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Prostitution

Should prostitution be legalized?


  • Total voters
    117
For the sake of conversation, let's say adultery is illegal. Should we lock up adulterers?

I think it would probably be best to punish it with a discretionary prison sentence (no mandatory minimum).
 
Because it's immoral, and if it were legal it would be solicited publicly.

Whose standard of morality should we be using? Christian? Jewish? Muslim? Wiccan? And most importantly why?
 
Whose standard of morality should we be using? Christian? Jewish? Muslim? Wiccan? And most importantly why?

Christian. Or consider natural law in itself.
 
Whose standard of morality should we be using? Christian? Jewish? Muslim? Wiccan? And most importantly why?
There are common standards of morality that even non-religious people would agree on, wouldnt you say?
 
There are common standards of morality that even non-religious people would agree on, wouldnt you say?

Who one has sex with (assumption is consenting adults) isn't one of them though.
 
Christian. Or consider natural law in itself.

Why and how is the Christian set of morality superior to any of the others? Given that Wiccan is a nature based religion, why wouldn't that be closer to natural law over Christian?

There are common standards of morality that even non-religious people would agree on, wouldnt you say?

Agreed. Murder, theft and false witness seem to be among the top across the board, religiously independent morals. Sexual relations have been all over the place across the centuries and cultures. Thus there is no universal set of sexual morals. The closest we've ever come is when the Catholic Church had conquered and force a large portion of the world to their belief system before the various protestant denominations broke that strangle hold.
 
Who one has sex with (assumption is consenting adults) isn't one of them though.
theres LOTS that people won't agree with but start with the basics. Morality is NOT merely a religious construct, right?
 
theres LOTS that people won't agree with but start with the basics. Morality is NOT merely a religious construct, right?

Morality is subjective though. Just look at what constitutes murder for example across different cultures. We consider it murder to kill someone for an "honor killing", however, other cultures consider that morally justified and some do not consider such things to be murder. Our culture considers it justified to kill someone who is trying to break into your home, other cultures outlaw such violence. Castle doctrines do not exist everywhere, even in the US, which means that there are different views in the US as to what kinds of homicides are actually murders or justified.

The same thing may be true for stealing as well. While most people consider it wrong to take something that isn't yours, there is easily a difference in view in what people may or do own. Someone who viewed water and land as belonging to everyone, and that no one should be able to own it, would not view taking water or utilizing land or the resources on someone "claimed" land as stealing, while many others would, including having laws against these things.
 
For the sake of conversation, let's say adultery is illegal. Should we lock up adulterers?
Apart and asside from the topic of prostitution, adultery should be a feloney when the couple has children.
 
Can you expand on that? Why shouldn't it be legalized?
It enables sex-slave trafficking by drasticaly expanding the market's demand for sex far beyond the market's supply of volintary workers. This void is filled by criminal elements who bring in kidnapped women and underage girls from other countries. So much revenue is created that local authorities are paid off to look the other way, which means little no enforcement of any policy you might write to counteract it.

This is the same model of crime behind why you can't sell your own organs. When it was legal it created such a demand in exess of supply that criminal elements, to include doctors, would murder people to sell their parts and make a profit.

The only way legalised prostitution can work is if you create an industry-wide buisness model that profits the state more than crime profits the state. This way the State will always move to protect the industry, not to protect the criminals. Whoever can make Uncle Same more money is the side the State will take.
 
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Morality is subjective though. Just look at what constitutes murder for example across different cultures. We consider it murder to kill someone for an "honor killing", however, other cultures consider that morally justified and some do not consider such things to be murder. Our culture considers it justified to kill someone who is trying to break into your home, other cultures outlaw such violence. Castle doctrines do not exist everywhere, even in the US, which means that there are different views in the US as to what kinds of homicides are actually murders or justified.

The same thing may be true for stealing as well. While most people consider it wrong to take something that isn't yours, there is easily a difference in view in what people may or do own. Someone who viewed water and land as belonging to everyone, and that no one should be able to own it, would not view taking water or utilizing land or the resources on someone "claimed" land as stealing, while many others would, including having laws against these things.
I completely understand. The point stands that morals are not something that are solely held in the realm of religion (as was being implied) and that society, religious and non religious people, can agree to some form of societal standard and norm. There are many non-religious people that might hold the belief that premarital sex isnt necessarily healthy.

In this conversation there are some that are for and against legalized prostitution. It doesnt appear to be solely divided down the lines of a religion prescribed morality. Some of that are for legalization actually have a religious foundation.
 
I completely understand. The point stands that morals are not something that are solely held in the realm of religion (as was being implied) and that society, religious and non religious people, can agree to some form of societal standard and norm. There are many non-religious people that might hold the belief that premarital sex isnt necessarily healthy.

In this conversation there are some that are for and against legalized prostitution. It doesnt appear to be solely divided down the lines of a religion prescribed morality. Some of that are for legalization actually have a religious foundation.

I agree, however, the most common sets of morals are going to be religious or at least religiously influenced and most of those who have morality based on some religion are more likely to view their morals as objective rather than subjective since most of them believe that the morals they believe in are set forth by a higher power rather than taught to us and/or personal individual views.
 
It's an appeal to emotionalism that shouldn't be part of the issue.

You know, I can't think of a single career that I think should be legal, that I wouldn't have a problem with my daughter pursuing. If I wouldn't want my daughter doing it for a living, I don't think anyone else's daughter should have to do it for a living, either.
 
You know, I can't think of a single career that I think should be legal, that I wouldn't have a problem with my daughter pursuing. If I wouldn't want my daughter doing it for a living, I don't think anyone else's daughter should have to do it for a living, either.


Early on in this thread I was debating a little with Lursa who is supportive of legalization and she finally stated:
QUOTE=Lursa;1063614079izi] IMO if there were more good parents there would be less prostitutes and drug addicts anyway.
So that is putting prostitution in the same boat as drug addicts and I just wonder if this really benefits everyone in promoting something such as drug addiction or prostitution.

There is an automatic rebuttal here in trying to compare other less glamorous jobs such as a porta potty truck but they are all apples to oranges. The porta potty business customer is not ashamed to tell his wife he had the them service him.
 
You know, I can't think of a single career that I think should be legal, that I wouldn't have a problem with my daughter pursuing. If I wouldn't want my daughter doing it for a living, I don't think anyone else's daughter should have to do it for a living, either.

No one should have to do anything. It should be choice. No one is suggesting making prostitution mandatory.
 
Early on in this thread I was debating a little with Lursa who is supportive of legalization and she finally stated: So that is putting prostitution in the same boat as drug addicts and I just wonder if this really benefits everyone in promoting something such as drug addiction or prostitution.

There is an automatic rebuttal here in trying to compare other less glamorous jobs such as a porta potty truck but they are all apples to oranges. The porta potty business customer is not ashamed to tell his wife he had the them service him.

Alcoholics are drug addicts too.

No one is proud to flip burgers or work at a gas station. Both can be dehumanizing as well.
 
I've rarely seen a good discussion on the THREE gateways on this forum.
So much for solving the Nation's problems online--excuse my naievete.
We're doing so well in Real Life .
 
Should prostitution be legalized?

Absolutely. We are all prostitutes in one form or another. If I can get you to pay me to wash your windows, why should the government be involved in any other contract between two consenting adults?
 
No one should have to do anything. It should be choice. No one is suggesting making prostitution mandatory.

Alright, let me put it this way. Twenty-two year old divorced mother of two. She needs financial assistance from the government to feed her children, but the financial assistance is conditional on looking for jobs and taking any legal jobs that they are qualified for. If the only work she can find is prostitution, should she be denied assistance unless she is willing to work as a prostitute?
 
Alright, let me put it this way. Twenty-two year old divorced mother of two. She needs financial assistance from the government to feed her children, but the financial assistance is conditional on looking for jobs and taking any legal jobs that they are qualified for. If the only work she can find is prostitution, should she be denied assistance unless she is willing to work as a prostitute?

She could probably work as a dancer at a gentleman's club, which is currently legal, yet also looked down upon by society and probably not what we would want for our daughters.
 
She could probably work as a dancer at a gentleman's club, which is currently legal, yet also looked down upon by society and probably not what we would want for our daughters.

I would consider prostitution more respectable, but that's just me. Engaging in literal sex is better than the creepiness of so-called "gentleman's clubs".
 
I would consider prostitution more respectable, but that's just me. Engaging in literal sex is better than the creepiness of so-called "gentleman's clubs".

"I say we build a strip club!"

"What's a strip club?"

"It's this great idea of mine! It's like a whore house, but instead of having sex with the women, you just sort of sit there and stare at them! brilliant, eh?"

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmm..."

"What?"
 
She could probably work as a dancer at a gentleman's club, which is currently legal, yet also looked down upon by society and probably not what we would want for our daughters.

I most definitely would not want my daughter to dance in a "gentleman's" club, for any amount of money.
 
Alright, let me put it this way. Twenty-two year old divorced mother of two. She needs financial assistance from the government to feed her children, but the financial assistance is conditional on looking for jobs and taking any legal jobs that they are qualified for. If the only work she can find is prostitution, should she be denied assistance unless she is willing to work as a prostitute?

Let's turn it around. The individual in question has hemaphobia and the only work they can find is in a slaughterhouse. Should they be denied assistance unless they are willing to work in the slaughterhouse?
 
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