What about the tyranny of the Bible Thumpers,who dream of establishing a religious police state?
@sneakypete There is no such thing. At least not in American Protestantism.
HorseHillary! Define "Societal norms". To some people,(many?) it means banning alcohol,making sex between unmarried adults illegal,state-sponsored discrimination,Blue Laws,etc,etc,etc.
The so-called "Moral Majority".
How many individual freedoms are in THAT package,bubba? Other than the right to wear red,march in a straight line,or go to jail?
By and large yours is an argument toward federalizing a moral standard. The same thing as the liberals, albeit that your standard may differ. What business is it of yours what one state or another might enact? If you don't like it, move to a more permissive state.
To address your argument straight on, when those societal norms were enforced, in a time not so long ago, single parent households were rare. Divorce was rare. Abortion was nearly nonexistent, and life held sanctity. Crime was comparatively rare, you could leave your doors unlocked and the keys in the ignition. There was no appreciable welfare state. There was a much reduced prison system. There was a much reduced drug problem. almost nonexistent by comparison. Nearly nonexistent major crime. Verbal contracts had the force of law. A man's word was his bond. Corporate crime was far less than today. And liberty was far more prevalent. There was an expectation of a good product, well made, and corporate delivered on that. And I could go on and on,
Nearly every single problem we have today is a result of straying from morality. Every one. And every place that is still functional as above is still adhering to that moral standard.
There is no moral neutral. Remove one moral standard, and another will take its place. And the one in place today is FAR inferior in every single way, and is causing the destruction of everything we hold dear. You are not forced to adhere to the Judeo-Christian ethic, the prism through which all of our laws were written, but you cannot deny its efficacy. Remove that root at our peril.