“You can’t legislate morality.” - Dick Vomer
All law is an attempt to legislate morality. Even speeding laws issue out of “Thou shalt not kill”, with the thought that speeding endangers the lives of others. Even the twisted laws liberals sometimes promulgate issue out of their confused morality. In Muslim countries where they cut off your hand for stealing, they don’t have much of a problem with stealing. I don’t agree with such a draconian punishment but they are effectively legislating morality. Many of the women having legal abortions now, would tough it out and not have an illegal abortion if abortion were still illegal. Many did when abortion was illegal and probably most are glad they did. Abortion laws legislate morality.
Thank you for your service to our country and I’m sure we agree about much more than we disagree about. But I just disagree with the idea that morality can’t be legislated.
“If you can’t legislate morality, what can you legislate?”
-Fr.George William Rutler
“The law is the great teacher.” -John Cardinal O’Connor
First Gamecock listed Theft
-Perjury
-Arson
-Assault
-Murder
as "laws" and how we are trying to legislate morality. I say that I don't need a law to know that theft, perjury, arson etc.. is wrong. I know morally that it is not in keeping with my morals. I can kick the cr@p out of someone because I "feel" like it or as a defensive measure to prevent an attack. What my internal moral compass tells me is more important than a law in which I may kill someone but "my intent" was in the first case immoral and unlawful and in the second case moral but unlawful depending on the jurisdiction and the whim of the judge/prosecutors/cops.
So you can legislate that I shouldn't kill but that in NO WAY prevents me from killing. My moral code, my compass tells me that taking someones life is wrong and I don't need a law to tell me that if someone were raping my wife or beating my daughters to a pulp to not kill them is unlawful and immoral.
You CAN'T legislate morality, you can only show by the laws you pass and are willing to obey where your morals lay. My kids don't need a law to tell them not to rob a store, rape a woman, kill their babies, not pay bills... they will do what is morally correct to them. The law is just society's way of emphasizing what the collective thinks is "moral" and "just" in the form of defining the moral question and giving the moral punishment for an offense.
In the field in combat, I can shoot an enemy soldier and I feel that as soldiers we are honor bound to follow our oaths to defend country and family. While I can come upon a wounded combatant that is offering to surrender, with my support group 100 yards behind me, all alone and take my knife out and slit his throat.... one is murder the other is combat and results in the death of my opponent. Only God knows my intent, he is the only one that knows what motivation lies in my heart that results in death... but in either case I can be called up for violations of the ROE and end up in Leavenworth making big rocks into little rocks. Morally I know what the correct path is, but legally is where the ambiguity is.
So we come to marijuana. The libs want to stop all to stop smoking (evil corporations make to much money) and don't mind marijuana (benevolent drug lords handing out presents to children). huh? If those that support drug use can't understand that this is a means to control and destroy your souls then by all means fire it up and don't bogart the joint.