While I’m not one to celebrate anyone’s death and totally understand expressing condolences, Ron Paul’s assertion that Gary North was one of the liberty movement’s “greats” is entirely preposterous. North called for gay people, disobedient children, and blasphemers (among others) to be stoned to death.

I will post sources below in the comments section, but this is essentially common knowledge; North was a major figure in the Rushdoony school of Christian reconstructionism, which advocated for a theocracy with strict application of biblical law, including execution for such acts as “lying about one’s virginity.”

Now, I get that someone can have deviations from strict libertarianism and still be considered a great libertarian. But maybe that should be reserved for someone who isn’t fully for legalizing heroin all the way, someone who thinks we need some level of taxation, or someone who thinks welfare is ok. Wanting to stone people to death for their sexual orientation (among all of the other people Gary North wanted murdered) should be an immediate disqualifier.

Think of it this way: if the person you’re talking about could have been considered one of the worst murderous tyrants in the world if you had put them in a position where they could enact their ideology without pushback, let’s not call them a great of the liberty movement. If Gary North had been in a position where he could have put his agenda into place, it would have resulted in a mass genocide on par with the worst tragedies the world has ever experienced.

What is “the liberty movement” even supposed to mean when a guy who wanted gay people and disobedient children to be stoned to death is talked about by Ron Paul (who is viewed as one of the faces of libertarianism) as one of “our great”?