Law Versus Moral Values
A civilized society’s first line of defense is not the law, police and courts, but customs, traditions and moral values. Behavioral norms, mostly transmitted by example, word of mouth, and religious teachings, represent a body of wisdom distilled over the ages through experience and trial and error.
Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions, and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we’ve become.
by Walter E. Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University
A civilized society’s first line of defense is not the law, police and courts, but customs, traditions and moral values. Behavioral norms, mostly transmitted by example, word of mouth, and religious teachings, represent a body of wisdom distilled over the ages through experience and trial and error.
Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions, and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we’ve become.
by Walter E. Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University
