for welfare appropriations. ...
Intellectual Property
... What's Wrong with Forced Disclosure? "Against Intellectual Property" • Against Intellectual Property • Intellectual Property Without Coercion ...
Government Tentacles of Atheism and Immorality
Our goal should not be to change government funding from atheistic agencies to "Christian" agencies; to use the coercive power of the U.S. Federal ...
Western Civilization is Christian Civilization
Such communities are coercive and tyrannical. Christianity, in short, opens up the ideal ... This program is inexorably coercive, unlovely, and depressing. ...
Antitrust
Solutions: We condemn all coercive monopolies. In order to abolish them, we advocate a strict separation of business and State. Laws of incorporation should ...
War and Imperialism
repudiate militaristic, coercive imperialism with the non-violent spiritual imperialism envisioned by our Founding Fathers;; use the power of the purse ...
Limited Government and the Rule of Law
... certainty how the authority will use its coercive powers in given circumstances and to plan one's individual affairs on the basis of this knowledge." ...
Libertarian Party Platform: Population
Recognizing that the American people are not a collective national resource, we oppose all coercive measures for population control. ...
Gender Discrimination
Kevin Craig favors maximizing liberty, and minimizing the coercive power of government. The Feminist Majority Foundation defines "feminism" as: ...
Repeal the 14th Amendment!
This line of cases reached its coercive nadir in Missouri v. Jenkins, when the Supreme Court held that, to further integration, a federal judge could order ...
Magic, Envy, and Economic Underdevelopment
[19] If a century and a half of coercive public education has failed to meet its promised goals, then there has to be more of it. All facts are interpreted ...
Unions: Government-Buttressed
Unions: Government-Buttressed. The 112th Congress should:. abolish all laws which permit unions to engage in violence or the initiation of force. ...

War

One of the most obvious manifestations of violence and coercion is war. Opposition to war is therefore one of the most important features of this campaign:

Platform Statements:

Ozarks Virtual Townhall

Blog Posts

If opposition to coercion, violence, and war is a central theme of this website, the central theme of this website is that every human being who is at war with God is at war with those who are created in the Image of God. Ultimately, the only way we can be at peace with each other is to be at peace with the God Who created us.

Opposition to all violence means opposition to all "civil government," which is the systematic institutionalization of violence. Kevin Craig opposes archism (the willingness to impose your will on others by force), and that makes him an un-archist, a non-archist, or an "anarchist," as these pages show: