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Permalink Reply by Tanya Wells on June 25, 2011 at 3:18am

I find this thread repulsive. Just because we are atheist does not mean we have to forget all morals. If you would not like for your daughter or wife to be a prostitute then then you should not want someone else’s daughter or wife doing it either. A women that reduces herself to f!@#ing strangers does it simply because of a lack of self-esteem and intelligence. If a woman really wanted to make good money they would go to college and not the street corners. To me, morals are avoiding actions or statements that cause emotional or physical damage to others. Prostitution can cause physical danger to include death, as well as scar a woman psychologically. How would you feel if some stranger offered you money for sex...i personally would feel highly insulted.

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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on June 25, 2011 at 3:49am

Many of us want the best outcomes for human health and thus far, making prostitution illegal seems to have done little to that effect.  Not only has it not put an end to prostitution, it may also have put up barriers to making the prostitution that does exist safer.  I think what many of us advocate is a regulated industry to help prevent trafficking, pimping, transmission of disease, and sketchy work conditions for the workers.

 

You can say that women should go to college, but that costs money that not all women (or men) have.  Even if they did have the money, it's not like all college grads find financial success or that no prostitutes are, in fact, college grads or students already.

 

I'm not sure that anyone stated in the thread that they want people to become prostitutes.  I wouldn't want my son or daughter, if I had one, to work in porn or prostitution, but ultimately that wouldn't be my choice to make.  If they did make that choice, I would want them to have the best guarantees of health and safety possible in that job.  That would likely mean work regulations and protections from the government.  Not going to happen if the government declares prostitution illegal.  To be honest though, I could sub out 'prostitution' with a number of jobs I wouldn't want my children to work.

 

On one final note, I'm sure some percentage of  women and men degrade themselves through such work, but not necessarily all.  I don't think that sex is so sacred that doing it for money should automatically be considered degrading.  At any rate, such degradation and self-esteem issues are their demons to deal with if they experience those feelings.  I'm not going to add to that by disdaining them myself.  I don't.  They are human beings, and I will give them equal respect until I have a reason not to.  You might personally feel insulted if someone offered to pay you for sex, but you aren't soliciting clients.

 

I'm not asking you to change your understanding, but before you get so repulsed, try and understand that advocating the legalization of prostitution is not necessarily the same thing as promoting or celebrating prostitution itself.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Wood on June 25, 2011 at 11:22am

I don't want my wife or daughter exploited by Wal-Mart, either.

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Permalink Reply by Mo Trauen on June 25, 2011 at 2:47pm

What I want is not the standard.  This debate isn't about me or my loved ones.  It is about the freedom allowed to individuals in a society.  In general I think that what consenting adults do in private is no one's business but their own.  There are many social ills associated with prostitution, but most of them arise because of, or are exacerbated by, the fact that it is illegal.

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Permalink Reply by Coe Parker on June 29, 2011 at 4:58pm

That's horrible reasoning there. People should have the right to do what they want, ESPECIALLY with their own bodies! I have two young daughters and would hope that they do not want to be prositutes but they can if they want, you know why? Cause it's their goddamn right to do what they want! What's to stop them from being strippers, which is legal? I hope to raise them to make better decisions than that but it is not my, or YOUR, right to make it against the law! You sound like a crazy Xtian when you are saying "these are my morals and you should abide by them"! That should NOT be the basis for laws, laws should be there to protect people from doing bad stuff to each other like murdering or stealing, not two people having consensual sex! This has nothing to do with being an atheist and forgetting morals it has EVERYTHING to do with personal freedom which I think is something people like you need to think about before going off on people for saying you should have the right to do what you want if it doesn't hurt other people. All the good points about it being legal are posted by other commenters so I won't go through them all, but keeping it illegal is a WAY worse option! Not only do you alienate the prostitute to the "streets" and bad neighborhoods where they have to hide, you leave them with VERY little to protect themselves! Can't go to the police cause you got raped, beaten or stole from, why? You're a prostitute and they'll bust you and say you were just working. "Prostitution can cause physical danger to include death, as well as scar a woman psychologically", is what you said which is all a result from it BEING illegal! Goddamn just think for a second. Just like drugs being illegal there's no regulation which leads to the spread of disease and more than enough money to make it worth while to force some one into it and keep them there cause they have no one they can legally turn to, to get help. As a women you should be ashamed of yourself! Oh and by the way, if some stranger offered me money for sex and she was hot I couldn't think of a better thing to happen :)

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Permalink Reply by Tanya Wells on June 25, 2011 at 4:24am

Well then why don’t we legalize gang activity, and all drug dealing they make tons of money too…where do you draw the line?

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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on June 25, 2011 at 4:36am

If you can show me how legalizing those two things would improve safety and overall health of the participants and the parties they affect, I'd be willing to give it consideration. That's where I draw the line.

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Permalink Reply by Coe Parker on June 29, 2011 at 5:09pm

You should legalize drugs and drug dealing, then there wouldn't BE gang activity you see. It would be regulated just like everything else and taxed so no one could make that kind of money of drugs in the street. They would be cheap and it wouldn't be worth a "gangster's" time at all. Hell like I said there wouldn't be gangsters with no black market product to sell. Gang activity has been illegal forever, it is called racketeering and should not be allowed because it is a group of people who conspire to do illegal acts together. You draw the line when what you are doing is AGAINST the wishes of the other peoples' wishes. I want to buy drugs, you want to sell them, no problem there. You want money for sex and I want to pay, no problem there. I want to kill you and you don't want me to kill you, fucking problem.

Make sense yet?

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Permalink Reply by Tanya Wells on June 25, 2011 at 4:29am

Or is there still a need for anything to be legal or illegal...? Does legalizing prostitution bring a positive aspect to society that we cannot do without?

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Permalink Reply by Smokey12499 on June 25, 2011 at 5:24am

Tanya, I think you are missing the intended point of this threat (Robin, please correct me if I am wrong). Legalizing prostitution would have allow eliminate the back-alley dangerous encounters that happen every day in every city across this country. Under our current archaic laws, we force prostitutes into a position in which they have no protections, they have limited access to medial care, and the laws waste an enormous amount of out tax dollars. 

 

Making prostitution legal, would allow us to control the activity, and ensure the safety of those individuals that choose to participate in it. Additionally, we could reduce the spread of STD's, reduce the tax dollars spent fighting an institution that will always exist.

 

You mentioned morals, but morals are relative; each of us have our own morals that as atheists we should not be forcing on others at the end of a gun barrels or with handcuffs.  

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Wells on June 25, 2011 at 11:07am

Moral relativity is a paper argument. So many people use this to justify actions, but this argument falls apart so easily. If you came home from work one day and saw some guy in bed with your wife would you still defend moral relativity. This guy isn't directly causing you harm; your wife wanted it and both of them are experiencing great pleasure from the act. Adultery is only wrong because the Bible tells us it is. What we consider to be right or wrong is relative, but it is obvious some things do more harm than good. If something isn't a net positive for everyone involved it should be avoided. Porn is legal and regulated, but one doesn't need to be a doctor to see the psychological damage done to these women. Even famous porn stars have been open about the damage caused by porn and are trying to help people avoid the industry. Why do we think prostitution will be any different.

http://www.thepinkcross.org/pinkcross-articles/june-2009/porn-stars...

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Permalink Reply by Robin on June 25, 2011 at 11:37am

Marriage is a civil contract between two people, to protect the financial aspect of their relationship. It's a partnership Why just two people? I have no idea...

What goes on in their marriage is no one else's business..

That's another issue...

Someones morals should be left up to the individual.

As for the porn stars.. Were they drug addicts that are now in poor health as a result or did they catch an STD from not using protection?

They regret it, do all of them?

I regret alot of things..

"I should have stuck to that diet" . Should that be outlawed, will overeating be a crime next?  It's bad for you... Is it morally right to over eat when people are starving?

 

 

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