I'VE GOT IT!

[johnpalmer]

Finally... I finally found the word I'm looking for.

Yes, laws should be based in moral principles, but laws should be based in morality, not holiness. Morality is that set of things that are right and wrong; holiness is that kind of stuff that you feel your religion commands that isn't based upon accepted ideas of right and wrong.

So, you can certainly legislate against non-consensual sex of all forms. You can't legislate against consensual sexual acts that are unholy.

You can legislate against theft and murder and so forth; you can't legislate against breaking the sabbath or eating pork.

Comments

[valkyrwench.livejournal.com]

Point taken. I understand the appeal of the word, too, but for some of us, it just has really bad connotations. I'd love to steer away from using that word, and substituting ethics instead.

As far as I'm concerned, the difference between ethics and morals is that ethics requires you to think. Morals don't.