Does law ever influence morals? Or is it always morals that influence law?
by 
Luc Thiet Thuan
ANSWERS: 5
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Laws might influence behavior, but laws cannot influence thought and opinion.
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Both it seems. Morals influence law because the the purpose of law is to enforce moral behaviour on the immoral. A person with a sound personal moral compass does not need the law to govern his/her behaviour. 'Immoral' is a strong word so I'll qualify that first statement by adding that the purpose of law is also to enforce moral behaviour on the misguided and the negligent. It does however seem that the law influences society's morals. The abortion debate is a good example of the law influencing morals. Abortion used to be considered immoral by society in general because it was seen as the taking a human life but once it was legalized it became much more acceptable and widespread. Here on Answerbag you will see that many times people justify morally dubious behaviour by stating that it is legal and therefore OK.
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Personally, I don't believe morality and the law should combine. We put away murderers because they are detrimental to the health of society as a whole not because we see it as immoral. To use morals we would have to decide whose morals to use. My moral code maybe different to yours. Unfortunately there are still many laws which are based on someones morals and not just whether it is good for society or not, such as, abortion and gay marriage. These are both moral issues. In the end majority wins. Or whoever shouts the loudest, the old squeaky wheel gets the oil.
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morals influence laws
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Law became necessary when their was failure in morality. Law is there with the intent of keeping or bringing us back into a state of righteousness with God. Love first.
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