In the spring, the Government of Canada introduced two pieces of legislation that would greatly expand the power of the state to monitor its citizens online activity. The legislation, known as the Investigative Powers for the 21st Century (IP21C) Act, would force Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to install costly surveillance systems on their networks and give police wide ranging new powers that do away with judicial oversight.
…First, ISPs will be required to install costly surveillance equipment on their networks. …Second, the legislation would require that all ISPs give personal information to the government, including the names of their customers, as well as their IP, e-mail, and mailing addresses—on demand and without any judicial oversight.
Police will also gain expanded powers under this legislation. First, they will be able to obtain information about Internet-based messaging, including tracking what sites people are visiting and who they are communicating with. This information will be subject to a judicial order. Second, police will be able to order ISPs to preserve data on their customers. Third, police will be able to obtain a warrant to remotely activate tracking devices in technologies such as cellular telephones.
Surprising, because the Conservatives are in power in Canada.
Social conservatives need to become fiscal conservatives
Fiscal conservatives need to become social conservatives
Regarding point #2. It has come to my attention that some well-meaning Christians, who are apparently socially and theologically conservative, nevertheless voted for Obama, because they are opposed to fiscal conservatism and small government.
Specifically, they don’t believe in things like:
lowering taxes
decreasing government or union regulations
shrinking the size of government
preserving the rule of law
protecting private property
protecting the free market and free trade
protecting liberty and personal responsibility
Here is a breakdown of which Christian denominations voted for Obama:
2008 voting broken by religious groups
(Click for full-sized image, courtesy of Pew Research)
On this blog, I examine policies like cap-and-trade, socialized medicine and tariffs. I argue that these policies are bad for the poor. All it takes to understand the economics is a little bit of study. Christians need to study these issues so that they are not deceived by their emotions when it comes time to vote. Otherwise, we will not only hurt the poor, but we will also lose the freedoms we need to live our lives as Christians.
We should not be so envious of our neighbor’s prosperity that we are willing to sell our religious liberty and free speech rights in order to punish their success. We should not be coveting our neighbor’s goods. We should not be stealing from our neighbor, either. Instead, we should try to improve the nation’s prosperity without involving the government. And we can start by working harder, saving more and spending less.
Further study
You might be interested in Jim Demint’s book “Why We Whisper“, which I bought but have not yet finished.
If you’d like to hear more from Jim Demint, he did a 51-minute Town Hall for the Heritage Foundation on the Sotomayor nomination.
For more about free speech in Canada, see these previous posts:
WINTERY KNIGHT 