Thoroughgoing, politically active Evangelical Christians and other moralists may be only about 15%, but there is much more ground for us take...
I rather doubt it. Your numbers are dwindling and will continue to do so.
Totalibertarian stomach and crotch worshippers are fewer, because those who want the freedom to feed all their appetites and whims, are chiefly those most willing to sell their true freedom for the fulfillment vices.
Well, I don't have anything against people eating fast food if that's what a 'stomach worshipper' is. That's a new one on me.
You misunderstand freedom, then. Just because I want crack legalized doesn't mean I'm going to run out and smoke it. I don't need the law to restrain me. It doesn't anyway when I want to do something that is illegal while not being immoral. (No force/fraud,etc.)
The idea that libertarians (small l) or liberty oriented people argue for freedom simply for the ability to 'do' something themselves is wearing a bit thin.
Perhaps you'd like to accuse some of the liberty defending GOPers on this thread of wanting to sodomize a gay man?
That's consistent with your argument after all.
I think folks such as Nero, Trajan, and Caligula said the same thing. We shall see. If we don't live long enough, we shall surely see the numbers come in before the throne of Judgment.
For "stomach worshipper," you can see this and this.
You misunderstand freedom, then. Just because I want crack legalized doesn't mean I'm going to run out and smoke it.
Let's legalize the posession and sales of of ricin, C4, anthrax, and plutonium. "Just because I want them leagalzed doesn't mean I'm going to run out and do any harm with them." We have governments in order to behave in societies (cultures, if you don't like the root, "soc"). We have societies/cultures in order to behave by certain standards. (Trust you're with me so far, this is pretty basic. ;-) We either have consistent messages throughout, or we have breakdown and standards are not taken as standards.
You are not my personal opponent; frankly I love you and want to see you saved in Eternity with the one who suffered your separation from God for you, as for me. But to the extend that you want to break down the consistency and integrity of our society, fomenting doublemindedness and ease of sinning against one's God, oneself and one's neighbors who have to pay taxes at least, to clean up the spreading grease spots that people make of thier lives, to the extent that by our legal institutions you want to by default promulgate a fallacy that doing harm doesn't really do harm (that there are no bad consequences of the behavior that breaks down socieity) you are my political opponent. To the extent that you want law to condone evil by its shrugging silence, you are against America.
It is simple begging the question to say that the statist, unconstitutional wrongs committed by government in the War on Drugs, for example is reason to throw the moral suasion of law out with the bathwater.
It is also silliness to say that the failures of the prohibition of alcohol (which has a consistent acceptence in society, even as a test of one's self-discipline, to use and not abuse) is proof that we should legalize essentially worthless and harmful practices such as penetration of mens (and boys) anuses with penises (ask proctologists about the harm, not to mention endocrinologists) or shooting horse, etc.
Let's have a sane assessment and perhaps some day, even a pronounced set of findings to this discussion in freerepublic.com. But let's do it based on historical analysis and the use of inner sense and not the reactive resentment of such things, simply because others who react against God's own workings in our history have lately lead to the popularization of essential vice.
(I likely won't ping Mr. R. in this thread anymore --or in others for awhile, now.)
The Christian beliefs are still at the heart of the majority of American people...you can't ignore that...what I will "grant" you is the disgust some feel with the hypocrisy of organized religion and the infiltration of it by "appearance" oriented leftists who would change the structure so they feel "comfortable" attending (ie: Bill & Hitlery).
Christians have not dwindled in number, my FRiend, we are out there, we are every where.
While in some ways I agree with you about decriminalization of things like Marajuna, I disagree with you about taking it to the extent of heorine, crack, etc.....our society already spends enough money supporting crack babies and their strung out mothers in the inner city. If it was just the adults doing it and then crawling off in a corner and overdosing on their excess & stupidity, I'd be all for it, survival of the fittest and thin out the inanely stupid among us. HOWEVER, you know as well as I do, the children are harmed...they didn't even have a choice or a chance. Then society has to deal with a poor child that was born into that world. I suppose that works for the liberals who want to increase their voting base by increasing those that are dependend on some form of government aide, but it doesn't work for me, neither financially, or morally.
Yes, dear unspun is right, we have rules in a civilized society for a reason........to protect us from ourselves.