Robert68's first post:
I was referring to those who were identifying themselves as libertarians around the time of the poll I mentioned, and those doing so for 20 plus years, when the number of those in the US identifying themselves as “libertarian” took off. During that time period there was a major non-religious or atheist presence with libertarians, and I’ve seen no evidence to suggest that has changed. How many religious books are there at “Laissez Faire Books: an Essential Resource For Liberty Since 1972”? And many religionists in this forum have said if Ron Paul wasn't a Christian they wouldn't be supporting him, you may be one of them; that's not evidence of principled support for his political positions.
Regarding that quote you posted, misleadingly putting Murray Rothbards' name under it, it comes from an article with no citations, credited to Catholic Christian Lew Rockwell and Jeffrey Tucker, in the then right wing conservative (now neocon) National Review, in 1990, at a time when both Rothbard and Rockwell had distanced themselves from libertarians, and were trying to create a new political coalition involving Christian conservatives. But most relevant is the fact that the books and writings of Rothbard (and Rand, Mises, Hayek, Friedman, and others, that have influenced libertarians for decades) are not religious writings. That quote simply has no bearing on what I wrote.
The poll I mentioned was published by Liberty magazine in 1988, and given free to new and re-subscribers for many years after. It was sent to 200 subscribers randomly chosen. And “No incentive to return the poll was provided, aside from a postage paid envelope. A total of 62 were returned to us. Respondents were invited to "answer whichever questions you wish," and "to attach a sheet of paper and expand or explain any answers."
On the proposition, “There is a god”, the result was 26% agree. A comment next to this by the poll publishers was, “Apparently the common perception that libertarians are almost all atheistic is no more accurate than the perception that libertarians are nearly all anarchists”.
On the question “What are you political beliefs based on?”, among the choices, “my religious beliefs” received 19%. On the question of who had influenced their thinking, among a long list of choices, Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard were a close top two, and Ludwig Von Mises, Thomas Jefferson, F. A Hayek, and Milton Friedman were the next four. No religious leaders were chosen or written in (which they could do). On the question, “Which of the following best describes your religious training as a child?”, the results were “Roman Catholic” 33%, “Mainline Protestant” 30%, “Fundamentalist” 7%, “Jewish” 10%, “None” 13%, and “other” 7%. On the question, “Do you consider yourself a follower of any religion today?”, the result for “No” was 77%.
Also, I notice the late David Nolan, who was one of the founders of the Libertarian Party, is identified as a Unitarian Universalist, which is different than the standard religion, and their followers "may be atheist, theist, or any point in between.”
Below are the relevant pages from "The Liberty Poll" referred to:
I was referring to those who were identifying themselves as libertarians around the time of the poll I mentioned, and those doing so for 20 plus years, when the number of those in the US identifying themselves as “libertarian” took off. During that time period there was a major non-religious or atheist presence with libertarians, and I’ve seen no evidence to suggest that has changed. How many religious books are there at “Laissez Faire Books: an Essential Resource For Liberty Since 1972”? And many religionists in this forum have said if Ron Paul wasn't a Christian they wouldn't be supporting him, you may be one of them; that's not evidence of principled support for his political positions.
Regarding that quote you posted, misleadingly putting Murray Rothbards' name under it, it comes from an article with no citations, credited to Catholic Christian Lew Rockwell and Jeffrey Tucker, in the then right wing conservative (now neocon) National Review, in 1990, at a time when both Rothbard and Rockwell had distanced themselves from libertarians, and were trying to create a new political coalition involving Christian conservatives. But most relevant is the fact that the books and writings of Rothbard (and Rand, Mises, Hayek, Friedman, and others, that have influenced libertarians for decades) are not religious writings. That quote simply has no bearing on what I wrote.
The poll I mentioned was published by Liberty magazine in 1988, and given free to new and re-subscribers for many years after. It was sent to 200 subscribers randomly chosen. And “No incentive to return the poll was provided, aside from a postage paid envelope. A total of 62 were returned to us. Respondents were invited to "answer whichever questions you wish," and "to attach a sheet of paper and expand or explain any answers."
On the proposition, “There is a god”, the result was 26% agree. A comment next to this by the poll publishers was, “Apparently the common perception that libertarians are almost all atheistic is no more accurate than the perception that libertarians are nearly all anarchists”.
On the question “What are you political beliefs based on?”, among the choices, “my religious beliefs” received 19%. On the question of who had influenced their thinking, among a long list of choices, Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard were a close top two, and Ludwig Von Mises, Thomas Jefferson, F. A Hayek, and Milton Friedman were the next four. No religious leaders were chosen or written in (which they could do). On the question, “Which of the following best describes your religious training as a child?”, the results were “Roman Catholic” 33%, “Mainline Protestant” 30%, “Fundamentalist” 7%, “Jewish” 10%, “None” 13%, and “other” 7%. On the question, “Do you consider yourself a follower of any religion today?”, the result for “No” was 77%.
Also, I notice the late David Nolan, who was one of the founders of the Libertarian Party, is identified as a Unitarian Universalist, which is different than the standard religion, and their followers "may be atheist, theist, or any point in between.”
Below are the relevant pages from "The Liberty Poll" referred to:
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Wrong.
