ABSTRACT
Both freedom and virtue are under assault today. The attack on economic and political freedom is obvious enough. While true Christian liberty means freedom from sin, it seems to be tied to a more common form of freedom, the opportunity to choose whether to respond to God's grace. Some advocates of liberty and virtue have compounded the problem by unnecessarily setting the two against each other. A number of members of the more "libertarian" right dismiss virtue as a matter of concern, while some more traditional conservatives want the state to circumscribe individual freedom to promote "morality". Both of these groups see freedom and virtue as frequent antagonists, if not permanent opponents. Advocates of a minimal state need to be concerned about both liberty and virtue. Freedom is important both as an end in itself and as a means of allowing people to exercise virtue. Virtue, too, is critically important in its own right.
