Originally posted by Skeptic
The Libertaians (or, more precisely, some of them) are considered loony since they "want freedom" in the same way that creationists or flat-earthers "want to teach the truth".
You really seem to be developing quite an affinity for basing your rants on some rather flimsy assertions. You opened with the above statement, but then, as I pointed out in another thread recently, proceeded to
not make anything remotely resembling a credible case.
The first point of similarity is that, like in all cults, the real motivation is quite different from the stated motivation. They are driven not a desire for "freedom", but a visceral hatered of the government--just like creationists aren't really for "truth", but are obsessed with hatered of "godless Darwinism". Hence, deception becomes essential.
I guess if you don't want to bother with little details like addressing the arguments or challenges of those you disagree with using logic and reason, demonization is always an option. You certainly left a lot of unanswered questions on the table in our last discussion. (Remember what I said about your screen name?) Come to think of it, isn't a reluctance to answer questions about one's views fairly typical of cult members?
And out of curiosity, did I miss a meeting? Am I the only libertarian who's not in on this deception thing? And if so, why have the others been letting you in on it?
The second point of similarity is that they also, like creationists and other cults, are absolutely certain they have THE REVELAED TRUTH(tm). They, and they alone, know how things REALLY are. In the creationists' case, it's the truth of the bible; in the libertarians' case, the truth about how government should work, what the constitution "really means", etc., etc., etc.
I never cease to be amazed at the number of libertarian critics who have no shame about demonstrating their ignorance of their subject, or about resorting to hyperbole to make a phony point. There are certainly some libertarians who make a big deal out of the Constitution, but with very few exceptions, it's not a matter of basing their libertarian views on the document, but rather one of supporting the document
because of its compatibility with their libertarian views, which is quite a bit different from what you just described. And even putting all that aside, the attempt to equate supporting a document that is the law of the land to supporting a document that tells stories of people rising from the dead and walking on water is strained at best. You really don't think this stuff through very well, do you?
Of course deception is necessary here too--like all cults, they pretend they reached their "perfectly reasonable conclusions" based on "rational reasoning"
Do you have any basis whatsoever for the use of the word "pretend" in the above comment? 'Cause if not, you appear to be engaging in a bit of pretense yourself.
and that, therefore, everybody else is irrational, not them.
Actually, most libertarians probably only consider people to be
irrational if they are unprepared to defend or explain the views they express. (Sound like anyone you know?)
This leads to the third point of similarity: while sometimes slightly hiding it, they have unending contempt for all those who disagree with them;
they consider all those who disagree with them as either brainwashed, stupid, or part of the conspiracy to hide "the truth". They are the elect because they have THE TRUTH(tm).
You mean like all those unsupported assertions
you were making in another thread recently about
duties, or the ones you were making about what constitutes
consent, as if
those assertions were "THE TRUTH(tm)"?
Sorry, but in the absence of anything to demonstrate that many libertarians have made anywhere near as big a deal about the "TRUTH" thing as you're attributing to them, your commentary is increasingly coming across as a pathetic attempt to put the most negative spin possible on the confidence some of us exhibit about our views. Do you suppose it has anything to do with your difficulty defending your own?
Finally, since they have THE TRUTH and everybody else is wrong, they simply cannot understand why on earth anybody would oppose their goals or views. They do not have the slightest idea why Dr. Duane Gish, the young-earth creationists, or Badnarik, the libertarian presidential candidate, are considered nothing more than bizzare clowns by the mainstram scientific or political community. It's all part of the conspiracy, you see.
I'm not real big on conspiracy theories myself, and I haven't met many libertarians who are. But given the heavy reliance on hyperbole, and general disregard for accuracy and precision, often exhibited by some of the noisiest libertarian critics (and as reflected in much of your own recent commentary), a conspiracy would hardly seem necessary to discourage most people who don't know any better (in the "mainstram scientific or political community" or otherwise) from taking a closer look.
It's not the libertarian ideas, or freedom, or the formal goals of the organization that is the problem.
What "organization" are you talking about?
It is that in fact, the "libertarian activist" community is a cult.
You're not the first to try to pass off such a poorly founded opinion as "fact", and you certainly won't be the last. It would be interesting to see someone seriously attempt to make a
credible case for this comparison, one which is actually based on demonstrating that significant numbers of libertarians have engaged in cultlike behavior, or expressed cultlike beliefs, rather than relying on a lot of unsupported hyperbolic commentary about things like "THE TRUTH", baseless accusations of deception, and attributing motives without any foundation for doing so.
