Craig, very impressive! You "get it"..you should wear that fact like a badge of honor my friend, very few people do "get it".
Craig Maxim wrote:Guitaranatomy wrote: Craig, I understand what you are saying. Like I said though, legalizing them in any way will probably do more harm than good.
Ok look GA, I give facts to back up my arguments, not mere speculation. Present some facts. Clearly your family is very religious, which is probably why you were home schooled (no, I'm not against homeschooling) and if that is true, then on moral grounds you are opposing the legalization of something that seems immoral to you, because of the culture you grew up in. But allowing something to exist under the law, is NOT an acceptance of it on a personal level. Case in point, it is perfectly LEGAL to be an atheist, but very few Americans are. The government allows atheism to exist and even be promoted. Has this made you an atheist? Has this meant that the government supports atheism as state policy for the land? It does not.
Allowing things to exist that we may oppose, does not threaten our own beliefs. On the contrary, it PROTECTS EVERYONE'S right to continue in their personal beliefs and preach the word to everyone else, freely, and without fear of reprisals or imprisonment.
The ONLY way that our own beliefs can be protected, is to extend that right to ALL beliefs, no matter how unsavory. In the end, the truth of something or the fallacy of it, eventually resonates with the hearts and minds of those who are exposed to them. We are not idiots. We can be deceived and misled at times, but eventually, when opposing views are expressed, most people find their way through, to what makes sense to them. And what feels right in their souls.
We don't need to enforce morality legally, any more than we need to enforce one religion over another. People's own excesses eventually disgust even themselves, and usually they seek another path in time. Choosing one's own path, starts with the wisdom of parents and family. Parents don't need to concede that job to the state. They need to be parents. A child is then raised with a certain viewpoint, and throughout his life is exposed to other viewpoints, so that it becomes a process of finding one's own way, which often means accepting a balance of the good we learned as children, mixed with the greater consciousness that may have been achieved on a national scale over time. Like racism. Children may have grown up with strong morals, but also racism, but through being exposed to mixed schools, and scientific reality as well as modern belief in equality, those children may hold on to "respect your elders" and "be honest" while rejecting outdated racist views.
There is a natural process in all this. The state does not have to be involved in most issues of personal morality, except where the rights of other individuals are infringed upon.
Allow us FREEDOM and most of us will find our own way to what is right, or just, or beneficial to ourselves and society as a whole in due time.
