Is it feasible to believe that any government can legislate morality?
370920
"They are really more like guidelines..."  I heard that once.  Common wisdom is morality is a personal choice, and cannot be obtained by imposing laws.  Laws and penalties can influence behavior by incentive and pushishments.
983646
i don,t believe so.  one is stupidity and one in immoral.  i don,t think that politicians know the difference.  they all seem to be able to lie about anything and everything. there a just a few who seem honest and trustworthy, but, maybe they just haven't been caught.
165776
what in who?! ethics in action. there is no morality in government.
773960
Yes. By using the example of the immorality of others, feel free to commit crimes. Sheesh.
450273
There could be, but humans will never know on their own.\n\nSee, humans are TERRIBLE judges of right and wrong. Just look at our history, be it through Christian creation, Evolution, Spaghetti-Monster creation, etc... it has COUNTLESS examples of violence and destruction as the result of human err and moral decay. IF there were a universal right and wrong, it wouldn't be known amongst humans.\n\nWe already try to find such a thing. Some find it in religion, some find it in just a belief in a higher being (not essentially a religion; religion is man-established and due to corruption), some find it in their own decisions (NOT SMART)... We DO try, we just don't do all too well.
1137343
Yes, especailly if morality is a human construct and thus subjective. In that case it's quite obvious that the emotions generated by cognition drive morality in humans.\n\nAs for an Objective Morality, take a look at this:\n\nDesire Utilitarianism:\n\nhttp://www.infidelguy.com/members/AlonzoFyfe/article_du.shtml\n\nPS: And If your REALLY interested in this moral system, Alonzo offers an entire online book on it.\n\nIf I recall correctly, he made his Doctorate Thesis on Desire Utilitarianism.\n\nhttp://www.infidelguy.com/members/AlonzoFyfe/desire_utilitarianism.shtml
325518
Yes, I know of it..Sure, anything is possible. We know the governemnt doesnt tell us the truth.
314720
our government might be usefull after all
321873
Well, if there is one thing our government does right it is go with the mass mentality. Since the major religion is Christianity then they go with it. Putting everyone under the same heading. You can bet that if there were a more popular bandwagon (not that religion is a bandwagon, don't get me wrong) they would be on that too, in a second.\nUnfortunately for the people that aren't Christian, they are put under our law. Apparently their beliefs don't "count".\nI'm sure no government can please everyone all the time but it is not fair to not take into account the many other religious beliefs. \nIn a way it's like a weird form of conversion. "If you don't believe what we believe we will just make it illegal for you to practice what you believe." "I'm sorry, pursuit of happiness? You must be thinking of some other country."
1096673
Morally? No-God permit this with the people. Until he changes things to a new way people were allowed to judge of earthy things just not the heart. it was a protection to the people.
998783
gravesendian said it perfectly as far as I'm concerned.  I agree 100%.  \n\nMorality is a purely human construct.  What is "moral" or lawful in one part of the world, can be immoral or illegal in another part.  Take prosititution...in some countries it is legal, in others not.  What makes the difference?  Difference in human perception...difference in what is considered an acceptable standard of behaviour.
8920
Both are about values and right and wrong, but ethical usually is more related to professional behavior where morality is more personal.  Government, to me, should act ethically.  When government gets "moral", I feel like they are taking on more personal beliefs.  As a government, I think we need to be ethical about right and wrong, as long as those definitions are universals instead of those related to a scripture.
883223
Unless morality is based on the Law of God, the definition of "morally right" simply becomes "whatever I think is morally right", and "morally wrong" becomes "whatever I think is morally wrong". Of course, that would only define my own personal subjective morality, since there would be no such thing as objective morality. Your definition of "morally right" would be "whatever YOU happen to think is right", which might be completely opposite to my definition of "morally right". If morality is completely subjective, why even speak in terms of morality? Morality would consist of "you do whatever you feel like doing, and I'll do whatever I feel like doing". I couldn't judge any action of yours to be immoral, nor could you judge any action of mine, or of terrorists, or of governments, to be immoral. "What's right for you may not be right for me" would be the foundation of morality, whether we werespeaking of murder, rape, child molestation, or any other act. All acts would be morally neutral, and would become "right" or "wrong" only in the minds of individuals. Morality is meaningful only when there is an objective standard against which to compare subjective ideas of morality. An act is objectively moral when it fits the objective standard of morality.
649083
Yes, but it might depend on type of government
862048
Yes, and that statement applies to religions as well as governments.
180784
First of all, you can never make anything idiot-proof.  \nAlso, I think overall society (in developed countries anyway) is more educated then ever before and those in control in business and government are among the top educated.  To me the question is, will the control be wielded morally and justly? ...and that is a concern.
66636
In addition to the idea that there are universal morals (such as killing and stealing), just because morality is relative doesn't mean it doesn't exist.\n\nAttitudes towards sex are a great example of moral relativity.  Even in our own country we've become very accepting of pre-marital sex. This doesn't mean we still don't have a set of morals about sex, it just means they've changed over time.  Morality shifts, but still exists.