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From: tim@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Tim Maroney)
Newsgroups: net.abortion,net.politics,net.religion,net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Re: Abortion and Capital Punishment
Message-ID: <20980006@cmu-cs-k.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 27-Nov-84 21:15:52 EST
Article-I.D.: cmu-cs-k.20980006
Posted: Tue Nov 27 21:15:52 1984
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Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
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> As I have pointed out before, probably the only reason that laws against
> murder exist at all is that people feel, subjectively, that it is a bad 
> thing to do. The way laws get created is that people take things that they
> feel are bad, and then create rationalizations for them, like "It's bad
> for society". These may be true but are not the primary motivating reasons
> for such laws. A law that allowed infanticide would, in our society at least,
> upset too many people to work, regardless of how you rationalize it. On the
> other hand, people don't ever get to know their children before they are
> born, so they tend not to form the sort of emotional ties that would lead
> them to consider abortion a terrible thing (most people, at least). 
> 
> 	Wayne

There are far deeper reasons than "It seems like a bad thing" to outlaw
murder.  If that were all there was to it, I would oppose laws against
murder.  I find religious dogmatism to be the purest moral poison
imaginable, but I would never support laws which made it illegal or were in
any way prejudicial towards its adherents.

The attraction or repulsion we feel for acts and ideas can not be safely
allowed to shape our thinking on legal matters.  It is simply this:  Does an
action thwart the opportunity for some person to do their will?  If so, it
is undesirable and should be prevented if that is the way which minimizes
restriction.  Humans have banded together in governments to accomplish this
and protect each other -- unfortunately, such groupings have often been
unconcerned with humans outside a narrow sphere, the protected class.  This
hurts the entire race.  A global perspective, although not necessarily a
"world government", is needed.
-- 
Tim Maroney, Carnegie-Mellon University Computation Center
ARPA:	Tim.Maroney@CMU-CS-K
uucp:	seismo!cmu-cs-k!tim (supposedly)

"Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are
but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which remains."
Liber AL, II:9.