[CaptVimes]

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The status-quo is unacceptable and gives relatively few power brokers too much control over our personal lives. Rather than looking for a speck in our neighbor's eye, lets focus on our own personal morality. Government policy doesn't create moral parishioners. Thinking the government can bolster the church by acting as its advocate and enforcer of morality distorts the proper role of both.

As conservatives, we used to expect consistent support for limited government. We demand lower taxes, less regulation, and personal freedom. It seems as though these simple values have fallen by the wayside. It is embarassing to think America's premier conservative party has been responsible for unprecedented growth in freedom-stifling government. Equally disturbing, is the creation of laws, such as the recent laws banning online poker, designed to protect citizens from themselves. We conservatives are rugged individualists who are quite able to make our own decisions and choose our own hobbies and recreation. Provided we are not victimizing others, we should be free to make adult decisions without the prying eyes of big government. I used to think only liberals and leftists were advocates of massive, intrusive goverment. Now I find the Republican party appears even more exuberant by inviting government into our bedrooms, bathrooms, telephone lines, bank accounts, and hard drives.

Jeffrey

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This is certainly not the republican party that I can remember. The GOP has always, until recently, been for personal freedoms and small government. Now that they have had control for 6+ years it seems they are just a bad as the Dems. except they still try to expand govt and don't raise taxes to pay for it.

Morality can't be legislated because people's morality is subjective. What is moral for one may not be for another. Obviously something like killing points to wrong on most people's moral compass, but gambling, gay marriage, stem cell research and abortion have people placed all around the dial. So what does that leave us with? Morality based on the majority? So slavery was right because most people thought it was ok?

Religion is not a macro-concept which many groups, like the Christian right, are trying to make it. Its an individual's relationship with their God. Morality is how a person reflects that relationship with the world. I can explain my morality to someone, a law cannot. A law is just black and white, right or wrong, and amoral even in strictest sense of the word.

The internet gambling ban is not even a small victory for the anti-gambling crowd. It didn't really ban gambling its just changed the form in which it is done or will be done in the future. Besides until they do away with the Powerball type games, which is basically a tax for people who can't do math, they are not doing anything for the people for whom a gambling problem can be devastating, the poor. If they are going to try and convince me that they aret acting because they have some higher purpose, then governments themselves (states mostly), are going to have to suffer along with the rest of us. Like that's ever gonna happen.

Blah, sorry about the ramble...