Does Christians Force Their Morality On Others Or Do Secularist Force Their Morality On Christians?

Question

Can we really say who is legislating their morality here? And what's more is who is to say that legislating morality is fundementally wrong? What's wrong with making laws to uphold the morality of the people?

For instance, the abortion issue is a case where many claim Christians are trying to force their morality on others, yet the Roe v. Wade case effectively mandated that abortion was acceptable.

Isn't stating something to be acceptable every bit of a morality statement as saying something is not acceptable?

(apologize for the generalizations. Like with all questions, I can't be expected to be sensitive to every possible person so I will admitt these are generalizations.)

Answer 1

Its the same thing on both sides. and they both use the same argument. anytime your ideas are against someone elses the effort to change or keep the status qua is a forcing. The problem is this country was founded on christian beliefs whether people want to admit it or not so the worst is the ones trying to get rid of these values.

Answer 2

Well, laws are a kind of social morality, I guess, however, they should be based on reason, reality and fundamental respect for human rights rather than majority rule. At one time, the majority of citizens in this country felt it was a-ok to own a black person.

Under Roe v Wade, there is no-one forcing anyone to get an abortion if they find abortion morally repugnant.

Prior to Roe v Wade, women were forced to not have abortions. Theoretically, anyway; rich women went overseas; poor women went to back alleys; and fortunate women had doctors who either "fudged" a "legitimate" reason for abortion on their medical records, or performed the abortion in secret on their off-hours. So, essentially, prior to Roe v Wade women were forced to either have an unwanted child or go to extraordinary or illegal means to procure an abortion. This is a case of having a morality crammed down your throat.

Although, back in the 19th century, there were several reasons abortion was made illegal, and the whole "moral objection" wasn't at the top of the list....

Answer 3

I think that that street goes both ways. The Christians are trying to force thier moral system on everyone that does not want it & vice versa. Everyone is trying to force everything on everyone else.

You mentioned Abortion. Now my view is that if the person made the choice, then it's over. However I'll state that there are a few cases that it could be used wisely.

For example: Say a thirteen year old girl is Raped & then gets "Nocked up" then an abortion in that case would be okay in my eyes. However if there was someone that was thirty & they wanted one because they made the choice. That is not okay with me.

For me that subject should be looked at very carefully. Now in cases of Rape or the or it could kill the mother then it would be okay then.

All other cases are nul & Void in my opinion.

Hope this helps. :)

Answer 4

To put it simply, the states under the US Constitution possess what is called the State Police Power, which allows for legislations for the purpose of upholding the health, safety and morals of the citizens. Yes, constitutionally morals are mentioned. Now obviously the Supreme Court has, over the years, shaped the exact meaning of this state police power, especially under substantitive due process rulings and the like, but over all, as long as they have a legitament legislative purpose, it is constitutional...

Maybe I didn't answer your question. Consider this. Making murder illegal is legislating morality. There are those few people out there that actually don't think its wrong. This morality is being "forced" upon them. I know thats an extreme example, but still. Everything is relative my friend

Answer 5

good question.

you are probably right, both sides are trying to legislate morality, and to an extent that is the purpose of the legislature.

what is tricky though is what morality to legislate. the morality of christians, muslims, atheists, etc? for the most part our country has judeo christian beliefs and many of these morals are legislated. i.e. prostitution laws and polygamy laws. but some morals aren't as widespread, or in the majority. those are the issues that get everybody riled up, such as abortion.

your points though on abortion i disagree with. is allowing women to have an abortion forcing a morality on those who feel it is immoral? those who disagree with abortion can still choose not to have abortions and they can promote their beliefs how they want. however, a ban on abortion does force a morality on certain people. those who are pro choice aren't allowed to have abortions if they want them.

in this case i believe that once side is forcing their beliefs on others whereas the other side is only fighting to carry out their beliefs.

i know that you are generalizing here so i understand your point. but i also thinks its rare. i'd say in most cases one side is forcing their morals on the other whereas the other side isn't forcing their morals, just the ability to practice their own morals.

i hope that makes sense.

Answer 6

secularist base their morales on the law of the land not the law of the Bible.Thus the secularist who are neutral keep the peace while this may annoy the Christians some it is a lot better than them having control and forcing people to fight for their religious morales and forcing our country to be added to a long list of countries torn by religious civil war. Secularist pass laws that are fair to all and represent the common good not the just the christian good so give me the secular approach anytime.

Answer 7

In my view some Chrisitians absolutely try to force their religious beliefs on the rest of us. Secularists stand guard so this country doesn't start to resemble a theocracy.

Morality is behind many of our laws. The difference between morality and the pushing of one particular religion's sense of morality is huge. There are laws and practices the human race believes reflect moral values for humans in general, without any particular religion calling the shots. Atheists and Christians agree on many things, for example, that have a basis in morality. That murder is wrong, stealing is wrong, abuse is wrong, etc. Christians do not own the morality behind those values. Those values are shared by human beings in general. One could argue that these morals have religion at their base, and okay, but which religion? The fact is that before Christians came into being these things were already considered wrong by human standards alone. Roe vs. Wade did not include a consideration of the moral values of any one religion, that is prohibited and was not the case. The case was ruled on from a basis of the human civil right of privacy, not Christian civil rights or in spite of Christian beliefs. It was ruled on in a secular fashion, referring to the Fourteeth Amendment, not a Bible. Roe vs. Wade does not force anyone to seek an abortion, but the elimination of Roe vs. Wade because of Christian outcry would be forcing no one to have the option, due to one religion's tenets. We cannot operation our democratic republic as a theocracy and survive.

Answer 8

Well, we have to ask what morality is... Morals are developed socially, and therefore always reflect back on the particular power relations between people through which definitions of 'good' and 'bad' activity, 'right' or 'wrong' have been historically developed.

What your question boils down to is power. For the Christian right, and especially the evangelical/fundamentalist wing based in the US South, their 'morality' is a cover for patriarchal, traditionalist systems of power that designate one (male) figure as head for any social organization, from the family on up to the national government. This figure is the final source of right and wrong; dictates cannot be compromised because there is no wiggle room. This patriarchal figure is the protector, provider, others exist to fulfill their roles under the leader figure. For example, women stay at home and have children, men go out and get a job; the president makes decisions, the populace unwaveringly supports these decisions; the pope dictates on homosexuality and abortion, the masses follow.

But this system of power is challenged by liberal/secularist moralities based on alternate social practices. These views generally consist of the recognition that conservative power imposes one single (white, male) worldview on all other people, silencing the voices and experiences of others. They hold that there is inherent value in the plurality of lived experience, and that no one social group has the right to control the actions of other groups. For example, men have no right to control a woman's decision about what she can or cannot do with her body .

So abortion is a question of power relations. Roe v. Wade represent liberal 'morality' only to the extent that, through the decision, women were given the right to control their own bodies, and not merely be carrying vessels for the male seed. It is so controversial precisely because it challenges traditionalist and masculinist power relations by giving women the right to choose, changing their role in the family (they can now have a say in reproduction) and society (they now no longer have to stay at home and raise kids, they can now get a job and compete with males).

So for your question, Christian morality is motivated in a negative sense to deny rights and freedoms enjoyed by some segments of the population (male control of their own bodies) to other segments (women cannot control their own bodies, and are subject to male dictates); while on the other hand, liberal morality is motivated in a positive sense, to grant freedoms and rights to people previously denied these. In this sense, Christian morality is certainly more forced, for it can only be imposed from the top down, while liberal morality is simply a freeing of humans from these constraints.

Answer 9

I'm of the opinion that Roe vs Wade got rid of the imposition of morality by a group, by making the decision up to an individual women and her own moral conscience. When abortions were banned, it was the imposition of a particular group of people's moral beliefs on everyone else irrelevant of whether they shared them or not.

I don't believe it is the place of the Government to legislate on morality, as this is inherantly based on a particular belief structure (e.g. legislating against homosexuality is based on the judeo-christian belief system saying its wrong).

Answer 10

Well some people feel it is their right to stop people from killing. See just because you say killing a baby is not a right doens't mean it isnt. That is you imposing your strange morality on me. Everyone should want to stop people from needless killing people. Don't we have the responsibility to stop death if we see it? See now your morality is being pushed on me...Its not acceptable for you to tell me to accept killing.

--Grover I'm sorry but your not looking out for the rights of a babies body or it rights period. Hypocrocy at its best. NEXT. Stop imposing your morality on rights of a babies body.