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Difference Between Law and Morality

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HU 4640 ETHICS
Homework Assignment: Difference between Law and Morality
Instructor: Mr.Garmon
Student: Mr. Rupert L.Griffith
03/31/15
The Debate between Law and Morality:
Laws are absolute rules prescribed by government representatives, while morality has to do with personal views on what is right or wrong.
A major difference between these two concepts is that a law is formal public policy that has consequences for those who violate it. Someone who murders or steals, for instance, goes to jail if found guilty in court. In contrast, someone who violates what others view as a moral standard may have no tangible consequence other than damaged relationships.
Laws are sometimes viewed as legislation on moral issues. Many people lean on religious beliefs to frame their moral viewpoints. Politicians and some citizens also point to faith-based principles in suggesting that laws should follow what God commands. Others believe that laws should protect individual rights and freedoms but should not extend to topics viewed as ethical gray areas.
In some cases, laws and morals evolve over time based on changing societal views. The Civil Rights laws of the 1950s and 1960s developed as Americans became more supportive of an end to segregation. Sometimes, though, principle-based politicians and leaders look to enact laws based on personal convictions, even though they may contradict the popular opinion of the time.

My Position on this View: This would lend itself to the current “Religious freedom Law” recently passed by the Indiana legislation which would allow business owners to discriminate against gays and lesbian in the LGBT community based upon their moral/religious conviction. The proponents of the Indiana’s law state their claim based on the premises that their moral/ religious belief is under siege in the U.S. To the religious conservative right this is not about discrimination, this is about empowering people to confront government overreach. This is also a clear case of injection the old separation of church and state. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was signed into law earlier this month, allows individuals and/or companies to cite religious freedom if sued for discrimination, thus, potentially legalizing discrimination against the LGBT community in that state.
The Article influence on my View: These recent religious freedom initiatives come as acceptance of gay marriage is growing, and many religious conservatives have cited the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision last year, which struck down Obamacare's mandate that employers provide insurance that covers birth control. But the actual push for the state to enact religious freedom laws dates back a bit further, which also marked a turning point in the tactics of those opposed to gay marriage. Even deeply religious conservative thinkers had conceded that gay marriage was inevitable. They were looking at the younger generation of people (The Millenniums) nonchalant acceptance of gay marriage, and at the steadily advancing number of states where gay marriage was legal, and seeing no prospects for turning the tide. Even if the Supreme Court refused to grant gays the right to marry, most opponents recognized that state legislatures will gradually expand that right to gay couples. This could be the reason that most states with a conservative right wing majority are trying to enact these freedom of religion act laws as a counter measure to preserving what they believe is the erosion of their religious moral freedom by the government.

Reference: http://www.redstate.com/diary/kipling/2012/06/07/the-relationship-between-law-and-morality/

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