Legislating Morality

What gives someone the right? I have a hard time understanding things like this, usually conservative morals. Morals are a great thing, they set us apart from other animals, but when did people ever think it was a good idea to take what they think is right, and force it on others?

I'd love to see some points from both sides bashing the others ideology, but only if they have valid points. I only wanna see truth to why someone's morals are "better" than others, or the specific reasons why someone should be allowed to use their morals to guide others.

Questions, comments, concerns?

In the past I would have tried to write something in-depth and try to argue my side of the story....

That gets OLD after awhile :(

People either "get it," or they don't.

You can not police a persons values, morals, or beliefs... anymore than you can stop someone, that is alone in a room, from punching themselves in the face repeatedly.

Yes, it may not be the most appropriate thing to do in the eyes of the public... and if done constantly for an extended period of time, it may result in health problems or death.
So can:
Sleeping
Fucking
Jumping
Hiccups
Going online
Eating cold leftovers
Drinking tap water
Sticking your head in the oven
Using chemicals for cleaning
Cutting up an apple
Squirting grapefruit juice in your eye

FUCK??? See what I mean? EVERYTHING, when done in excess and without ADULT supervision, can result in health problems or death. We need to at least PRETEND that adults can make decisions on their own.

Shit... that wasn't as short as I wanted it to be :stoned:

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Originally Posted by TheMetal1

So can:

Squirting grapefruit juice in your eye

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I died a little inside when I read that. I wonder if people really do that....

Haha... the intent was for absurdity :jointsmile: People do all sorts of strange shit. The difference is... if it effects you negatively, you should have the critical thinking skills to understand that you should stop it.

I guess I may be relating your thread topic too closely to the Cannabis vs. Morality argument. That is what I was referring to.

In terms of policing other morals? CAN'T HAPPEN :thumbsup:

There is not ONE single person on this Earth that has any definitive answer as to what we are here for... or how we got here... or where we go after here... and then... and then...
For all we know, the purpose of life is to get rich... or connect to nature... or get fat... or a million other things that nobody has disproven yet.

We are restricted by our individuality. We can ONLY base our "morality" from how we perceive Right and Wrong. Those judgements are influenced by the individuals environment and their personal relationships. We all live in different places, know different people, and think different things. You can not debate with someone about "how they feel." It IS how they feel, whether YOU like it or not.

Although it IS... morality SHOULD never be policed. Morals should not be pushed or forced on anyone else. Morals should simply be practiced and displayed to the public. IF those actions that are displayed are TRULY the best way to behave in society... naturally, the rest of intelligent society will notice and follow suit. It is when morals are voiced and advertised... but NOT displayed and practiced... that people become wary of adopting the views of a particular group.

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Originally Posted by TheMetal1

Haha... the intent was for absurdity :jointsmile: People do all sorts of strange shit. The difference is... if it effects you negatively, you should have the critical thinking skills to understand that you should stop it.

I guess I may be relating your thread topic too closely to the Cannabis vs. Morality argument. That is what I was referring to.

In terms of policing other morals? CAN'T HAPPEN :thumbsup:

There is not ONE single person on this Earth that has any definitive answer as to what we are here for... or how we got here... or where we go after here... and then... and then...
For all we know, the purpose of life is to get rich... or connect to nature... or get fat... or a million other things that nobody has disproven yet.

We are restricted by our individuality. We can ONLY base our "morality" from how we perceive Right and Wrong. Those judgements are influenced by the individuals environment and their personal relationships. We all live in different places, know different people, and think different things. You can not debate with someone about "how they feel." It IS how they feel, whether YOU like it or not.

Although it IS... morality SHOULD never be policed. Morals should not be pushed or forced on anyone else. Morals should simply be practiced and displayed to the public. IF those actions that are displayed are TRULY the best way to behave in society... naturally, the rest of intelligent society will notice and follow suit. It is when morals are voiced and advertised... but NOT displayed and practiced... that people become wary of adopting the views of a particular group.

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See, this is all obvious to me. Like, I don't see how people CAN justify policing others' morals. Its a shame more people don't/can't/won't see it that way. This is why I feel like a lot of people just aren't intelligent, because those same people can't fathom that something another person does isn't such a bad thing, or that it isn't their place to judge (as I'm doing now, lol).

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Originally Posted by DaBudhaStank

I don't see how people CAN justify policing others' morals.

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My only response to that..... People are stupid :stoned:
Haha I wish it were that simple. The scary part... most people ARE smart enough to know better. They just truly feel that they know what's right... and you don't.

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Originally Posted by TheMetal1

They just truly feel that they know what's right... and you don't.

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thereby indicating that they do NOT, in fact, know better!


Those who know better, know they do not know better than themselves.




meaning you can know what is better for yourself, and only for yourself. the buck stops with YOU. someone running with siscors? warn them, but you have no right to stop them. let's let natural selection weed out the stupid ones again, like mother nature intended!

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Originally Posted by Stoner Shadow Wolf

thereby indicating that they do NOT, in fact, know better!........Those who know better, know they do not know better than themselves.

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Exactly. It is a slippery slope one walks when trying to explain the rediculous and idiotic behavior of self-proclaimed intelligent adults.

In my opinion, if we can just admit that we are not in the position to determine right/wrong/good/bad (in a moral sense) for anyone other than ourselves... then we will be that much closer to being able to co-habitate on this planet.

The need to legislate morality is proof that humans are not always going to apply logical tests to their actions, or care about the outcome.

This came up in a discussion between myself and an ex BF during the course of an absurd breakup that, among other things, involved him having a crisis of faith and deciding that since it was apparent that we were not going to get married, and he is a religious sort, we should stop having sex. 'The WHAAA?' I asked... and thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that we are running incompatible operating systems.
His test defies logic in my opinion, since the original rule that he was trying not too hard not to break was 'no sex before marriage', with a really odd sort of interpretation, and his statement of "I wasn't trying to hurt you" didn't help.

My test is less complex and has 2 parts, in this order:
-Does it have the potential to hurt or inconvenience another human?
-Does it have the potential to hurt me?
And saying 'I wasn't TRYING to hurt you' isn't the same as saying, "I was trying NOT to hurt you", as the latter infers more participation in avoiding a problem.

I can't really get into it all now (got a meeting in half an hour) but I've come to the conclusion that he is a person who NEEDS his morals legislated, and apparently QUITE SPECIFICALLY at that, lol... since logic has definitely not played a part, and the misapplication of his moral system has created more problems than it solved. Grrr.

Apparently this is a hot topic recently:jointsmile: This is on MSN dot calm today. :rasta:

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