Changes

:::::::To catch up a bit: Philip, you are probably right about the appearance of endorsement in the political reality of legalizing drugs -- which is another reason we should think hard before banning something. I admit that I care a whole lot more about political theory than in political reality; "radicals" who get caught up too much in political reality either get fed up or violent (or both), but I'm happy all day long in the land of theory. While I would like to think that there is a way for the government to decriminalize without endorsment (regulation or taxation, possibly), I can't say for sure whether they would be able to do it successfully. (Ha! That's assuming anything the government does is really a sucess.)

:::::::To catch up a bit: Philip, you are probably right about the appearance of endorsement in the political reality of legalizing drugs -- which is another reason we should think hard before banning something. I admit that I care a whole lot more about political theory than in political reality; "radicals" who get caught up too much in political reality either get fed up or violent (or both), but I'm happy all day long in the land of theory. While I would like to think that there is a way for the government to decriminalize without endorsment (regulation or taxation, possibly), I can't say for sure whether they would be able to do it successfully. (Ha! That's assuming anything the government does is really a sucess.)

:::::::To latch on to Az (again), abortion is one of those issues in which I just don't know the right answer, and no clear answer presents itself. Tim and Philip (and maybe Jeffrey?) are guided by their religion, and I'm, well, I'm Methodist. I'm sure we have an official stance on abortion, but I'm also sure that there won't in a million years be a discussion about abortion in my church (and not just because the average member age is somewhere around 65). I (and likely Az) tend to look to science, but as he mentioned, science doesn't agree or have a definative answer. Science tells us when the heart starts beating, when the toenails grow, and so on, but I ''just don't know'' when humanity starts. I know it's after conception (becuase menstration isn't murder) and I know it's before birth, but for me, that's all I need to know. Even if I wake up tomorrow and decide that human life starts once there are at least 32 cells, I'm not going to go to pro-life rallies and I'm not going to bomb abortion clinics. (And the opposite is true if I wake up tomorrow and decide that life starts at 26 weeks -- I'm not going to give money to Planned Parenthood or call pro-lifers woman-haters). [[User:HelpJazz|Help]][[User talk:HelpJazz|Jazz]] 14:19, 25 September 2008 (EDT)

:::::::To latch on to Az (again), abortion is one of those issues in which I just don't know the right answer, and no clear answer presents itself. Tim and Philip (and maybe Jeffrey?) are guided by their religion, and I'm, well, I'm Methodist. I'm sure we have an official stance on abortion, but I'm also sure that there won't in a million years be a discussion about abortion in my church (and not just because the average member age is somewhere around 65). I (and likely Az) tend to look to science, but as he mentioned, science doesn't agree or have a definative answer. Science tells us when the heart starts beating, when the toenails grow, and so on, but I ''just don't know'' when humanity starts. I know it's after conception (becuase menstration isn't murder) and I know it's before birth, but for me, that's all I need to know. Even if I wake up tomorrow and decide that human life starts once there are at least 32 cells, I'm not going to go to pro-life rallies and I'm not going to bomb abortion clinics. (And the opposite is true if I wake up tomorrow and decide that life starts at 26 weeks -- I'm not going to give money to Planned Parenthood or call pro-lifers woman-haters). [[User:HelpJazz|Help]][[User talk:HelpJazz|Jazz]] 14:19, 25 September 2008 (EDT)

==Drugs==

==Drugs==