On Thursday, November 7th, IFWE distinguished scholar Dr. Jay Richards delivered a lecture in D.C. entitled “Why Libertarians Need God: A Theological Defense of Free Markets.”

Richards claimed that core libertarian values – such as individual rights, personal freedom and responsibility, and limited government – only make sense in the context of a theistic worldview. He said,

The easiest way to avoid sawing off the branch you sit on as a libertarian is to be a theist.

Richards argued that many libertarians conform to a materialistic framework – not a “he who dies with the most toys wins” type of materialism, but a materialistic worldview which accepts only the material world and rejects the spiritual world.

Tyler O’Neil from the Christian Post reported,

Richards argued that the basic truths behind the Declaration of Independence and the political theory of libertarianism require a theistic worldview. Materialism, by contrast, fails to provide the necessary foundation for freedom, responsibility, reason, and moral truth, he contends. These four bedrock beliefs – that human beings have free will and are responsible for their actions, that they can reason and come to a knowledge of truth, and that there is objective morality in the world – are fundamental to a libertarian understanding, he claimed.

Watch the full video here. You can also catch more photos from the event here.