Nathan Larson: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
In 2000, Larson became a business major at George Mason University and thus was required to take an economics class. He chose the innocuously titled "Economic Problems and Public Policy," taught by [[minarchist]] [[Thomas Carl Rustici]]. Taken aghast by the arguments presented by Nathaniel Branden in the required readings, that education and other services should be privatized, he began preparing to make spirited counter-arguments in class. Larson was ultimately persuaded by the empirical evidence suggesting that such services would be improved by a cessation of government involvement in them. He joined the Libertarian Party, but continued to push for world government, believing that if police, courts, and defense are necessary at local, state and federal levels, there was no reason why they should not be needed at the global level. | In 2000, Larson became a business major at George Mason University and thus was required to take an economics class. He chose the innocuously titled "Economic Problems and Public Policy," taught by [[minarchist]] [[Thomas Carl Rustici]]. Taken aghast by the arguments presented by Nathaniel Branden in the required readings, that education and other services should be privatized, he began preparing to make spirited counter-arguments in class. Larson was ultimately persuaded by the empirical evidence suggesting that such services would be improved by a cessation of government involvement in them. He joined the Libertarian Party, but continued to push for world government, believing that if police, courts, and defense are necessary at local, state and federal levels, there was no reason why they should not be needed at the global level. | ||
In 2002, Larson was elected to the GMU Student Senate on a cannabis reform platform. Initially, he called for legalizing hemp so that it could be sold for its medicinal and industrial uses, with the taxes helping to support GMU, which was then facing funding shortfalls. In the fall, he introduced a bill to memorialize the Virginia House of Delegates to decriminalize its possession for recreational purposes as well, arguing that it would improve safety on campus by re-directing police officers' efforts to stopping violent crime. The bill passed, but was later ruled by the Student Supreme Court to have been pocket vetoed. | In 2002, Larson was elected to the GMU Student Senate on a cannabis reform platform. Initially, he called for legalizing hemp so that it could be sold for its medicinal and industrial uses, with the taxes helping to support GMU, which was then facing funding shortfalls. In the fall, he introduced a bill to memorialize the Virginia House of Delegates to decriminalize its possession for recreational purposes as well, arguing that it would improve safety on campus by re-directing police officers' efforts to stopping violent crime. The bill passed, but was later ruled by the Student Supreme Court to have been pocket vetoed. Larson later came to regret having compromised his principles by not calling for GMU's complete privatization. | ||
Larson left the Libertarian Party circa 2003 for religious reasons. He had joined Faith in Christ Community Church in Orange, Virginia, a non-denominational church led by a Prince William County homicide detective, that advocated a strict interpretation of the Bible. This included a belief that certain crimes against morality (such as adultery) were commanded by God to be punished by death; and that drug use was "pharmakeia," the word translated as "witchcraft" in Galatians 5:20. Larson began having serious doubts about this religion in 2007, and ultimately went completely atheist in January 2008, as he began applying certain logical arguments from his Formal Methods and Models computer science class, to religion. Specifically, "modus ponens" notes that "If P, then Q. P. Therefore, Q." Larson noted that the evidence of Christianity's truthfulness often relies on prayers having been answered, which might be phrased, "If Christianity is true, then prayers are answered." Yet, the converse is not necessarily true. That is, occurrence of Q – that which was prayed for coming to pass – does not mean that P is true; there could be alternate explanations, such as chance; or the believer's confidence that it would happen leading him to take effective measures in support of that goal; or, in the case of prayers for healing, simply the placebo effect. And indeed, when prayers are not answered, religion always provides an alternate explanation, such as it not being God's will, or the petitioner regarding iniquity in his heart. Ultimately, Larson viewed the evidence as being inadequate to support continued belief. | Larson left the Libertarian Party circa 2003 for religious reasons. He had joined Faith in Christ Community Church in Orange, Virginia, a non-denominational church led by a Prince William County homicide detective, that advocated a strict interpretation of the Bible. This included a belief that certain crimes against morality (such as adultery) were commanded by God to be punished by death; and that drug use was "pharmakeia," the word translated as "witchcraft" in Galatians 5:20. Larson began having serious doubts about this religion in 2007, and ultimately went completely atheist in January 2008, as he began applying certain logical arguments from his Formal Methods and Models computer science class, to religion. Specifically, "modus ponens" notes that "If P, then Q. P. Therefore, Q." Larson noted that the evidence of Christianity's truthfulness often relies on prayers having been answered, which might be phrased, "If Christianity is true, then prayers are answered." Yet, the converse is not necessarily true. That is, occurrence of Q – that which was prayed for coming to pass – does not mean that P is true; there could be alternate explanations, such as chance; or the believer's confidence that it would happen leading him to take effective measures in support of that goal; or, in the case of prayers for healing, simply the placebo effect. And indeed, when prayers are not answered, religion always provides an alternate explanation, such as it not being God's will, or the petitioner regarding iniquity in his heart. Ultimately, Larson viewed the evidence as being inadequate to support continued belief. | ||