As I said, "freedom" never includes the right to initiate force against someone else. You don't need to specifically mention such an exclusion, except perhaps in grammar school, when teaching the kiddies about freedom.
If my neighbors are armed, and most of them... believe that my parents and husband [I] and should to be sacrificed to Zeus... arms alone don't do the trick.
True--but that's equally true today. If your neighbors are all satanists, they might decide to use you for a black mass, and you and your pistol might not be enough to stop them. But worse, if the government decides that your wacky little religion displeases them, your pistol won't stop them from surrounding your place with tanks, pumping if full of CS gas, and then setting it on fire. So I accept what you say here, but I dispute whether it would be any worse than today.
Your point is good from another angle, too. It's worth pointing out that you do have the right to hire a security guard. If you're allowed to shoot in self defense, then you're also allowed to hire someone to do that for you. You and your neighbors can, if you all agree, hire some security guards and divvy up the cost. For example, if everyone on your cul de sac agrees, you can stick a gate on the end of the road, with a guard booth, and have other guards running foot patrols.
Aha! You might reply. Isn't that what the police do today? The answer is no; the police force me to pay for them whether I wish to or not. In the above scenario, your neighborhood is protected, but everyone is participating voluntarily. But even more importantly, there's an issue of jurisdiction: these guards can protect your homes, even using deadly force. But they have no authority to roam outside your neighborhood and bust into people's homes. In other words, these guards are truly your servants, not your masters.
If you fast forward that scenario a few years, you'll realize I think that before long there would be a handful of fairly big security firms. Pinkertons might be big in the west; Securitas in the northeast; Seguridad in the southesast, etc. So doesn't that mean that we have a de-facto government? Or a handful of warlords--namely, the CEOs of those companies?
The answer is no. Many people won't hire any security firm; they'll arm themselves heavily, and put man-traps near their basement windows. If you think the Pinkertons are too uppity, you are free to stop paying them. You could hire Securitas instead, or you could start your own security company and compete with them. And best of all, the security company has no power whatsoever to "make laws". All they can do is provide guard services.
By contrast, today's police are effectively rulers. They can break into your house on filmsy excuses--such as anonymous tips, or "glimpsing illegal activity through your window", or any other made-up "probable cause". They routinely harrass motorists, and if all else fails they will claim you were "weaving around the road." If they shoot you, there's a general presumption that they were within their rights to do so, sometimes they are. Sometimes they aren't, and SOME of those times they're punished for it. But they get away with some pretty broad excuses: the wallet in his hand looked like a gun; he reached suddenly for his pocket; it was dark; etc. And worst of all, police face no competition. The Pinkertons will try to please you, so you don't switch to Securitas.
Anyway, the bottom line is that I'm not describing a Hobbesian "all against all" sort of jungle. Many "government" jobs will be taken over by insurance companies, security companies, etc. Everything government does can be done better on the free market.
It is because I am not paranoid about forces or government all being bad.
In other words, it's OK with you that they have the authority to take your property, tax your money, and arrest or shoot you, because you feel trustful that they won't use those powers in ways that you object to (very much). It's touching that you have this level of trust. If I don't share it, am I allowed to opt out? If I can opt out, then I wish you the best of luck with this "government" thing of yours. If I can't, then you are approving the use of force against me.