Wouldn’t I have to endorse prostitution if I’m a libertarian?
Question 69 in Faith Seeking Freedom: Updated & Expanded
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No. Just because a behavior is legal doesn’t make it moral or something anyone should condone. For those who might balk at the idea of legal prostitution, consider how we draw the distinction on abortion. It’s easy for us to see how something can be legal and not moral. (Obviously this becomes disanalogous when we understand why abortion should not be legal either; see Chapter 14.)
Libertarianism draws a much sharper line between legality and morality—and not because we seek a more licentious society, as some have claimed. Many Christians believe the role of government is to legislate morality—that is, to prescribe moral rules for society over and above rights violations. Romans 13:4 is often used to hit home the idea that the role of government is to promote what is morally good and punish that which is morally wrong. Christian libertarians would certainly agree that all rights violations are morally wrong, but that’s where we stop. Why?
Those behaviors that are morally wrong but are not rights violations in themselves, like prostitution, drug addiction, or suicide, are indicative of social ills or health problems that can be addressed by the free market (and the gospel). Prostitution, which is often connected to human trafficking (which is a rights violation), usually occurs when women are in desperate situations. And often when they seek to escape prostitution, they wind up punished and exploited by the criminal justice system.
Alternatively, women who choose prostitution voluntarily cannot seek justice for rape, often because the authorities believe they deserved to be raped. Is that justice? We don’t think so. So while Christian libertarians wouldn’t endorse prostitution, we do believe that legalizing it will help women who want out to escape it, and women who want to stay in to at least get justice when rights violations occur.