Here’s a question I feel sure Corner readers can answer. To what extent

are contemporary libertarians religious? What proportion of folks who

read, say, Reason Magazine belong to a church or synagogue and attend

services either regularly, or even with moderate regularity? What

proportion of libertarians are self-consciously atheist or agnostic and/or

attend church seldom or never? Does the answer differ for intellectual

types and folks who may have broadly libertarian sensibilities but don’t

keep up with Reason or all the libertarian blogs? Is it even theoretically

possible to be a libertarian today and adhere to a traditional religion–as

opposed to being “spiritual,” or belonging to a very liberal church? I

don’t know the answer to these questions, but here’s my

guess. Theoretically, you can be a libertarian and also be traditionally

religious. In fact, this combination was probably found fairly frequently

prior to the sixties and seventies, before “the social issues” moved to the

political forefront. But nowadays, the vast majority of libertarians are

probably either self-consciously secular, or are religious only in some

thin, non-institutional, or highly qualified sense. Again, this is just my

guess. I’m interested in what Corner readers say the answer is, because I

think you will know. Also, are there any writings about the relationship

between libertarianism and religion? I’d be interested in either

substantive discussions or empirical studies of the compatibility, or lack

thereof, between religion and libertarianism.