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[JJXB]

straight here. i don't hate homosexuals but i don't want any involvement in the proceedings either.

[Iron_Scarecrow]

I knew Mentor's posts were going to be interesting to read. LOL

But I agree with Reamus and Taikara on this one.

[Mentor]

Depends on your outlook on life. For one, except for mind-altering chemicals, sex is one of the only ways to release certain endorphins in the brain which cause pleasure.

Love is a great thing, but it's also overrated. Decent analogy: Love may make you happy, but love won't pay the bills, put a roof over your head, and keep you fed.

Sex can.

[Iron_Scarecrow]

Please don't tell you're talking about prostitution.

[Mentor]

Not JUST prostitution, no. Look at the trophy wives of the world, or the women who do porn. The pretty muchsurvive because they're good in bed.

Prostitution is just like drugs: if we would just legalize it and have the government regulate it, it would be a great thing. But that'll never happen because people put personal morality before the big picture.

[taikara]

Isn't the most basic form of morality simply the desire not to hurt others?

These things are not legalized because they would hurt others in some form or another.

[Mentor]

No, the most basic form of morality is the desire to not be hurt yourself.

Besides, who has the right to tell me, or anyone else, how I should or should not live my life?

If someone wants to slowly kill themself by any means, might as well tax the muck out of it and give them as enjoyable an experience as possible. Look at the cigarette industry, same concept, same idea, but cigarettes are ok while black tar heroin isn't.

For the record, I don't actually do drugs, or drink for that matter, I just don't see why anyone should tell someone else that THEY shouldn't, or make it so they can't legally.

[taikara]

I have done drugs, and they do hurt the person who does them.

As for morality being a desire not to be hurt yourself, that would make murder, rape, theft, and anything that might be beneficial (and not hurtful) to yourself moral.

Which doesn't make any sense.

[Mentor]

Anything can be twisted into being a moral act. Especially since morals are the most opinionated and subjective/objective concepts the human mind can come up with.

Murder: They deserved it, therefor it was ok

Rape: She secretly enjoyed it, therefor it was ok

Theft: They didn't need it, therefor it was ok

I'm not saying it's right OR wrong, just that morality has nothing to do with anything but yourself. Your morals tell you that it's about not hurting others, if that's what they do. My morals tell me it's about not hurting me.

I never said that drugs don't hurt someone. What I'm saying is that if they're hell-bent on doing it anyway, might as well let the government make some money off of the deal. I've done drugs too, I just stopped because I realized that they really weren't all they're cracked up to be, especially after the episode with the radio antenne... *shudder*

[taikara]

Laws are created to protect individuals not only from others, but also from themselves. We give consequences to acts that are not beneficial to a person, such as going over speed limits, because a person could hurt themselves by doing them. In such a way, we are giving more weight to decisions that can cause people to hurt themselves and others.

The law is not meant so much to prevent action, but to make people stop and think about what they are doing. Any action that can hurt someone should hold consequences. Nobody is saying that you can't do something. They're just saying there will be tangible penalties for doing it.