Text 3498, 69 rader
Skriven 2006-07-07 13:42:00 av Robert E Starr JR (3971.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: Atheists: America's m
=================================
* * * This message was from Josh Hill to rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.m * * *
         * * * and has been forwarded to you by Lord Time * * *         
            -----------------------------------------------             

@MSGID: <a9hqa25lgfsc8slpsrgv9ilkdg0bf6ei5i@4ax.com>
@REPLY: <bdKdncRu5dNB1DTZnZ2dnUVZ_oydnZ2d@comcast.com>
On Wed, 5 Jul 2006 17:32:23 -0500, "Carl" <cengman7@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>"Amy Guskin" <aisling@fjordstone.com> wrote in message 
>news:0001HW.C0D13924007E20E2F0407530@news.verizon.net...

>> It's just as ludicrous as that, from where I sit.
>>
>
>The question has been raised before ... does that rationale also apply to 
>polygamy?

The human norm seems to /be/ polygamy. That's even true in our own
very conservative (by human standards) society, in which the average
person has several sexual partners and more than one spouse in the
course of his or her life.

That being said, I think that society has a right to regulate
behaviors that have a significant negative effect on society or the
individuals in it -- in extreme cases, even the person engaging in the
behavior. Legally-sanctioned polygamy of the sort still practiced by
some Mormons apparently leads to some pretty dismal living conditions
among the wives and children, and if that's the case I think it can be
argued on that basis that it shouldn't be given special sanction by
the state.

OTOH, from my own perspective it's a waste of time and money to
meddle; if a handful of Mormons want harems, let 'em, the Republic
ain't gonna fall. And I don't think this has anything to do with the
bedroom in that adultery is no longer illegal, in that people can
screw whom they like without fear of anything but personal sanctions
like divorce and smacks on the head with rolling pins, and father as
many sets of children as they want without fear of anything other than
child support payments.

><treading carefully... because I am *** NOT *** making ANY 
>equivalences...ok?>
>
>> But no one has a right to legislate what anyone does in their own bedroom.
>
>Technically, we already to.  Consider the laws against sex with a minor.
>I'm just making a *technical* point.

The difference is that a minor isn't a consenting adult. If Amy didn't
mention that, I imagine it's because she took it for granted: I don't
think anyone is arguing for the likes of child molestation, rape, and
bestiality.

-- 
Josh

"I love it when I'm around the country club, and I hear people talking about
the debilitating
effects of a welfare society. At the same time, they leave their kids a
lifetime and beyond
of food stamps. Instead of having a welfare officer, they have a trust officer.
And instead
of food stamps, they have stocks and bonds."

- Warren Buffett
                                           
--- SBBSecho 2.11-Win32
 * Origin: Time Warp of the Future BBS - Home of League 10 (1:14/400)