Legislating Morality

Legislating morality does not work.

Exhibit A: Prohibition.

The holiness movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries focused heavily on the temperance movement. They campaigned for prohibition. Then they won in 1919. The eighteenth amendment to the US Constitution was passed. The sale and traffic of intoxicating beverages was prohibited. The country would be free of alcohol forever.

What happened in the 1920s. As much alcohol as ever was consumed in that decade.

The issue of abortion is much the same. If abortion were banned tomorrow (through constitutional amendment or action of the Supreme Court), abortions would still happen. But, we would feel that something has been accomplished.

Moral issues are not a political or legal matter. Morality is a matter of the heart. As Christians, our job is not to change the law, but to work with the Holy Spirit to change hearts.

Civil Rights have not come so far because of legislation, but because of changing hearts.

We cannot substitute our political victory for spiritual victory. As Cal Thomas once wrote, "Our redemption will not come on Air Force One."

Social Issues and Politics

This is something that I have thought about for a long time. When I entered college in the early 1990s, I was a die hard conservative. I was all about the social issues. We had to ban abortion, stop gays from gaining more rights, fry those who committed capital murder, an so on. I would still consider myself very conservative, but I have been rethinking why and how social issues and politics relate.

Let's look at abortion. I think abortion is the most abhorrent thing in our society. Killing unborn babies who have done nothing to anyone is repugnant.

Next year, the US is having its quadrennial presidential election that has been in full-swing since the last one. Abortion is likely to be an issue, as it has been for many election cycles now. My question is: Has anything really changed by electing pro-life or pro-choice candidates?

Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush all proclaimed a pro-life belief. Did anything change under any of the three during the 20 years they spent in office? Bill Clinton was a professed pro-choice president. Did anything change in his eight years?

Does the moral position of a candidate really have any bearing on the real policy that is set? There is a hub-bub in Republican Party because Rudy Guiliani is pro-choice. Will it really matter? Will there be more abortions if he is elected? If you say "yes," answer this question: Were there less under Reagan or either Bush?

I will be expanding on these thoughts more in the future.