nbcrusader said:
What about the current "nanny state" we live in? You could fill book shelf after book shelf with the laws, rules and regulations that shape, control, influence, direct, punish and prevent individual life choices.
And "big business" (when does it become "big" by the way?) has even more rules and regulations to follow.
Starting a business or opening a store is no easy task in today's regulatory framework.
yes, we can fill a book with such apparent discrepancies -- if you're going to argue that we should discourage any and all sexual activity before marriage because it harms us as a society, not only are you going to have to make that case, but you're also going to have to make that case in comparison to the million-and-one other things that we are free to do that harm us.
can you really prove to me that sexual activity before marriage is more harmful than fast food consumption?
why do we not have government-sponsored campaigns not just aimed at eating healthy foods, but actively discouraging the consumption of food by specific manufacturers?
and there, i think, is the difference. it is well and good to advocate *responsible* sexuality, just as it is well and good to advocate *responsible* eating habits. however, we all get into big trouble when we do more than advocate healthy behavior (or outlaw specific behavior that clearly and directly harms another indivdiual, such as sex with a minor) and start telling people when and where they are permitted to engage in such behaviors.
we don't outlaw motorcycles; but we do have helmet laws.
we don't outlaw non-procreative sex; but we do have safe sex campaigns.
seems perfectly sensible to me. and is it at all even remotely possible to regulate/outlaw sexual behavior? just how would you go about enforcing such laws?
i really don't think that you can equate behavior such as committing suicide or even doing drugs with sexual behavior. if two consenting adults have responsible sex, no one is harmed. if anything, a relationship is strengthened, sexual frustration is relieved, and someone has another reason to get up in the morning. with committing suicide, someone dies. with doing drugs, even steroids, measurable physical harm is done to the body (though some drugs are slippery, since much of their detrimental effect upon society is more becuase of their illegality than the actual physical harm they do).