Quote:
Originally posted by Happy Monkey
I think this is a bit of a bogeyman. There are really very few people who truly amoral, and they usually have the excuse of a chemical imbalance in the brain. Even the philosophers who theorize that there are no universal truths don't run around raping and killing.
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I'm not thinking in extremes, but in terms of the darker shades of grey. Prostitution, for example. Completely sane, intelligent people can be found on both sides of that issue. Some say that since God's word says it's wrong, it's wrong, and brook no argument. Others feel prostitution is no more morally abhorrent than having a drink or two after band practice (which I've just done, so bear with me
). In the warm chewy center are the rest of us, who might feel that it's wrong for a married man to hire a prostitute behind his wife's back, but can accept a quadriplegic's use of one, simply because the quadriplegic has no other sexual outlet available to him/her. Of course the "middle ground" refers to a far wider range of opinion than that, but you get the idea.
So, who's right? Certainly not
all viewpoints can be equally valid, since at least two of them are mutually exclusive of one another.
Prostitution encourages the spread of disease, breaks up relationships, and is tied to all kinds of other anti-social behavior, from hard drug use to petty theft to murder. Unless you don't have a brain, you have to admit that much. Maybe the answer is to legalize it and let it fall under government regulation and supervision. The US government can't even regulate the senatorial haircut budget, much less the world's oldest occupation. Please.
So, we have decided as a society that whoring is generally unsavory, bad for the client, bad for the whore, bad for the populace at large. Even the pimp, who gets all the money, doesn't exactly get invited to join the local rotary club.
Well, guess what? That's what the bible says. I believe that God condemns prostitution because it's bad for His creation, not because He has some kind of problem with people having orgasms. The 'morality' aspect (in the Christian sense) encompasses not only the earthly consequences of engaging in prostitution, but adds the component of obedience to God, who has supposedly set down His rules and expects His followers to abide by them.
I can already feel the condescending, negative vibes from some of you; not just because I'm being a little sanctimonious, but because I'm invoking my "fairy-tale, white-bearded imaginary friend" -- worse yet, I have been capitalizing pronouns referring to Him. Isn't that just precious?
To be perfectly honest, I can't claim that I'm not deliberately being 'religious' just to invite more fun arguments
. I don't think I am; it feels like respect for my God, who I claim to worship. Let the chips fall where they may, I guess.
(puts little train back on tracks) My point is that I get frustrated when people snigger at the fact that I believe there is a God who will hold us accountable for what we do. Far from being a crutch, my beliefs make my life more complex, if only because I usually fail to live up to them. A crutch. lol. I almost deleted all my "StaceyV's-husband-is-a-twat" posts because I spent an hour questioning the morality of taking shots at him. Yah. You too can become a Christian and enjoy the 'escapist fantasy'. Bite me.
I don't feel attacked, HM. If everyone agreed with me I would have lost interest in this place after the first hour.
I haven't even gotten a chance to respond to your second paragraph yet. I'm just out of feisty for one night.