I've been studying Philosophy and specifically Ethics for some time now, and one of my coworkers who knows of my interest in philosophy suggested that I should look into policymaking as some sort of career. That, plus my knowledge of my responsibility to use what political power I have to do as much good as I can, has led me to wonder how God would like me put some of those ideas into practice. I don't intend to become a professional politician, but I do intend to vote, which forces my to wonder what God would want me to vote for or against. Which laws or policies would God want us voters to enact or retract?
One easy suggestion would be to make it illegal to sin. Let God's laws become society's laws. Easy fix. Except that God's laws are far more strict than society's laws should be. For example, the third of the ten commandments is to not take the name of God in vain. Essentially, it's a law against swearing. Even if one could enforce such a law, it would set a horrendous precedent for censorship. Society can easily agree on laws like "thous shalt not steal" or "thou shalt not kill," but other laws, like the law of tithing, should not be enforced, even in cases when they can be.
This is why I'm having such trouble with this idea. Obviously, we want to do good and to persuade others to do good, or at least dissuade others from doing evils, but which evils should we try to legally dissuade? Abortion is (usually) evil. Should there be laws against it? Maybe, but maybe not. Abortions certainly shouldn't be encouraged as a convenient anti-pregnancy measure, but since there are situations in which an abortion might be justified, I don't think we should ban it outright. If we were to pass a law banning some abortions, we would need to make sure that all of the proper exceptions were built into the law, or added as amendments later, and that would require such a complex set of laws, I'm not sure we'd be able to make an abortion law that perfectly matches God's policy on abortion, and even if we could, I'm not sure it'd be worth the trouble, especially when there's always a risk of people performing dangerous illegal abortions.
So, some sins, like killing, should definitely be illegal, and some sins, like swearing, probably shouldn't be, and there are some issues that are some heavy and complicated that we probably shouldn't even try to make public policy reflect God's policy, except in the broadest sense. As a voter, I feel that it's important to make sure that I'm voting wisely and morally. In general, I think that it should always be legal to do the right thing, but it shouldn't always be illegal to do the wrong thing. The trouble is that it's sometimes hard to tell which acts which are immoral should also be illegal.
4 comments:
For me, I think the place to draw the line legally is when someone is causing harm to someone else. God's plan isn't to force anyone to do what is right, but that doesn't mean they won't have negative consequences from making bad choices.
Any kind of sin is going to affect others negatively, if only causing others sorrow--or at the very least, annoyance--but many sins cause problems for other people, and we can all recognize that this is wrong, such as when you steal from or physically harm another person.
With regard to abortions, I think we could have laws that match God's policy, by wording it in the same way that his policy is worded. I believe an unborn child is a living human and should be protected by the law, except in rare cases, such as when the mother would be in danger.
As with anything else, when we are voting, we should take the time to study and pray, so we can be guided by the spirit.
"there's the right and wrong to every question; be safe through inspiration's power." *
"receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:5)
"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:5)
Not just spiritual things. All things.
*Joseph L. Townsend, LDS Hymnal, Choose The Right
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