[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by saden1

"When you think of it" doesn't imply I am alluding to you personally. I am merely appealing to rational minds. The point is many Bible thumping conservatives feel that states should be allowed to ban abortion and gay marriage because the Bile says it's a sin/sinful. Let's not sugar coat the subject, everyone knows what's up.

I agree with your point, but it does cut both ways. Many hippie, pot-smoking liberals want legalized drugs and drive-thru abortion clinics. I'm obviously being absurd, but my main point is that the morals of CA aren't the same as KS and IMO the federal government shouldn't be dictating liberal or conservative morality to the entire country.

As for values/morals being determined at the state level being acceptable then how far can states go? What are the limits? Can states mandate via vote that no one under 21 may have sex and you break the law you get 1 year in the pen? What about the prospect of conflicting state laws (you're married in CA but you have no rights in GA...if you want to commit the crime of abortion hit the interstate, don't do it in our neck of the woods)? Also, if you can say values/morals can be determined at the state level then couldn't they be determined at the county level? City level? What's the point of having a federal system?

There are obviously limits on what laws a state could pass, but I would trust the people of a particular state to decide what's best for them rather than 535 congress-people or 9 judges in DC. There are plenty of lawyers and advocacy groups on both sides to keep each other in check and the laws pretty reasonable. Yes, there would be conflicts between states' laws and that's where the Supreme Court would make determinations based on their constitutionality. You know I'm not advocating doing away with the federal system, but the federal government has grown far too large and has its fingers in way too many pies.