Them's the Silliest Rules.

In my Tavern there are Rules. Mostly they are something to do with politeness and good manners and any 'breaking' may attract a scowl or a sharp word. I may even ask a customer to leave - politely of course.  But usually that request does not extend to robust discussion or even argument where  a bit of impoliteness may intrude as passions grow. The scowl usually brings the temperature  down to within high summer limits.

But some people can be ignorant and stupid. Often simultaneously. They think they are smart as if chewing gum and farting was their best achievement in multi-tasking. Occasionally the Bouncer may be called if the carpets are threatened. That would be a double-facepalm issue.

Many people object to arbitrary rules set by others.  After all there are some bloody silly rules that people make up. They are happy to set their own arbitrary rules in their own places and mostly we 'go along with'  those set by others, such as in this place. It is my place. But  in public places  we are all used to 'agreed' rules, - like manners -  even when set in the concrete of the Law. And backed by persons with guns and wigs and not simply by grumpy Tavern Keepers.

But the Tavern rules are not based on Whim. And neither should public laws be. They are set by custom and practice and grounded in my Suppliers own code of conduct for Taverns and customers. 

Opinions may differ from one person to another but some matters seem to gain the agreement of everyone.  Don't they? Perhaps that is what set off a conversation the other night.  It is very clear that in some very clear and important matters, 'qualification' of Universal laws seem to slide down the slippery-slope to personal whim.

It was a discussion all so familiar in the Tavern and all the all too familiar arguements came up. Including the silliest. Someone agreed with my stance without realizing it but expressed it in a slightly more 'good ol' boy' manner.

The silliest pro-abortion argument ever 

(is one you hear all the time)

Tell me if this has ever happened to you.

It’s lunchtime. You are eating at your desk at work and decide to look at Facebook. It’s as exciting as ever. Your aunt had a burrito for lunch. A girl you haven’t seen since college got a new tattoo. Someone is super happy it’s almost Friday.

Then you see that a virtual stranger (there’s a double meaning in that) has commented on one of your posts. And she has said something so asinine that you put down your fried pickle (’cause you’re in Texas and you eat stuff like that) and respond.

We don't have fried pickle in the Tavern. What an oversight. Must speak to the Chef. 

It’s daunting, the task before you. Do you even want to undertake this? Can you really change someone’s mind about abortion in one Facebook comment?

 https://www.lifesitenews.com/all/date/2012/01/17#article-the-silliest-argument-ever-is-one-you-hear-all-the-time

Well, you’re gonna try. So you launch into refuting whatever dumb thing the person just said. “There’s no scientific consensus that life begins at conception!” “If we make it illegal, they’re gonna do it anyway!” “If you’re against abortion, you should be against war, too!” It could be any of these things, or something else. 

So you drop a couple knowledge bombs, go back to your life, and hours later you find the following response:

“Well, maybe you’re right, but we can’t legislate morality.”

You look around for a candid camera. Is this an elaborate joke? No. Someone actually said that. Again. You sigh. And you type this:

Really? We can’t legislate morality? What do you call it when we tell people they can’t murder? Rape? Steal?

Let’s do some Criminal Justice 101, shall we? 

There are two types of laws: 

malum in se: and malum prohibitum. 

Malum in se is a Latin phrase meaning “wrong in itself.” Most of us feel that murder is wrong, therefore there is a law against it.

It is inherent. We 'Know'.  We know by the time we are six or seven, often earlier. It is within us, and life experience itself, even over a very small time, brings it to our notice.

Malum prohibitum means something is wrong because it is prohibited. 

For example: in the United States we have to drive on the right side of the road, not because driving on the left is inherently evil (I’m lookin’ at you, England!) but because good order meant we had to pick one side. Because we’ve picked right, if you drive on the left, you’re gonna get stopped. Try it, you’ll see.**

Hmmmm. I had to give a warning scowl at that mention. I can recal riding my steed on the left side of the road before America was even a twinkle in that Amerigo Vespuci fellow's eye.  

Malum in se laws are based on morality. 

Our laws here in the U.S. grew out of English Common Law,

Ahem, which had folks riding on the left.... 

which in turn was based on Judeo-Christian morality. Now, old-timey English lawmakers did not sit around and go, “Hmmm, what should we base our laws on?” And then come up with the Bible because it had an attractive leather cover. 

Judeo-Christian morality was a part of the culture since the 7th century, and has in fact formed Western culture, culminating most recently in our humble little former colony, the United States.

Detractors will say English Common Law formed in the 5th century, before Christianity took hold in Britain. But the law as we know it didn’t stop forming then. Christian men such as Henry de Bracton in the 13th century in England and Sir William Blackstone in the 18th century in the United States have had a tremendous impact on creating the laws we know today.

Whether you like it or not, the culture that created you is a Judeo-Christian culture. 

All the things you think are right and wrong were formed by Judeo-Christian principles. 

No-one wants to be killed.

Why do you think it’s wrong to have slaves? 

Western culture is just like most other civilizations in that it engaged in slavery, but unique in that it is solely responsible for ridding the world of it.

Let's hear a cheer for William Wilberforce and the Royal Navy. 

What about having a harem of concubines? That was common in pre-Christian cultures, not so much in the West today. Sacrificing virgins? No big deal to the pagans, but frowned upon in our time.

The idea of loving people more than ourselves, sacrificing for the poor, turning the other cheek…. these ideas were so revolutionary to the Roman world in which Christianity was born that they were scandalous. 

The tenets of Christianity made Christians so different they were almost universally hated. 

They were persecuted and killed all over the Roman Empire, until the Emperor Constantine had a vision. But I digress.

So those who cry that morals have no place in public policy are a little too late. 

Judeo-Christian morals created our public policy, created our culture, were the basis for our founding documents, guided the formation of our nation through the beliefs of our founders, and make up the fabric of our society.

Recently, a postmodern deconstructionist tendency to wipe American law clean of “traditional” morality has created not a sparkling tabula rasa, but a libertine morass. You don’t have to be a Jew or Christian to recognize there is such a thing as right and wrong. Lately, it seems like the only evil people will recognize is believing in evil.

Ironically, the abortion advocate who tells us to keep our morals off her body is herself expressing a moral belief, a belief in liberty. 

He doesn't want to be killed either.

I also believe in liberty, but I believe that in the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” life comes first for a very good reason: you can’t have liberty without life. I believe a baby’s right to be alive trumps his mother’s right to kill him for any reason she sees fit. 

Because, as we all know, there are limits to liberty. My liberty ends where, for example, it infringes upon another person’s right to live. Hence, I am free, but not free to murder. I am free to drive, but not into someone’s restaurant. I am free to watch TV, but not “Jersey Shore” at Kristen’s house. And so on.

The next time someone tells you, “We can’t legislate morality,” tell them, “Sure we can! It’s fun and easy! Like Mad Libs!”

But seriously: this is another argument you can easily shoot down with just a little bit of knowledge. Now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

It ain't rocket science.

The only people who advocate abortion are alive because they were not aborted. But they can chew gum and fart at the same time.

Pax.