I was talking with a friend recently who said that he didn’t beleive the government should legislate on “purely moral” issues, such as gay marriage.
He also said he thought the government needs to make sure to have social programs for the poor, and programs to create greater “equality”.
I had to break it to him – prohibiting vice and forcing virtue are both “purely moral” uses of legislation. Not to mention, using government to try to achieve “equality” and alleviation of poverty doesn’t work.
Great article on vice, virtue and morality in law here – http://libertyunbound.com/archive/2003_04/legate-christ.html