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Ethical views on homosexuality
The role of religion in influencing morality in society
Relationship between religion and morals
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The criminal law takes immense part in society, including the following functions: to deter people from acts that harms others or society. Furthermore, people who do not follow the rules that are being set by the authority, they will be punished. The criminal law is there to guidance the general public on the manners of behaviour, which are seen acceptable by society. (Jonathan Herring; criminal law, page 4 eighth edition)
Criminal laws are set of rules set by the authority to set control in society. Whereas, moralities are principles and values that are set out by society to establish right from wrong and good from bad. Different cultures, age groups and sex in society have different beliefs, attitudes and values as Jock Young has pointed out. What one may view as moral others may view immoral. As society develops, people’s views change and the way they react to certain ideas such as manner offences (littering). The definition of ‘morality’ has changed over time
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King Henry VIII has passed a law, the Buggery Act 1533 making all homosexual activities punishable by death. This does not seem like a reasonable offence, as people should have the rights to love who they want and not be criminalised for it. In this case the law seems to be punishing people for sinning rather than committing a crime. The law should not be concern with individual’s private life until it becomes a public matter. Wolfenden viewed that ‘homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private be no longer a criminal offence’. Despite the suggestion, it was not until July 1967 that homosexuality became legal in England and Wales. Some might argue that Wolfenden’s report was seen erratic as he accepted an idea that was considered as sin and unlawful by society. There are certain ideologies which society bounds to see it as immoral and homosexuality is one of
Criminal law attempts to balance the rights of individuals to freedom from interference with person or property, and society’s need for order. Procedural matters, the rights of citizens and powers of the state, specific offences and defences, and punishment and compensation are some of the ways society and the criminal justice system interact.
The earliest vagrancy laws in England paved the way for today’s criminal law. These first laws lead to the creation of criminal law. Criminal law and the origin of vagrancy laws have created lasting ramification for today’s criminal justice system. The very creation of the laws by the elitist members of society to control the masses has highlighted the continue path of these trends. The laws are designed to control the poor and keep them from disturbing or inconveniencing those who maintain social control.
Law, ?a governmental social control? (Black 2), is a quantitative variable that changes in time and space and can be defined by style: penal, compensatory, therapeutic or conciliatory (Black 5). The brief description of law and its interrelation with social control and deviant behavior can be encapsulated in the following scheme. This concept of law put into the context of social life gives a framework of the behavior of law.
“...[T]he same offence be from henceforth ajudged Felony,” said the Buggery Act of 1533. The offence, of course, was gay sex. It has never been easy to be a man who desires other men. In England, the punishment for sodomy was being hanged. Because of this, English authors frequently resorted to using subtext and coded language to explore homosexual relations in their country. This was especially true in the 19th century, a time of rapidly changing social mores and ideas about gender and relationships. It was a time when sex (of any sort) was not discussed in public, and women were supposed to remain at home. It was also a time when rapid industrialization meant more young men in the cities than ever before: it was both easier to meet other gay men and easier to feel immense guilt about being one. In Dr Jekyll
“ Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime.” (Wikipedia, 2014) This law encompasses several different aspects of our government and the ways used to regulate them. Maintaining the peace and order of the public is one aspect. Law enforcement officers also try to keep good conduct of the public. Anyone who places the safety of the public in jeopardy, is in violation of this law. Punishment is used in a variety of ways to discipline any person who breaks these laws. There are four main sources used in today’s criminal law:
In every society around the world, the law is affecting everyone since it shapes the behavior and sense of right and wrong for every citizen in society. Laws are meant to control a society’s behavior by outlining the accepted forms of conduct. The law is designed as a neutral aspect existent to solve society’s problems, a system specially designed to provide people with peace and order. The legal system runs more efficiently when people understand the laws they are intended to follow along with their legal rights and responsibilities.
The report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution, also known as the Wolfenden Report, was published in Britain on 4 September 1957. It was established as a response to the number of previously reputable men who had been convicted of homosexual offences, as well as the growing number of men being sent to prison for acts of homosexuality. By the end of 1954 alone, more than one thousand men in England and Wales had been sent to prison for specifically that reason. It was the intention of the committee, therefore, to decriminalize private homosexual acts, as it was beginning to come into light that “homosexuality cannot legitimately be regarded as a disease, because in many cases it is the only symptom and is compatible with full mental health in other respects” (The Wolfenden Report, 1957). Homosexuality aside, there was also much focus on “cleaning up the streets” of Britain by enforcing the privatization of prostitution by increasing fines and incarceration periods for those caught in the public display of such acts. Based on these and other recommendations made by the committee however, it is evident that, although a need to decrease the number of men being criminalized for homosexual acts was necessary, the committee, as well as the public, was not yet ready to fully decriminalize homosexuality or prostitution themselves. However, in bringing such subjects to light, they themselves also manage to break the barriers dividing their own specified definitions.
Richard Mohr believes that outing closeted homosexuals is morally justified. He argues that sexual orientation is not a private matter and therefore, does not violate a homosexual's right to privacy. He believes that outing will increase the homosexual community by creating positive role models. He argues that remaining in the closet is morally debasing and creates indignity to one's self. Claudia Card on the other hand, argues almost the complete opposite. She takes a utilitarian stance on outing "the big secret." The big secret is referring to one being a homosexual. She believes that outing is justified as long as it does no harm, which she believes is unlikely.
Crime is seen as deviant behaviour that violates prevailing norms which are the cultural standards prescribing how humans ought to behave normally. This violation of a law;-offences against the person, violent offences, sexual offences and offences against property, causes injury to the public or an individual and a term in jail or prison, and/or a fine are possible penalties.#
My arguments will be ignoring a major element in factoring the morality of homosexuality, the law. Yes, many people know that stealing and murder are both wrong, but this is based on socialization and learning passed down from previous generations. The aim isn’t to ignore the rules, but examples from history relating to homosexuality will not aid in proving ground for its ethics. A rational, autonomous decision making process must be used in order to decipher right from wrong, which can lead to solid, concrete answers.
Homosexuality in Today's Society. In today's society, there exists a mixture of issues which tend to raise arguments with people all over. There are a handful of topics that always seem to escalate these differences between people to the point where one who earnestly participates in discussion, debate and argument can direct their anger towards their feelings on the person themselves. Some examples of such delicate subjects are the death penalty, abortion, and euthanasia.
Crime and society are inseparable since time memorial. They are interrelated. Dating back the history, it is an undaunted fact that ever since human beings started living together commission of crime erupted” (Patel, 2011). Since the time of the Founding Fathers of the United States fought for their freedom from England, they had a vision of what the United States could be. To ensure their vision would come to fruition they developed the Constitution as well as a Bill of Rights to ensure the people had rights that could not be taken from them. To bring social order to the communities the government then implemented laws to ensure there would be punishments for the actions of the citizens. Over time society has also determined a sense of morality and these morals change determined by the culture of the area that one may come from. America is a melting pot of many different cultures, nationalities, religions, and people. With in these different demographics of the nation the morals and values that some may consider the “unwritten laws” of the land will change. One must now determine when these laws that imposed by the government and also their culture, what is crime. Some would say that any violation of either laws would be considered criminal activity, while others would say that defiance of only the laws of the government is criminal activity. Who is correct? Does it have to be one or the
Criminal law has several purposes depending on how people view it. A few of the functions of criminal law are to divide criminals from society, rehabilitate the criminal and punish the offenders. However, the two main functions of criminal law are to create an understanding of right and wrong to the society and punishing those who break the law.
Since the 1800's, psychiatrists and psychologists have concluded that homosexuality is a mental disorder. They have believed it is brought about by misguided upbringing and their social environments. For instance, it was believed that if the child was lacking a male - figure in the home, he would most likely be gay. Or that child abuse can lead to lesbianism when the special needs of a little girl are denied, ignored, or exploited and the future womanhood of the child is in risk. However, inconsistencies in the research subjects' abuse records ruled these theories out. And if this were the case, then why is homosexuality present in different cultures? Some believed homosexuality was caused by a difference in brain structure. In 1991, Simon LeVay published research stating that sexual orientation may be the result of differing brain structures. The hypothalamus, a region in the brain that governs sexual behavior, was the structure that LeVay was pointing as the structure at fault. In his studies of the hypothalamus, he found that in homosexual men, the hypothalamus was smaller than that of heterosexual men. Instead, it was the size of the female hypothalamus, consequently explaining their sexual tendencies.
Both law and morality serve to regulate behaviour in society. Morality is defined as a set of key values, attitudes and beliefs giving a standard in which we ‘should’ behave. Law, however, is defined as regulating behaviour which is enforced among society for everyone to abide by. It is said that both, however, are normative which means they both indicate how we should behave and therefore can both be classed as a guideline in which society acts, meaning neither is more effective or important than the other. Law and morals have clear differences in how and why they are made. Law, for example, comes from Parliament and Judges and will be made in a formal, legal institution which result in formal consequences when broken. Whereas morals are formed under the influence of family, friends, media or religion and they become personal matters of individual consciences. They result in no formal consequence but may result in a social disapproval which is shown also to occur when breaking the law.