can we legislate morality?

                        I recently typed a response to a comment that my friend made about  legislating morality. His comment was “you can’t legislate morality”. My response was legislation (law ) is all about changing behavior; to change people to a more “moral” behavior for the good of others.  Law exists to make unmoral behavior, one that harms people for selfish gain, wrong and punishable. So I guess we can legislate moral behavior, but as my friend said, we cannot legislate morality.

That is because morality is not just behavior; in fact, morality is really what happens inside. Behavior should be the result of what is going on inside. That is why what my friend said is true, you cannot legislate what goes on in the heart of men.

Jesus was always looking to change the hearts of men. He knew better than anyone that the law would not make a man moral.

As Jesus said in the scriptures, it is what comes out of a man that defiles him. Therefore, what is inside is the most important because that is what causes the moral behavior to be from the heart.

So, I would have to agree with my friend, we can not legislate morality, a moral heart. And after all, it is the heart that needs to be changed for morality to work.