Letter to the Editor: Morality already being legislated
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In Thursday’s CNJ editorial, a main point stated county commissioners “... can’t legislate morality.”
Yet, government is often in the business of legislating morality — legislating against murder, child molestation and giving certain substances to children (tobacco, alcohol, heroin).
And there are laws against lying — in court, to certain law officers, and to the IRS.
As to acts in the privacy of one’s business, don’t we have legislation against conspiracies designed to do harm to others or their property?
Our governor takes a strong stand for legislation against cheating a person on her salary just because she is a woman. Even her opposition party generally applauds that legislation. So, both main parties are for legislation against stealing from someone just because of their sex, much less their race or religion.
At the opposite end, government uses unique arguments to legislate a morality demanding acceptance of certain drugs and even certain sexual lifestyles.
Perhaps the above is just my imagination, but I also imagine you want the government to legislate morality — or, do we want our wives and children to be assaulted and the offenders to walk off laughing while police look on helplessly?
Perhaps our difference lies in how much we want government to legislate morality.
Now, will a club selling certain sexual activities prosper in Curry County? In this society, that is a call for getting the “moral Gospel” out of church buildings and into the hearts of the citizenry. Establishing a living morality goes a long way toward solving the knotty question of “legislating morality.”
Jim Gammon
Clovis
