So here’s an idea for you. Laws that protect us from ourselves are evil. Not only are they evil, they stunt the growth of individuals, society, and the entire planet.

Let’s take gambling, for instance. Gambling is illegal in most states… but why? The arguments tend to run along the lines of “it causes an increase in crime,” “people lose everything,” and “it’s just bad.” Okay, fair enough. So we’re willing to punish a vast, law-abiding majority for the irreponsibility of the very few? Are we naive enough to think that those who are inclined to crime, who have a compulsive personality, are likely to subvert those urges because we’ve made a vice illegal?

If you believe that, I have an ancient Egyptian Xbox for you to buy.

When we boil the bullshit away to get to the truth, we get “it’s just bad.” And that, folks, is the truth of the matter. People think that gambling is bad… so instead of abstaining themselves and telling people so, they restrict the rest of us too. Is it spite? Anger? Misguided do-goodness? All of them, I’d say.

This doesn’t just apply to gambling, though. Let’s look at marijuana. Same arguments as above apply, but we get a few more that happen to be hilarious when the big picture is considered. We’ve added to the list “it’s unhealthy for people,” it is addictive,” and “people might do drugs and drive and kill someone!”

Right. Okay. Sure, inhaling smoke into your lungs is bad… but if you’re making that argument (weak as it is) why not make it for tobacco? As for addictive… the only addictive properties marijuana has are psychological… tobacco, on the other hand, has a physiological component. Again, be consistent. Make the argument for both, if any. As for drugging and driving… don’t we have laws that cover that for alcohol? Would it not be child’s play to add to the law to cover additional substances?

Again… it is about forcing others to do what you yourself don’t care to do.

Restrictions on gay marriage? Polygamy? Prostitution? Other drugs? All about force, all about control. All about someone else trying to shoehorn their personal choices into other people’s morality. As a FIP devotee, I detest it. Should I… that is, me, the individual, the one making the choices for me… not want to make those choices for myself, I won’t. As a thinking, reasoning human being, I can make those choices for myself.

As someone who believes in people living up to their own potential, I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t let you do the same.

The Wiccan rede, applied in Chad’s Own Fashion, tweaked for atheistic, hedonistic glory.