Why is it that we are so intent on making new laws?

Nowadays,  there is some new law being proposed, considered, or implemented nearly every week. It seems crazy to me that we want the state, local, and federal government, to be our parents, our watchdogs, and the big brother who will enforce that which we feel is moral, just, or religiously correct.

Last night on the news I saw there was an effort in Missouri to enact a law which would require children, under a certain age, to wear a life jacket anytime they are at a public lake and within 15 feet of the water’s edge.

Of course, the family pushing for this law is reacting to having lost a child by drowning. Their justification, for this ridiculous law, is that they want to help other families avoid the pain they have suffered.

I wonder who would get the ticket, under this proposed law, the child who wandered too close to the water, while chasing their wind-blown beach ball, or the parent who was sunbathing with their eyes closed?

I can see it going something like this:

Park Ranger (PR): Hey kid where are your parents?
Kid: (pointing) Up there on that blanket.
PR: Where is your life jacket?
Kid: I am on the swim team. I am a good swimmer. I don’t need no stinking life jacket.
PR: How old are you?
Kid: 12
PR: Well it doesn’t matter how good of swimmer you are. The law says you have to wear a life jacket whenever you are this close to the water.
Kid: But I was just getting my ball. I am playing over there, (pointing to a spot 30 feet from the edge of the lake).
PR: It does not matter. Here is your ticket.

Weeks later:

Judge: Is it true that you were within 15 feet of the water without a life jacket?
Kid: Yes your honor, but I am an excellent swimmer. I have been swimming since I was three years old and have completed junior life-saver training, twice.
Judge: You are guilty of violating Susie’s (or whatever the name is this time) Law, which states no child under the age of 15 can be in a public park within 15 feet of the water’s edge without wearing a Coast Guard approved flotation device. The fine will be $ 50.00 or ten hours of community service.
Kid: I don’t have $ 50.00 judge, I am just a kid.
Judge: Well, community service will have to do then.
Kid: What do you suggest?
Judge: I want you to go to the classrooms in your school and tell everyone about the dangers of not wearing a life jacket at the beach.
Kid: You mean that you will get a $ 50.00 ticket?
Judge: No, I mean that you will be breaking the law.
Judge: Next case!

Since when do we need laws to force public officials to become parents? Whatever happened to individual responsibility?

And I have been reading about the controversy surrounding a gay judge reversing the ban on gay marriage in California.

Someone pray tell me why we need laws defining what constitutes a marriage and what does not? Shouldn’t that be up to the individuals to decide instead of the government? What possible difference does it make to me, whether or not my neighbors want to define marriage differently than I do?

Laws are necessary, I suppose, because we cannot agree, as a society, about what constitutes common sense; but they should not be mere representations of the prevailing religious values of the majority.

Creating new laws should be carefully considered. They should be just, for all people concerned, and they should not represent only big business or big religion. Finally, laws should not be created which seek to transfer familial authority from parents to any branch of the government. I did not need some silly life jacket law to keep my children safe near the water. Any such law will, most likely, only apply to those parents who already take responsibility for keeping their children safe.