"It is not the business of the law
to make anyone
good or reverent or moral
or clean or upright."
by:
Murray N. Rothbard
(1926-1995) Dean of the Austrian School of Economics
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 -- Anonymous      
The business of the law is: "It Is What It Is". Gravity does not make anyone good, reverent, moral, clean or upright. Neither does physics, fiscal law or that which is absolute before justice. Legislation that addresses a particular religion's ('A'thiest to 'Z'en) ethics, good, reverent, moral, clean or upright (feed the hungry, cloth the naked, finance the impoverished, shelter the homeless, sexual practices between consenting adults, etc.) is a legal positivism that is diametrically opposed to a government of law ("It is NOT the business of the law")
 -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    Amen, brother.
     -- jim k, austin tx     
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     -- Ron w13, Or      
    Agreed, but at what point and how do we make it clear what is considered unacceptable societal behavior without some sort of threat of punishment for transgressions? In order to do that we would need to be fair by outlining through law what those transgressions and punishments would be. It would be unjust not to provide fair warning, which could actually be expected to have the effect of influencing good behavior.
     -- SCSURFR, La Mirada     
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    @SCSURFR, IN answer to your question, we don't! Stop trying to use 'the law' to dictate behavior. Courts of law should only be used to adjudicate the violation of people's rights, nothing else. People should not be punished because they 'might' have hurt someone -- and 'crimes' in which the victim is also the perpetrator are nothing but political in nature. Laws that are aimed at protecting us from ourselves are nothing short of tyranny. We cannot legislate the risk out of life nor the natural consequences of our actions. 'Social justice' and 'social engineering' cause way more problems than they solve. We either learn the hard way or not at all ...
     -- E Archer, NYC     
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     -- Mary, MI      
     
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