H 32°, L 7° | Tomorrow: 
H 17°, L 4°Spring is in the air, even if snow is still on the ground. Spring break came and went and many college students returned from their margarita-soaked trips to the world's plajas with the familiar motto: "What happened in (insert name) stays in (insert name.)"
As usual, the sexual antics and excessive partying of some college students sent many onlookers into moral conniptions. What has become of the world? How is today's society so freewheeling and permissive? Who are these immoral young Jezebels running around in bikinis?
Bertrand Russell once observed that moral luminaries are "those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others."
Without judging students' spring break habits one way or another, I find the tone of many critics off-putting as they moan over today's youth, often citing the Bible as the source for their moral judgments.
Many of today's moral issues are new, from same-sex unions to birth control. But what happened to the good old moral issues of yesteryear? The Bible hasn't changed in the last century. Why has the focus of moral indignation shifted?
I checked out some old microfilms of the Wisconsin State Journal at the Wisconsin Historical Society and discovered that in 1869, Independence Day fell on a Sunday. The State Journal itself did not publish a Sunday paper and on July 2 it reported: "The fact that the 4th of July this year occurs on Sunday, has led to the celebration of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on different days. In some places, despite the fact that it is a Sunday, the 4th will be celebrated, especially by Germans, in the usual manner. In some places Saturday, the 3rd, will be made the occasion for a patriotic demonstration and in others, Monday, the 5th."
Ah, those damn beer-drinking Germans just couldn't postpone their carousing.
But why don't we hear moral outrage about the Sabbath anymore? I see people out and about on Sundays, many of them shopping, no less. If this was immoral in 1869, why don't most people consider it immoral now?
An old Puritan fornication law in Massachusetts stated that "if any man commit Fornication, with any single woman, they shall be punished, either by enjoying marriage, or fine, or corporal punishment, or all or any of these…"
Can you imagine the number of shotgun weddings this campus would see if premarital sex were actually illegal and punishable by marriage? (I know of a man on Library Mall who would rejoice…)
Today's alcohol controversy revolves around the drinking age, but less than a century ago the U.S. had Prohibition. I don't hear many people today pushing for an absolute ban on alcohol. If drinking was immoral in the 1920s according to the Bible, why isn't it now?
In the last few years, Chicago put an anti-swearing ordinance under review and San Francisco nixed 50 arcane laws, including a law against dancing to the national anthem.
Laws change and culture evolves, but there's a lot of continuity in human behavior. In Ancient Rome, Cicero defended the young Marcus Caelius Rufus, accused among other things of drinking and debauchery on the beach. (Apparently, Spring Break existed more than 2,000 years ago in Naples.) Cicero asked the jury: "Was there ever a man on this earth whose will-power, high-mindedness and self-control were sufficient to make him reject all pleasures whatsoever and devote his whole life to physical exercise and intellectual exertion; a man who was not attracted by relaxation or recreation or the pursuits of his contemporaries or making love or going to parties; who believed that nothing in all the world was worth striving for unless it was directed towards honor and glory?"
Cicero concluded that such a man would be super-human. Instead of getting on our moral high horses, let's admit that people are irrational and fallible, and yes, very much prone to un-classy behavior.
Today the U.S. doesn't have Sabbath, anti-fornication or prohibition laws because they don't reflect the views of the population as a whole. Still, if you want to observe the Sabbath or abstain from sex and drinking, you can. Maybe there's a lesson here for some of the divisive moral issues on the 21st century table.
Cynthia Martens ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in Italian and European Studies.
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Cynthia’s writing is a perfect example of why one cannot simply nuance away traditional concepts of right and wrong. You can quote from all the European philosophers you want, but you still cannot hide the elephant in the living room- the inherent contradictions in your belief set.
In conclusion of today's column, Cynthia writes, "Today the U.S. doesn't have Sabbath, anti-fornication or prohibition laws because they don't reflect the views of the population as a whole. Still, if you want to observe the Sabbath or abstain from sex and drinking, you can. Maybe there's a lesson here for some of the divisive moral issues on the 21st century table." So indeed the story has a happy ending! We can all live in peace and harmony regardless of our beliefs!
The problem is that Cynthia really does not want a world where all are free to do the right thing. How many times have we seen writing from her desk in which she advocates coercion of pharmacists into dispensing morally objectionable drugs? There's many other examples of moral relativists forcing their warped version of morality on others.
True freedom is having the freedom to do what is right without being coerced into doing what is wrong. It is not a blank check as Cynthia and other moral relativists would have it.
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Typical liberal moral relativism. Pathetic.
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The issues regarding stupid behaviour on spring break are troubling because of their criminal and medical repercussions. Most women don’t leave their cervix in cancun and the more sexual partners women have the more likely they are to eventually develop cervical cancer. Although, when trying to score as an unmarried adult I never highlighted this information to my dates. In addition, drunks seem more prone to damaging other peoples property and in general being a pain in the arse.
Really I just can’t stand people who use alcohol or drugs to excuse bad and or stupid behaviour that they participated in while under the influence. It is weak and pathetic. As for me it is almost five o’clock somewhere.
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Enough of these moral relativists! Where’s Cotton Mather when you need him?
Hide witch hide The good folks come to burn thee Their keen enjoyment hid behind A gothic mask of duty
Burning of witches was a common practice in Europe; as many as 100000 people may have been burned as suspected witches in Germany alone.
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“As for me it is almost five o’clock somewhere.”
I hear Americans use this expression sometimes. what does it mean?
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seeing that i have mostly german ancestory, im highly insulted you would stereotype me with your comment about “beer drinking germans.” Turns out, in this case you are right… i love beer… but thats not the point.
Drinking was never wrong by the bible (Jesus used wine in the Lord’s supper, turned water into wine at a wedding. and so on and so forth.) It merely talks about not being drunk. Drinking does not have to equal being drunk. Though, being the “beer-drinking german” I might not know that difference.
Maybe a more important question here is how do we get girls to act like they do on spring break while at home (well not the fat ones).
OH yea… and the first poster is dead on. Make up your mind, can people live by their morals or not?
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“Today the U.S. doesn't have Sabbath, anti-fornication or prohibition laws because they don't reflect the views of the population as a whole.”
Does the presense of laws making something immoral?
Does the absense of laws make something moral? No laws saying I can’t, therefore it’s okay, good, proper, useful?
Arguements such as those in the article have a very simple foundation: the desire to do as I please regardless of the impact on others, either present or future. Forication is justified because I want to fornicate. The impact on children that grow up without two parents, the single parent that struggles to earn enough to support his or her child, instead of spending time raising them, or the millions of aborted babies, are not relevent to people that make arguments like those in this article.
We can ignore the impacts and the facts about such behavior. But ignoring the facts doesn’t change them.
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In response to the first post:
“The problem is that Cynthia really does not want a world where all are free to do the right thing”
The problem with this arguement is that who’s to say what is “RIGHT”? Morality isn’t absolute it’s a personal opinion….and it’s completely fallible. That’s why it’s crucial that we are always refining our sense of morality.
The fact of the matter is that we really don’t know what is “RIGHT”…..Anybody can claim that what their book says is the right way, and maybe that helps you sleep at night, but there may very well be plenty of things in your book that I don’t believe are right. A statement like :
“There's many other examples of moral relativists forcing their warped version of morality on others.”
is a perfect example of how your narrow perspective blinds you to the reality of things. What you don’t get is that those other people probably think that your version of morality is warped….and guess what….their opinion is just as relevant as your opinion.
“True freedom is having the freedom to do what is right without being coerced into doing what is wrong”
You also don’t want a world where people are FREE to make the RIGHT choice. That world already exists….what you want is a world where you can make the choices that you BELEIVE are right without having to make any sacrifices.
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5 o’clock somewhere means cocktail hour has started somewhere so why wait till it is five o’clock where you are.
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“As for me it is almost five o’clock somewhere.”
It means it’s time for a drink, without considing yourself a total alcoholic - LOL.
It’s like saying the sun is over the yardarm.
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It means we have nothing better to do with our sorry lives than to consume alcohol in a futile effort to fix/forget our problems.