If we can not legislate morality then why do we have any laws? Isn't that exactly what laws do?

Question

Theft after all is a moral issue and before you say it is a choice there are people born kleptomaniacs who are only doing what comes natural to them. Then nature is full of theft and murder so it is natural so what are laws if they are not legislation of morality?

Answer 1

At first I thought this was a silly question. Since morality defines right and wrong, obviously laws legislate morality. However, now I see why you posted it. I am simply amazed that there are so many people who don't understand this connection. I sure hope most of these posters are just too young to understand the error of their ways, but I fear that there are some people who truly know not what they speak.

Answer 2

Laws are enforced rules, they have nothing to do with morality, justice or fairness.

Much of life is a matter of opinion. In your example about theft, you think theft is immoral. There are people who believe that everything should be shared and that ownership is immoral so theft is not.

Laws provide a list of things which are allowed and things which are not so that peoples individual moral code does not cloud the issue.

Answer 3

Morality is a good guidline for laws. However constitutes morality is another issue. There are probably several points on which many people agree, like murder or theft.

I for one disapprove of the stealing of all the resources in the 3rd world that leaves people starving and even killed. This fact is not reflected in the laws of any industrialised country I know of.

Answer 4

Someone once said, "We are a nation of laws, most of which are under or over enforced." In the Judeo-Christian concept of law we started with those ten and a few guidelines about food. When last I was aware, we had 85,000 pages of tax law in the U.S. alone. The curse of reason has led us to believe that we must justify our existance. Making laws is how elected officials justify their existence. Social engineering is how that need manifests itself. Nature isn't full of murder. We are the only species on the planet that kills for anything but food.

Answer 5

I would have to say that laws generally reflect the morality of the majority. At least in the western world. The answer is of course that we Can legislate morality. Happens all the time. Drug laws,prostitution laws Blue( Sunday) laws,etc.

Answer 6

the difference between what you are talking about and what people who say "you can't legislate morality" are talking about is one of a religious nature.

all "moral" laws that protect people are common sense: murder, rape, etc are illegal ANYWHERE. the "morality" laws that freedom-loving citizens tend to take issue with are the ones that impose someone else's religious values on them.

can you imagine if the next President were a Catholic, and he determined to enforce the non-contraceptive edict of the Vatican? imagine the headline:

"President So-And-So today signed a bill making the use of condoms, spermicides, contraceptive implants, or any other form of pregnancy prevention illegal."

THEN the whackjobs who think they have a right to govern women's bodies or whether or not i smoke weed might get a little perspective on what freedom is...

Answer 7

There is absolutely no evidence suggesting people are born with kleptomania. Aside from that pointless diversion, laws a designed to protect society from harm. The "morality" you seek to legislatively impose on the world doesn't exist anywhere but in your head.

Answer 8

Theft is not a moral issue. Theft is a survival/workability issue. There is no integrity in theft. It's not a question of right and wrong; it's a question of the integrity of a society to maintain itself and provide security to its members. It's not wrong. It's not right. It's a question of "workability". The government was never meant to legislate moral codes. Once we start doing that, we open the doors of public policy to religious fanatics, which is what we have done.

Answer 9

I see where you're going with this, but our intelligence and our ability to identify right from wrong is what drives our laws. However, I do agree that certain "offenses" are ridiculous. Because if there is no vicitim, how can there be a crime.

For example:Murder, Rape, Beatings, Muggings, Stealing, etc etc should all be considered crimes punishable by imprisonment.

However......Drug use and prostitution pose no threat to me. They are all CHOICES. What's the difference between getting stoned in the privacy of my own house or getting drunk? And who's the victim if a woman gets paid in exchange for sex and both parties are satisfied for a service well performed. You gonna tell me that women who give up sex in exchange for jewelry, fancy dinners, nice clothes, luxury cars, and beach condos are any less of a prostitute?

Answer 10

Laws are supposed to keep people from imposing onto other people. Such as theft, murder, and all of those crimes.