Attorney Serving Gulf Shores, AL - My ThoughtsAttorney Serving Gulf Shores, AL - My Thoughtshttp://www.josephallanshaw.com/just-my-thoughts/2011-04-30T02:24:31ZSquarespaceMy thoughts about secular laws that seek to enforce moralityhttp://www.josephallanshaw.com/just-my-thoughts/2010/11/25/my-thoughts-about-secular-laws-that-seek-to-enforce-morality.htmlJoseph Allan Shaw2010-11-25T15:19:47Z2010-11-25T15:19:47ZToday is Thanksgiving in the United States.   As Americans, we have so much for which we should be thankful.  For one, I am thankful that the small group of men who wrote our constitution understood the proper distinction between the role that religious beliefs, government, and secular laws should play in American life.   It saddens me that so many in our nation seem to have forgotten the proper separation of these roles and insist upon the government having laws and policies that mandate morality on others.

Mahatma Gandhi once said that “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” He also stated that "God has no religion." Living your life according to principle, rather than by the rule of law, goes to the very core of Christianity. Ironically, many "Christians" appear incapable of grasping this concept.   Instead, they demand that our secular governments invade areas of life that should be left to the people, religious leaders, philosophers and public discourse.   Too often, Christians seek to pawn their persausive roles, duties and responsibilities off on to the secular governments and demand that moral issues be enforced by the rule of law or coerced by intrusive governmental policies.

Spirituality should guide our lives, but we should not use it to guide the lives of other people.  Spirituality should be encouraged, not forced.  Morality should spring from within; individuals should be given the freedom and responsibility to live moral lives. Governments should not have laws that merely seek to enforce morality when there is no direct victim. Every criminal law and every regulation should be narrowly constructed to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals. Therefore, every criminal law and every governmental policy, should seek only to control behavior that clearly affects another person's freedom to live; another person's freedom to practice their religion; another person's freedom to pursue happiness; another person's freedom to enjoy their property or even another person's freedom to make bad decisions.       

It is a perversion of Christianity, or any other religious philosophy, to integrate it with secular laws and secular punishments; the two domains should never be blended because when mixed, one will always destroy the other.

]]>The Measure of Characterhttp://www.josephallanshaw.com/just-my-thoughts/2010/7/11/the-measure-of-character.htmlJoseph Allan Shaw2010-07-11T12:30:00Z2010-07-11T12:30:00Z