Politically I consider myself a left swinging fence sitter. Despite the fact that the "center" of the political spectrum has been slowly moving right, making me seem more and more like a frothing zealot, I still actually consider myself a bit more centrist than many of my friends.
In many ways I am a liberal (I'm for gay marriage, for taxation for my representation, etc.), but I'm, sadly, not the all accepting, respecting of every life choice kind of person that some of my friends think I should be. No, I don't want people smoking, doing drugs or drinking; they're all terrible things. I don't think that abortion is a good thing either. I don't feel that every opinion is equal (ex. racist groups, religious fanatics, hate speech in general). I feel very strongly about these things as a moral human being, but I have an important thing to say on the subject:
DON'T LEGISLATE MY MORALITY!
We are, all of us, free to have, hold dear, and express our opinions, but while I believe that smoking (pot or nicotine) is a terrible wrong I don't think that the acts should be outlawed because I recognize that it is MY opinion and I might be wrong.
Abortion is another, more volatile, aspect of this idea of mine. I know people who have had abortions. I personally think they are horrendous practices but whether or not someone should or shouldn't have one is NOT MY DECISION TO MAKE. Even if I had the power to put my feelings into law I wouldn't make the action illegal because the "right" to make decisions for others is so blatantly un-American, so terrifyingly close to despotism, that I could never do it and deplore those who would.
On the other side of the coin, I personally believe that any couple more than replacing themselves in the world populous (i.e. having more than one child per parent) is fundimentally wrong and is an outdated practice held over from when the survivability of children had a much larger chance of death. That being said, I don't think it's my right to FORCE others to believe as I do with laws that would enforce this morality. My opinions would be infringing on the safties, freedoms and lives of others.
(warning: incoming rant... well, harsher rant)
Gay marriage is the ultimate subject that angers me on this topic. I don't care who says what about whether gay marriage is right or wrong, if you think that gay marriage is wrong then don't marry someone of the same sex. It is absolutely not your place to make that decision for someone else, regardless of your beliefs. What if my religion (one I'm making up but, for the sake of argument, I believe in just a firmly) said that streigt marriage was against God's will? Who's beliefs should we go with?
*huff puff*
Sorry, I know that I promised to try and keep my emotons down, but I'm human and can make mistakes.
So can you.
So next time you think that a law should be put in place to legislate morality, remember that we all have a right to believe what we want and to impose our beliefs on others by law is tyranny. Your opinion might be wrong, and even if there's a passage in a holy book that backs your argument, not everyone believes in that book, and they have a right not to.
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3 comments:
That regulating morality thing is a thread that runs through a lot of our legal system. I guess I always want to think about whose interests those regulations serve, as I see the debates as really about power.
wow, you really wrote quite a bit about how you feel. I definitely give you respect on your opinions because I find it quite sickening that everyone can stick to be completely left or completely right, but I have never been either I have always been in the middle haha its called a moderate. especially when you can see from both sides of the spectrum making a neutral agreement is great, but at the same time I feel that our society is still behind in their political views. Think about it, you ever think there would be a libertarian president? probably never, but I give you kudos on your thoughts because everyone expects us to pick one side and I think its outrageous
I get your position on being neutral and not imposing judgements on others. The "Live and let live" concept, along with the "If I don't like what I am seeing on TV, turn the channel" does not seem to be the concensus in today's society. I guess it is easier to judge others than to judge oneself. Too bad that we have to deal with all of these pointless opinions and judgements. It would effectively be a better society if we just worked on keeping our own yard clean without infringing on others.
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