Can We Do We Should We

A detailed Summary of Can We Do We Should We

Can we, do we, and should we legislate morality is a question that rings in the ears of many Americans. It seems that there are more factors, conditions and answers to this frequently asked question than the common person is willing to consider. Let's attempt to take the best ideas from the top scholars on the issue. In order to answer the questions presented, one must fully understand the idea of morality and what it means to legislate it. What is morality?

According to Webster, morality is "A doctrine or system of moral conduct: or particular moral principles or rules of conduct: or conformity to ideals of human conduct." This definition leaves much to be answered, such as: Who sets up this system? Is it relative to ones personal preferences? And can morality be forced on an individual? To further understand morality let us discuss it in more detail. Is morality relative? What laws would be considered laws of morality? Can a democratic country consider morality while writing laws? To deal with the question of relativism we will turn to the writings of Dr. Stephen Schwarz, who is a medical doctor and a writer for Ohio Life, a non-profit pro-life organization. While responding to the idea that people should not impose

Should Congress legislate morality? I mentioned the consequences that might arise from the legislation of morality. These need to be taken into account before deciding on weather or not we should go out of our way to develop some kind of moral code through law. We must take into account that to some extent morality changes, for instance, two hundred years ago it was acceptable to write a law that said women could not vote and that blacks were animals. We have a different morality today and now know that our past morality was wrong. So how do we stop this from happening again? Do our past mistakes merit removing morality from making future laws. No, as a developing nation we must learn from these mistakes and continue to grow. We need to use our ability to make laws to give the people of this country a moral code to live by.

The reason the government has taken the stance that its impossible to legislate morality is simple. It makes their job easier to say we can not legislate morality rather than to try to legislate it and to deal with any consequences that might arise from their decision. Because we know that all laws are a form of morality we know that Congress does legislate some degree of morality. Now on to our last problem: What happens when the morality that's legislated is not moral?

But in fact if one looks at the history of the Congress and takes into consideration how many bills are passed by them, very few could be labeled as immoral. In fact what most people see as the government passing immoral laws is the Supreme Court finding moral laws unconstitutional. Most people group the three branches of government together and say that the government is immoral. However, we are focusing only on Congress and if it is possible to legislate morality.

Dr. Bird clearly explains how it is possible to legislate action by setting consequences. However, he also says absolute morality can not be legislated. Len Munsil is an attorney and the president of The Center for Arizona Policy. He also claims that all laws are an attempt to legislate morality. His argument is that laws are by definition a rule of conduct, while a rule sets a standard or separates right and wrong, and standards or codes of conduct are referred to as morality. (Munsil) By this explanation every law is a rule of morality. Moving on, lets answer our second question.

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Approximate Word count = 1598
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics