Why is this country almost always split exactly 50/50 on any given moral issue?
443274
it isn't.  the country isn't split 50/50 over pedophilia, it isn't split over vigilante killing, it isn't split evenly over whether line-cutting at the supermarket is acceptable.  \n\nwhat you are talking about is the prominence given to issues that are undecided.  the simple reality is that individual behaviors are informed by social mores.  social mores are developed through multiple means, but in a purportedly democratic society, manifest consensus of opinion is necessary.  what you are referring to is the natural conflict of a society essaying to define the consensus on certain issues where social mores are ambiguous.  in response to the ambiguity and ambivalence, crusaders of a partisan agenda rally support for their cause in an effort to turn the tide.  as this happens on both sides in an ambiguous issue, conflict occurs.\n\nas for the definition of life issue--the force of the conflict results from the fact that many of our accepted values are actually in conflict, and this issue brings that fact into sharp relief.  it's kind of like doing a puzzle and realizing that you have a piece that cannot fit given the way the other pieces have been connected.  quite simply, averring the universal value of any biological entity expressing a particular genetic pattern does not mesh with the value placed upon creating harmony and reducing conflict within a social system (quite similar to the conflict evident around capital punishment).\n\nwhat has happened is that for thousands of years societal systems have insisted on the distinct, sancrosanct "specialness" of human beings in order to increase our survivability, and now we are beginning to learn that we are just a part of a larger system--a system whose survivability vastly exceeds our own in precedence.\nsince most individuals in our society are currently incapable of deconstructing the complex interplay of causality implicit in this theme, they mediate the conflict by relying on emotional judgments--which serves to further heighten the tension.
254348
Please read the last few lines after you read through this for a probable answer. (Thanks for reading me)\n\nThe US is undergoing some kind of a morality trauma. There are one or two issues which are the undercurrent in present US politics which are overtaking economic issues like unemployment or war on terror. \n\nThis is my opinion and I could be wrong.\n\n1. Anti Morality and Gay sentiments- The "good old" Amercians are shocked by the way amercian soceity is going and want to stop this trend. There are excesses on the moral front- like gay marriages issue. The Democrats seem to support gay marriages. They are the "Liberals" liberal to social issues of homosexuality, drugs, abortion. \n\nRecently, Arnold the Governator made a brilliant statement and cleverly avoided controversy and supported the conservatives on gay marriages. \n\n2. some recent court judgements on "secularism" The US public are getting alarmed by so called "secular trends" happening in US. For example the judgement on "Ten Commandments" by a US court. The conservatve American is aghast that Christian values are getting diluted. The Republican President George Bush represents a Church going- Christian of stable character, or thats the image he has. So when it comes to ballot, average American PERHAPS trusts George Bush rather than gay- sympathiser, "secular" democrats. \n\nSo as Bush put it in his speech, "If you are not with us, you are against us!"  So if you are not with Bush, you must be a Liberal!
1014903
Becuase many of our lawmakers are right-wing Republicans who believe that gay people aren't moral.  But these are the same men who are cheating on their wives.  I don't know why some people in this country think it is "okay" to write discrimination into the Constituition of the United States.  That erases everything our forefathers stood for.  There was this thing... many years back, called "Separation of Church & State" but yet Politicians seem to forget that.
1158065
Because we are trying to be a moral country. Read the Bible and discover for yourself.
90732
I think when a president trys to impose his moral values on the people that voted for or against him it is wrong. I truly think that is what is meant by seperation of church and state. There is to many people with to many differant beleifs to impose ones value's on another. This president is borderline to that.
927847
Because liberals, like most people, are ignorant when it comes their own political ideology. I believe a lot of liberals haven't really thought about their positions hard enough to see the inconsistency. \n\nThey don't like the idea of the government telling them who they can sleep with, but they have no problem with the government telling them who they can do business with, and under what terms. They don't like paying to promote certain religious positions with tax dollars, but don't see anything wrong with tax dollars going to support certain cultural or artistic positions (i.e. art subsidies).\n\nThough tangerine is partly right; conservatives are just as guilty of being hypocrites. You can't really argue that the state must regulate our behavior to make us "moral", but that it shouldn't regulate our behavior to make us "fair."
1110846
I agree.  Divisiveness is the name of the game when people sit behind computers.  Board out of their mind, they decide to get their fancies by trying to make others mad.  Righties and lefties do it, heck, I've probably even been guilty of it.\n\nI don't think you have to have everyone be the same or like-minded in order to have better discussions.  You need people who are willing to respect others and be willing to speak their mind without fear of being attacked for their opinions.  You can disagree with me as I can with you...just don't disrepect each other.
76943
Because the senators and congressmen don't want to be accused of not bringing in the money for their state. You are absolutely correct, it should go by risk, but the equal distribution isn't that surprising with the government the way it is these days.
574641
We have always had opposing political parties in our 200+ years as a nation. It is not politics that are destroying the peace and unity of this country. It is issues that were never before issues. No prayer in school or the workplace, no discipline for our children, else go to jail, same-sex marriages, children being allowed to divorce their parents, instead of morals, we have abortion clinics on every corner. Why is it a 15 year old girl can't be treated for appendicitis without her parents' consent in a hospital, but she can get an abortion with no one the wiser? We are a country of double standards. We can't discipline our children, but parents are sent to jail for the actions of a child they aren't legally allowed to discipline. Look at the statistics in the last 50 years. Crime has elevated, morals and ethics are in the dumpster. The family has declined while drug and alcohol use has skyrocketed. This has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with good old-fashioned values which are quickly becoming extinct. If we keep on this way, we won't need to worry about nuclear destructing. We will destroy ourselves from within. But hey, that's just my opinion.
720045
I say "Eat at Joe's!"\n\nSeriously, though, think about what you're saying: the left is trying to ruin the morals of the nation.  Now consider: would half (or a third, or whatever) of the people really want to ruin the morals of the country?\n\nMaybe, but is there another alternative to explain things?  Well, they have a different view of morals.  They see what they're doing as the right thing.  If you look in other societies, like the middle-east, they certainly don't see themselves as immoral -- in fact, they see *us* as immoral -- because that's how they were raised.\n\nYou may disagree, I may disagree, with their moral standards, but that doesn't make them any less of a moral standard.\n\nAssume good will if at all possible, and find a middle road.
667762
When you are part of a democracy you cannot choose which laws are moral and which are not.  If you disagree with one or more such laws you may do everything lawful to change it.  You cannot just ignore or refuse to obey it.  That is a fact of life.  It it different if something is lawful but you totally disagree with it.  In that case you do not have to take part in the legality of it.  For instance, Abortion is now legal - you do not have to agree with it and if pregnant you can refuse to have an abortion.  Homosexuality is legal (within confines of the law) but you can totally disagree with it for whatever reasons.  You do not have to partake in it.  Finally, if the law of the land is against your religious beliefs or such, there are ample avenues of appeal to prove your point..........
477996
u raised a question worth million bucks.actually i think no body is  interesed in this stuff{talking in context of our politicians}.reserving 50%of the seats for sc/st/obc...shows the poor mentality of the old political system...may be its in the roots and the only answer to it is ...ACCEPT IT!! u can do nothing.
177367
While I am a Republican, I know many Democrats who have a decent moral compass. The majority of them seem to care quite a bit about the issues you mentioned. I think you answered your own question correctly when you mentioned the Golden Rule. That is a moral code that is easy to understand and apply to real life, yet does not require God (although yes, there are religious Democrats). \n\nHowever, to be honest I know many Democrats (and even people too far *left* to be Democrats) who fail to comprehend morality, and have a morally relativistic "everything goes" code of ethics, and who cannot tell the difference between the minor sins of the US during the Cold War or the War on Terror versus the horrific people who oppose us. (For example, the Abu Graib prison scandal: Yes, clearly it shouldn't have happened, but the people on the other side of this conflict do *much* worse, and never even acknowledge that what they did was wrong--and yet many on the left treat hacking someone's head off with a knife as the equivelent of what happened in Abu Graib... That's pretty good evidence of a lack of a moral compass.) \n\nThe greatest difficulty in answering this question is that, with only (effectively) two political parties in the US, and most people in one or the other, there is no way to answer for such a large portion of the populace. Democrats are perhaps 40% of the population; no doubt with so many in that group there are a whole slew of different moral codes and reasoning among them. This is true for Repubicans too.
374075
I for one do not.  The world is a nasty place these days and the opinion i have is that our government is full of people who have no morals and no values.  Pride is the only thing that seems to be shaping this world and the leaders of our country and others.They are only out for themselves and have no idea or choose not to see the needs and wants of its people.  If leaders of country's around the world including this one!!, focused on morals, values and had any humanity and will to do what is actually the RIGHT thing to do this world would become an better place.  There will always be some evil, that cannot be avoided.  I only worry for future generations,  they must reap what we have sewn. A one world government is in my opinion only a possibility in fairy tales and science fiction novels
1134151
To set a uniform standard.  Everyone has their own set of standards or ethics to live by.  You are correct that it is a matter of belief.  It is a philosophy of life (and death?) that is ingrained in us generally as children.  Sometimes our parents teaching does not take effect, or like a child, we decide the rules our parents set down for us are not for us.  At other times our parents don't teach us their philosophy, so society takes over and rules are made (hopefully for the good).  Sometimes, those in authority get a little carried away, then we have things like the Inquisition and Hitler.  Legislators try to take the middle path.  And who knows better than our legislators on how to straddle the fence.
948274
Every time you spend money which is a government entity there is no separation. Every piece of money says IN GOD WE TRUST. It's what this country was built from. There should be no separation.
853040
Ah, the same reason why California has a very confusing ( and constantly changing ) gun law.\n\nYou see, there's a Federal constitution and a State Constitution.  The Federal Constitution is the minimum, the standard for all states.  But, since there is nothing written down in the Federal constitution that says same sex marriages are allowed, the individual states can out law them with in their own borders.\nYes, I understand your point, but it's not about morality.  It's about politics.  Which basically translates to votes.  The leaders need to be popular with the masses to keep their jobs.