On the Construct of Good Laws

A while ago I had a debate that led me to write down the principles I believe are inherent to constructing a good and just law. As with most things in life there are grey zones, and places where reasonable and liberty conscious men will disagree. We all have different opinions on what “reasonable risk” is for example, and may also debate what is a “direct cause and effect.” Sometimes these concepts are agreed on by everyone, and sometimes the path from point a. to point b. is not so clear cut.

That is not what I am here to debate. I am here to refine my guidelines, to make them as robust a fortress against tyranny as can be possible. I believe that one of the reasons that we have such terrible laws in this country is because there is not a rigidly defined set of rules for what type of law can be made. Lawmakers can see an issue, any issue, and decide “there ought to be a law. . . ” whether or not a law should be or not. The Constitution and Bill of Rights attempt to set limits on how far the laws can go, but don’t actually set any limits on the construct of those laws. It is more of a boundary than a guide. And we all know politicians, like toddlers, like to test boundaries. The goal of this guide would not be to set up a wall, but rather a path. With a path we could see how far off course the politicians have wandered and it would be far easier to call them on it. This would server to protect the constitution by ensuring that the lawmakers never get close enough to its walls to test them.

On Free Will, Evil and God

“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able, and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him a God.”~Epiricus

The above is something I have heard time and again as a refutation of an all powerful god. Now I don’t know about you, but I happen to believe that God exists, specifically the new testament christian god, but that is really irrelevant to the argument. When the above quote, or even just its concept, is used as an argument or explanation for why someone does not believe in God (or higher power or whatever) it show ignorance and a lack of critical thinking ability.

Apologies if that sounds overly harsh and offensive, I really do not mean harm, and I definitely believe you are entitled to your own opinion, religious or otherwise, but I try to stamp out logical fallacies wherever I see them, and whatever the subject. The above especially so since I have had friends use it in religious debates, expecting that it was the winning blow and end of the argument. It is not.

That being said, I will lay out why that is a logical fallacy and also seek to explain a possible answer to the implied question (that is: if there is a god, and he is good and all powerful, why is there evil?)

Hello and Welcome

Hello and welcome  to my new blog. Things are still getting set up at the moment, and I admit that I am a bit new to this whole blogging thing so this place will probably be in state of flux for a while. I am hoping to get a few posts up that will give you a general idea of what to expect in the future, and let you know what type of person I am. It would be hard to put that all down into one introduction post. A lot of that content I will be pulling from other places I have posted it before, and a lot of what I say here will have been said before by people better at it then I am. My only real hope is that what I have to say is interesting enough to spark some comments and debate. This blog is really my first serious foray into having my own personal web space. I will now be able to post a URL in that little box when I comment on other blogs or sign up to a forum. We will see how that goes.

I’m not really sure where this little endeavor is going to take me, but I look forward to finding out. If you find me interesting enough, you are welcome to join me, the company is always appreciated. This is a little window int my world, please enjoy.