Morality Legislation Essays - Ethics, Morality, Meta-ethics

Morality Legislation Can we, do we, and should we legislate morality is a question that rings in the ears of many Americans. It seems that there are more factors, conditions and answers to this frequently asked question than the common person is willing to consider. Let's attempt to take the best ideas from the top scholars on the issue. In order to answer the questions presented, one must fully understand the idea of morality and what it means to legislate it. What is morality? According to Webster, morality is "A doctrine or system of moral conduct: or particular moral principles or rules of conduct: or conformity to ideals of human conduct." This definition leaves much to be answered, such as: Who sets up this system? Is it relative to ones personal preferences? And can morality be forced on an individual? To further understand morality let us discuss it in more detail. Is morality relative? What laws would be considered laws of morality? Can a democratic country consider morality while writing laws? To deal with the question of relativism we will turn to the writings of Dr. Stephen Schwarz, who is a medical doctor and a writer for Ohio Life, a non-profit pro-life organization. While responding to the idea that people should not impose their morality on others Dr, Schwarz replied, "The morality of not raping, and of not murdering a fellow human being is not "my morality" or"our morality" but morality itself." This implies that there is an absolute morality, maybe we are not capable of achieving it, but it seems that the gray area between white and black is not as large as most would hope. Now on to the next question of: What exactly constitutes morality? We have already discussed that morality is not relative and at some point becomes absolute. C.S. Lewis gives an in-depth analyzes of morality in his book "Mere Christianity" he talks about morality being the deciding factor between the instinct to help or the instinct to run. He also discusses the idea that morality is not relative and brings up the fact that we judge other cultures by how we rate their level of morality. For instance if morality is relative then no one could have told the Nazi's that they were wrong. So in this way the government has already set a precedent that morality is not relative, they have chosen to judge other countries and in doing this they imply that their morality is better. First, let us try to further our understanding of the issue by reviewing what Eastern College students and faculty had to say about it. A survey of 50 students and faculty conducted on campus showed that 52% of those polled thought that morality could not be affectedly legislated, while 48% said that morality could be legislated. The make up of this survey was as follows: average age 19.8, 70% female: 30% male, 72% white: 20% African American: 3% Hispanic: 5% not reported. 40% of those polled were Republicans while only 16% were Democrats, a huge 36% of students were undecided on a political affiliation and 8% were independents. Most of those polled said the thought Congress tried to legislate morality but failed. The survey showed that on a scale of 1-10 Congress only received a 4.1 when asked to rate the morality of Congress. This would seem to explain why they thought Congress passed immoral bills. But in fact if one looks at the history of the Congress and takes into consideration how many bills are passed by them, very few could be labeled as immoral. In fact what most people see as the government passing immoral laws is the Supreme Court finding moral laws unconstitutional. Most people group the three branches of government together and say that the government is immoral. However, we are focusing only on Congress and if it is possible to legislate morality. In our democratic representative government Congress has often been called on to make laws that can only be seen legislation of morality. The first question at hand is: Can Congress legislate morality? Most experts in the field of law and politics agree that it is possible to pass bills to make people moral or at least force them to act in a moral way. In other words it is possible to legislate morality. However, one must concede that no one is absolutely moral, that is no one is always moral. As Dr. Bird, a Eastern College professor with a career in The Christian Medical Society, said