I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that's what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family.
My first reaction was complete disagreement with everything Huckabee said. That reaction was confirmed by most of the comments on the blog, but one reader ("Joe Chip") stated his opinion in a way that both reflected my own libertarian leanings, and got me thinking as well:
The Federal government has no business telling us who can and cannot marry, what drugs we are 'allowed' to take, how to raise our children or whom we can have sexual relations with. Their job is to protect us from foreign attacks and promote a sound monetary system, and little else.
Any right the government can grant it can take away. We may want folks like Huckabee in office because they're more in line with our morals, but please understand that in a generation, views on matters like this may change. For example: If the government can ban abortion, they can also demand it for 'defective' children. Please America, wake up. Love God and love your neighbor and stop ignorantly giving up your rights to people who don't have your best interest at heart.
This line of thinking really resonates with me. If we demand that the federal government make and enforce a law about some moral issue, don't we effectively surrender to the government our individual agency on that issue? We say, "We don't trust people to make good choices; we don't want to be allowed to choose." (To you LDS readers out there... whose plan does that sound like?!) Can we trust the federal government to always use that power we've given them responsibly? I certainly don't.
People will always make bad choices, and the solution is to love each other and support each other as we learn from our mistakes. That must happen on a personal/family/local level. It cannot be brought about by a federal law, or a beaurocratic program, or a police state. How many federal tax dollars get wasted trying to legislate and enforce morality? I believe there should be laws to protect our rights, but not to curtail our rights or liberties -- unless expression of our liberty violates or impinges someone else's.
Bad choices in life usually and naturally lead to undesirable consequences, both here and (I believe) hereafter. Drug possession/abuse is an easy example here: people addicted to drugs are already having a h*ll of a life. Why do we waste federal tax money, then, on a massively expensive "war on drugs", arrest people, and lock them up for making this choice? Aren't they already suffering for it? The solution is not more laws, or more draconian enforcement; it's finding a way to help your brother/sister/neighbor in dire need.
8 comments:
Oh, puh-leaze!! Funny you should bring up the drugs example, because obviously you're smoking dope if you think that legalizing drugs will do anything to help people with drug problems. And what about the dealers? Are they just going to slink away and hide if drugs are legalized?
The fact is, people will make bad choices more often if you present them with the opportunity and don't wave the consequences in their face. If you let everybody do whatever they want, society will implode/collapse/devolve into complete anarchy in about 15 seconds.
And isn't legalizing abortion tantamount to endorsing abortion?
--Lowell
Self, you're kind of missing the point. Legalizing drugs in the U.S. would put legitimate businesses in competition with the street dealers, and street prices (as well as prescription drug prices!) would plummet. The "war on drugs" only serves to artificially inflate both legal and illegal drug prices, which fills the coffers of criminals and big pharmaceutical companies alike. It also has a very real human cost, as 3rd world farmers turn more and more to growing marijuana and opium because of the absurdly high prices people are willing to pay for them. Legalize them, and lots of problems go away. BESIDES the fact that the constitution does not give the federal government the right to dictate what you can and can't do with your own body.
You can still have laws about moral issues, but they'll be state or local laws, and you and other like-minded people can choose what state you want to live and work in. We're giving the federal government WAY too much power, under the false hope that they'll enforce our own particular morality on everyone else (just like we wish we could); we should be fighting to keep that power in the states where it belongs.
And what happened to "teach them correct principles, and let them govern themselves"? I guess that went out of style when relativism made the concept of correct principles passé, and the threat of litigation neutered any teaching likely to bring about results, huh?
(Note to everyone else... sorry, I'm just having an argument with myself here.... feel free to join in if you like, though.)
Lowell, I love your style and the points you have made are good ones. All the changes necessary for our society to run more smoothly lie within the individual first and then the family. If it is not right there in our smallest social unit, no institution, governmental agency or military action can change the heart.
I think of Jim's students and their struggles based on their upbringing and other factors. The prospects are not good for them no matter how good the school is or what the government on the local, state or
federal level tries to legislate in their behalf. It is all about correct principles taught in the home and then governing ourselves accordingly, regardless of the relativism we see at every turn. It is all so complex, I am glad the gospel is simple and constant.
Lowell, I love your thoughts here and can TOTALLY relate to the inner battle you are having. All I can say is that I wish more people thought about it seriously. I can deal with differences in political opinion when people have studied the facts and wrestled with themselves over what is right and wrong. But what really puts me over the top is the millions upon millions of people who will mindlessly go to the poles and vote for whoever appeal to them at the moment. It is the uneducated (as to political things) population that I fear the most. Having said that, I know there is a lot more I can learn about the candidates and their political stand to be a responsible voter. There now, you see give me a few minutes and I will start arguing with myself too.
Oh Lowell...you are such a complex equation! I do agree with you on the libertarian aspect but it is a bit idealized and it expects a lot of people.
I agree *completely* with "Joe Chip" and I am totally appalled by the Huckabee quote. That is just totally frightening. Does he not recall the separation of church and state? the hell our fore fathers went thru to get us the freedoms we have now??? and the very constitution they are founded on??? I am frightened to think what would happen if he had any chance of winning.
Thank heaven I can go to bed each night knowing that the race is in the primaries and it is between Hillary and Obama--neither of which I have a problem with. They are both capable and would do a fine job. I'd love if the White House were still in the state it was in when Bill left. He might have been a weasel but he was pretty good at getting things done on Capital Hill.
I will now get down off my soap box and go see what shenanigans Britney is up to today.
Jen, there are a lot of people that wish the the White House was in the same shape it was just BEFORE the Clintons left with half the national treasures and the silverware! JK! I am not into this stuff that much, but it is all in good fun that we can banter back and forth a little. May the best candidate win!
Wow - Deep thoughts from Lowell. Can I say- Huckabee scares me?!
time for a new post Lowell...zzzzzzzz
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