The Nose of the Camel

The health Nazis are hard at work in Illinois; they are trying to execute a ban on smoking inside of a car while children are present. Once again, individual liberty and the right of parents to raise their children in a manner that they see fit is being sacrificed on the altar of dubious science and political correctness.

There is no smoking gun (or butt) linking ``second hand smoke`` to any health hazards, but, much like the Global Warming scare, science is again at the service of liberal desires. Liberals hate tobacco, largely because it is a cash crop and the Left would rather tobacco farmers raise food to give to the poor. (I`ve addressed this viewpoint in my article ``Where`s the Beef``.) Of course, they can`t say that is the reason, so they have once again employed pseudo-science to circumvent the wishes of the people and force their unpalatable agenda on the public. (It`s funny that nobody noticed that second-hand smoke was bad until just a few years ago, despite the fact that everybody knew smoking was bad.)

Parents have the right to raise their children, and the State has no right to interfere in something that is not overtly dangerous to that child. Recently, the Left overruled parents about homosexuality, forcing children to be taught ``tolerance`` for the very unhealthy gay lifestyle, yet they will not offer the same courtesy to parents. They are very eager to interfere with parental rights for the sake of the public health when it fits their agenda, but unwilling to bend when they have other priorities at stake. If smoking is to regulated out of existence, perhaps homosexuality should be likewise? Somehow I doubt the health Nazis will be quite so zealous.

Imagine if the situation was reversed, and schools were teaching ``tolerance`` for the smoker and his alternative lifestyle instead of for the homosexual; in both instances health is a matter of concern. Yet we are supposed to embrace with open arms the latter while vilify the former as an evil killer of babies and polluter of the air. Frankly, considering the fact that homosexuals are often indulging themselves in the hetero pool, the health detriment of ``second hand homo`` is every bit as bad if not worse, since diseases are no respecters of orientation. Yet we are told we have no right to pass moral judgment on the homosexual, while we can sentence the smoker to whatever we deem fit. Well, if tolerance is a family value, then let`s teach tolerance! A parent smoking with his/her child is educating that child in tolerance for an unpleasant habit! Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander.

If Native Americans smoke a pipe in their car, will this violate their freedom of religion? If they can be exempted, then everyone else should be likewise.

Do we have a free society or not? Granted, the State has a certain interest in the public health, but that interest does not allow them to override parental authority except in the most necessary of circumstances. They most definitely do not have the right to override individual choices in many of the circumstances where they intervene. Free people have the right to make poor choices for themselves and their children. We can encourage, extol, educate, but we as a society do not have the right to intervene lightly. Of course, sometimes it must be done; serious abuse or neglect of a child requires that somebody step in. But this is a grave matter, and must be taken with fear and trembling. Disliking someone`s habit is not enough to justify overriding their rights.

Americans have become increasingly willing to use the force of law to compel behavior they find agreeable, or restrain others out of personal desire. We seem to have forgotten the most fundamental basis of our liberty-the right to be left alone. I am mindful of Al Pacino as Satan in ``The Devil`s Advocate``; when asked why he started a law firm, he answers ``the law is into everything these days-we`re the new high priests!``. That is a shrewd observation on the part of the filmmaker; the Law is, indeed, into everything. You cannot be free and at the same time have the Law constantly interfering in your life. America has to choose.

This attitude that the State is responsible for the well-being of her citizens despite themselves is the road to tyranny. Today we go after smoking and drinking, tomorrow after fatty foods (actually, that has already begun). This opens a Pandora`s Box, because just about every human activity can be considered unhealthy if you look at it in that way. Shoot, Al Gore has targeted flatulence and breathing, since they contribute to Global Warming. How long before reproduction is restricted, to control the amount of greenhouse gases we put in the atmosphere?

Smoking bans are the tip of the liberal iceberg, the nose of the camel in the tent. How long before that camel is sitting down to dinner with us?

I wonder; will Illinois charge parents with this crime if they are smoking dope or hashish? Somehow I think the Left will be more tolerant in such a case.