Subject:
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Re: Ya wanna talk about legislating morality?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 5 May 2005 18:59:31 GMT
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Viewed:
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1005 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, John Neal wrote:
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To be honest, the culture war has been going on since before the first human
saw another human from outside his family. The culture war continues to
this day and will continue until we’re all assimilated: it’s called society.
I accept that this is your fear, but can you accept those of us on the Left,
who, rather than disdaining values, embrace a different set of values?
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Perhaps. But in all honesty, what are those values?
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Geez, I don’t know if I can delineate them concisely, but they entail
non-aggression, a respect for fact, and an acceptance that, lacking evidence to
the contrary, this is all we have so let’s all make the best of it.
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Many
on my side of the aisle fear--really fear--that the regressive attitudes of
a powerful, non-representative, and extremist minority will (to use a
not-entirely-baseless caricature) declare shellfish an abomination and stone
us to death with stones. And that’s just to start with.
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Look, I don’t wish a “Theocracy” any more than you do. But I do wish a
society where its citizens respect each others’ rights.
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I believe you. Honestly, I do. I think the difference between us, on this
issue, comes in how we define “respecting others’ rights.” It seems that, for
you, this means that some people should be prevented from acting as they choose
to act, simply because their actions are aesthetically objectionable to you.
This may be couched in “protect the children” language, but in the end it’s the
same: they shouldn’t do it because I don’t like it. You’re not alone in this
view; it makes up most of the Republican party at the moment.
Rereading this, I see that I’m coming off as kind of snotty, and that’s not my
intent. The discord between your view and mine really seems that simple to me:
whether or not your aesthetic preferences take priority over others’ actions.
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I believe that only a society that has a respect for a higher power can
actually achieve that. There must be something above humanity to which to
point for justification of “good”. I don’t even care if that “higher power”
is the Christian understanding of God; people must be accountable to
something other than themselves.
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Well, okay, but if we’re making laws about it, I’d like a more concrete
definition than “some higher power to be named later.”
Dave!
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Ya wanna talk about legislating morality?
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| (...) Perhaps. But in all honesty, what are those values? (...) Look, I don't wish a "Theocracy" any more than you do. But I do wish a society where its citizens respect each others' rights. I believe that only a society that has a respect for a (...) (19 years ago, 5-May-05, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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