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I do believe in morality, and I believe we should generally urge moral behavior and not shy away from calling immoral behavior for what it is, without making excuses, but--

-- we also have to stop sweating the small stuff. I've now got people upthread telling me I can't have a few beers because "some people" can't handle Demon Rum and it destroys their lives.

Hey-- I feel real bad for them and all, but excuse me while I uncap this here Dos Equis. That's YOUR problem and YOUR disease, buddy, not mine. There are some people who apparently insist on other people bearing THEIR crosses.

It's a delicate line, I admit. But there is a line. Yes, we can't give in to the liberal silliness that everything is just a personal choice that can't be commented on.

But, in rejecting that extreme, are we necessarily forced to the Holy Roller extreme wherein everyone becomes a busybody Church Lady, and I can't play some low-stakes poker without some hairshirt scold lecturing me about it?

Bennett and his organization, Empower America, oppose the extension of casino gambling in the states. In a recent editorial, his Empower America cochair, Jack Kemp, inveighed against lawmakers who “pollute our society with a slot machine on every corner.” The group recently published an “Index of Leading Cultural Indicators” that reports 5.5 million American adults as “problem” or “pathological” gamblers. Bennett says he has his gambling under control.
When reminded of studies that link heavy gambling to divorce, bankruptcy, domestic abuse and other family problems he has widely decried, Bennett compared the situation to alcohol. “I view it as drinking,” Bennett says. “If you can’t handle it, don’t do it.”

Bennett is so "conservative and Christian."

What an example to follow!