Debatable U.S. laws
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“…it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people. And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you…”
Mosiah 29:26-27
At the end of King Mosiah’s reign over the Nephites, he proposed a change in the government.
Mosiah suggested the people elect judges to rule the government. Mosiah believed greater and lesser judges could hold each other in check, and thus the government could avoid corruption.
As in the Nephite reign of the judges, the United States government has leaders elected by the people. Over the last two centuries the United States had demonstrated how democracy is often better than monarchy. While democracy can be very good, it can lead to negative consequences if the majority of the people begin to favor secular laws.
In recent years, a majority of Americans (and their judges) have begun to vote in support of a few questionable laws. Here’s a brief summary of some of these laws and their potential negative impact on the United States.
Debatable U.S. laws
1) Gay marriage
- Summary: Massachusetts became the first state to grant same-sex marriage licenses in 2004. Shortly thereafter, other states approved same-sex marriage, including: Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. Washington, D.C also allows same-sex marriage.
- Negative impact: The meaning of marriage is eroding. There are growing views that marriage is optional and that any sexual behavior is acceptable. More children are growing up with a confused identity. Gay and lesbian couples are more susceptible to depression, drug abuse, and suicide attempts – even in the Netherlands where gay marriage is more socially acceptable. One study found gay and bisexual men to have a life span 20 years shorter on average. Homosexuality is creating an attitude of acceptance of sexual promiscuity- people who have homosexual behaviors often have dozens or even hundreds of partners, increasing their risk of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
2) Marijuana use
- Summary: Recently some people have vied to use marijuana to treat eye and bone diseases. In 1978 a judge ruled to allow Robert Randall to be able to use marijuana to treat his glaucoma. Subsequently the University of Mississippi grew a marijuana farm and gave 300 marijuana cigarettes to Randall each month. In 1992, Randall began distributing marijuana to his AIDS patients. The government still ships marijuana cigarettes to seven of those patients. In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215 that legalized the medical use of marijuana. Since then, 15 other states have legalized the medical use of marijuana. Technically the federal government could punish people who use marijuana for “medical purposes,” because it is against federal law. While the federal government has cracked down and arrested people growing marijuana, the Obama administration may stop punishing people for using marijuana. In Alaska, Massachusetts and New Hampshire it’s legal to possess up to one ounce of marijuana.
- Negative impact: An increased risk for many health problems, including: lung disease, psychosis, panic attacks, hallucinations, paranoia, bipolarity, schizophrenia, depression, and aggressiveness.
3) Birth control
- Summary: On January 20, 2012, the Obama administration announced all employers will be required to provide free birth control insurance for their employees. Religious organizations in objection to the new law will be given one year to comply.
- Negative impact: It’s becoming more socially acceptable to not have children and to have abortion. This trend contributes to society’s sense of individualism and selfishness. This cultural mind-set has the potential to undermine the importance of the family, not only as the fundamental unit in society, but also as the center of God’s eternal plan.
4) Pornography access
- What happened: In 1998, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) required commercial distrubutors of pornography to protect their websites from children. On March 22, 2007, a judge ruled against COPA, saying it violated the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution.
- Negative impact: Many people are becoming addicted to pornography. Pornography is destroying families. Patrick Fagan, director of the Center for Research on Marriage and Religion said pornography was a factor in 56% of divorces. Pornography also contributes to selfish and abusive behaviors. Ted Bundy attributed his horrific crimes to his childhood addiction to pornography.
5) Alcohol consumption
- Summary: The National Minimum Drinking Age Act (1984) requires each state to require its citizens to be 21 to purchase and publicly possess alcoholic drinks. The law however, does not completely guard against underage drinking. For example, over 30 U.S. States allow some form of underage drinking – such as in private settings or in certain locations. Wisconsin allows children to drink alcohol if they are with their parents. Underage drinking is also allowed in medical, religious and club organizations.
- Negative impact: Many health risks, including: liver damage, pancreatitis and stomach ulcers, About 10 million people age 12-20 reported to having drunk alcohol in the last month. More than half of high school seniors reported having gotten drunk before (54%). Read more about the prevalence of underage drinking.
“Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, that these liberties are a gift from God? “
- Thomas Jefferson
Personal Notes: There is a strong undercurrent in society saying that in order to be accepting of a person, you must be accept their lifestyle. While we love the sinner, we should hate the sin. Sin is never good, no matter how we may justify it. While we love and should try to help people who struggle with homosexuality, drug and pornography problems, we certainly should not allow those sins to become supported by our nation’s laws.
Allowing actions to happen does not equate to supporting the actions, if so God would be a supporter of a host of iniquities. If you read the “The Proper Role of Government” by Ezra Taft Benson he explains that the only proper role of government is the protection of Life, Liberty and Property, anything more than that is a form of tyranny. Laws that legislate specific brands of morality that not everyone can agree on is tyranny. This includes all 5 items on your list.
Forrest, thanks for the reference. I agree it’s unlikely everyone would agree on a specific morality. I do think however, the world is ripening in iniquity, in part because of looser moral laws. How wonderful it could be if all agreed on a morality in accordance with the teachings of the Gospel.
I feel as if I may have not properly represented the ideas I wished to convey. There IS a morality that all can agree on, that morality is the protection of life liberty and property. Unless someone’s right to life, liberty or property has been violated (i.e. assault, robbery or slavery) the law has no room to act. Ezra Taft Benson understood and taught this in both “The Proper Role of Government” and “The Constitution a Heavenly banner.” In this version of government personal habits such as drinking could never be against the law because there is no crime committed. For there to be a crime there must be an evident victim. If someone abuses alcohol he voluntarily put himself a position of addiction therefore is no victim, and there is no crime. Whereas if he were to physically assault a family member while drunk the assault would be considered a crime because there is a victim. All five of the items on this list, I agree are problems, but they are societal problems not, legal ones.
The Proper Role of Government – http://www.properroleofgovernment.com/
The Constitution, a Heavenly Banner – http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6985
That’s a good point. I looked at the speech- I liked how he emphasized how important it is that government not become too powerful. If government were to dictate too many of our actions, there could be some very serious consequences. We are very blessed to live in a land where we are mostly free to do what we want to. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to live under a very controlling government. I wonder how we could help others under oppressive governments, such as North Korea?
Yes those speeches are great, but I would submit that the government is too powerful and does dictate what we should and should not do. The most blatant of these are of course the anti-drug laws. The lawmakers have said that you cannot own certain substances, or use certain substances, that’s a violation on both property rights and freedom. Given drugs are horrible for you, but in order to progress we need to be free to be able to make wrong choices. Other fine examples are regulations on businesses, in fast food industries where the government says that they have to reach a certain standard. Without these laws, if there was a crappy restaurant or one that was dirty, I just wouldn’t go there and I can’t imagine other people going there either. The system regulates itself.
Minimum wage is yet another example of government’s overreach. It makes it harder for the least skilled people in this society to get jobs because perhaps the jobs they can do aren’t worth what the minimum wage is. Why should the lawmakers tell me what kind of contracts I can and cannot make? That seems very intrusive to me.
Another example is drivers licenses. Why do I need permission of the lawmakers to drive on property no-one owns. (The roads.) If I drive without a license and a police officer finds out I will be fined, yet I committed no crime for there was no victim.
Speeding laws are another example of this overreach of power, yes perhaps it is unwise to go to fast on the roads, but as long as there was no one hurt, and no damage done to someone else’s property, there was no crime committed and no room for the law to step in.
According to both Thomas Jefferson and Ezra Taft Benson in those talks the only legitimate use of government force is to protect rights to life, liberty and property, or to facilitate reparations when such things have been damaged or violated. There are a myriad of laws that violate the very things that the government was established to protect. I recommend (and did Ezra Taft Benson) a book called “The Law” by Frédéric Bastiat. http://mises.org/books/thelaw.pdf
The Government we live in is becoming more and more like those of north Korea, just very very slowly. If it were to happen more quickly we would reject it as it came at us. Sadly enough though, we “are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”
Very poorly written with little to no support. Here are a few reasons:
One of your sources on gay marriage comes from http://carm.org/ – A christian website (most biased website you could have found)
Your negative impact for birth control has 0 sources and is based solely off your own opinion.
As far as pornography access, it’s impossible to filter the internet from a government standpoint.
Hey Brendon! Thanks for your feedback. I agree I could improve this article by adding more reliable sources. And yeah- it’s true the articles on this website are largely grounded in my personal opinions. That’s a good point about the birth control- I’ve been planning on changing that point to be about abortion after I received some feedback. I think how many children a couple has is a very personal decision up to every couple. Abortion however is something I feel strongly against. Thanks! Your feedback helps me improve my writing.
I like the fact that you can respond to negative feedback so positively. If more people and/or Christians would work on their attitudes and make it “a point” to set a better example; then they wouldn’t continuously cause people to
turn away from God.
I think it is very nice since everyone isn’t raised up in church. I think many are turned from God before they built a relationship with him because they didn’t understand to turn away from their sin.
Thank you
I needed to see an example, myself.
Hi Sherri! Thanks so much for your kind comment. I love it when readers comment so I can get to know who is visiting the site- I think you made a good point. I agree that the way we interact with others has an impact on how others view God and Christianity in general. Feel free to contribute your thoughts on any of the articles on the website! Thanks! :)