Do you know what? Based on that response, I don't think that this is going to be a constructive exchange. I think maybe I'll just leave you and your ingrained preconceptions be. — S
Are you the kind of person you'd want in your community?. — tim wood
I think it is universally accepted that drugs that are habit-forming are bad stuff. — Wallows
Let's call a spade a spade, not a gardening tool? — Wallows
No. Nothing - or maybe next to nothing - is universally accepted, and this is certainly no exception. — S
What you're talking about is not an uncommon opinion, but not an opinion that is shared by everyone. — S
These opinions can be contagious, but unless you've experienced it yourself, you can never know what it's like to the full extent, and sometimes that experience can turn out to be different in ways than what you might expect or have been lead to believe. — S
Okay, good idea. So let's be clear that drugs are drugs - a physical substance - and considerations are considerations - something like a judgement in this context. You won't find "badness" under a microscope, no matter how hard you look. — S
Forgive me, but you sound like one of those flat-earthers that insist that their opinion is valid even if science proves them wrong countless times. — Wallows
Forgive me, but you sound like one of those flat-earthers that insist that their opinion is valid even if science proves them wrong countless times. — Wallows
It's shared enough by my dealing with hearing about how meth destroyed lives or how heroin broke families apart. — Wallows
Actually, it's not a personal opinion. I am currently in a substance abuse program at my county clinic to address my own addiction stemming from the fallacious belief that I know what's best for me(!), when in fact it was a really bad idea. — Wallows
Yeah, sure it's just a drug until consumed, which them alters your mind in unpredictable ways. In ways that might not be in your best interest. — Wallows
Nope. Most (not all) places, each law has its reason. A layering of reasons, actually. A citizen of such a place has an implied duty to know those reasons (i.e., ignorance is usually not exculpatory). That is, most law is particular with respect to what it controls. If you break a law for your own reasons, you haven't really broken it, you've just been stupidly ignorant. On the other hand, if you choose to break the law for reasons that seem good and sufficient to you, then the question, do you know all the reasons? If not, back to stupid ignorance. Breaking the law for some over-riding principal is serious business. In effect you're not merely violating some rule, but breaking law itself.
Call it a failure to reconcile purpose and intent with consequence. But get that right and you may have grounds.... — tim wood
Cicero wrote the following in De re publica (On the Republic):
"There is a true law, right reason, agreeable to nature, known to all men, constant and eternal, which calls to duty by its precepts, deters from evil by its prohibition. This law cannot be departed from without guilt. Nor is there one law at Rome and another at Athens, one thing now and another afterward; but the same law, unchanging and eternal, binds all races of man and all times." — wikapedia
No. Nothing - or maybe next to nothing - is universally accepted, and this is certainly no exception. What you're talking about is not an uncommon opinion, but not an opinion that is shared by everyone. These opinions can be contagious, but unless you've experienced it yourself, you can never know what it's like to the full extent, and sometimes that experience can turn out to be different in ways than what you might expect or have been lead to believe. — S
I will disagree with the notion that ignorance of the law is not a good defense because we move around a lot and when we are new to the community, we have not had time to learn the customs of that community. — Athena
Universal truths? People do drugs, including alcohol, because they want to alter their consciousness. When our consciousness is altered, there is a risk of poor judgement. Is there any time or place in the universe when this is not true? — Athena
Crito shows me to stand up for what I believe in even if it means death. I'm willing to bet Socrates would still "Corrupt the youth". He still held his opinions.
Am I understanding it correctly? — Drek
It's not any defense at all. It may be an excuse, and maybe a reasonable excuse - although never a good one. If you're looking to give an account of an action that turns out to be against the law, ignorance may underlie that action. But again, not a defense. You're clearly a smart person; what has caused you to believe it was?I will disagree with the notion that ignorance of the law is not a good defense — Athena
Given that there are flat-Earthers, saying that "The Earth is universally considered to be spheroid" is wrong, isn't it? It doesn't matter how invalid or "proven wrong scientifically" they are. It would still be false to say that "The Earth is universally considered to be spheroid." — Terrapin Station
That's not even an argument, is it? Sure, I can hold the belief that Earth is flat; but, that just doesn't make it so. — Wallows
However, in the past there was room for a judge to say, we will overlook your violation this time, but if it happens again, you will be punished for the infraction and this one too. — Athena
Sure, but the judge didn't allow as to ignorance of the law (maybe some did); the law was applied, and an amnesty given. And there seems to be a movement back to the wisdom of wise judges. Mandatory sentencing had its day (although I do not think it's dead, yet), and was seen and is seen as being essentially racist and misogynistic. The president and state governors in my opinion should commute the sentences of most if not all of the women, especially the African-American women, sentenced under mandatory sentencing guidelines to long, hard time for relatively minor, or very minor, drug offenses. Obama did some, Trump, I think one. Trump could do a lot more, and to his credit if he does.... — tim wood
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