The Razor Wire - Vol. Moral fundamentals that once guided our civic life have been crowded out, to the peril of our city and our nation. Minneapolis' Phillips neighborhood is a prime example of abstinence serving as the organizing principle for public policy. But those offering proof that such changes could make our cities much safer, as Ethan Nadelmann did in his recent U of M presentation, are shouted down by community leaders.
Abstinence is over-rated.
Choosing abstinence may be necessary or desirable, particularly if one is addiction-prone or among others who are. Yet true Christian temperance remains positive about pleasure without being permissive. Trying to govern this complex sphere of life with the shallow, rigid negativity of abstinence inevitably leads to chaos, as Phillips shows. Prudence discerns right and just action in light of all the important features of a situation. And punishing drug users who do no tangible harm is blatantly unjust.