He has written an excellent little essay on the subject of the often used, and stunningly false phrase: "You can't legislate morality."
Excerpt:
During the 1990s, liberals stated that legislation designed to cut food stamps was “immoral.” But most liberals also adhere to the belief that you “can’t legislate morality.” How can a bill be “immoral” if it can’t be “moral”?
There are a number of reasons why the colonists declared independence from England. Is it fair to say that the primary reason was that the King was not legislating morally?
The First Amendment clearly prevents the federal government from establishing a national religion. Does it also forbid the federal government from establishing a national morality?
Was the 13th Amendment ban of slavery an example of Congress trying to “legislate morality”? If your answer is “yes,” is that sufficient grounds to reinstate slavery?
Those who say there is no objective standard of morality base their opinion on the inability of people to act in accordance with that standard consistently. But isn’t the absolute moral law more likely to be seen in people reactions, rather than their actions? Think about yourself for a moment. Sometimes you tell the truth, sometimes you don’t. But, do you not react with consistent moral outrage when people lie to you?
Read the whole thing...
4 comments:
Interesting. But, as I have often said, it is better to keep morality out of the halls of government.
My preference is to use the power that Christ gave us -- free will -- to convince people of the right way, rather than tell them in some authoritarian manner through law.
It's all about one's view of government. I think government needs to provide security, promote free enterprise and preserve equal opportunity -- not equal outcome. Morality is the role of the church and each individual, not our legislators. And, judging by the breadth of fallibility among our legislators, I think we're better off on our own!
Jim.
It is impossible to create laws that do not have their basis in morality. It may or may not be your morality or mine, but they are a reflection of someone's moral views.
Here is what I wrote in reply to Mike's column:
Virtually ALL laws
are a reflection of someone's morality.
Speed laws? Designed to keep us from killing others due to excessive speed reflect our morals regarding killing.
Securities laws? A purer reflection of morality could not be found in these laws designed to protect the investing public from financial predators.
Anti-trust laws? Moral basis.
It would be interesting to find a law that does not reflect a moral judgement at some level.
Don't confuse morality and Christianity. The people at the ACLU who are trying to drive Christianity from the public sphere believe they are doing something that is moral.
Agreed. Morality is in the eye of the beholder.
But we must also respect that our founders created a system to protect the minority from the majority's tyranny. Just because the majority might think something is moral doesn't necessitate that it is the right course of action.
Jim,
That’s not what I mean to say. Let me be clear: virtually all laws are based on morality. To say that you can’t legislate morality is not true. When people say to me that “you can’t legislate morality”, they really mean that they reject my moral position and wish to substitute their moral position.
Take Sunday Blue Laws.
You may not be old enough to have known Sunday Blue Laws. These were laws that made it illegal to operate most businesses on a Sunday. They were a reflection of Christian morality. The abolition of these laws was not values neutral. They substituted a secular morality for a religious morality. In fact they forced many retail businesses to operate on Sunday to avoid losing business to their competitors. The only national restaurant chain that is closed in Sunday is Chick- fil-A, a privately held company whose management does not have to report to shareholders.
While I enjoy getting a coffee at Starbucks after church on Sunday, retailers operating on Sunday force their employees to work on weekends or lose their jobs, and it allows me to break one of the Ten Commandments. To use an old – little used – phrase, it leads me into sin. To suggest that this change in our laws has no effect on morality is objectively not true and makes the whole argument about not legislating morality nonsense on stilts.
Finally, the Founders lived in a time when Sunday Blue Laws were universally applied. To suggest that they disapproved of them is simply not true. And since all laws are based on morality, your argument about protecting the minority from the morality of the majority would logically lead to the abolition of all laws. Right?
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