slugshooter
02-02-2006, 12:27 PM
A popular topic on here as of late has been the level of intrusion the government should be allowed or has taken in our lives. I was thinking today about some hot button issues that have been taking place in this room and also in the lounge. It seems to me that each one of us is willing to allow the government to have some form of intrusion in our lives while a few others don't feel the need for any government at all. So I guess my question is what should we question or fight against as far as the government is involved. Here is a rundown of some current issues I have read about on these forums.
Corporal Punishment in Schools- Some feel that it should be OK to spank our children in public schools while others do not. I for one am against this practice because disciplining children should be the role of the parents. If the parents aren't doing this then it is on them. If the child is a constant disruption, there is the possibility of detention/suspension/expulsion and if the child is especially violent the authorities need to be involved. I think there is too much of a possibility for a school administrator to take it too far and also the schools have to take into account potential legal action. What happens if a child is seriusly injured?
Government Eavesdropping- While I agree that we are in a time of "war" so to speak. Not necessarily a conventional war that has occurred throughout history. While the government insists that the federal wiretapping that has been going on is legal, any law that has been passed that has been in direct conflict with the constitution has been declared illegal. The constitution does not say that we shall be free from unreasonable search and seizure and no warrants shall issue except on probable cause; unless in times of war. Like was said in earlier posts on this subject, what is to prevent the government from expanding their reach to non terrorist entities and use this for political gain. Richard Nixon ordered a break in of the DNC to gain their campaign strategies. What is to stop the RNC from tapping the phones of their rivals in order to gain an advantage. I just feel that there is too much leeway for this to be misused. I hope that they only stick to terrorists and use the info they receive for good. But if they had obtained warrants, it still would have been kept secret. What constitutes "unreasonable search and seizure" and what constitutes "probable cause?" Should the government be allowed to invade privacy based on "reasonable suspicion?"
Gun registration- There are positives to this and one far out negative. If there is a national gun registration and your guns are stolen and used in a crime, as long as it has been reported it will not come back on the gun owner. In the remote possibility that the 2nd Amendment has been repealed, yes, the government will have a listing of who owns what in the country, but, the government has so much bureaucratic red tape going on that they probably wouldn't even bother trying to enforce the law.
Prayer in Schools- I don't know a public school in the country that has outlawed prayer. As long as it doesn't disrupt a class or the workings of the school day kids can pray whenever they want. It is also not the public schools job to make kids pray, or to teach them bible stories. That is the job of the parents/churches if they so choose. Here is the potential problem, not every teacher is a Christian and those that are are not of the same denomination. So, here we have non-Christian teachers being forced to make their students pray to a God they may or may not believe in and then we have Christian teachers of different denominations teaching their interpretation of the bible and their beliefs. Either way, there are going to be angry parents on both sides of the debate....and a lot of confused kids worrying about religous matters in school when they should be focusing on reading, writing, math and other subjects.
Government sponsored religion- While I agree that many of the founding fathers were Christian in a sense that they believed in God and Christ, that doesn't necessarily mean that they felt God should be included in every aspect of government. There is a big difference in a group of adults meeting voluntarily in a House or Senate chamber for a morning prayer where they can choose to be there or not vs. a group of kids in a classroom who are forced to be there. Look at the governments around the world that are basically theorcracies, Iran being one. Firstly. the president of Iran, Admenijab or whatever his name is, is merely a puppet, a fiery voice who can stir the masses. Iran is run by the Ayatollahs who can dismiss him at any time they want if he doesn't do what they say. Not very democratic is it. Iraq is a powderkeg waiting to explode because their new democratic government is made up of clashing religous beliefs. Do I feel it wrong for politicians to pronounce their religous beliefs and pray for direction, absolutely not. I pray for direction every day, but when the government begins to dictate who should believe what, then a theocracy has been formed, and that is exactly what our ancestors came over here to get away from.
Business Issues- Should the government have a right to dictate what a business can and cannot do? In some instances I believe yes. As long as it doesn't interfere with the ability of the business to make money, because if they can't make money, whats the point of forming a business. I believe employers should have the responsibility to take care of their employees to a certain extent and not take advantage/exploit their workers. Not everyone is going to make 50K or more a year, But I have heard conflicting comments from more than one person on here as far as low wages are concerned. People are chastised for working in a low wage job because they obviously have no direction in life and no desire to better themselves, but in the same turn it has been said that the world needs people in those low wage jobs. What is an old movie line I heard "The world needs ditch diggers too." So, if a persons destiny in this world is to be a ditch digger or a whopper flopper, no amount of training or education is going to lift him/her out of that am I right?
There is a fine balance in all of these issues. Just making some observations as to some of the issues that have been discussed on here. Feel free to chime in as you wish. I promise I won't intrude, but the government might. I guess the underlying question though is how much should the government intrude in our lives, or should they at all?
Corporal Punishment in Schools- Some feel that it should be OK to spank our children in public schools while others do not. I for one am against this practice because disciplining children should be the role of the parents. If the parents aren't doing this then it is on them. If the child is a constant disruption, there is the possibility of detention/suspension/expulsion and if the child is especially violent the authorities need to be involved. I think there is too much of a possibility for a school administrator to take it too far and also the schools have to take into account potential legal action. What happens if a child is seriusly injured?
Government Eavesdropping- While I agree that we are in a time of "war" so to speak. Not necessarily a conventional war that has occurred throughout history. While the government insists that the federal wiretapping that has been going on is legal, any law that has been passed that has been in direct conflict with the constitution has been declared illegal. The constitution does not say that we shall be free from unreasonable search and seizure and no warrants shall issue except on probable cause; unless in times of war. Like was said in earlier posts on this subject, what is to prevent the government from expanding their reach to non terrorist entities and use this for political gain. Richard Nixon ordered a break in of the DNC to gain their campaign strategies. What is to stop the RNC from tapping the phones of their rivals in order to gain an advantage. I just feel that there is too much leeway for this to be misused. I hope that they only stick to terrorists and use the info they receive for good. But if they had obtained warrants, it still would have been kept secret. What constitutes "unreasonable search and seizure" and what constitutes "probable cause?" Should the government be allowed to invade privacy based on "reasonable suspicion?"
Gun registration- There are positives to this and one far out negative. If there is a national gun registration and your guns are stolen and used in a crime, as long as it has been reported it will not come back on the gun owner. In the remote possibility that the 2nd Amendment has been repealed, yes, the government will have a listing of who owns what in the country, but, the government has so much bureaucratic red tape going on that they probably wouldn't even bother trying to enforce the law.
Prayer in Schools- I don't know a public school in the country that has outlawed prayer. As long as it doesn't disrupt a class or the workings of the school day kids can pray whenever they want. It is also not the public schools job to make kids pray, or to teach them bible stories. That is the job of the parents/churches if they so choose. Here is the potential problem, not every teacher is a Christian and those that are are not of the same denomination. So, here we have non-Christian teachers being forced to make their students pray to a God they may or may not believe in and then we have Christian teachers of different denominations teaching their interpretation of the bible and their beliefs. Either way, there are going to be angry parents on both sides of the debate....and a lot of confused kids worrying about religous matters in school when they should be focusing on reading, writing, math and other subjects.
Government sponsored religion- While I agree that many of the founding fathers were Christian in a sense that they believed in God and Christ, that doesn't necessarily mean that they felt God should be included in every aspect of government. There is a big difference in a group of adults meeting voluntarily in a House or Senate chamber for a morning prayer where they can choose to be there or not vs. a group of kids in a classroom who are forced to be there. Look at the governments around the world that are basically theorcracies, Iran being one. Firstly. the president of Iran, Admenijab or whatever his name is, is merely a puppet, a fiery voice who can stir the masses. Iran is run by the Ayatollahs who can dismiss him at any time they want if he doesn't do what they say. Not very democratic is it. Iraq is a powderkeg waiting to explode because their new democratic government is made up of clashing religous beliefs. Do I feel it wrong for politicians to pronounce their religous beliefs and pray for direction, absolutely not. I pray for direction every day, but when the government begins to dictate who should believe what, then a theocracy has been formed, and that is exactly what our ancestors came over here to get away from.
Business Issues- Should the government have a right to dictate what a business can and cannot do? In some instances I believe yes. As long as it doesn't interfere with the ability of the business to make money, because if they can't make money, whats the point of forming a business. I believe employers should have the responsibility to take care of their employees to a certain extent and not take advantage/exploit their workers. Not everyone is going to make 50K or more a year, But I have heard conflicting comments from more than one person on here as far as low wages are concerned. People are chastised for working in a low wage job because they obviously have no direction in life and no desire to better themselves, but in the same turn it has been said that the world needs people in those low wage jobs. What is an old movie line I heard "The world needs ditch diggers too." So, if a persons destiny in this world is to be a ditch digger or a whopper flopper, no amount of training or education is going to lift him/her out of that am I right?
There is a fine balance in all of these issues. Just making some observations as to some of the issues that have been discussed on here. Feel free to chime in as you wish. I promise I won't intrude, but the government might. I guess the underlying question though is how much should the government intrude in our lives, or should they at all?