Word: moral
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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This argument, while intuitively compelling, falls apart upon closer analysis. Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes, when asked at a debate about whether his conservative views represented the legislation of morality, offered an excellent response. "What a stupid question!" he said. "Every law has moral content...
...debate over the divorce ban, one commonly heard argument was that in prohibiting divorce the Irish state was forcing Catholic moral teaching upon non-Catholics. The dispute raises a fundamental question: Can we justify imposing laws that reflect the religious beliefs of one particular group upon an entire nation composed of people with differing religious beliefs? Such laws are attacked as constituting an "imposition of morality." In this alleged tyranny of the majority, the dominant group in a state compels the other groups to live according to beliefs that these minorities do not possess...
Keyes is absolutely right. All laws, even the most innocuous and widely accepted ones, reflect a certain subjective worldview. All laws rely on certain assumptions that are distinctly moral in nature. To say that human beings have a right to life that must be respected, or to say (as a utilitarian might) that we should recognize a right to life in order to maximize societal utility, is already to take a moral stance that does not lie beyond dispute...
When called to do so, we must make difficult value judgements about which moral beliefs to impose in a particular case. In crafting our laws, we must throw away our irrational fear of arguments based on religion and morality. The wisdom that they have to offer us is too valuable to be thrown away...
WHILE TALKS ARE THE BEST OPPORTUNITY for a lasting peace, until the U.S. shows its support with troops, the peace will not hold. The U.S. does have a moral obligation to help the people of the Balkans. Americans cannot allow the mass slaughter of innocent civilians to continue. The isolationism practiced in the West in the 1930s cannot be repeated. But President Clinton should seek congressional approval before sending in military forces. Without this, neither Congress nor the American people will give their full support to troops in Bosnia. SARAH FRANKLIN Auburn, Alabama...