![]() ![]() Yet the notion of arresting someone–and that is the ultimate sanction to enforce the law–because, say, of the way in which or with whom he or she has sex, should cause anyone who values freedom and human dignity to pause. People who view vice with distaste have a tendency to undervalue liberty. ![]() The temptation to rely on the law for moral education is risky for other reasons. ![]() The attempt to enforce moral conformity through the law risks improving appearances far more than reality. Moreover, virtue cannot be exercised without free choice. After all, while such laws historically have driven vice underground, it is not clear that they have measurably reduced the incidence of vice. Such restrictions might promote a habit of doing right, thereby aiding the process of moral education. Today, figures like Judge Robert Bork forthrightly call for censorship. Nevertheless, the state can try to prevent some vicious acts–to have sex outside of marriage, view pornography, or use drugs. No Guarantee the State Would Reflect Judeo-Christian Worldview Government simply lacks the tools to create a virtuous person. Community institutions of various sorts also should play an important role.Ĭan government do so too? The twentieth century is what historian Paul Johnson calls the “Age of Politics.” The state has demonstrated its ability to kill and steal on a mass scale sculpting human lives, however, has consistently lain beyond its competence. While church leaders have no particular expertise to lecture about the best organization of the economy, they are well-equipped to offer a moral road map. There is, perhaps, no more important duty for the family than moral education. The anarchist slogan so often seen on bumper stickers, “Question Authority,” misses the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate authority. And authority is useful in teaching virtue. Can government help do so by shoring up the culture, even at the price of individual liberty? It is an issue that divides libertarians and traditionalists, and this division seems more likely to grow than shrink in the future. But it would be far better to forestall such problems. Criminals must be arrested, absent fathers must be dunned for child support, and the negligent must pay damages. There is none when it comes to attempting to control the practical consequences of an irresponsible society. Today, if people will not control themselves, some ask, what alternative is there but to turn to the state? Nevertheless, the political world at that time was nestled within a largely Christian moral environment. They consciously sought to create mechanisms–federalism and separation of powers, for instance–to restrain the vice that they knew would never disappear. The Founders designed the new political system for a virtuous people, even though they did not take virtue for granted. This loss of individual responsibility invites government intervention. We live in a world of victim-ology, where almost everyone claims to be a victim of one sort or another. Indeed, those who hurt others the most demand support and affirmation. And where anything is acceptable, no one can be held responsible. Where there are no standards, anything is acceptable. There has been a loss not just of sexual responsibility but of responsibility generally. More important, these phenomena are fundamentally destructive, eroding the moral underpinnings not only of families and communities but of a free society. The problem is not just that they are ugly, though they often are–it is embarrassing to travel abroad and realize that mtv is perhaps the most visible expression of American culture. Unless one is a libertine, the images that flood the airwaves, the lifestyles that dominate the media, the lyrics that make up contemporary music, the visions that are presented by popular artists, and the mores that govern sexual behavior are all cause for concern. The culture today poses a serious challenge to anyone who believes in liberty. Should not government attempt to fix it?Ĭan Government Play a Role in Moral Education? And the temptation to do so is understandable. Yet some conservatives, when not busy concocting new duties for government–to promote “national greatness,” for instance–are pushing state action as the best means of rescuing the culture. Superficially, at least, enhancing state power in order to make society more virtuous seems to be a losing strategy. At the same time, evidence of moral decline, from family disintegration to artistic obscenity, lies all around us. ![]() For all of the rhetoric about the end of big government, the GOP Congress has made peace with Leviathan. The culture these days seems distinctly unfriendly to both freedom and virtue. ![]()
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