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Same sex marriage, polygamy, legalized drugs, legalized prostitution?

If you had to support or accept just one in changing existing law, which would it be?

  • Universally legalizing same sex marriage.

    Votes: 26 66.7%
  • Universally legalizing polygamy.

    Votes: 1 2.6%
  • Universally legalizing recreational drug use.

    Votes: 7 17.9%
  • Universally legalizing prostitution.

    Votes: 5 12.8%

  • Total voters
    39

Smeagol

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Controversial issues that some people are calling for change in existing law. If you had to support (or accept) just one and only one, which would it be? Trying to determine which of these are we most willing to accept.

Feel free to elaborate as to the whys and why nots.
 
Same sex marriage. Historically both Prostitution and Polygamy have customarily led to human rights abuses and little in the way of societal benefits. Drug legalization, while acceptable in limited form, doesn't approach the SSM debate in terms of importance or potential benefits.
 
Controversial issues that some people are calling for change in existing law. If you had to support (or accept) just one and only one, which would it be? Trying to determine which of these are we most willing to accept.

Feel free to elaborate as to the whys and why nots.

I think same sex marriage should be the first one to be accepted. People should be allowed to marry whomever they want to, regardless of their gender. Frankly, it's ridiculous that people want to regulate other people's marriages.
 
Controversial issues that some people are calling for change in existing law. If you had to support (or accept) just one and only one, which would it be? Trying to determine which of these are we most willing to accept.

Feel free to elaborate as to the whys and why nots.

In the order I would legalize:

1. Prostitution – It is the woman’s body and she ought to be able to do with it as she pleases, which includes making money from it. Sex is great.
2. Polygamy – See number 1 minus the money.
3. Gay Marriage – Men have bodies too.
4. Drugs – Never used any illegal drugs and don’t plan on starting. Not important, at lest to me. Sex is great.
 
Drugs. The Idiotic War on (some) Drugs has such enormous human and economic costs, ending it should be a very high priority.

Prostitution comes close, considering how keeping it illegal creates an underworld crawling with human traffickers, violent pimps and all kinds of abuse.

I support gay marriage, but it's just not the same level of urgency.

As for polygamy, de facto it is not banned, and I see no special reason to support it as another form of government-certified contract.
 
in fact gay marriage shouldnt put into same category as the legalization of drug use ,prostitution and polygamy

the others dont help you be more civilized
 
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in fact gay marriage shouldnt put into same category as the legalization of drug use ,prostitution and polygamy

the others dont help you be more civilized

Unless you consider freedom a part of civilization. Or the ability to recognize harmful, failed policies for what they are and discontinue them.
 
Drugs. The Idiotic War on (some) Drugs has such enormous human and economic costs, ending it should be a very high priority.

Prostitution comes close, considering how keeping it illegal creates an underworld crawling with human traffickers, violent pimps and all kinds of abuse.

I support gay marriage, but it's just not the same level of urgency.

As for polygamy, de facto it is not banned, and I see no special reason to support it as another form of government-certified contract.

I think a subconscious assumption some people make, including me, is making/keeping something illegal makes it go away. Thanks for making me think.
 
Unless you consider freedom a part of civilization. Or the ability to recognize harmful, failed policies for what they are and discontinue them.

freedom has some limits.........
 
freedom has some limits.........

Not quite: our actions should be limited as not infringe upon other people's freedom.

(Naturally, freedom itself is limited for children and mentally disabled people, but I am assuming we are talking about competent adults, considering the topic).
 
In the order I would legalize:
1. Prostitution – It is the woman’s body and she ought to be able to do with it as she pleases, which includes making money from it. Sex is great.
*There are male prostitutes.
 
My value system is derived from the Bible. Of the 4 options, the Bible seems most accepting of polygamy and is only prohibited for Christian ministers and indirectly when the "laws of the land" outlaw it. Polygamy.

Trivia: what world leader of a G-20 nation has 3 wives?

President Jacob Zuma of South Africa. Not a whole lot of difference between that and Gov. Mark Stanford and Sen. John Edwards except everything is out in the open, it's legal and all parties seem to either agree or accept the situation. I have a buddy from South Africa who is from a polygamous family. All the wives have their own homes and rarely see each other. Papa is a rolling stone; wherever he lays his hat is his home but spends the most time with the one he likes the most. Some he hasn't seen in months and one not in years but they all get provided for.
 
Not quite: our actions should be limited as not infringe upon other people's freedom.

(Naturally, freedom itself is limited for children and mentally disabled people, but I am assuming we are talking about competent adults, considering the topic).

my freedom shouldnt limit your freedom

true ?
 
my freedom shouldnt limit your freedom

true ?

Don't you think a legitimate argument can be made where unrestricted drug use for example can indirectly impact the economy and more directly the cost of healthcare that is then passed on to all of us? Joe drug user starts using heroine. Because of this eventually loses his ability to function at work and loses his job. His wife and kids have to get on food stamps creating a tax liability for others. He robs a convenience store to finance his next drug purchase triggering costs to the owner of the store. People living in the vicinity see an increase in their homeowner and auto insurance rates due to crime statistics for that area. One day he overdoses and has to be rushed to the ER by ambulance to save his life. Fortunately he survived and was sent to rehab. No insurance because he lost his job. Thankifully we all work and the costs are passed on to us instead. Or maybe his insurance was still active for a while so his former co-workers simply get to pay higher premiums. Anybody with a complaint get labeled as a hate-filled jerk.
 
My value system is derived from the Bible. Of the 4 options, the Bible seems most accepting of polygamy.

Just out of curiosity: Where does the Bible object to (moderate) use of intoxicants? To the best of my recollection, none are mentioned except for alcohol, and Jesus had turned water into wine, not the other way around...And it's not like narcotics were unknown in those days (Marcus Aurelius was addicted to opium, for example - without any damage to his prestige, apparently)
 
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marriage equality would top my list. that's an equal protection issue.
 
Just out of curiosity: Where does the Bible object to (moderate) use of intoxicants? To the best of my recollection, none are mentioned except for alcohol, and Jesus had turned water into wine, not the other way around...And it's not like narcotics were unknown in those days (http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.23...2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102213769427)

Revelation 9:21 and 18:23. The word "sorcery (ies) in the original manuscripts could be translated "drug abuse" from my understanding. You're right IMHO about moderate alcohol use. Jesus first public miracle was turning water into wine and Paul told a young minister apprentice to drink wine to help with a health problem.
 
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Don't you think a legitimate argument can be made where unrestricted drug use for example can indirectly impact the economy and more directly the cost of healthcare that is then passed on to all of us? Joe drug user starts using heroine. Because of this eventually loses his ability to function at work and loses his job. His wife and kids have to get on food stamps creating a tax liability for others. He robs a convenience store to finance his next drug purchase triggering costs to the owner of the store. People living in the vicinity see an increase in their homeowner and auto insurance rates due to crime statistics for that area. One day he overdoses and has to be rushed to the ER by ambulance to save his life. Fortunately he survived and was sent to rehab. No insurance because he lost his job. Thankifully we all work and the costs are passed on to us instead. Or maybe his insurance was still active for a while so his former co-workers simply get to pay higher premiums. Anybody with a complaint get labeled as a hate-filled jerk.

The same argument can be made about alcohol. Or fatty, sugary food, for that matter. But unless we want the whole country to turn into one big Bloomberg Kindergarten, we should concentrate on the present massive disasters brought on by the prohibition (violent crime, ruined neighborhoods, imprisonment for victimless crimes and subsequent social alienation, overdosing and poisoning by street drugs, etc ) rather than on potential rare cases of egregious abuse.

And legalization doesn't mean "lack of control" - quite the opposite: it makes actual regulation possible. Hard drugs like heroin are not going to be sold to everyone over 21 at the gas station. The addicts and "experimenting" types will have, for example, safe, monitored "opium-den-like" places at their service. If it worked in Victorian England, why can't it work now and here?
 
In the order I would legalize:

1. Prostitution – It is the woman’s body and she ought to be able to do with it as she pleases, which includes making money from it. Sex is great.
2. Polygamy – See number 1 minus the money.
3. Gay Marriage – Men have bodies too.
4. Drugs – Never used any illegal drugs and don’t plan on starting. Not important, at lest to me. Sex is great.
Sex with drugs might be even greater. :)
 
equal rights for gays would ranked highest simple because of the scope of the issue
 
Revelation 9:21 and 18:23. The word "sorcery (ies) in the original manuscripts could be translated "drug abuse" from my understanding.

Oh, I don't know, I think you are really reaching here. "Sorcery" is invocation of spirits/gods/demons, witchcraft. In some cultures such rituals are accompanied by consumption of (hallucinogenic) narcotics, but I doubt it was widespread in either the Hellenistic society or among the Semitic tribes. The Dionysian Mysteries - sure, but that's all about wine, once again. In any case, the blanket condemnation of sorcery in Leviticus makes no connection to any substance abuse: "mediums and necromancers", sober or high - doesn't matter.
 
Controversial issues that some people are calling for change in existing law. If you had to support (or accept) just one and only one, which would it be? Trying to determine which of these are we most willing to accept.

Feel free to elaborate as to the whys and why nots.

Interesting poll, forcing us to choose only one, lol! I would have voted for them all! :lol:

Clearly, ending the institutionalized discrimination of homosexuals is a civil/human rights issue, and must be our first priority. Until homosexuals are equal in all facets of American life, including the right to marry, then we will never truly be the land of the free.
 
Interesting poll, forcing us to choose only one, lol! I would have voted for them all! :lol:

Clearly, ending the institutionalized discrimination of homosexuals is a civil/human rights issue, and must be our first priority. Until homosexuals are equal in all facets of American life, including the right to marry, then we will never truly be the land of the free.

I should say, I am little surprised at the results (so far). I would assume that most people in the "socially liberal" segment of our population - whether they are libertarians, moderates or social-democrats - will give the highest priority to abolishing the most destructive prohibitions. Instead, they opt for the issue that already has the most momentum.

Don't get me wrong, I was for gay rights long before it was fashionable, but innocent bystanders are not dying in drive-by shootings because of some turf wars between gays and straights, and nobody's daughter is in danger of overdosing on her low-quality lesbianism, purchased on a street corner.

Equality-shmequality. A great man of letters said once that all morality is based on the sense of proportion....
 
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