I can’t think of any circumstance where I think morals ought to cross roads with government, any more than I think religion should.
Are you of the school that sees morals as all about sex? It seemed that the Moral Majority was of that school. A religious relic, methinks. Many, many years on SI I refused to use the words, moral and immoral, for that reason and stuck by ethical and unethical, instead, because they don't have the sex baggage.
Morality is a key part of government. Morality is a key part of civilization. We need an underlying element of human decency, being fair and honest with each other, of honoring our commitments, of following the major rules, of honoring the system. Foundations of morality: care, fairness, loyalty, liberty, authority, and sanctity. I don't bother much with sanctity because that's mostly cultural, thus arbitrary, but the others are bedrock. Who are we as a country, as a culture, as a civilization without them underlying our standards?
I don't want to live in a dog-eat-dog world. I oppose any force that advocates or fosters or permits such a world. Hence, I oppose cultural Trumpism. Humanity has come to far to backtrack on the arc of civilization. Legality is a destructive standard for judging behavior. Particularly ironic from folks who until recently wanted to minimize government and foster liberty. |
