COMMENTS:
Voted : No
Not a chance, IMO. Though there are those more than willing to try.
Voted : No
Not past a point, although laws enforcing thou shalt not kill, steal or bear false witness are needed.
We can pass or try to pass HATE crimes but hate will still occur.
One have to want to change his heart for the better.
Voted : Yes
There are two facets of moarality, what we think and what we do. You cannot control what a person whould like to do, but you can control his expression if it.
If morality is what we feel, it cannot be legislated, but if you mean its outward expression, then, yes, it can be legistated.
One can have murderous thoughts and racial hatreds, and keep them private. But he is not allowed to put them into action.
part of the problem in trying to "legislate morality" is that not all people agree upon what is moral and what is not. Most humans would agree that murder, rape and theft are wrong (although even those actions have qualifiers in some folks' minds). However other behavior, mostly sexual or suggestive of sexuality such as public nudity or even revealing clothing, multiple sexual partners, homesexuality and so on, are seen as immoral by many - but not by all. Then you get into religious practices - is it immoral to not attend church services on a regular basis - bet there's a lot of disagreement there. What about drug use? alcohol consumption? gambling? and once upon a time even just dancing?
This is the real issue with regard to "legislating morality" We don't all agree on what is immoral and what is really none of our business.
It is easier to pass laws when we all agree we're not going to behave a certain way - and then we punish those who refuse to agree. It's harder when we're all "criminals waiting to be caught".
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