Why, exactly, are these things illegal?

I hesitated greatly before posting this edition of my blog.  I'm going out on quite a limb here, I know; especially as I know my own family reads these posts, I don't want them or anyone else to think that I am advocating dangerous or immoral behaviors.  However, I've thought a lot lately about why a society enacts laws upon itself.  This post has to do with freedom, and the laws that we as a society allow to restrict that freedom.  As a consequence, I've come to question the validity of some of our many regulations.  This post also relates to the title of this blog once again -- that each of us is a unique individual with special qualities, rights and values.

Ahh . . . Freedom!

We need laws, of course, to prevent anarchy.  We Americans love our freedom, but most of us recognize basically that "my freedom ends when my behavior infringes upon my neighbor's freedom."  Therefore we need laws to govern our property rights and contractual agreements, to regulate traffic and to maintain our safety.  Whenever the exercising of one person's rights crosses paths with another's, there is potentially a valid need for regulation.  If there is legislation in place to govern a specific crossing of paths before it occurs, by definition you likely wind up with a criminal and a victim.  Our court system is in place to sort these matters out and assign due penalties and rewards.  However, many crimes are so-called "victimless" crimes; that is, the suspected criminal is charged with illegal behavior that hurt or endangered no one but him or herself.  That is the subject of this discussion.

If someone jumps off a 3-story roof, to the best of my knowledge that is not a crime.  If that person, however, injures another during the act, he would be guilty of assault, or something like that.  My point is that, assuming he survives and injures only himself, the jumper is only guilty of being stupid but has not committed a crime.  (Correct me if I'm wrong please; perhaps there are ordinances against roof jumping.)  At any rate, this is an example of a victimless event.  The freedom-loving roof jumper has only injured himself.  But if this is not a crime, there are many others that are, and I sometimes wonder why.  For example, whose freedoms are infringed if I choose not to wear my seat belt?  And yet, I can be ticketed for not doing so.

Many of these victimless acts are attempts to regulate moral behaviors; that is, some (or most) citizens believe a certain behavior to be morally wrong, so they outlaw it.  Now I've heard the mantra repeated many times that "you can't legislate morality."  That's preposterous.  I'd guess that nearly all legislation is in place to regulate moral behavior in some sense of the term.  The key to determining if legislation is needed should be whether one person could be injured or have his rights infringed upon by the acts of another.

Again, most of these regulated actions are enacted based on the moral principles of some segment of our society, perhaps even the majority.  However, we can each of us live our own lives according to our own moral standards without enforcing our standards upon all of society.  Ours is, after all, a secular government.  That is, legislators are prohibited by the constitution from establishing a particular religious faith (or moral code) as a guide for governance.  Finally, let's be clear that I am not expressing my own moral beliefs here.  I'm trying to separate my behavioral beliefs from the behaviors that must be demanded of my fellow citizens, for the sake of safety and social order.

I will not expound on these behaviors at this time; rather I'll simply offer them up for general discussion.  Remember, the point of this article is not to question one's own moral values, but to ask whether it is valid to impose these values upon all.  Keep in mind also that some of these "illegal" actions are in fact legal in certain states or districts, but they are generally regarded as illegal in most of the country.  Also, there may be legitimate reasons to keep these actions outlawed; if so, let's discuss it.  Finally, most of these activities occur every day throughout the land, legal or not.

That all being said I ask, "Why, exactly, are these actions illegal?"

Gambling

Assisted suicide

Prostitution

Drugs of various kinds

Polygamy

Same-sex marriage (civil unions)
 

Driving without a seat belt or motorcycle helmet

This is not a complete list of victimless crimes, just a quick sampling of a few major, hot button issues.  Hey, thanks for reading.  These are things I have thought about lately; what do you think?