Pubdate: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 Source: Spartanburg Herald Journal (SC) Copyright: 2001 The Spartanburg Herald-Journal Contact: http://www.goupstate.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/977 Author: James Bond REGULATING BEHAVIOR Liberty gives us the opportunity to regulate our behavior. It is not the freedom to do anything we wish in order to gratify our passions. If we have liberty, we must have self-control. The price this nation pays for uncontrolled passions is the oversupply of criminals behind bars and the number of people with venereal diseases. This is no small price. More than a million inmates are there for drugs, hatred resulting in harm or death to others, disrespect that led to fights and killings, intoxicating beverages that led to fights and automobile deaths and other offenses. The surgeon general has reported that 12 million people per year contract sexually transmitted diseases, 40,000 get infected with HIV, and 100,000 are sexually abused. We must show compassion by teaching people not to do these things -- before the fact. Showing compassion after the fact is hypocritical and superficial. If I see a child step on railroad tracks, and a train is approaching, I do not wait until a train runs over the child and then cry and moan about how sorry I am that this accident occurred. I tell the child to get off the tracks now. We must take the same approach with people who cannot see that they are doing wrong when we see clearly. Switching sexual partners regularly increases the likelihood that one will have a sexually transmitted disease. Participating in gay sexual activities increases that likelihood about 10 times. These behaviors are life-threatening and are to be looked down on by society as detrimental. Remember the child on the tracks, and tell these people now. Do not wait to show compassion after the fact. James Roy Bond | Spartanburg - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom