Not so much a change of opinion when it comes to theory as a recognition that reality is messier than any theory can truly explain--the map is not the territory.
Allow me to challenge your conclusions, Doug.
So, for example, while theoretically I can recognize that banning sex outside of marriage only when money exchanges hands doesn't make much sense (just how is the cash supposed to make a major moral difference from a college-age modern dollymop?), in the real world legal prostitution makes investigating and prosecuting sex slavery much more difficult.
Does it? Why? As we know from the countries that have long had legalized prostitution, legal prostitutes are regulated. Their business is open to scrutiny, they meet with social workers and they meet with healthcare workers. They are, in fact,
less likely to be sex slaves. Sexual slavery thrives in those countries
that do not have legal prostitution! Sexual slavery is most prevalent in southern Europe, such as in the Balkan States. But the countries where prostitution is legal ?? In Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, et al, it is NOT a widespread problem.
While theoretically we shouldn't be the world's policeman, in the real world the American Protectorate has made the world a wealthier, more free, more peaceful place.
Another fallacy. We'd all love to believe it, but the hard evidence actually runs 180 degrees from that conclusion. In fact, over the past 20+ years, our military adventurism, albeit
well intentioned, has produced anything but, and we need look no further than the Middle East and Central Asia to conclude that. For example, under the pretext of saving Iraqis from the tyrant Saddam Hussein, the US has been directly responsible for more than
200,000 civilian deaths in that country, and 5 million displaced persons, half of which became refugees in neighboring countries before 2010. The reverberations of our myopic actions echo to this day in the cultivation of more and larger terrorist organization, and terrorist bombings of civilians continues today, nearly 19 years after our
American Protectorate actions to "save" them.
"Baghdad,
28 January 2022 - The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) is deeply concerned by the current wave of attacks targeting political party offices, residences as well as businesses in Iraq, and most recently the rocket attack on Baghdad International Airport.
These despicable attacks have caused injuries and material damage,
harming peaceful citizens whose only wish is to go about their daily lives without fear of attack or death." (^^emphasis mine^^)
While theoretically marriage is a personal decision whose continuation should be left purely to the couple, in the real world no-fault divorce has been a disaster and marriage is the fundamental building block of society in which, therefore, society has a vested interest.
Vague and dubious contentions, and no counterpoint to your own assertion that marriage
"should be left purely to the couple". Surely your not suggesting that "the State" should have any say in whether or not a couple remains married ...
are you? Explain how
no-fault divorce is more of a disaster than people being somehow compelled to remain in a marriage that often serves neither of their best interests. It should seem obvious that continued strained relationships between spouses unable to separate leads to much more domestic abuse and violence, including spouses killing each other. I'd call
that a
disaster!
