Pubdate: Sun, 07 Nov 2004
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2004 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
Author: Steve Chapman
Cited: Initiative 148 ( www.montanacares.org/ )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/props.htm (Ballot Initiatives)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

A VOTE FOR MORAL REVIVAL? NO WAY

Across the political spectrum, experts agree that the election of 2004 
represents a sharp swing toward old-fashioned Christian values, which 
conservatives cheer and liberals lament.

"I have long advocated a stronger tie between politics and the virtues," 
announced veteran conservative moralist Bill Bennett on Wednesday. "Last 
night it was evident that the American people agree." James Dobson, founder 
of Focus on the Family, said that because of the prayers of Christians, 
"God has given us a reprieve"--but a brief one that the president must use 
to implement a moral agenda.

Liberal Northwestern University professor Garry Wills is afraid they're 
right in thinking we want a crusade to clean up our morals. Americans, he 
writes, have come to resemble our extremist Muslim enemies, with our 
"fundamentalist zeal, a rage at secularity, religious intolerance, fear of 
and hatred for modernity."

Oh, please. Americans don't want the government policing individual 
morality any more than they want the NFL to switch to touch football. 
America is a live-and-let-live country, and it's only growing more so.

Commentators made much of the fact that "moral values" ranked first on the 
list of concerns that voters cited as most important to them, surpassing 
the economy, terrorism and the war in Iraq. Four out of five of these 
people voted for President Bush.

But "moral values" is a vague concept that may not mean the same thing in 
Minneapolis as it does in Dallas or Baltimore. It's entirely possible, I 
suppose, that these voters preferred Bush only because Pat Robertson wasn't 
on the ballot. But as American Enterprise Institute analyst Karlyn Bowman 
notes, moral values are always among the top concerns--including 1996, when 
Americans re-elected the notorious womanizer Bill Clinton.

Even if you assume that the people worried about values want James Dobson's 
brand of morality, the fact is only 22 percent of the electorate rank it as 
their chief priority. No less than 78 percent disagree, which is a 
landslide margin.

Religious conservatives think it's no coincidence that in all 11 states 
where gay marriage was on the ballot, including the pivotal state of Ohio, 
voters approved bans. What is overlooked here is that while voters don't 
support gay marriage, they don't necessarily support a federal 
constitutional amendment outlawing it. Polls indicate that most prefer 
letting the states handle the issue.

Not only that, but most Americans think gays should indeed have access to 
the benefits of marriage, just as long as it's not called marriage. A 
Washington Post-ABC News poll earlier this year found that 54 percent 
support civil unions, with just 42 percent opposed. A couple of years ago, 
civil unions were a radical concept.

The gay marriage debate is not about the morality of what gays do in their 
own bedrooms. In 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that laws against sodomy are 
unconstitutional. You don't see anyone pushing a constitutional amendment 
overturning that decision, do you?

Gay rights are just one of the many ways in which Americans are inclined to 
support individual freedom over government control. Bennett crowed that 
Alaskans rejected a ballot measure decriminalizing marijuana. Actually, 
what they rejected was legalization. Marijuana has already been 
decriminalized in Alaska--meaning possession of small amounts typically 
carries only a fine.

It's one of 12 states that no longer treat pot-smoking as a 
crime--including such red states as Ohio, Colorado, Nebraska and North 
Carolina. On Tuesday, 72 percent of Montanans voted for Bush--and 62 
percent voted for medical marijuana.

What all this suggests is something religious conservatives know but 
resent: As a general rule, Americans think morality is a matter best left 
to personal choice, not government policy. Their attitude brings to mind 
the story about the pastor who got carried away trying to reform his flock, 
only to be admonished: "Now you've left off preachin' and gone to meddlin'."

Gambling, once illegal almost everywhere, is now allowed in one form or 
another in 48 states. Pornography, which used to be prosecuted, is 
abundantly available, even on TV sets in major hotel chains. Abortion 
remains legal and widely accepted--even though most Americans say they 
regard it as "an act of murder."

Americans are a religious people, and religion does affect their political 
views. But we also have a long tradition of keeping church and state in 
their separate spheres, while respecting the right of every person to find 
her own way to heaven, or hell. This year's election only demonstrates once 
again that for most of us, the highest moral value is tolerance.
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