Freedom Versus Restraint: The Car Seat Debate

Here's a perfect example of how the government has no business telling me how to raise my children. The authors of the Freakonomics blog (they've written two books) argue in their latest book that car seats are less safe for kids than are modified seat belts.

Of course, the outcry from over-concerned mothers is loud and angry. After the "Freakonomics Guys" were on Good Morning America, one mom commented on a Facebook page: "Now we will have more kids’ deaths because of people not using car seats. Thanks, Good Morning America, for doing this and killing kids."

As I said, too many mothers are over-concerned and have bought into the government's and the car seat manufacturer's propaganda.

Remember, the government has no right to MAKE you put your kids in car seats. Say it with me now: "the government has the power, but not the authority." If you're old enough (and you probably are if you're reading this) you remember when no one sat in cars seats, no one wore seat belts, and I certainly don't remember some ridiculous amount of deaths because kids weren't in car seats. What I DO remember is a bunch of us kids crammed in the back of a station wagon on our way to to family get-togethers.

And EVEN IF it was more dangerous, who cares? Shouldn't we have the right to live my life as we choose, and strap (or not strap) kids into the car the way we want to? Beyond that, these laws are too arbitrary. Who gets to decide what's safe enough? Why is it the government? Do they know better than you and I how to raise our kids?

The government needs to get out of our business and let us be free to live as we want. The government should have the least influence on how we raise our kids. Do they love your kids more than you do?

Consider something else: as our kids grow up in this nanny state, they become accustomed to the government telling them what to do. I think that's where a lot of these overprotective moms come from. They've been conditioned to believe the government knows better than they do when it comes to raising their kids.

And I say all of this as a dad of two great kids I love very much.

Do yourself a favor: Google "freakonomics car seats" and read more about it. Make your own decision. Don't let anyone tell you how to think about this issue. And certainly don't trust the government's ability to raise your kids better than you can. They have no right to tell you what's best for your kids.

How Hard is it to Balance the Budget?

In my previous post I quoted Rousas Rushdoony, who argued that we are never truly free; one reason is that our personal expenses are constrained by our salaries. That is, if I make $25,000 a year, I can spend only that. I have to live within my means. I can't spend more than I earn. Of course, hundreds of thousands of people live outside their means every year. I'm sure you know people like that (maybe you are one of them) and even a fifth grader can see where that gets us.

Another guilty party is our national government. Congress always spends more than it brings in (I almost typed in "earned" there, but remembered at the last moment that the government never earns anything. It only takes from YOU what YOU earn), and it never balances the budget. But our family does. My coworkers do. Our church family does. All our friends do. Why can't the government?

All these things relate to our liberty. Why?

Consider this: if the government balanced its budget every year, can you imagine our freedom? First, the government wouldn't have to come looking for new taxes, and second, you and I would be free to spend the money the government currently takes from us. Third, future generations of Americans would not be saddled with the tremendous debt they face right now. In case you were wondering, your family's current share of the national debt is over $500,000. Finally, our national government (and by extension, you and I) will not be so entangled with China, which owns 22% of U.S. Treasury Securities. In case you were wondering, China is still a communist nation. . . .

And in case you were also wondering, most of the 50 states have some sort of balance-the-budget amendment. Yours probably does. Why won't the national government do the same thing? Most Americans support it, and for good reason. It only makes sense, and it's right.

Is it easy? No. Amending the Constitution isn't easy, and those who wrote it wanted it to be difficult so that we wouldn't do it that often. But can we do it? Sure we can. It's been done before--27 times, in fact! Perhaps it's time you contact your legislators to advocate for some sanity and fiscal responsibility in our budgetary process.

One thing's for sure: the amount your family is responsible for isn't going to go down on its own, and it certainly won't do so anytime soon--if at all.

Please follow this link to learn more about balancing the national budget.

A Caveat: The Limits of Liberty

Here’s something to think about. . . .

We have as our birthright liberty—correct? God-given. Inalienable. Don't tread on me. But should our liberty be all-encompassing? Some people believe it should. Some believe everyone should be free to make his or her own rules. These folks would say this is the path to total liberty.

Proponents of this line of thinking would do well to ponder the following thoughts.

Consider what Rousas J. Rushdoony writes in Law and Liberty. He argues none of us are “free from the domination of others, and free from restricting circumstances.” Of course the most obvious example of the first instance is “the dominion and domination of God.” Regarding our circumstances, Rushdoony continues: “who is ever exempt from restricting circumstances? After all, your income is a restriction on your liberty; you can spend so much and no more. Having a family is a restricting circumstance; it definitely limits your liberty. The necessity of working is also a restriction on our liberty, as is every other circumstance in our life. Thus [. . .] only God is absolutely free.”

Rushdoony also writes, “Unlimited liberty for man is destructive of liberty itself. Can we give any man the unlimited liberty to do as he pleases? Can a man rob whenever he sees fit, kill at will, lie as he wishes, and generally be a law unto himself? If we permitted this, soon no one would have any liberty. The result would only be anarchy.”

Later he writes, “The Rev John Cotton, Puritan divine, wrote in the earliest days of New England, ‘It is necessary that all power on earth be limited.’ This premise became basic to all colonial government and to the United States. The restoration of true liberty requires the restoration of true law [that is, God’s law]. It is a dangerous and totally false idea that freedom means an escape from law; this can be true only if the escape is from some such system as communism, and communism is not true law but tyranny.”

Yes, liberty means freedom from restraint, but remember Paul writes in Romans 6 that we “have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” In this we enjoy true liberty—liberty under His law, and life freely-lived within His providence.

So, what’s the point? The point is this: We will never have pure liberty outside God’s law, and and “total liberty” unbounded by His law is harmful and ungodly.

Don’t shout “FREEDOM!” (as did Mel Gibson’s William Wallace in Braveheart—remember that scene?) until you understand the limits of liberty. . . .

Initial Thoughts on Liberty

Webster's 1828 dictionary defines liberty in part as “to deliver from confinement; to release from restraint. To be at liberty, to be free from restraint.” It is this aspect of liberty we think of when we consider what God has done for us.

The concept of liberty is as old as man. While some argue Adam and Eve were enslaved by God in that they were not free to act as they wanted in the Garden, and were anything BUT free, scripture teaches us we are in fact in bondage to sin, and FREE in Christ (Galatians 5:1 reads, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery”). Liberty is a gift bestowed by God (one of the most famous Biblical examples is the Exodus). Just as He granted freedom to the Israelites when He brought them out of bondage in Egypt, so He has set free those who believe in Him (Romans 6:7 reads “anyone who has died [to the old self] has been freed from sin”) from the bondage of sin and death. True freedom, true liberty is a gift of God.

The men who crafted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution knew this. Our forefathers referenced God as the One who grants us our liberty. Their words are clear: All men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” They understood we have the right to liberty, and they understood who bestows that right.

So what’s the point? The point is this: liberty releases us. It releases us from the bondage of sin. It frees us from our past, and from our bad habits, and from our tendency to disobey God. Liberty also releases us from the bondage of tyrannical rule. Whether that is Pharoah, or King George, or an intrusive civil government—liberty removes the bondage God never intended in our lives.

The Definition of Government

Let's spend a few moments with Noah Webster. In his 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, Webster begins his definition of government with the following:

GOV'ERNMENT, n. Direction; regulation. "These precepts will serve for the government of our conduct."

1. Control; restraint. "Men are apt to neglect the government of their temper and passions."

As many astute writers have observed, we all too often associate the word "government" with our national government--specifically our government in Washington, D.C.

Webster starts much closer to home. He starts with you. He starts with me. I must regulate my conduct; I must restrain myself; I must govern myself. And if I can't govern myself, how in the world can I effectively govern others?