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I see "density" quite often here on FreeRepublic, so I'm quite familiar with the term. But thanks for the ad hominem attack, Publius.

First of all, I know breastfeeding is natural and it's necessary in public in some cases. I also know that at least here in Seattle there is an ulterior motive. That motive is to get society used to women walking around in public with no tops if they so choose. My argument is not against nursing mothers. It is against the Leftists who are using this issue to force a change on our culture -- one that I disagree with and think will lead to other losses in polite behavior.

Second, if you support breastfeeding with no regard to modesty, then I hope you are ready for homosexual Public Displays of Affection. It is only because the gay community has so far (somewhat) chosen to abide by unwritten laws of accepted decency that have prevented openly gay men from engaging in wet, opened-mouthed kissing and groping in public.

By disrespecting the willful, personal restraint that is the only enforcement of unwritten laws (otherwise known as "manners" have you heard that term?) in regard to exposing what are still considered private parts in public, we set our culture up for a disrespecting of a host of other unwritten laws and polite behavior. What else is natural that we should no longer be modest about? Belching? Passing gas? Men scratching their privates? Leering? Slurping? Crude comments? Make a joke of it if you want to. But I don't think any of us wants to sit in a restaurant for a pleasant dinner if the people at the next table are breaking these unwritten laws.

A large part of the gay community disparagingly refers to heterosexual couples as "breeders." Breastfeeding in public, especially by those who oppose same-sex marriage, is just the sort of in-your-face activity that will encourage the gay community to engage in PDAs. PDAs, whether between gay or straight partners, is only one example of potential behavior that individuals in a polite civilization willfully restrain in order not to offend otters. It is this willful restraint that enables us to coexist with greater freedom by not having to legislate against behavior. But this is where Libertarians and Conservatives part company. I understand both sides of the argument, but ultimately side with self-restraint for the sake of not offending others in order to prevent being legislated against.

Yes, we are a democracratic republic and the people can vote to change the laws. But part of the reason that we are the freest society on the planet is because we have had enough respect for one another to willfully restrain some of our behavior. Forsaking that restraint is the road toward anarchy and anarchies are promptly replaced by heavily-regulated states. Who would have ever thought that telling an ethnic joke at a college in Berkeley could get a student there expelled? Well, enough people violated this unwritten rule of good manners and the school regulated against it. This type of reaction is not atypical. It is the norm in societies that are headed toward Statism. That is what we are fighting against here at FreeRepublic, or at least I thought that was our fight.

To reiterate, it isn't breastfeeding in public that I am objecting to, per se, if it is done in a discreet manner and when necessary. It is the in-your-face/ I'll-do-whatever-the-hell-I-want-to attitude that I think is going to lead to cultural repercussions that many of us do not want to see.

I'm asking for willful personal restraint and working together to protect our cultural heritage so that something that is as natural and necessary as breastfeeding an infant does not get swept up in the cause celebre of America's counterculture.

As a last note, I'm a well-educated man. I'm a contributing writer to a popular political website and I'm working on an article on the topic of unwritten laws vs. written laws. My family will probably have to breastfeed in public at some point. I'll do whatever I need to to make sure I don't risk offending others. I am not a reactionary and I'm not a Puritan. So please stop with the personal attacks. Some "lactivists" have gone so far as to liken me to a rapist for daring to say that a woman's breast has a sexual connotation and that many sexual predators hunt at the public areas where women would be likely to breastfeed.

This and other personal attacks does Conservatism no good. We're here at FreeRepublic to work for what's best for America. I believe modesty is a critical part of that cultural heritage. Disagreement is fine, but personal attack is not.