Principles

"If principles are correct, then they can be applied to any specific proposal with confidence." - Ezra Taft Benson, The Proper Role of Government

Today I was eating lunch with some friends. One of these friends has Celiac Disease, meaning she is severely allergic to gluten. Every time I eat with this friend she likes to look at all the condiments for the listing of ingredients. If, below the list, the condiment does not have the extra label "THIS ITEM CONTAINS WHEAT," my friend will undoubtedly exclaim "This company is breaking the law!" Seriously, every time I eat with her this is what she says. I was getting pretty annoyed by it, because this girl claims to be "conservative."

So today I called her out on it. I said, "Well, Tiff, if you're a conservative, you shouldn't be supporting those laws anyway." We discussed for several minutes why she thought those laws were justified and why I claimed that they weren't. I basically said that the Government has no right to micro-manage and over-regulate the food industry. Her only argument was that it could harm those individuals allergic to wheat. (And then for some reason she compared it to outlawing gay marriage...which she is all for.)

Her problem with the food labeling was definitely a personal issue, since she feels her special needs should require the governmental intervention to protect her health.

I thought this example was perfect for the quote above by President Benson. So often we let our personal issues and experiences get in the way of true principles. We start trying to think in terms of the results and outcomes of laws instead of whether or not the law is consistent with the whole purpose of government:

"The proper function of government is limited only to those spheres of activity within which the individual citizen has the right to act. By deriving its just powers from the governed, government becomes primarily a mechanism for defense against bodily harm, theft and involuntary servitude. It cannot claim the power to redistribute the wealth or force reluctant citizens to perform acts of charity against their will."