It may be wondered whether a liberal government can undertake additional ends without abridging its essential function of defending freedom. For instance, could such a government establish a state religion, while continuing to permit all citizens to worship as they pleased?

It should first be noted that such secondary ends could be accomplished just as effectively by nonpolitical institutions. Any such end requires the allocation of money and other means. In a free society, these means could not be raised through taxes, since involuntary taxation would replace the voluntary ends of the taxpayer with coercively imposed ends. (The financing of an ideal liberal government will be discussed near the end of this course.) Therefore the means to a secondary end, such as a state church, would have to be acquired through voluntary methods, such as charitable donations or fees for services. Given this limitation, however, the end in question could be accomplished just as well by any outside voluntary organization. In other words, the mechanism of government provides no particular advantage for such purposes.