It is getting ugly in the northeast in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. This story details fights at gas stations as people line up for fuel for their cars and generators. The state troopers have been deployed to gas stations to protect people.

The irony of these stories is that there is absolutely no reason for shortages in a truly free market economy. If the market were allowed to work, there would be plenty of gasoline and there would be no fights and no need for state troopers. Let me explain.
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This is another guest post by Ryan Hermansen.

By Ryan Hermansen.

Really, the title of this post should read, “The Radically Scientific Flavor of (my) LDS Worldview,” since one of the points I intend to make is that, even though there is, broadly speaking, such a thing as “the LDS worldview,” there is not a particularly strong tradition of systematic theology a la John Calvin within Mormonism, thus giving each individual member of the church some leeway to think as they please on a whole host of topics without becoming heretical (even though our Mormon culture sometimes tries to suggest otherwise). And this lack of systematic theology is a curious thing. Why haven’t the Latter-day Saints, beginning with and including Joseph Smith, been big on systematic theology?

If we browse Wikipedia for a definition, ‘systematic theology’ is “a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs…Inherent to a system of theological thought is that a method is developed, one which can be applied both broadly and particularly.”
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Despite Pres. Obama’s improved performance in last night’s debate, I continue to predict, as I have for months, that the United States will elect a Mormon president in November. The stagnant economy continues to be the primary issue on peoples’ minds, and Romney offers a hope of a different course.

Mormons have been debating for years the issue of whether a Mormon in the White House would be a good or bad thing for the Church. There is some new information to consider that may make for worthwhile discussion. My take: there are potentially good things for the Church about a Mormon president, but also many potential things to worry about.

First the good news: there are signs that the religious right is unifying around the Romney candidacy. Billy Graham has even scrubbed a reference to Mormonism as a cult from his web site. Continue reading →

Don’t let it be said that opposing views are not represented on M*.

A guest post right below mine makes several claims about libertarianism, using the tired Korihor example. There are several basic problems with this post that I would like to point out. This does not mean it is not worth printing – it just means it is poorly argued and comes to false conclusions. I am not sure who posted this guest post, but I have no problem with it being published. I simply disagree with it and will point out why.

I hope readers will keep in mind that there are many different kinds of libertarians. For the purpose of my response, I will mention three different kinds.

By far the largest, and most important and influential group, is what we may call “practical libertarians.” These are people who may describe themselves, like I do, as “libertarian-leaning” people. These are people who are generally fiscally conservative to socially liberal and/or moderate. These people may favor Ron Paul but they may also generally vote for fiscal conservatives and may even, like I do, admire Bill Clinton’s presidency because he lowered the national debt and cut spending.

This post has absolutely nothing to say to this largest group of libertarians because it is only concerned with very, very small ideological groups. So, the first strike against this post is that it does not understand what libertarianism is and isn’t. It is only concerned with the most extreme libertarians who have absolutely no real chance of ever seeing their ideas implemented in society.
The other, more extreme groups are what we could call “anarcho-capitalist” and “objectivist” libertarians. The first group are extreme libertarians who accept no government of any kind. The second group includes followers of Ayn Rand, who are generally pro-free market, selfish and atheist.
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Who says evangelicals don’t love Mormons?

Billy Graham says he will do all he can to support Mitt.