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From: richw@ada-uts.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.motss
Subject: Re: Re. Turning the other Cheek
Message-ID: <10900011@ada-uts.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 19-Dec-85 11:54:00 EST
Article-I.D.: ada-uts.10900011
Posted: Thu Dec 19 11:54:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Dec-85 01:13:20 EST
References: <1650@decwrl.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:decwrl:-165000:ada-uts:10900011:000:1934
Nf-From: ada-uts!richw    Dec 19 11:54:00 1985


>> (Ron Rizzo)  However, I don't think anyone (except maybe K.
>> Arndt, but I n-key all his articles) has accused anyone else of being
>> a "bleeding heart" or has wanted to "cut" anyone's "balls off."

You're right; I apologize.  I think I jumped the gun.  My flames were
triggered less by netters than by some people I know personally.


>> (Ron Rizzo)  Finally, effectiveness is not the only kind of
>> consideration to include in making penal policy; morality is
>> another & probably "ultimately" more important one.  And official
>> infliction of pain is not the only or even the leading moral issue.

Could you be more specific?  What moral issues?  It seems that making
policy based on morality is something society should avoid.  I personally
would not accept courts imposing sentences and justifying them with
"Because it's the `moral' thing to do".  I get very upset when someone
tries to impose ANY moral standards on me.

Some points to consider in answering the above:  I feel that morality
has no place in legal systems.  For instance, I can't say that murder
is wrong -- in the wild, it isn't.  There's no "Document-Of-Absolute-
Truth" that one can point to and say, "Yup, murder is quite definitely
wrong" (I apologize to those that feel the Bible is such a document).
Nevertheless, I think murder should definitely be illegal.  Why?  Because
I feel the purpose of law is to maintain order in society -- to keep it
"civilized".  Yes, the latter term is also not well-defined.  But, I view
society as a group of people that have agreed to live a certain way,
and that way is not the way "of the wild".  Law protects those people
from those that disrupt the majority's "chosen way of life".

Please don't bother telling me that my opinions of what the legal system
should be are also not to be found in the "Document-Of-Absolute-Truth";
I know.  The purpose of this reply is to discuss, not to prove.

-- Rich Wagner