My point is that the values dear to right-wing Americans, especially Christians, ARE Biblical such as the concept of nations and nationalism (God created them and even in eternity, we will have them as per Revelation 21:24-27) as well as the right of self-defense (Exodus 22:2) and weapon ownership (Deuteronomy 23:13).
Whether or not you recognize it, right-wing values are STRONGLY rooted in the Bible. You mentioned a few nations/states that are secular but still have relaxed gun laws (and other right-wing values) such as the Czech Republic, Estonia, and New Hampshire, but even then, whether you realize it or not, right-wing values are still very much rooted in Christianity.
America is much more strongly influenced by Christianity than any other place, and while SOME US states and localities have stricter gun laws than other countries, American gun laws are STILL much more relaxed and free than even Czech or Estonian gun laws.
I respect the Czech Republic as one of the most decent European nations, however.
With the exception of a handful of states, most American states allow you to purchase semi-automatic centerfire rifles and magazines of any size without a permit, and while New Hampshire (one of the least religious states) also allows that, keep in mind that being a part of the US, it still is strongly influenced by Christianity and I can tell you that there is a pretty strong Christian community there as well, having lived on the border of that state.
On an aggregate scale, America is STILL more right-wing than most of the world. In a few select areas, such as immigration, other countries may be more "right-wing", but America is decidedly more right-wing than the rest of the world.
I would say that you have good points, although some of the countries listed here would not exactly qualify as "right-wing" by American standards.
For example, both Japan and Singapore have extremely strict gun laws; private gun ownership is effectively banned in both nations. Japan does allow the ownership of shotguns and hunting rifles, as well as air rifles, but with strict licensing and few people are actually allowed to own firearms. There is no possibility of legally owning handguns, semi-automatic centerfire rifles, or full auto in neither country.
Singapore has conscription, which might make it right-wing.
I would also say that American influence is key; American influence in those countries does contribute to their political systems and cultures.
Japan is certainly a homogenous society; there is no concept of diversity there and the nail that sticks out tends to be hammered down. There is a strong emphasis on conformity and immigration levels are very low; we rarely hear of anyone going to Japan to become a citizen and permanently live there just because the Japanese language is also extremely difficult to learn for those who speak Latin/Roman alphabet-based languages such as English, French, Spanish, Italian, and so forth.
I would say that the language definitely serves to keep Japan quite homogenous; the only nation known to speak Japanese on an official level is Japan and virtually all those who speak Japanese as a first-language are the Japanese themselves.
Their harsh laws on crime are rooted in East Asian values; the same goes for Singapore.
I would not dare say that tough-on-crime laws are necessarily right-wing in nature; Communist China also has extremely harsh laws on criminal behavior (except for Communist government tyranny) and they deal with drug offenses extremely harshly. The death penalty is widely imposed and not limited to murderers or crimes causing the victim's death but also drug dealers.
You raise a few other good points; the Czech Republic and Estonia have strict immigration laws and relaxed gun laws despite being mostly secular, and the same goes for New Hampshire.
I would say, however, that despite the fact that New Hampshire is quite secular, you cannot underestimate the influence that Christianity holds on American society in general. I myself lived in Vermont for a year, right on the border with New Hampshire, and regularly went to NH to do some shopping. I taught at a private Christian school while living in Vermont, and a good number of our students are/were New Hampshire residents in the Upper Valley.
Do not underestimate the influence of Christianity. Christianity still contributes to American culture greatly, and while you listed areas where other countries may be right-wing and libertarian, on an OVERALL SCALE, America is decidedly freer.
The reason why I mentioned east Asian countries, with special attention paid to Japan and Singapore, is to communicate with Fundamentalists/Integralists who believe that that Calvinism or post Counter-Reformation Catholicism is necessary for a moral society, and ESPECIALLY Fundamentalists/Integralists who believe that God is on their side which justifies their authoritarian/totalitarian policies (9/10s of Zoomer Fundamentalist/Integralist arguments I've heard are just being contrarians to the left).
In other words, you can have virtue and law and order without a Fundamentalist/Integralist state.
I also made sure to tie up any loose ends by mentioning that the Japanese Government tolerating the Yakuza is not a sign of being soft-on-crime, but the Japanese theory of controlling crime by keeping other criminals down, sort of speak.
What I'm doing is appealing to my authoritarian-right opponent's valuing public order.
As I talk about in https://libertarianresources.substack.com/p/atheists, summarizing part of what Shady Doorags said in King of the Hill - The One Where They Go to Japan (https://youtu.be/fsnWov2OD20?t=916), what happens is that Cotton gets angry at Junichiro for rejecting him & goes on a rampage. Hank needed Junichiro’s help to find their father Cotton. Realizing that Junichiro didn’t care about the same things as him, Hank appeals to something Junichiro does care about, his honor, to convince him to help find Cotton.
Like Shady Doorags said, “if you’re talking to a logos guy“, ethos & pathos aren’t going to work”.
It pisses me off that most leftists don't know how to talk to and appeal to rightists. They never heard of a rightist argument that isn't a straw-man. Hell, most leftists don't even understand what rightists value, laving them clueless on how to deal with rightists.
In my experience, most fundamental Baptists are diehard libertarians in most respects; I would not exactly call them "totalitarians".
You are a great man and have great points made in your posts, and I greatly admire the countries you bring up such as Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and other European countries with relatively lax gun laws.
Still, if you have read the Independent Baptists and their writings, you will see that they are nothing short of diehard libertarians who admire Ron Paul.
In either case, if the IFB pastors/preachers and their congregations had their way, we would be relatively libertarian as a nation. If you read David J. Stewart and Steven Anderson's writings, you will see that they are extremely pro-gun rights, opposed to income taxes, opposed to the Federal Reserve, and opposed to big government in general. If they had their way, our country would be restored to a limited government libertarian state.
Sure, you can state how other countries are just as libertarian or more libertarian in some areas, but the USA is a COMBINATION of all the areas of freedom.
All in all, you have good points.
My point is that the values dear to right-wing Americans, especially Christians, ARE Biblical such as the concept of nations and nationalism (God created them and even in eternity, we will have them as per Revelation 21:24-27) as well as the right of self-defense (Exodus 22:2) and weapon ownership (Deuteronomy 23:13).
Whether or not you recognize it, right-wing values are STRONGLY rooted in the Bible. You mentioned a few nations/states that are secular but still have relaxed gun laws (and other right-wing values) such as the Czech Republic, Estonia, and New Hampshire, but even then, whether you realize it or not, right-wing values are still very much rooted in Christianity.
America is much more strongly influenced by Christianity than any other place, and while SOME US states and localities have stricter gun laws than other countries, American gun laws are STILL much more relaxed and free than even Czech or Estonian gun laws.
I respect the Czech Republic as one of the most decent European nations, however.
With the exception of a handful of states, most American states allow you to purchase semi-automatic centerfire rifles and magazines of any size without a permit, and while New Hampshire (one of the least religious states) also allows that, keep in mind that being a part of the US, it still is strongly influenced by Christianity and I can tell you that there is a pretty strong Christian community there as well, having lived on the border of that state.
On an aggregate scale, America is STILL more right-wing than most of the world. In a few select areas, such as immigration, other countries may be more "right-wing", but America is decidedly more right-wing than the rest of the world.
I would say that you have good points, although some of the countries listed here would not exactly qualify as "right-wing" by American standards.
For example, both Japan and Singapore have extremely strict gun laws; private gun ownership is effectively banned in both nations. Japan does allow the ownership of shotguns and hunting rifles, as well as air rifles, but with strict licensing and few people are actually allowed to own firearms. There is no possibility of legally owning handguns, semi-automatic centerfire rifles, or full auto in neither country.
Singapore has conscription, which might make it right-wing.
I would also say that American influence is key; American influence in those countries does contribute to their political systems and cultures.
Japan is certainly a homogenous society; there is no concept of diversity there and the nail that sticks out tends to be hammered down. There is a strong emphasis on conformity and immigration levels are very low; we rarely hear of anyone going to Japan to become a citizen and permanently live there just because the Japanese language is also extremely difficult to learn for those who speak Latin/Roman alphabet-based languages such as English, French, Spanish, Italian, and so forth.
I would say that the language definitely serves to keep Japan quite homogenous; the only nation known to speak Japanese on an official level is Japan and virtually all those who speak Japanese as a first-language are the Japanese themselves.
Their harsh laws on crime are rooted in East Asian values; the same goes for Singapore.
I would not dare say that tough-on-crime laws are necessarily right-wing in nature; Communist China also has extremely harsh laws on criminal behavior (except for Communist government tyranny) and they deal with drug offenses extremely harshly. The death penalty is widely imposed and not limited to murderers or crimes causing the victim's death but also drug dealers.
You raise a few other good points; the Czech Republic and Estonia have strict immigration laws and relaxed gun laws despite being mostly secular, and the same goes for New Hampshire.
I would say, however, that despite the fact that New Hampshire is quite secular, you cannot underestimate the influence that Christianity holds on American society in general. I myself lived in Vermont for a year, right on the border with New Hampshire, and regularly went to NH to do some shopping. I taught at a private Christian school while living in Vermont, and a good number of our students are/were New Hampshire residents in the Upper Valley.
Do not underestimate the influence of Christianity. Christianity still contributes to American culture greatly, and while you listed areas where other countries may be right-wing and libertarian, on an OVERALL SCALE, America is decidedly freer.
The reason why I mentioned east Asian countries, with special attention paid to Japan and Singapore, is to communicate with Fundamentalists/Integralists who believe that that Calvinism or post Counter-Reformation Catholicism is necessary for a moral society, and ESPECIALLY Fundamentalists/Integralists who believe that God is on their side which justifies their authoritarian/totalitarian policies (9/10s of Zoomer Fundamentalist/Integralist arguments I've heard are just being contrarians to the left).
In other words, you can have virtue and law and order without a Fundamentalist/Integralist state.
I also made sure to tie up any loose ends by mentioning that the Japanese Government tolerating the Yakuza is not a sign of being soft-on-crime, but the Japanese theory of controlling crime by keeping other criminals down, sort of speak.
What I'm doing is appealing to my authoritarian-right opponent's valuing public order.
As I talk about in https://libertarianresources.substack.com/p/atheists, summarizing part of what Shady Doorags said in King of the Hill - The One Where They Go to Japan (https://youtu.be/fsnWov2OD20?t=916), what happens is that Cotton gets angry at Junichiro for rejecting him & goes on a rampage. Hank needed Junichiro’s help to find their father Cotton. Realizing that Junichiro didn’t care about the same things as him, Hank appeals to something Junichiro does care about, his honor, to convince him to help find Cotton.
Like Shady Doorags said, “if you’re talking to a logos guy“, ethos & pathos aren’t going to work”.
It pisses me off that most leftists don't know how to talk to and appeal to rightists. They never heard of a rightist argument that isn't a straw-man. Hell, most leftists don't even understand what rightists value, laving them clueless on how to deal with rightists.
In my experience, most fundamental Baptists are diehard libertarians in most respects; I would not exactly call them "totalitarians".
You are a great man and have great points made in your posts, and I greatly admire the countries you bring up such as Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and other European countries with relatively lax gun laws.
Still, if you have read the Independent Baptists and their writings, you will see that they are nothing short of diehard libertarians who admire Ron Paul.
https://sanderson1611.blogspot.com/2015/05/things-i-love-about-living-in-phoenix.html
https://jesus-is-savior.com/
In either case, if the IFB pastors/preachers and their congregations had their way, we would be relatively libertarian as a nation. If you read David J. Stewart and Steven Anderson's writings, you will see that they are extremely pro-gun rights, opposed to income taxes, opposed to the Federal Reserve, and opposed to big government in general. If they had their way, our country would be restored to a limited government libertarian state.
Sure, you can state how other countries are just as libertarian or more libertarian in some areas, but the USA is a COMBINATION of all the areas of freedom.