Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: MinnesotaLibertarian
I agree that families are the foundation of society. I disagree with the government engaging in social engineering

If the family is indeed the foundation of society then the interest of the state in protecting that foundation is self-evident. It's not social engineering but self-preservation. A state which would stand idly by in such circumstances is one not worth standing.

but I am very skeptical that the number of single mothers will increase. People of faith will still get married, and for the others, divorce is so easy these days, what's the difference?

The historical evidence against this "Hey, they'll do their thing and we'll still do ours" argument is simply overwhelming. The very same arguments were once used against abortion, cohabitation of the unmarried, out of wedlock births, premarital sex, birth control, pornography, homosexual acts, and on and on. The warnings that these behaviors could become commonplace behaviors in America were ridiculed as the hyper-alarmist rantings of puritans mere decades ago. The world we now live in stands as a testament to precisely why the government should be concerned with this matter.

161 posted on 05/15/2008 1:37:22 PM PDT by AHerald ("Be faithful to God ... do not bother about the ridicule of the foolish." - St. Pio of Pietrelcina)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 130 | View Replies ]


To: AHerald
If the family is indeed the foundation of society then the interest of the state in protecting that foundation is self-evident.

For the sake of argument, let's say I concede this point. Is the allowance of gay marraiges really a threat to the existance of straight marriage?

The historical evidence against this "Hey, they'll do their thing and we'll still do ours" argument is simply overwhelming. The very same arguments were once used against abortion, cohabitation of the unmarried, out of wedlock births, premarital sex, birth control, pornography, homosexual acts, and on and on. The warnings that these behaviors could become commonplace behaviors in America were ridiculed as the hyper-alarmist rantings of puritans mere decades ago. The world we now live in stands as a testament to precisely why the government should be concerned with this matter.

I think this is the heart of our disagreement. With the excpetion of abortion, I don't have a strong opposition to anything on your list. Why should government oppose these things? Even if illegal, these are victimless "crimes" between consenting adults, which is why it is extremely rare for anybody to be arrested for them even in the state where they are illegal. Who's going to report them? How else are you going to catch them? Are we going to start having goverment raids on people's homes to make sure their sex life is "acceptable"?
174 posted on 05/15/2008 1:51:37 PM PDT by MinnesotaLibertarian
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 161 | View Replies ]

To: AHerald
I would argue that the world is much more moral today. We have equality of political power in many countries, slavery only exists is a small portion of the planet; evil dictators can be challenged by democratic countries and removed from power; education and medical care are available as never before; religious missionaries have spread doctrine around the world; more countries talk before they fight; the list can continue.

Yes, we see more skin and sexual behavior in public, but overall, I would argue, that we are much more moral.

What I see here is that we said that we believe in freedom, but some of us don't want others to have the freedom to commit sexual sins and we don't want homos to have the same access to society. We are afraid to practice the very freedom we subscribe to.

183 posted on 05/15/2008 2:00:10 PM PDT by purpleraine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 161 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson