There are inherently damaging activities that we currently treat as ‘private.’ This is where the libertarian view loses the religious conservatives. Libertarians believe that just leaving us all alone would be a good thing.
Like it or not, the Christian worldview made this country great because of its religious conservatism, including not only the right to the fruits of individual achievement, but the recognition of certain societal taboos against ‘private’ behaviors that actually break down society itself.
Religious conservatives believe that there are things done in private that are damaging to society as a whole, like adultery.
Yes, and those that know history know that the leading cause of death among murdered people in the 20th century was their own government.
Why do religious conservatives feel the need to legislate morality? Do they not really believe in the fallen nature of man?
Do they think that it’s the government’s job to change people’s behavior, rather than their own responsibility to get off their rears and preach the gospel to people?
Do they really believe that giving government more power will be a good thing? If so, is this based on an assumption that the government is not made up of fallen men that will abuse the power they are given?
What’s up with the inconsistency among religious conservatives, assuming they actually believe in the fallen nature of man? Do they not have cognitive dissonance?
Maybe they don’t think too deeply about the nature of man and government power.
Government is made of men. Men are evil. Given power, men will abuse it. Thus I seek to limit the power that other men have over me.
God changes hearts and minds. Prison time for wasting time smoking pot gives someone time to study how to be a better criminal.
Far better men than me have already said what you need to learn and understand about forcing YOUR beliefs on others through legislation:
“As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguisable from the evil that they set out to destroy.”
-Christoper Dawson
“It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.” -Herodotus
If YOU or any other “religious” person is given the power to regulate all others, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”
“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.” - Thomas Jefferson (1791)
Our Founders may have believed in morals, honor and (Judeo-Christian based) ethics, but they did NOT believe that the tenets of “Chistianity” (as opposed to acting as a “christian”) should be enshrined in the laws of government, forcing MORAL choices dictated by religion on others.
“Indeed, when religious people quarrel about religion, or hungry people quarrel about victuals, it looks as if they had not much of either among them.”
-Benjamin Franklin
“Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprize [sic], every expanded prospect.”
-James Madison, in a letter to William Bradford, April 1,1774
“The declaration that religious faith shall be unpunished does not give immunity to criminal acts dictated by religious error.”
-Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1788
If YOU argue that you or your like minded “religious conservatives” should be allowed to regulate by law and be the determiners of exactly which behaviors “break down society itself”, then you would also agree that Sharia law and Islam should be given the same “rights”. They are, after all, “religious conservatives” - in their eyes, anyway, just like you view yourself- so what is good for the goose is good for the gander, huh?
“Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others?”
- Thomas Jefferson (1801)
The Founders may have believed in the teachings of Jesus, but they did not believe that “Christianity”, as practiced by the Church at the time should be the basis of oppressive laws regulating the citizenry.
“The United States is in no sense founded upon the Christian doctrine.”
-George Washington
“...we may safely affirm (though contradicted by all the judges and writers on earth) that Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.” -Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, 1814
“In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.” -Thomas Jefferson to Horatio G. Spafford, 1814
“Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.”
- Daniel Webster
“The more taboos and inhibitions there are in the world, The poorer the people become... The more articulate the laws and ordinances, The more robbers and thieves arise.” - Lao Tzu, Tao Teh Ching
The one thing we DON’T need are “religious conservatives” like you legislating YOUR morals for everyone else, whether they agree with you or not. Tyranny for religious principles (your “morals”) is no less tyranny for any other reason.
No thanks. I don’t want YOUR morals legislated for me. And believe me, you don’t want MINE enshrined in legislation for you.