2007-12-23 02:51:22 · 19 answers · asked by lloydmalawi 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Immigration
Illegal is against the law.
Immoral is against values and mores.....a mix of both personal and societal.
2007-12-23 03:59:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
There was a psychologist who divided up the phases of moral development into three distinct stages. The first was the pre-conventional phase where a child defines what is right and wrong by what pleases or displeases him. If he eats the cookie in the cookie jar mommy will spank hm therefore it is wrong. The second was the conventional phase where they defined right and wrong by convention (the law.) Convention states you should not speed, you should not steal, because it is against the law which is why you will go to jail. The third phase of moral development is a phase which most people will not reach and is estimated only 5% of the population (majority of these being males.) This phase is the postconventional where one defines what is right and wrong by abstract ideas. In this phase one realizes that though something may be legal it may not be right and though something be illegal it may not be wrong. This phase is a critical problem in communicating effectively the issue of "illegal" immigration. You can watch people argue in circles because some people are not in the post conventional phase. One will try to eplain that it is not wrong and another will respond that it is illegal and they are criminals.
2007-12-23 11:14:23 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The 2 are often intertwined. A person who continually violates law which is illegal can also be defined as immoral. It's a code of ethics and law. However a very moral person can also violate a law for an extenuating circumstance. Such as a parent harming someone who hurt their child. It's all a matter of degrees. Both morally and legally. That's why we have degrees of crimes.
2007-12-23 11:32:11 · answer #3 · answered by Dog Tricks 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Immoral - Against somebody's Morality or Beliefs.
Illegal - Against the Law of the Land.
Example: There are certain Religions out there in certain countries that allow you to have Multiple wives. It's not Immoral in their Culture nor illegal. Here in America its illegal because it is considered as "Polygamy" and Immoral because we live in a Country where we are used to have one Domestic Partner.
2007-12-23 11:02:38 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
Illegal means "against the law."
If you have a law that says Blacks can not drink from the White drinking fountain and a Black does it, what he did was illegal.
Immoral means "against moral standards."
If a Black is thirsty and the only drinking fountain around is the one for Whites, the law is immoral in that it denies water to the Black. The Black would have every moral right to drink from the fountain.
Morality is a higher standard of behavior.
2007-12-23 11:41:37 · answer #5 · answered by forgivebutdonotforget911 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Illegal is always immoral but immoral may not always be illegal. For instance, small immoralities, such as lies or mental cruelty, don't always rise to the level of "illegality".
Immoral -- violates the standards of "right and wrong"
Illegal -- violates the standards of law
ANY act in violation of the law is immoral, no matter how the wrong-doer might try to justify it.
2007-12-23 11:10:23 · answer #6 · answered by Lori K 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Nothing. Immoral is deliberately violating accepted principles of right and wrong. That would apply to coming into a country illegally.
2007-12-23 11:00:06 · answer #7 · answered by Gretl 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Moral is related to principles. Principles may come from your religion, from your culture (in both cases are imposed to you) or from whithin yourself. You can build your "moral" based on what you observe and study to be right or wrong.
Legal is related to laws. Laws are made by humans, but they can change. They are supposed to be fair, but some of them are not. You can be moral AND illegal, because you do something (or prevent yourself from doing something) based on your principles. How can this happen? You can live in a country where killing women who were unfaithful is legal, but your moral tells you that killing them for that reason is wrong.
2007-12-24 00:20:57 · answer #8 · answered by SilviaTic 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Something immoral is wrong, but it is not necessarily a crime. For example it is immoral to lie, but lying isnlt a crime until it breaks some stature like trying to defraud someone. Telling someone you're busy and can't help them is not right, but it is not a crime.
2007-12-23 12:07:05 · answer #9 · answered by WC 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The best example I can come up with is abortion. In my view abortion is morally repugnant but it is obviously not illegal in the United States.
Things that are immoral are things that you should not do. Often times people say things like "would you want your grandmother to know you did that"? Cheating on your wife is immoral. Things that are illegal are things that you can have legal consequences for doing.
2007-12-23 11:12:18 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 3⤋
Immoral is related to your values. The above posters that say it is violating "God's" laws forget that God's laws are only important to people that BELIEVE in God. An atheist's views of immorality may be different than yours, as are all of the different religions ideas on immorality different- though they all believe in God- and, Christians, Jewish, and, Muslim and believe in the Old Testament, their values are different.
Immoral is a personal decision - gained from your belief system and life experiences, etc.
Illegal means there is a law to forbid you from doing it, and, if you do it anyway, to punish you.
2007-12-23 11:34:17 · answer #11 · answered by Amanda h 5 · 1⤊ 4⤋