06-22-2003, 04:31 PM
"The purpose of government as founded in the United States in the late eighteenth century is *not* to make the prejudice of the majority the law of the land but to protect the rights and freedoms of the minorities."
This is not wrong but in saying "The purpose of government as founded in the United States" it implies that it is the complete purpose.
There are actually 2 competing purposes of goverement in the US that both serve the same end - the welfare of the citizens.
1. One purpose is to make functioning and safe society.
2 The other purpose is to ensure freedom and liberty in the society.
In some cases its accepted that certain freedoms are limited for for the sake of function or safety. For instance you may not own a machine gun, most places you may not drink(even moderatly) while driving, and you may not threaten people - even if you dont actually hurt them.
In other cases we give up some safety in the name of freedom. You may own some weapons such as hunting rifles, we have a draft when we need it, and we let people do dangeous expsense activities, such as rock climbing motorcycling.
Im not really addressing the issue of gay rights here, but i think we should step back be clear on why we have a goverment from time to time.
Declaration of Indepence - "effect their(people's) Safety and Happiness"
Preamble to the constutution - "insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity"
This is not wrong but in saying "The purpose of government as founded in the United States" it implies that it is the complete purpose.
There are actually 2 competing purposes of goverement in the US that both serve the same end - the welfare of the citizens.
1. One purpose is to make functioning and safe society.
2 The other purpose is to ensure freedom and liberty in the society.
In some cases its accepted that certain freedoms are limited for for the sake of function or safety. For instance you may not own a machine gun, most places you may not drink(even moderatly) while driving, and you may not threaten people - even if you dont actually hurt them.
In other cases we give up some safety in the name of freedom. You may own some weapons such as hunting rifles, we have a draft when we need it, and we let people do dangeous expsense activities, such as rock climbing motorcycling.
Im not really addressing the issue of gay rights here, but i think we should step back be clear on why we have a goverment from time to time.
Declaration of Indepence - "effect their(people's) Safety and Happiness"
Preamble to the constutution - "insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity"