In applying Jesus’ words and other religious or Biblical principles to government-mandated social justice, first, there is the difficulty that comes with legislating morality. All legislation has to do with morality—whether it is the morality of a few or the morality of the masses—legislation is inextricably connected to the idea of morality. In light of this reality, it would be disingenuous to suggest that government has no right to legislate morality—indeed it does, but only to a point. The particular challenge in view, then, is regarding the kind of morality to legislate. How far should government go in such legislating? If certain behaviors are prohibited, then should the beliefs or thoughts that lead to those behaviors also be illegal? Who gets to determine what behaviors (and ideas) should be considered immoral or illegal?1
