Path: news.ncsu.edu!juno Date: 19 Feb 94 17:48:41 GMT Message-ID: Newsgroups: ncsu.catt Subject: Goverment, Religion, Sex I have enjoyed the arguments I have seen here for the past week, but I just realized the futility in some of our arguments. Noone is going to change their minds about what is right & wrong. That's fine with me. When it comes to morals, I am rather close-minded and will not condemn other people for being the same (people in general are reluctant to condemn people for characteristics they share.) What can we change each other's minds about? Perhaps not the abstract, right/wrong aspects of this debate, but practical effects. Such as people's behavior towards one another and the laws of our state. It has been my experience that many people profess certain philosophies and beliefs that are removed from their daily lives. Some people are nice to the people that they despise in their beliefs, some are nasty to the people they claim to tolerate or understand. So let us turn to law, something that can be changed and something that people usually don't consider to last for all time, unlike the laws of God. What are the purposes of our laws and our government? Protection. Protection from other countries. Protection from violence and pain. Protection from unjust punishment (meaning punishment for crimes one did not do.) mainly, protection from others. Who is protected by laws against sodomy and premarital sex? Some argue that people are being protected from themselves. I'm not sure I want the government to be a parent. Well, tobacco use, whether smoking or dipping, is dangerous. I've known many people who have been died from the effects of tobacco use. However, if ever a law is made that prohibits people from smoking in their own homes, I'd be very angry. The government would be professing to protect people from themselves. This nation has tried a similar parental campaign before -- the Prohibition. It didn't work too well. As you can tell from my opinion of government, there are more laws than just the sex laws that I would like to see removed. I believe people have the right to screw themselves up -- their lives are their own responsibilities. One can give guidance, advice, support, but if they are determined to stay on the road to ruin, that's their own problem. That's why I don't want religion entering in goverment -- too many religions have been trying to force people to salvation. Perhaps one can acheive salvation even though other people kept one from making decisions. In any case, do you want to be arrested for masturbation, oral sex, premarital sex, whatever sex does not fit the standard of married couple, vaginal intercourse? The only time people are hurt by such acts is when rape or child abuse is involved, and we already have laws separate from those mentioned above. One can argue one can be hurt by sexually transmitted diseases from such behavior, and one is protecting against that. Then why don't we have laws against smoking altogether? Why don't we have laws requiring all people to wash hands before eating? Why aren't people with flu quarantined by law?