Blog Spotlight Monday - Independent Country

James Leroy Wilson blogs at Independent Country.  His was one of the first blogs I read regularly, and for good reason.  He was what was known as a "libertarian."  His writings were key in helping me change my views that were based on the false dilemma that one had to be either a "conservative" or a "liberal."  I was beginning to discover that there were other ways of looking at things.  Although James has written mostly about political issues, I could see strong parallels in religious thinking.  James has written a great deal about using civil law to exercise power over people.  If there's a law, there's an armed police force willing to enforce that law (up to and including the use of lethal force), and a judge with a jail cell key to do as much.  There's something inherently wrong with using coercion in forcing one's beliefs upon another.  He has written much about the force used by the state for its own goals and about how our personal desires fit in to that system.  I have changed my political and religious views in some areas because of some of what he has written.

I recently discovered something I wrote about James years ago and I thought I'd repost it here:

James is... I'm not even sure what James does, but he brings a libertarian angle to things that has been for me a constant check to my previously held conservative ideas. James is refreshing because he hasn't become a libertarian broken record, and isn't afraid at all to call other libertarians to the mat on certain issues. He doesn't have a one track mind when it comes to politics, and his wide variety of topics and several other websites makes him constantly interesting. The next time I'm knowingly within a hundred miles of him, I'll try to buy him lunch.

Wilson has changed his writing quite a bit over the last couple of years.  He has other political writing projects, and has switched to writing much via Facebook.  So his Independent Country blog is mostly about linking to his other writing projects.  I think the "older posts" link at the bottom of his page might even be broken, but there are still some links to old stuff in the posts I wrote that fall under my James Leroy Wilson label.  [Update: I missed Wilson's blog archives being a single line drop-down bar in the right-hand margin]

James Leroy Wilson is always an interesting read, even if you disagree with him.  He is a good writer and has a talent for being able to explain his views.