A couple of days ago I wrote a rather long piece about morality and the law. To put it simply, every single law ever enacted is an attempt to force someone's version of morality onto whoever is being affected by that law. In a republic like ours the laws are supposed to be a reflection of the moral code of the people and their leaders. I happen to believe that the vast majority of Americans, whether they be religious believers or not, share a somewhat similar morality based on Judeo-Christian principles. I also happen to believe that an alarming number of so called "elites" in the government, the media, big business and academia operate under a radically different code, based on atheistic utilitarianism.
I think the vast majority of people in this country would agree that lying (under most circumstances) is bad. Atheists don't like liars any more than devout Catholics do. Yet our elected leaders (of both parties) lie constantly. They are expert liars. Their lies are so large and so numerous that most of us wouldn't believe them if they told us the sky was blue and the grass was green. We even expect them to lie. They lie, and then lie about lying. (How do you know when a politician is lying? His lips are moving.) The news media is just as bad. Anyone in the news media who says they are unbiased or objective is full of crap. Only an ignorant fool really believes that entities like MSNBC or Fox News are either fair or balanced. They are neither and we know it and watch anyway. Why do they lie? Their moral code is different from ours. For them the truth doesn't matter at all. For them, gaining power is the only good, losing power is the only bad.
How do they get away with it? Ignorance and apathy. Most Americans are now completely ignorant when it comes to history, economics and political science. Ask the average American if they know the difference between socialism and Free Market Capitalism and his eyes will glaze over. Ask her how a bill gets passed into law or how a person gets appointed to the Supreme Court and they will stare at you with a slack jaw and shrug their shoulders. Heck, most Americans probably don't know who we fought against in World War II. We don't know, and we don't want to know. I've said before that we are fat, dumb and happy. We don't care anymore. Unless if affects us directly (and then it's too late) we just don't give a damn. And because we don't know the important things anymore, these folks, whose only moral good is to increase their own power, can tell us anything and we won't know the difference. We don't know history, so they can make the same stupid decisions that caused so much trouble the last time. We don't know how our economy works, so they can do things that cost us our very livelihoods and we have no idea why or how it happened. We don't hold them accountable. We just keep electing them. Their power grows, and our freedoms diminish.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: "from bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage." - Alexander Frazier Tytler 1776
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Legislating Morality
Well, an awful lot has happened since I last posted in January. I started off so well and then I just got lazy. I'd think of something to post at an inappropriate time or place (in the shower, at work or in a meeting) and then when I had time to write I just couldn't muster the creative energy. I will try to do better. I was eating lunch with a good friend this week. He is an attorney and is one of the few people I can talk politics with who doesn't get all emotional. Like me he is conservative, but not redneck conservative. Neither of us hates Barack Obama personally, but we do disagree with his politics in general. We share a pessimistic outlook about the future of our country. Our conversation got me to thinking about some things that I'd like to share.
I've heard it said many times (especially during the abortion debate) that "you can't legislate morality." I think that implies that my "faction" is not supposed to try to impose our moral code on everybody else by passing laws that force you to submit to our idea of right and wrong. Well, if you believe that morality can't be legislated, then I have news for you. Every single law ever written was an attempt to legislate someone's morality.
After all, what is morality? Mirriam-Webster online defines moral as : of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior : ethical
Everyone has a moral code, from Neo-Nazis to New Black Panthers to Navajos. As individuals we tend to get our moral code from our families, and then it evolves as we experience life and grow into maturity. I come from a devoutly Roman Catholic family and my moral code was formed by my religious faith as well as the customs and traditions of where I was raised, namely West Texas. The Judeo-Christian moral code is based on two simple, but difficult to follow principles: 1. Love God with all your heart, your mind, your soul and your strength, and 2. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. I honestly believe that if everyone in the world followed these two principles then we would have the Utopia every liberal dreams of. (Note: A moral code is what one believes, not necessarily what one does. When I follow my moral code then I am a moral person, and when I don't then I am immoral. What is moral for me, a Roman Catholic, isn't always moral for a Muslim or a member of the Aryan Brotherhood or the New Black Panthers.)
The body of laws that we live by, local, state and federal, is a reflection of the combined moral code of the majority of the people. It is clear that the United States was founded by men (Sorry ladies, women didn't have a significant role in the founding, I don't care what your Women's Studies professor told you. If they had, we probably would have been a much better nation for it.) whose morality was a reflection of their Judeo-Christian religious faith as well as the history and traditions of England. (I know, I know - some of the Founders were "Deists", but if you look into the Deus they believed in He was pretty much the Judeo-Christian God, just without all the trappings of denominational Christianity.) The body of laws they enacted, as well as the founding documents were a reflection of the prevailing morality of America at the end of the eighteenth century. Murder was a moral wrong (as it is still is today) and was therefore illegal. Slavery and indentured servitude (slavery for poor white people - look it up) were a little iffy but acceptable. Obviously as the nation matured our moral code evolved and, after a horrible civil war, the owning of one human being by another has become morally repugnant and our laws are a reflection of that repugnance.
So what's the big deal? Our country has grown and changed a lot in 233 years and our laws should reflect that changing morality. Why should I be so pessimistic? Well, as I see it there is right now a tremendous struggle in our nation between two moral codes, the old one I have just described based on the principles of Judeo-Christianity, and a newer one based on the principles of what I can only describe as Atheistic Utilitarianism. (My friend thinks a third code, based on Islam, is also involved, but it is relatively tiny and isolated to a few areas of the country. It is s much larger factor in Europe.) Utilitarianism is : a doctrine that the useful is the good and that the determining consideration of right conduct should be the usefulness of its consequences; specifically : a theory that the aim of action should be the largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number. I submit that the vast, vast majority of the people of this country are still guided (in general) by the first moral code, they just don't know it or understand it. The problem is that a large number of our governing elites are guided by the principles of the second.
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written by men who believed that our basic human rights come from God and are therefore sacred and must be protected by the State. Far too many of our current crop of elites, however, seem to believe that there is no God and therefore our human rights come from the State and are determined to be whatever the State says they are. (Soviet Communism is the classic example of Atheistic Utilitarianism in full flower.) Who are these elites, you may ask? They are mostly found in government, in the cultural media (television, movies, books, non-news magazines, etc.), in the news media and in education. They are both Republicans and Democrats. A few are conservative, most are liberal. They have relatively few followers, but those followers are extremely dedicated, vocal and passionate. They are relentless. If you don't believe me then go to a conservative website like Town Hall or Big Hollywood and check out the comments section. There they are, day after day; the same people. Their comments are always mean and insulting, usually angry and rarely relevant to the point of the article. They can't possibly hope to win hearts and minds with the same tired crap they spew but they never stop. (I rarely read liberal websites or blogs and I especially avoid the comments [life is too short] so I don't know if they have the same phenomenon.) They are members of Code Pink, PETA, ALF, Greenpeace, NOW, NARAL and the ACLU (especially the ACLU) and dozens of other organizations. They are few in number but have a profound effect on the direction of our nation and its laws.
My point is this: I believe that the vast majority of the people of this country share a similar morality based on Judeo-Christian principles. Even many (if not most) who consider themselves agnostics or even atheists share these principles to a large degree. I also believe that our nation is increasingly being led by an elite that does not share that morality. I think there are several reasons why "We, The People" are allowing this to happen, and that will be the subject of my next installment.
I've heard it said many times (especially during the abortion debate) that "you can't legislate morality." I think that implies that my "faction" is not supposed to try to impose our moral code on everybody else by passing laws that force you to submit to our idea of right and wrong. Well, if you believe that morality can't be legislated, then I have news for you. Every single law ever written was an attempt to legislate someone's morality.
After all, what is morality? Mirriam-Webster online defines moral as : of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior : ethical
Everyone has a moral code, from Neo-Nazis to New Black Panthers to Navajos. As individuals we tend to get our moral code from our families, and then it evolves as we experience life and grow into maturity. I come from a devoutly Roman Catholic family and my moral code was formed by my religious faith as well as the customs and traditions of where I was raised, namely West Texas. The Judeo-Christian moral code is based on two simple, but difficult to follow principles: 1. Love God with all your heart, your mind, your soul and your strength, and 2. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. I honestly believe that if everyone in the world followed these two principles then we would have the Utopia every liberal dreams of. (Note: A moral code is what one believes, not necessarily what one does. When I follow my moral code then I am a moral person, and when I don't then I am immoral. What is moral for me, a Roman Catholic, isn't always moral for a Muslim or a member of the Aryan Brotherhood or the New Black Panthers.)
The body of laws that we live by, local, state and federal, is a reflection of the combined moral code of the majority of the people. It is clear that the United States was founded by men (Sorry ladies, women didn't have a significant role in the founding, I don't care what your Women's Studies professor told you. If they had, we probably would have been a much better nation for it.) whose morality was a reflection of their Judeo-Christian religious faith as well as the history and traditions of England. (I know, I know - some of the Founders were "Deists", but if you look into the Deus they believed in He was pretty much the Judeo-Christian God, just without all the trappings of denominational Christianity.) The body of laws they enacted, as well as the founding documents were a reflection of the prevailing morality of America at the end of the eighteenth century. Murder was a moral wrong (as it is still is today) and was therefore illegal. Slavery and indentured servitude (slavery for poor white people - look it up) were a little iffy but acceptable. Obviously as the nation matured our moral code evolved and, after a horrible civil war, the owning of one human being by another has become morally repugnant and our laws are a reflection of that repugnance.
So what's the big deal? Our country has grown and changed a lot in 233 years and our laws should reflect that changing morality. Why should I be so pessimistic? Well, as I see it there is right now a tremendous struggle in our nation between two moral codes, the old one I have just described based on the principles of Judeo-Christianity, and a newer one based on the principles of what I can only describe as Atheistic Utilitarianism. (My friend thinks a third code, based on Islam, is also involved, but it is relatively tiny and isolated to a few areas of the country. It is s much larger factor in Europe.) Utilitarianism is : a doctrine that the useful is the good and that the determining consideration of right conduct should be the usefulness of its consequences; specifically : a theory that the aim of action should be the largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number. I submit that the vast, vast majority of the people of this country are still guided (in general) by the first moral code, they just don't know it or understand it. The problem is that a large number of our governing elites are guided by the principles of the second.
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written by men who believed that our basic human rights come from God and are therefore sacred and must be protected by the State. Far too many of our current crop of elites, however, seem to believe that there is no God and therefore our human rights come from the State and are determined to be whatever the State says they are. (Soviet Communism is the classic example of Atheistic Utilitarianism in full flower.) Who are these elites, you may ask? They are mostly found in government, in the cultural media (television, movies, books, non-news magazines, etc.), in the news media and in education. They are both Republicans and Democrats. A few are conservative, most are liberal. They have relatively few followers, but those followers are extremely dedicated, vocal and passionate. They are relentless. If you don't believe me then go to a conservative website like Town Hall or Big Hollywood and check out the comments section. There they are, day after day; the same people. Their comments are always mean and insulting, usually angry and rarely relevant to the point of the article. They can't possibly hope to win hearts and minds with the same tired crap they spew but they never stop. (I rarely read liberal websites or blogs and I especially avoid the comments [life is too short] so I don't know if they have the same phenomenon.) They are members of Code Pink, PETA, ALF, Greenpeace, NOW, NARAL and the ACLU (especially the ACLU) and dozens of other organizations. They are few in number but have a profound effect on the direction of our nation and its laws.
My point is this: I believe that the vast majority of the people of this country share a similar morality based on Judeo-Christian principles. Even many (if not most) who consider themselves agnostics or even atheists share these principles to a large degree. I also believe that our nation is increasingly being led by an elite that does not share that morality. I think there are several reasons why "We, The People" are allowing this to happen, and that will be the subject of my next installment.
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