Over the past few decades in American politics, a powerful constituency has emerged in our electorate that may be dwindling in its influence today, but still wields enough political power to sway elections from time to time. This group of people is especially influential in the Republican Party, so much so that a candidate representing the party is often deemed unelectable if he or she cannot appeal enough to this segment of people.
Members of the "Christian Right," as it has been called, are known for trying to impose many of their values (many of which are derived from their religious beliefs) on all members of American society, regardless of religious beliefs. As a conservative, practicing Catholic, there was a time when I would have considered myself a part of this group. I am personally and morally opposed to, among other things, homosexual acts, prostitution, and recreational drug use. My sincere wish is that no one in our society would willingly engage in these behaviors.
However, I also accept what it means to be moral, from a Judeo-Christian perspective. In order to be a moral person, one must freely choose to commit moral acts and voluntarily abstain from immoral acts. It is, in this sense, impossible to truly legislate morality. When people abstain from immoral acts because such acts happen to be illegal (and thus punishable by law), our collective sense of morality starts to erode, as we become more and more legalistic and focused on avoiding punishment. Finally, as a tireless advocate of religious freedom, I fully support the rights of religious people to openly speak out against immoral behaviors. From there, it will be up to the rest of society to conform or not.
I firmly believe that the best way to change our society is to change our culture, not our laws. When the government gets into the business of legislating morality (as opposed to protecting our Natural Rights), the role of the Church is reduced and degraded. Instead of placing faith in the government to change our world, we must place unquestioning faith in God and His Church to change it.
