10.10
R.K. Campbell wrote a great new article last week. It’s a must read. One line that stood out to me in particular was this one:
“These same politicians attempted to disarm many of the police who came to help, and many simply gave up and went home. We could write a book about the debacle, but we will save that for later. What is legal now matters more than what is moral.”
–R.K. Campbell, Enemy at the Gate
This is a sad and unfortunate truth in our country. Moral arguments are almost non-existant. It’s all about what is legal or what someone’s rights are. We often here the phrase, “You can’t legislate morality.” But that is totally bogus and everybody knows it. If you aren’t legislating morality then what exactly is being legislated? Take even the most benign law, such as voter-id. Why is that law on the books? Because it keeps people from lying. The presumption being that it’s not fair. In other words, it’s wrong.
The knee-jerk reaction to my prior example would be to say that the law exists not because lying(and cheating) are wrong, but because in those circumstances it’s harmful to others. We are all familiar with the refrain, “Well, if it isn’t hurting anybody…” But that is bogus. As Greg Koukl so astutely points out. Peeping Toms don’t hurt anybody but nobody thinks it should be legal. Why? Because it’s wrong. We wouldn’t need laws if everyone always acted morally. And that fact tells us that there is a moral component to legislation. It’s common sense, and to speak otherwise is just playing word games.
