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Review of Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society by Peter McWilliams Okay, although it's 700 pages of reading, Amazon is listing this title in both hardbound and paperback starting at about five bucks. If you're a stauch supporter of consensual crimes (or want to tick off a Republican who might actually read it) I highly recommend buying and reading this book. McWilliams starts from the simple premise that any crime that does not hurt the person or property of another should be made legal. He then defends this argument from almost every angle ranging from the typical "It's UnAmerican!" protest to more complex analysis of the Constitution and Biblical texts. After he demonstrates that neither Jesus nor the Founding Fathers would approve of our jailing people for disobeying MORAL codes written into law, he then examines the crimes themselves in detail. The list includes drug use, prostitution, assisted suicide, homosexuality, and seat belt laws, to name a few. Though some of these activites might not be safe to indulge in, McWilliams continues to argue that if you're only hurting yourself then the law shouldn't interfere. In closing, he adds two smaller sections to rebutt any possible argument to his lengthy work as well as give the casual reader a place to start organizing. Although I can only provide a small overview of such a large tome, I must admit that McWilliam's arguments are VERY convincing. The Biblical references he examines completely eliminate any questions of the teachings of Jesus in regards to freedom. He also uses some basic common sense I think the Christian right has long ignored, like the idea that religion needs to be a free choice to be meaningful to God. Combined, these two strategies tear apart the Religious Right because they prove that our modern evangelists actually go against the Bible in their own practices, and really would be better off praying in closets as the Bible dictates. Combined with the analysis of the Constitution, which was deliberately designed to omit religion as much as possible, McWilliams presents a powerful argument that I hope will be taken up sometime soon. As I can't tear apart the book any more without spoiling for those of you who might read it, I will leave you with a few quotes that I found especially profound. "Culturally we are conditioned that the seller (the prostitute) is degraded and the buyer (the customer) is a mere adventurer. Logically, however, if one them MUST be seen as self-degraded, it would have to be the customer. One who has to BUY sex is in a sadder situation than one who is simply filling an economic necessity." If only the courts would see it that way... "This degrading view of women [just discussed roots of Madonna/whore complex], combined with man's belief in his innate superiority, produces an inbuilt hostility to women who CHARGE for sex. To the sexist male this is like a cat charging to be petted: it seems to be a defilement of the natural order." And that's why men with no dicks who pussyhunt online hate me and call me all sorts of names because I won't give it up for free. "[Discussing the 1967 National Commission on Pornography] In surveys, the comission found that only 2 percent of Americans thought sexually explicit material was a significant social problem. The report recommended that all legislation interfering with the right of adults to read, obtain, or view explicit sexual material be repealed." Okay, it's probably more than 2% now, but that's pretty damn hopeful! We probably have some backsliding going on right now, but I have high hopes. Anyway, I'm going to stop typing, but I hope you start reading. If you want to check out the table of contents, it's here on Amazon. If I had a little more money, I'd send copies to Congress, but, let's admit it, I have no hope. I do, however, offer my support to those protestors I saw on CSPAN while I watched the inaugeration. In fact, I probably should have gone with ya. Daphne |