The “Nanny State” sucks

December 7, 2006 · Filed Under zeitgeist

Like none of us saw this coming? Yeah, right…
The most appropriate quote? “The intrusions of the “Nanny State” are never-ending.”

The sub-title of the article (“Many Politicians Would Rather Restrict Our Freedoms Than Improve Our Lives” ) puts a political spin on it, but that’s certainly not the only way in which this problem is manifested.

Living under the law is what it is, and it seems that we have an unending thirst to subject no only ourselves to it, but also everyone else. Our Old Adam delights in the sinful delusion that we can effect our own salvation. Ironically, a byproduct of this delusion is the idea that we must put the lash of the law to our fellow citizens, so that they will toe the line & be saved from themselves, even as we hypocritically would exempt ourselves from the harshest letters of the law.

It’s offensive to the ideals of liberty upon which this country was founded. I don’t smoke, but I am fully against the types of smoking bans that have been wrongly inflicted upon the citizens of Ohio, not to mention my own town of Valparaiso. I have the right to patronize — or not to patronize — an establishment, based on my feelings about their rules/ways of doing business. If I don’t like smoking, and they allow it, then I can express my displeasure by taking my business elsewhere. I do not have the right to expect that every establishment must bend to my will & whim.

Smokers are not criminals. Drinkers are not criminals. People who abuse those activities may or may not be criminals (or, at the very least, fools), but the mere act of smoking or drinking, or eating a bacon double cheeseburger is neither inherently sinful, nor illegal.

Let the free market work. Let folks have their personal liberty. Dismantle this culture of victimization & reintroduce the culture of personal responsibility.

-ghp

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Tags: government, health, intolerance, pietism, politics, society, theology