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re: [at-l] More on Nudity



Nancy Robinson wrote:

> On the Baltimore, MD news Channel 2,  Sunday May 4th, a man was arrested
> for exposing himself in public to a few children.  He did nothing more than
> to show himself.

I don't think this is comparable to nude hiking.  The man's intentions were
likely very different from the intentions of nude hikers.

> How are we to govern ourselves if we have no standards by which
> to judge right from wrong?

But not everyone has the same standards.  Democratic society is a compromise
between the many different individuals in that society.  Governing by one
set of standards is more a kin to totalitarianism.

>  When our forefathers set up this great nation under God it was never
> intended as a "do whatever makes you feel good" society.  That is why they
> wrote laws.  That is why we have a Judicial system built into the
> constitution, to judge what is right and to uphold the laws of society.

From what I know about the forefathers, they were strong believers in
individual freedoms.  The Constitution was an attempt to limit the power
of governemnt and its ability to restrict freedom by writing laws.

> No, I say, civilized society is
> governed by laws and does not work well without them as we see in many
> countries involved in civil strife.

I think there is a happy middle ground where there are laws to protect people
from each other, but individuals still enjoy a high degree of freedom.  Sure,
it means that sometimes people have to put with things that are offensive to
them, but if we outlaw anything that is offensive to anyone, there would be
no individual freedoms at all.  It is also important that we tolerate civil
disobediance to some degree, so that as times and people change, laws can
change too.  BTW, I see no conflict between these ideas and my strong
commitment to Jesus Christ.  My $0.02 (if it's worth even that much).

                                     -Tom
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