Big ‘un

Huge meme via Mortaine. This one’s about morality. Hard core stuff here! Watch out!
Flames will be passed around to my friends, laughed at, and then ignored.

Abortion?: I think it’s an important legal right. IMO, a fetus that can’t live outside the mother’s womb is not a living person. 1st trimester abortions are fine by me. I think people should think long and hard before having one, yes, but I think it should be an option. Far too many women will do desperate things and lives that shouldn’t be ended will be if abortions are made illegal again.
Prostitution?: A dicey issue. I’m all in favor of a woman being allowed to choose to make money that way, but I think in 90% of the cases it’s not really a choice, and in many cases it’s a girl, not a woman. I think prostitution cheapens what is essentially a sacred activity, but then, MTV cheapens music, which is also a borderline sacred activity, so… yeah.
Alcohol?: I like alcohol. Not to excess, mind you, but I think it should be legal. I think it should be regulated, as it is now. I also think our culture needs to grow the hell up and stop abusing it. Folks in Europe manage to start drinking much younger without becoming nuts about it.
Marijuana?: I think marijuana is equivalent to alcohol. If it weren’t illegal, it wouldn’t be a gateway drug. I suspect it’s breaking the law and getting away with it that leads to breaking the law by doing harder drugs. I think marijuana should be accorded the same status as booze – legal but restricted to grownups. And don’t drive when stoned.
Smoking?: Feh. I think it should be legal because outlawing stupidity that only harms the stupid person in question should be legal. However I also think the tobacco companies need to look seriously at second hand smoke and that smokers should go smoke where I don’t have to breathe their poison.
Other drugs?: I’m torn on this issue too. I do think that doing stupid things that only hurt the stupid person in question should be legal, but hard drugs are so damn dangerous that legalizing them might be equivalent to letting people drive without seatbelts or ride motorcycles without helmets if they want. Sure, it’s their choice to be stupid, but it’s my hospitals they’ll be clogging, my tax dollars their healthcare will cost.
Gay marriage?: I’m in favor. Duh. Come on, the government has no right to tell two people in love that people they can’t get married. I’m even tentatively in favor of poly marriages.
Illegal immigrants?: They use up my tax dollars but don’t pay taxes (emergency health care, education for kids born in the US, etc). It’s a thorny issue, but I really think they should stay at home and work on fixing their country rather than illegally entering mine.
Drunk driving?: Bad. People who do it need serious help.
Cloning?: Sticky situation. It gives me the heeby jeebies, but as long as the clone in question is treated like a person I guess it’s okay. Cloning for spares is wrong, though. Just wrong.
Racism?: Bad. Stupid. Ignorant. I know it’s human nature to find patterns and use them to formulate opinions, and that if all the blacks/asians/whites you’ve ever seen or heard about were bad people it’s hard not to think that they’re all like that, but dood. Grow up.
Premarital sex?: A good idea. Ditto permarital cohabitation. Sex and living together make a huge difference in a relationship, and I think that going into marriage without having tried either is probably a very bad idea. I mean, come on. Unresolved sexual tension makes you see people in a weird way, not in an objective way at all. On the other hand, a relationship that survives the honeymoon period after sexual involvement is much more likely to last long-term. I know sex colors your thinking too (I’ve seen it in action!) but as long as you don’t rush into marriage, I think it’s okay.
Religion?: Religion is only as good as the person practicing it. I think Christianity as Christ preached it was a great thing. Christianity as practiced by the fundamentalists and our current president borders on Evil.
The war in Iraq?: Bad. Very bad. Wrong in so many ways. Come on, he had to lie to get us to go to war (I don’t care if he didn’t realize the CIA was feeding him incorrect information – it’s his job to know, and he didn’t, so either way he fucked up). Bad, bad, bad. Going in and liberating a country is a bad idea, imo. Come on, we pulled ourselves up by the bootstraps – giving other nations a hand too isn’t necessarily a good idea. I think winning freedom for yourself builds character, dammit.
Bush?: See above. I still haven’t decided if he’s a moron or not – maybe he’s just playing dumb.
Downloading music?: There is no evidence that downloading and sharing MP3s has harmed the record industry at all – in fact, a recent study I read about shows that there is no connection between record sales and MP3 downloading. The RIAA needs to chill the hell out. MP3s serve as free advertising, let people try music before they shell out for grossly overpriced CDs. I think the record industry is unfair to artists, but that they should focus on fixing the industry, not on trashing MP3-oriented companies. And before you get all uppity about iTunes, check out just how little of that $.99 you spend actually goes to the artist. Feh.
The legal drinking age?: Too high here in the US. It makes booze a forbidden fruit and encourages people to experiment in bad environments. I think it should be lower, like it is in Europe.
Porn?: Eh, I don’t think it’s necessarily good if it’s your only sexual input. It’s wildly unrealistic and dehumanizing. But hey, it’s also pretty damn hot sometimes, so I’m not going to pretend I hate it. :)
Suicide?: Well, I tentatively believe in reincarnation, so I think it’s a waste. You’ll just face the same lessons again next time and they won’t be any easier then.
Questions added by Mortaine.
Wal-mart?: Evil. Satan incarnate. Seriously. They’re unfair to their workers, unfair to the companies they deal with, and unfair to the communities they move in to and then (quite often) destroy and leave destitute. I have begged people not to go in even to use the bathroom. Come on, it’s worth it to pay a little more for something and not support that kind of nastiness. Anyway, you can get stuff on the cheap and in bulk at Costco, which is actually a decent company.
Sex education?: Good! Should start earlier, imo! Parents are sometimes too chicken to deal with it but kids are inundated with sexual information from a very young age, so dammit, someone needs to tell them before they start experimenting on their own and getting pregnant through ignorance.
Executing Minors?: I’m against the death penalty, period.
Prison?: Good idea but I think it needs to be more constructive for the inmates than it is. Also, I think dumping more money into education would make a big difference – and that extra money should go to the schools that need it, which aren’t the ones that do well on standardized tests.
Three-Strikes Law?: Hard call. Folks who plea-bargained unwisely get screwed by it but repeat criminals are intimidated by it, so that’s good.
Megan’s Law? (registering of sex offenders after they’ve been released, thereby guaranteeing they can’t live anywhere for more than 3 months at a time….): Ooh, also tricky. Part of me thinks that once someone has served his/her time, he/she should be given a fresh slate… but sex offenders are major recidivists from what I hear. I think something needs to be done (life-long counselling?) but making them move all the time isn’t it.
Amber Alert?: I don’t know enough about it to have an opinion.
Child-free Flights?: The noise-hater in me is in favor, but at the same time it seems kind of dodgy.