Texas does everything in a big way. As such, they are a political powerhouse.
There is a very consequential U.S. Senate race going on in the Lone Star state featuring a candidate that has some very troubling public views on all the things Focus on the Family cares deeply about.
But a lesser known, yet very influential, Texas party also has some very concerning issues surrounding it. That is the Texas Libertarian Party. A man named Andrew Amelang is the chair of that party. He is also a proud polygamist. He also holds a key leadership position in an organization called Biblical Families. He does so as a polygamist, what he calls “plural marriage.”
They clearly have a very wrong view of what biblical families are.
Mr. Amelang’s official biography at the so-called “Biblical Families” website explains,
Amelang has one legal wife and 2 live-in girlfriends. Twelve children live in this home. And he calls this biblical. His bio also states, “In addition to leading and coordinating worship at Biblical Families retreats, Andrew counsels plural families and family members, as well as those considering plural marriage.” Amelang’s organization claims to do this in obedience to Christ.
Of course, this is not true. Christ is crystal clear on his ethics of sexuality and marriage. They are firmly rooted in the divine creation telos and Matthew 19 and Mark 10 make this perfectly clear. A man leaves all others and cleaves, holds fast to his wife, becoming one flesh with her, and her with him. This beautiful mystery can only happen in faithful monogamy. It is impossible to become one flesh with several people.
This also highlights an important problem with libertarianism. Libertarianism seems attractive to some Christians and conservatives. They favor smaller government and individual freedom.
Yet, clearly Christianity holds that government has a fundamental and God-ordained role in human civilization and public life. This is deeply rooted in a Christian theology of being human, the nature of liberty and personal responsibility. There are limits on one’s freedom and liberty because we are fallen creatures and we have a public responsibility for our behavior to our fellow citizens, particularly the youngest among us. Libertarianism rejects this essential fact of public life together. This is why libertarianism is more problematic than progressive liberalism in many ways. It seeks to remove essential personal and social boundaries that are indispensable to civil society, the things conservatism should always seek to conserve.
This is why it is wholly reasonable that a man who flouts both the law, the natural and divine order of marriage would chair the libertarian party of one of the largest states in our nation.
Ideas have consequences and bad ideas do real damage. Libertarianism and family redefinition based on adult desires are damaging.
Photo from “Biblical Families” website.
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