I would have hoped that this blog would not be used as a vehicle to attack Protestants, but I guess I was mistaken. As a Protestant who also is part of the Reformed wing, all I can say is that if people don’t understand the theology in the Reformed doctrines, then perhaps they should not be making judgements on them.

Contrary to Ryan’s statement, I find it ludicrous to claim that Calvinism “ruined” economics. Rothbard was making a conjecture, and a tenuous one at that. A conjecture is not a proof. While Rothbard was a first-rate economist and economic historian, I do not believe that he wrote ex cathedera. For example, in his otherwise excellent essay “World War I as Fulfillment,” he lumps the fundamentalists and Unitarians together into a “postmillenaial pietists” category. Gary North had an excellent essay in JLS that deals with the very fundamental error that Rothbard made.

Here is Rothbard’s thread: Calvinists believe that there was no true separation between the sacred and the secular, instead holding that all things were under the lordship of Christ. Because they believed that one’s work — whatever it was, excepting those things that were sinful — was to be done ultimately to the glory of God. From that he surmises that Calvinists somehow were responsible for the Labor Theory of Value and, ultimately, Marxism.

I hate to say it, but that is not a proof. There simply are too many places where this causal chain can be broken. Likewise, Rothbard’s failure to differentiate between fundamentalists and theological liberals (and Unitarians) seriously damages his causal links in his “World War I as Fulfillment” essay, which, I repeat, is an excellent and mostly authoritative piece of work.

On a personal note, I believe people can be free to make whatever comments they wish. But, please, also understand that those of us on the end of those attacks do not take kindly to them, especially when many of the “facts” are conjectures or wrong outright. I know that if this blog turns into a battleground between Catholics and Protestants, that will be disastrous. That is why I have held my peace.

However, since the attacks have continued, I believe I also have the right to express my points of view. I do not and will not use this blog to attack Catholics or Catholic doctrines. That is inappropriate. I only hope that others will be willing to show respect toward others, something that has been sorely lacking in the blog as of late.