Legislating Morality

          How often do you run into moral dilemmas rather than legal ones?  Chances are you are more restricted by the former rather than the latter.  The freedom of the individual has become a more and more important factor in popular opinion recently to the point where the rights of U.S. citizens seem to be on the rise.  The recent push for the legalization of marijuana as well as for homosexual marriage are examples for the U.S. push for the individual.  In Iceland, however, the government is working to improve the lives of its citizens through use of restrictive law; namely, by the ban of porn.    
          It is important to note that this is not a matter of introducing entirely new legislation for Iceland, however.  Officially, porn is already banned in a manner, although the language concerning its ban is loose.  The proposed law would make this language more specific in its ban of pornographic materials.  Also worth noting is that, interestingly enough, this ban looks to prevent children from being exposed to violent material, rather than mainly concerning explicit sexual material.  Those who support the ban cite the high correlation between violent and sexual material.  For whatever purpose, though, Iceland is deciding that this matter should be restricted by more than personal morals.

          The matter of legislating morality more often than not boils down to people citing the separation of church and state (never mind the fact that this separation was made to protect the church from the state and not vice versa).  Within the realm of Christianity alone, there are many different views on this issue.  Having had a lot of time to think about this issue and many different viewpoints discussed with me, I have held several different points-of-view over my time.  Even now, I find myself pulled in several different directions as a Christian, as a man, and as an American.

          The Christian inside me wants to build the U.S. up as a nation centered around Biblical values, but it also tells me that this is the easy way out.  Evangelism is the answer to the faithlessness of people, not law.

          The man inside me wants harsh punishment for the things I deem to be inherently evil.  I want to make examples of those who would dare inflict harm on another, but I find myself feeling compassion for both the victim and the culprit because of the love that Christ displayed for all to see in these same situations.

          The American says that this country is great because of the freedom it allows people to experience.  Even if I do not agree with the act, it may not be the work of the devil.  Yet in this I see the moral decay of the nation that I love.

          In the midst of these, I bounce between two viewpoints:

- The extreme of not being involved in politics (which I, strangely, very much enjoy) and purely focus on ministry to bring about the change I want to see in the world.  In even more extreme parts of this viewpoint, I would even choose not to vote.

- The other, more recently developed view I tend to take is that morality is being legislated no matter what I do so it is best to represent my own values in the melting pot that is American politics.  This view agrees with my political activism and also appeals to a more hopeful view of U.S. politics.

          These views are not representative of all those of the Christian world, but they some of the prevailing views.  In a world that is focused on the pleasure of the moment, Christians must be prepared to look like the bad guy in many situations, but we must never succumb to that image.  We must speak the truth in love and resolve legal matters through law and solve people problems with people.  We cannot use the law as a weapon to wield against non-Christians.