Text 4787, 94 rader
Skriven 2004-11-10 12:55:26 av Alan Hess
Ärende: live and let live?
==========================
I agree with this columnist's opinion.  What do you think?
********

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.chapman09nov09,1,2199793. 
story?coll=bal-oped-headlines
Our No. 1 moral value is still 'live and let live'


By Steve Chapman

November 9, 2004

CHICAGO - Across the political spectrum, experts agree that the election of
2004 represents a sharp swing toward old-fashioned Christian values, which
conservatives cheer and liberals lament.

"I have long advocated a stronger tie between politics and the virtues,"
announced veteran conservative moralist Bill Bennett the day after the
election. "Last night it was evident that the American people agree." James
Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, said that because of the prayers of
Christians, "God has given us a reprieve" - but a brief one that the president
must use to implement a moral agenda.

Liberal Northwestern University Professor Garry Wills is afraid they're right
in thinking we want a crusade to clean up our morals. Americans, he writes,
have come to resemble our extremist Muslim enemies, with our "fundamentalist
zeal, a rage at secularity, religious intolerance, fear of and hatred for
modernity."

Oh, please. Americans don't want the government policing individual morality
any more than they want the NFL to switch to touch football. America is a "live
and let live" country, and it's only growing more so.

Commentators made much of the fact that "moral values" ranked first on the list
of concerns that voters cited as most important to them, surpassing the
economy, terrorism and the war in Iraq. Four out of five of these people voted
for President Bush.

But "moral values" is a vague concept that may not mean the same thing in
Minneapolis as it does in Dallas or Baltimore.

Even if you assume that the people worried about moral values want Mr. Dobson's
brand of morality, the fact is only 22 percent of the electorate rank it as
their chief priority. No less than 78 percent disagree, which is a landslide
margin.

Religious conservatives think it's no coincidence that in all 11 states where
gay marriage was on the ballot, including the pivotal state of Ohio, voters
approved bans. What is overlooked here is that while voters don't support gay
marriage, they don't necessarily support a federal constitutional amendment
outlawing it. Polls indicate that most prefer letting the states handle the
issue.

Not only that, but most Americans think gays should indeed have access to the
benefits of marriage, just as long as it's not called marriage. A Washington
Post-ABC poll this year found that 54 percent support civil unions, with just
42 percent opposed. A couple of years ago, civil unions were a radical concept.

The gay marriage debate is not about the morality of what gays do in their
bedrooms. In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that laws against sodomy are
unconstitutional. You don't see anyone pushing a constitutional amendment
overturning that decision, do you?

Gay rights are just one of the many ways in which Americans are inclined to
support individual freedom over government control. Mr. Bennett crowed that
Alaskans rejected a ballot measure decriminalizing marijuana. Actually, what
they rejected was legalization. Marijuana has already been decriminalized in
Alaska - meaning possession of small amounts typically carries only a fine.
It's one of 12 states that no longer treat pot smoking as a crime, including
such red states as Ohio, Colorado, Nebraska and North Carolina.

What all this suggests is something many religious conservatives know but
resent: As a general rule, Americans think morality is a matter best left to
personal choice, not government policy.

Gambling, once illegal almost everywhere, is now allowed in one form or another
in 48 states. Pornography, which used to be prosecuted, is abundantly
available, even on TV sets in major hotel chains. Abortion remains legal and
widely accepted - even though most Americans say they regard it as "an act of
murder."

Americans are a religious people, and religion does affect their political
views. But we also have a long tradition of keeping church and state in their
separate spheres, while respecting the right of every person to find his or her
own way to heaven, or hell. This year's election only demonstrates once again
that for most of us, the highest moral value is tolerance.

Steve Chapman is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune Publishing
newspaper. His column appears Tuesdays and Fridays in The Sun.

Copyright + 2004, The Baltimore Sun

--- Msged/2 6.0.1
 * Origin: tncbbs.no-ip.com - Home of the POL_DISORDER echo. (1:261/1000)