What kind of conservative talks about "rights that have been granted"? Who does this "granting" of rights? The only rights anyone has were not "granted" them by any human agency; they are given by God and you have them by virtue of being a human being.
Morality should not be legislated.
BZZT! Classic, bogus, liberal codephrase. Every law ever passed "legislates morality". Laws against theft legislate the morality of property owners against that of thieves. Laws against rape legislate the morality of potential rape victims against that of rapists. Laws against speeding legislate the morality of other motorists and pedestrians against that of speeders.
The "morality should not be legislated" line really means "I believe certain behaviors, usually involving sex, should not be prohibited by law". Fine, then make your case for that, but don't hide behind meaningless platitudes like "morality should not be legislated."
This isn't the thread to make my case for that.
Rights that have been granted. . . women having the right to vote? *starts looking at the Constitution* Wouldn't the amendments basically be rights that have been granted? There are different kinds of rights, and different issues of morality and ethics.
Anyhow -- no this isn't the thread to make any kind of case for sexual rights or morality rights. But if you look back there are threads about swing clubs and any other number of issues about sexuality that are far more appropriate places to discuss those issues.
So fine, I'll stop calling it morality. I'll just start saying . . . whatever people do in private shouldn't be legislated? Better? Not. It stills comes down to Consenting Adults. Polygamy - fine but not with a 12 year old -- although then that could be a state's rights issue, no? What age does each state call their age of consent?
Everyone has their kink. Think of that next time you're at a conservative event. Take a look around. You never know where those people spend their private time. It just happens that most conservatives involved in alternate lifestyles are a bit more discreet about their actions than most liberals.
Like I said though, this really isn't the thread for this. I have plenty of other resources, statistics and information if you are interested, but privately, please. Or on another thread.
There is no easy answer. But the answer is NOT to add more crap to the books. More laws, on top of more laws that make no sense. It's just not the answer.