When Christian Conservatives Opposed The State

This 1993 Freeman article by Daniel F. Walker is an overview of the theologian's J. Gresham Machen's libertarianism of 80 ago. Very refreshing. Not all American Christians have believed in "Americanism."

Atheists/agnostics I respect most, like Rand and Mencken (not to mention Rothbard and Mises), were libertarian. It is notable also that the theological heirs of Machen, from what I can tell, also tend to have libertarian or at least federalist/state's rights views. Perhaps the more determinedly anti-liberal you are in your theology, the more you want the family and Church to assume social and cultural leadership instead of the State.

It is those who want to "separate" the religious and the secular, who end up mixing, matching, and merging them in incoherent ways and destructive ways - leading to the "Americanism" of two posts ago.