August FREEDOM WATCH Online

Freedom Watch Online

August 2011

The Ethical Trouble With Legislating Morality

by David Trillo, guest writer

"You can't legislate morality!" Few colloquial expressions depend more upon connotation than does this short, forceful proclamation of liberty. And because it asserts liberty, few colloquialisms have weathered such a long, sustained, unrelenting campaign to discredit it, refute it and extinguish it from American parlance.

Most everyone knows what the expression means. It means that we don't, or shouldn't, legislate moral beliefs based solely in tradition or religious beliefs. Unfortunately, people and groups who wish to do exactly that have been attacking this axiom of freedom ever since. Here I will explore one way that the phrase is attacked, and I will answer that while putting morality and ethics into clearer perspective. I will explain why legislating morality is bad and wrong.

Wrong. Was that a value judgment?

Perhaps the most common counter-claim is "every law legislates morality," therefore "you must legislate morality." Those who argue that we cannot escape legislating morality typically list murder and theft as common examples, but they sometimes go farther, asserting that even speed limits and no-smoking areas are legislation of morality.

One's first reaction to these might be a sharp, involuntary gasp at what looks like an absurd word game meant to cloud the obvious issue, or to make bedroom laws sound as legitimate as homicide laws. It would be a mistake, however, to miss an opportunity to examine morals, ethics, and the purposes of legislation.

Read the full analysis on our website

Why I Support Citizens Project

By Lisa Amend, guest writer

Colorado Springs is often seen as a fiscally conservative, evangelical community. These things are true and they are part of our overall landscape and far-reaching community values. But Colorado Springs is also a cauldron of diversity due to our vibrant arts scene and the presence of four major military installations in close proximity to the City. I support Citizens Project because Citizens Project protects the freedom and values of all of our citizens, not just the vocal majority. As a small business owner, I value and respect the diverse interests, cultures and personal choices of all of my current and potential clients. Citizens Project works to educate the public about the importance of equality, diversity and religious freedom every day. Citizens Project also actively promotes civic engagement to ensure that the community is educated on political issues that may impede upon religious freedom or place boundaries upon the definitions of equality and diversity and what these elements represent in Colorado Springs. I am proud to support an organization that is an active defender of our founding documents and that strives to ensure that everyone is welcome and accepted in the city I call my home.

Lisa Amend is the President of Wild River Public Relations, a Colorado Springs-based PR company. If you'd like to tell your story about why you support CP, please email Kristy.

Get Involved

Reapportionment Matters: Make YOUR voice heard!

You know your community best. Protect its voice in elections by participating in reapportionment hearings. Your feedback will be valuable in making sure communities are kept together and representative of the people who reside in them in elections.

Every decade the state of Colorado is required to redraw and balance state house and state senate districts. This process is known as reapportionment. It's an important process and one that will drastically affect the political landscape of the state for the next ten years. There is a lot at stake for Colorado and we need your help to make sure that there is responsive and community representation in both the State Senate and State House.

A reapportionment hearing is scheduled for Colorado Springs on Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 6pm at Pikes Peak Community College - Rampart Range Campus. Please let us know if you are available to attend or testify!

More information about reapportionment and about the upcoming hearing is available on our website.

Public Safety Sales Tax Oversight Committee seeks new members

The City of Colorado Springs is seeking volunteers to fill open positions on the Public Safety Sales Tax Oversight Committee (PSSTOC): one at-large representative and one representative from council district one. District one covers the northwest part of the City; a council district map can be found here.

The PSSTOC monitors the expenditure of the Public Safety Sales Tax (PSST) funds and ensures that the items approved by voters at the November 6, 2001 election are accomplished with PSST funds. Additionally, the PSSTOC reviews the annual PSST and General Fund Preliminary Budget as submitted to City Council to ensure that the baseline funding for General Fund public safety expenditures is maintained. Meetings typically take place on the first Wednesday of each month at 4:30 p.m. and there are other occasional meetings as necessary.

Send letters of interest and resumes before Friday, August 19 to mdevine@springsgov.com or mail to City Council; Attention Marti Devine Sletta; P.O. Box 1575; Colorado Springs, CO 80901.

Or, fill out the Application for Appointment to a City Board, Committee or Commission, which can be found at www.SpringsGov.com by clicking on "Commissions and Committees" on the homepage. (The application cannot be submitted online at this time. Please send to the e-mail or physical address above.) For questions or more information, please call (719) 385-5453.

In This Issue

Legislating Morality

Why I Support Citizens Project

Get Involved!

Articles of Interest

Pyle: The Only Two Religions in the World
August 13, 2011

The Salt Lake Tribune

read it here

Judge Blocks Douglas County Voucher Program

August 12, 2011

The Gazette