At the same time that I
appreciate our government, I have to wonder if Americans are turning it into
our religion. As the government gains in power, our religions seem to be
waning. Who, other than ourselves, is the caretaker of our soul? Do we sort out
what is morally right and wrong in houses of worship or in Congress? I would
argue that issues of a purely moral nature should have no legal standing. For
example, what right does the government have to tell me that I have to keep my
relative on life support? Or have children I don’t want? Or feed the poor?
I realize there’s a muddy
middle ground here. Stealing has moral and legal ramifications. So does murder.
Even speeding. These acts infringe on our neighbors, causing damage to them.
Well, you might say, life support issues involve damage, albeit to a family
member. That’s the line. It’s the moral duty of parents to care for their
children and families, not legal. As an aside, children suffer the consequences
of their birth. So be it. That’s better than having the government living in
the house with you.
An afterthought, if you
consider withholding money from the poor as causing damage to them, our moral
argument unravels on semantics, definitions of such as “poor” and “care.” Perhaps
you’ll think this cruel, but as long as a person is physically able to walk,
talk, and function, I don’t think he’s poor.
Prejudice is a tough one. I
can only say that looking to religion for moral guidance here is putting the
wolf in charge of the hen house. For that reason, government must step in to
protect victims.
Individuals should retain
the right to make their own decisions in matters of morals. Though I don’t
approve of the following, I believe I should have the right to:
waste
my money
ignore
my health
wear
unacceptable or no clothes
tell
lies
refuse
to care for my family
live
in a hovel
ignore
poor and needy neighbors
spend
money I don’t have as long as it’s not stolen
watch/live
pornography
gamble
away my savings and that of accommodating friends
put
up unattractive houses/fences/structures on my property
be
personally ugly in appearance
harm
myself
believe
absurdities
worship
craven gods
allow
my wife/husband/children/parents to go hungry
work
80 hours a week or not at all
At the same time, our
government should not have the right to:
give
me money somebody else earned
harm
me
care
for my family
keep
me healthy
tell
me lies
borrow
money from me without my permission
make
me pay for somebody else’s bills
Our government is at times
justly identified as an instrument of abuse. At other times it fails to protect
us when it should. As our financial and business concerns become more cohesive
and complicated, only Congress has the clout to rein in abusive practices.
Lately, it looks like our government doesn’t have the leadership or the
comprehension to accomplish this.
I’m glad to have been born
in America, especially when there’s so much conflict in other countries -- in
the Middle East, Africa, and South America. From these conflicts, which seem
interminable, one might deduce that any government is better than anarchy.
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