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Random boredom at work.
Word of the day: opprobrious.
"If a triangle could speak, it would say, that God is eminently triangular, while a circle would say that the divine nature is eminently circular."
-Baruch Spinoza, philosopher (1632-1677)
How true.
Thing to rant about today: laws of divinity, community and autonomy. Caveat: this rant doesn't really go anywhere. It's just got some interesting points.
This was covered in my Dark Side of Sex class, and so most of my examples are going to involve "dark" sex (namely, necrophilia).
***
In North America, and (apparently) particularly the States, we have this idea that personal freedom is the highest ideal. In Canada, this is less true, at least to most people's thinking - after all, one of the first paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence states that men have the unalienable right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". Canada's British North America Act of 1871, meanwhile, contains the oft-quoted rights of "peace, order and good government" (which is actually a provincial guarantee if Canada ever made new provinces).
Overall, it looks like Canadian law should be more community-driven, and American autonomy-driven.
---
Now, to take a time-out, I'll explain how the various law "types" work. I'll be using necrophilia, murder and marriage as my two examples in each. ((Why necrophilia? Because that was what Dr. Burris used to illustrate each concept.))
Laws of divinity state that something is "bad" (evil, dark, what have you) if it goes against divine law. Simple enough to understand. Laws are created to ban things which are shameful or wrong by a specific religious doctrine (i.e. laws of divinity in a Catholic state would ban homosexuality, masturbation, etc.)
A state with laws of divinity ((we'll use Christian divinity, for ease)) might ban necrophilia because it desecrates the body (perhaps making the soul that once resided in the body unable to reach Heaven, or what have you). Even with the written permission of the former "owner" of the body, it would be illegal, because the soul [leaving aside arguments about the existence of such for now] is still a part of the body and the soul does not belong to the "owner" - it belongs to God.
Murder would be outlawed due to a) it being against the ten commandments and b) because one would be taking over the role of God. Assisted suicide would be murder.
Marriage, on the other hand, would be only allowable between a man and a woman, because that is what God has deemed sacred, and nothing outside of that would be legal.
Most laws in this type of law-making would be based around shame or disgust.
Laws of community are based around what is best to keep people happy, healthy and safe (from themselves and each other). Here you find less rulings on "shame" and more on "disruption".
Necrophilia, for example, would not be legal (even with written permission from the former "owner") because it would hurt the friends and family of the deceased.
Murder would be outlawed due to disruption of the community. Assisted suicide would likely fall under murder, since the pain of the family of the suicidee (?) outweighs that of the person killing themselves.
Marriage might be extended to include common-law marriages, but these would be "frowned upon" because they would not contribute to the sense of community that was trying to be fostered by the government. Gay marriage would be unlikely to be legalized, since it is "outside the norm" and therefore a disruption.
Laws of autonomy, however, basically dictate that as long as you aren't hurting anyone, do what you want.
Necrophilia would, with written permission from the former "owner" of the body, be legal.
Marriage of any sort would be legal.
Murder would still be illegal, since you'd be taking the life of someone unwilling - but assisted suicide would be legal.
---
My question is: why does Canada, with its "peace, order and good government" have a more autonomous government than the USA, with its "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness"? Why does the US have so many divinity-laws? Why do ANY of us have any other system besides autonomy, anyway?
I guess it all goes back to people not wanting to take responsibility for their own damn actions. After all, without laws saying that you can't have sex for money, men would be hiring prostitutes nightly, right?
People don't trust each other. Some days, I don't blame 'em. We've got some morons on the face of this planet, and that's not going to change. But do we have to be responsible for them? Why should we?
And I'm not even talking about taxes and social services and things like that. I'm all for those (little Liberal that I am). I'm just talking about the laws that govern this country.
We're freaking secular countries. Get rid of your goddamn divinity laws. And stop using God as an argument!
---
Anyway. Next time, on Alex Is Ranting Again: what makes a person?
Word of the day: opprobrious.
"If a triangle could speak, it would say, that God is eminently triangular, while a circle would say that the divine nature is eminently circular."
-Baruch Spinoza, philosopher (1632-1677)
How true.
Thing to rant about today: laws of divinity, community and autonomy. Caveat: this rant doesn't really go anywhere. It's just got some interesting points.
This was covered in my Dark Side of Sex class, and so most of my examples are going to involve "dark" sex (namely, necrophilia).
***
In North America, and (apparently) particularly the States, we have this idea that personal freedom is the highest ideal. In Canada, this is less true, at least to most people's thinking - after all, one of the first paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence states that men have the unalienable right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". Canada's British North America Act of 1871, meanwhile, contains the oft-quoted rights of "peace, order and good government" (which is actually a provincial guarantee if Canada ever made new provinces).
Overall, it looks like Canadian law should be more community-driven, and American autonomy-driven.
---
Now, to take a time-out, I'll explain how the various law "types" work. I'll be using necrophilia, murder and marriage as my two examples in each. ((Why necrophilia? Because that was what Dr. Burris used to illustrate each concept.))
Laws of divinity state that something is "bad" (evil, dark, what have you) if it goes against divine law. Simple enough to understand. Laws are created to ban things which are shameful or wrong by a specific religious doctrine (i.e. laws of divinity in a Catholic state would ban homosexuality, masturbation, etc.)
A state with laws of divinity ((we'll use Christian divinity, for ease)) might ban necrophilia because it desecrates the body (perhaps making the soul that once resided in the body unable to reach Heaven, or what have you). Even with the written permission of the former "owner" of the body, it would be illegal, because the soul [leaving aside arguments about the existence of such for now] is still a part of the body and the soul does not belong to the "owner" - it belongs to God.
Murder would be outlawed due to a) it being against the ten commandments and b) because one would be taking over the role of God. Assisted suicide would be murder.
Marriage, on the other hand, would be only allowable between a man and a woman, because that is what God has deemed sacred, and nothing outside of that would be legal.
Most laws in this type of law-making would be based around shame or disgust.
Laws of community are based around what is best to keep people happy, healthy and safe (from themselves and each other). Here you find less rulings on "shame" and more on "disruption".
Necrophilia, for example, would not be legal (even with written permission from the former "owner") because it would hurt the friends and family of the deceased.
Murder would be outlawed due to disruption of the community. Assisted suicide would likely fall under murder, since the pain of the family of the suicidee (?) outweighs that of the person killing themselves.
Marriage might be extended to include common-law marriages, but these would be "frowned upon" because they would not contribute to the sense of community that was trying to be fostered by the government. Gay marriage would be unlikely to be legalized, since it is "outside the norm" and therefore a disruption.
Laws of autonomy, however, basically dictate that as long as you aren't hurting anyone, do what you want.
Necrophilia would, with written permission from the former "owner" of the body, be legal.
Marriage of any sort would be legal.
Murder would still be illegal, since you'd be taking the life of someone unwilling - but assisted suicide would be legal.
---
My question is: why does Canada, with its "peace, order and good government" have a more autonomous government than the USA, with its "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness"? Why does the US have so many divinity-laws? Why do ANY of us have any other system besides autonomy, anyway?
I guess it all goes back to people not wanting to take responsibility for their own damn actions. After all, without laws saying that you can't have sex for money, men would be hiring prostitutes nightly, right?
People don't trust each other. Some days, I don't blame 'em. We've got some morons on the face of this planet, and that's not going to change. But do we have to be responsible for them? Why should we?
And I'm not even talking about taxes and social services and things like that. I'm all for those (little Liberal that I am). I'm just talking about the laws that govern this country.
We're freaking secular countries. Get rid of your goddamn divinity laws. And stop using God as an argument!
---
Anyway. Next time, on Alex Is Ranting Again: what makes a person?
