Are Laws Extraneous?

There were a few sentences that really struck me while reading this piece.  “If everyone lived their lives by sound ethical principles, there would be no need of laws! A concern with ethics is much more than a concern with staying out of trouble with the law.  It is a concern with living well. Simply obeying the law is not enough” (Ethics and Religion 8).  An argument that the reading spends much less time dissecting than others is one of the most interesting that is brought up.  

For a very short time the reading argues that if everyone lived to the same moral standard, there would be no need for laws to govern.  I agree with this fact however it is a very idealistic theory that is not applicable to our modern society.   Having laws makes ethics extraneous because people are so focused on the negative repercussions of breaking the law that they are not worried about the moral repercussions of their actions.  By controlling how society acts socially, personally, physically, electronically, etc., every aspect of our lives are run by social norms, rules, and laws instead of being driven from a place of moral longevity.  

Since the only thing we are concerned about is staying out of trouble and making sure people approve of our actions, society has lost sight of what is means to govern itself.  Laws give people leeway by clearly telling them what is right and wrong.  By taking away laws, it would require that people make their own distinctions and determinations about how their actions affect them personally, those around them, and the larger picture.  If everyone could be trusted to step up and live to a higher moral code without the restriction of laws on their own accord, what state would our society be in today?  There may be less war/famine/etc., or there could be more but people would actually be held personally responsible for  how they choose to conduct themselves in the world.is piece