Reply #14: That's kind of a loaded question

[mongo]

That doesn't have a straight answer. It all depends on the particular issue being discussed.

But in general I will say that the government needs to have a VERY compelling interest to get involved in issues where no person or property is harmed in the process. Laws against homosexual behavior would be a good example of "bad" moral laws in my book. Laws against abortion for that matter. Laws against drugs? There's a grey area here. Many folks would like to see marijuanna legalized, but few Meth.

Laws protecting children against physical crimes (even by their own parents) would be an example of "good" moral laws. Or laws against dumping waste even on your own property.

Overall, I don't think that the government has a compelling interest to guide our culture in a particular direction, with "decency" laws and the like. When government gets into the business of shaping and molding our culture, it is a slippery slope to national fascism.

And when all is said and done, if you look at abortion, it is a moral decision. It is the weighing of the right of a woman to control her own body, and own destiny against the "potential" life of a child.

I am absoloutely pro-choice, and I can see where other pro-choice people would have a problem with seeing abortion as a "moral" issue, but I don't see how a moral component can be seperated from the issue.