Can Libertarians be Catholic? @ReasonTV

In this episode, Trent sits down with Reason TV to explain why Catholics can't be socialists and why libertarians should be Catholic.

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Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:40 Are there Catholic economics?
01:59 Is there an overlap between Catholics and Libertarians?
08:30 Why are there many Libertarians who are Catholic?
16:00 Natural Law: What is it?
22:25 What is Liberty?
25:10 Legalization of Sex Work
27:10 The 2 types of libertatrians
32:40 Catholic inspired politics? “Free Society”?
45:00 Faith and Reason?
51:57 What is a question more people should be asking…

[christianlambhtx]

I used to be a libertarian, and I started to identify myself more with libertarianism than religious, and I lost my faith. After coming back to Christ at my first time at the Catholic Church (Midnight Mass on Christmas 2023), I realized that I can’t identify with libertarianism because of my faith. The idea of Morality contradicts itself, if it’s subjective. Morality can only be objective, which is why I’m Catholic before I identify with ANY party

[videonmode]

Some libertarians have the false idea that "you do you" is somehow a suitable replacement for objective morality.

[master_samwise]

My biggest issue with libertarianism is that it emphasizes an incredibly individualistic society in which no one owes anything to anyone else. That's not Christian, and it's also not practical. The belief that "taxation is theft" - which is common if not totally universal among libertarians - ignores the reality that the government gives value to our currency, and that we should (within reason) "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's."

[justinjozokos]

Jesus didn’t say that the greatest commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself; He said that it’s to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. He said that the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself is second. God comes first.

[donquixotedelamancha]

I would love, love, love to see Trent Horn and Tom Woods

[zekdom]

Seamus from Freedom Toons will be the first to comment.

[Patrick_Bard]

The only thing bad about this video is that I came here to watch new Trent content, but I already watched this discussion on ReasonTV when it came out.

[whynotmorewhisky]

One big overlap would certainly be Natural Law. Many libertarians believe in Natural Law and there is a direct line from Aquinas to John Locke to Robert Nozick. There is also a branch of libertarianism often called paleo-libertarianism, which may oppose state power, but nonetheless holds a strong moral order is necessary for human flourishing and depends on community-based mechanisms like families and churches to maintain a moral order.

[alahorn]

I'm a recent convert to Catholicism and I've been a Libertarian for about 6 years

[treeckoniusconstantinus]

I'm always reminded about how, in 1988, a libertarian figure as now-beloved and lionized as Dr. Ron Paul had a brutal path to the Libertarian Party presidential nomination, all because he was unapologetically pro-life. Brian Doherty's 2012 book "Ron Paul's rEVOLution" has an account of it.

[NathanSkifton]

We need a Jordan Peterson/Trent Horn dialogue ASAP.

[Vicpoint]

Should be easy enough to understand the difference between what is morally right and what should be legally forced. That being said, even non-religious libertarians should be against abortion since it is an action decisively taken by one human being to deny the liberties of another.

[LordNihilus]

I believe this affinity between Catholicism and Libertarianism is because the roots of the idea come from Catholicism itself. Despite the fact that modern libertarian thinkers like Mises and Rothbard tended to be more secular, their works can ultimately be traced back to the late Spanish scholastics in the Salamanca school like Juan De Mariana or Francisco de Vitoria. This is why there are a lot of overlap.

For any catholic interested in Libertarianism or any libertarian interested in Catholicism the book I'd recommend is The Church and the Market by Tom Woods. That book explains the best how those two things are integrated.

[JohnHenrysaysHi]

Thank you, Trent. Hope you and your family have a wonderful week!

[tonyl]

One can argue the only problem with libertarianism is the reality of children and their positive rights upon their parents. Libertarianism that recognizes the rights of children (prolife, pro-marriage, anti-IVF, anti-no-fault-divorce, etc.) seems perfect to me.

[seanfrancis]

I am a Libertarian, and I am a Catholic. I am specifically a member of the Mises Caucus, which is the more "traditionalist" Libertarians that are much more conservative than other Libertarians, especially more conservative than ReasonTV/Reason Magazine. I attend the Traditional Latin Mass at a Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter parish. I have people tell me that I cannot be Catholic and Libertarian, supposedly the idea of free will to help others is "not Catholic." I believe that the idea of voluntarism that is founded by Christian principles is not antithetical to Catholicism. The Mises Caucus is known as the "Ron Paul Libertarians", we are extremely Pro-Life and against massive Multi-Bilion Dollar Multi-National Corporations, we are against welfarism, and we believe in voluntary action to better the world...we are also Anti-Open Borders, we believe there are more effective ways to help with the immigration issue that would involve having small scale services and checkpoints at the border to help process people humanely. I am NOT an Objectivist like many other Libertarians. I am a fan of much of Objectivism, but there is a point where they ignore their own faults. I am more pragmatic and am an Austrian School of Economics Libertarian, I am a fan of Rothbard (other than his terrible moral ideas on marriage, porn, and especially abortion) specifically on his economic ideas and on his criticism of the modern state. I lean anarchistic when it comes to government, I submit to the Authority of Christ's Kingdom and His Church. Many find it strange that I am the way that I am, but I cannot justify submitting to evil institutions like government.

My politics and my faith are intertwined. I want to work more with bringing morality into local governments where they can be implemented effectively. Mises Caucus members have been slowly getting into local governments, and we are working to move our way upwards to try to correct course in the United States.

Ave Maria. Ave Christus Rex.

[Lone-Lee]

Make a video on Bishop Vigano Please!
Many are being mislead by him...

Also shoutout to the new editor!
There's a significant increase in the quality of your video and thumbnails...

[amandacraig]

Thank you Mr.Horn for speaking so clearly about important issues. 🙏🏼

[lenk]

I think natural law is a big reason you have so many libertarians being Catholic. I think also that libertarianism rightly views mans condition as not God. The other political philosophies all at their ends treat the state as God and libertarianism inherently rejects this.

[MaranglikPeterTo-Rot]

Brother Trent H., you are always awesome. Thank you for providing yet another great, informative and important content.

May God bless you, your ministry, and all the awesome souls behind this YouTube channel @The Counsel-of-Trent. (Some of my other favorite Catholic YouTube Channels include Reason with Theology @Michael, @Voice of Reason, Capturing Christianity @Cameron B., @Jimmy Akin, Catholic Truth @Bryan Mercier, @Sips with Siera, @JD Catholic, @I Miss Christendom, Pints with Aquinas @Matt, etc...)

Amen.

Greetings from Papua New Guinea! 🇵🇬📌