How far should the government legislate morality?

Question

Alright, Just wanted to get a pulse for what others out there think. Not trying to make people uncomfortable-- for the record.

I am one of those political fence riders. It seems to me that the religionous (christain) right will not be happy unless they dictate to the rest of the country their beliefs on life, abortion, and right & wrong. I thought that this was American- where we practiced religious freedom. My belief on the role of the government should not be based on morality but instead based on what is best for soceity- for example- I am against murder in society because we would have total antarchy if people were allowed to murder people without consquences. I am proChoice politically because I feel that abortion is a moral decision that everyone will need to stand in front of God and be responisble for their decisions- even through I am personally against the idea and would never do that myself. It seems like the political right wants to force their beliefs on everyone.

By the way- I am also against many of the social security issues that some have mentioned. Remember I am a fence rider politically speaking. Heintz 57! It was simply a charged example to start discussion! Keep going. I will pick the most illigent answer, not necessarily if I agree with it!

Sorry- typed too quck- intelligent! Need to proof!

Answer 1

You CAN'T legislate morality but morality must come into question everytime we pass a law.
Murder rape etc. are illegal largely because we ALL agree (except for those who commit these acts) that they are immoral.
Pro-life people such as myself believe that life starts in the womb ( I am far from being a Christian but I still believe that way) but they are far from the only ones pushing their morality into legislation.
Feeding the hungry and housing the homeless and medical care are all isues that peole see in moral terms.
Peole often see issues like taxation or foreign policy in moralistic terms as well. This is GOOD because otherwise all of our decisions would be cold and calculating and the weak would suffer tremendously.
It is always difficult and frustrating when a morality that contradicts our own or seems to make no sense finds its way into law but it is unavoidable since ALL OF US LIVE ACCORDING TO OUR VALUES OR AT LEAST WE TRY TO.
Morality IS good for society. The trcik is to get people to AGREE on what position is morally correct and that is no small trick.
If you think about it your very question and the sentiment behind it is based on YOUR belief system and the way you think it should or should not be expressed in public policy.

Many of our laws , like the ones against prostitution for example, are strict morality judgements and nobody questions them bcause they are considered to be the norm.

I think you would not want to live in a nation-state without morality based legislation because it would be filled with drugs, violence against women and children, poverty, and disease.
The best solution ,I believe, is for people of differing moralities to COMPROMISE in the name of harmony and mutual benefit.
That is what DEMOCRACY is all about!!
But what do I know ,I'm just Jiggabu Joe?

Answer 2

The Banking System controls the world.
They use many puppet strings, such as "religion" and "human rights" issues to keep the pot stirred, to bring the focus on ourselves instead of what "they" are doing. And I do feel you are correct, the "right wing" has taken on a religious tone, which contradicts what America was to be about, which is Freedom. As far as the murder thing, our government "justifiably" murders everyday.

I do think when the country was founded, some things were taken for granted, such as "morality". Which is probably no different now than it was then, just everyone wants to come out as an "individual" and demand a law that guarantees it. And the left wants their freedoms protected by taking away the right to have an opinion, or own a gun. Yeah, I'm stuck in the middle also. We need another Teddy Roosevelt!

Answer 3

Good for you. The government is already so far up our---for the record. The extremists (the ones you mentioned and the ones you didn't) always find a way to cloak their real motives. The government these days is a shadow organization that exists to exploit all resources, especially the human ones.They'll use the guise of religion, health concerns, moral imperatives,--anything to beguile and rule us like retarded sheep.

Answer 4

On the contrary. It is the secular humanist morals of the liberal left always being forced on everyone. Their morals of welfare, wealth redistribution, and all the other government social programs, in their eyes is a MORAL responsibility of every citizen to take care of the poor and downtrodden. Why should I work my @ss off, to pay for someone unwilling to work, or because they dropped out of school, got pregnant, work at McDonalds and can't afford to take their kids to the doctor. Why should I or anyone else have to pick up the slack and pay for their mistakes?? I do not share their humanist morals on life, so why am I forced to pay for them?

You do realize that most liberal democrats are also Christians? And they share pretty much the same morals as conservative republicans. Besides, the extreme fundamentalist Christians in the republican party do not make up the majority of the party.

Governments main responsibility is to protect the citizens from foreign and domestic enemies, ensure that the laws are upheld and that every one receives equal justice.

Answer 5

Your question is very basic and very profound at the same time. The real question is not "how far should the gov leg. morality.", but instead, "what is the role of gov.?" in other words, let each state decide for themselves. Let gov. come from the ground up , rather than from the top-down (that is the best that imperfect people can do)

Answer 6

And the political left doesn't want to force its beliefs on everyone? How naive can you get?

Government should not be in the morality business, unless it is to stop the violation of rights of the citizenry.

Answer 7

First of all, it is impossible to enforce morality. Secondly, politicians are the most corrupt people in the world, so they can shut the **** up. So the only role of government is to protect our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as defined in the Constitution.

Answer 8

I'm certainly hoping that Senator Craig and Mark Foley will tell me how to live.

Answer 9

How can an immoral body legislate morality?

Answer 10

gots to be careful here