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Quote from: Dolores

Obey the traffic laws and you won't get any moving violations, and you won't have to worry about this.

Of all the things the government does, I think one of the least objectionable is enforcing traffic laws.  There is nothing immoral about such laws, they are not overly burdensome or complex, and they exist for the safety of drivers and passengers.

I agree with you here, tickets for offenses are generally reasonable.  The objection I have is that the insurance companies cash in on this and drive and punish you again for years.  

Generally speaking, the insurance companies are just relying on statistics when they determine premiums.  They plug in things like your age, sex, location, and driving record to determine the odds of you being in an at-fault accident, and set your premiums accordingly.

Quote from: ggreg

Why should any Catholic or any person with a sense of morality get a DUI?

That's a reasonable question.  No Catholic should be drinking that much in the first place.  What you do AFTER drinking to much is not the first problem, because it's a mortal sin to drink that much to begin with.  I wasn't condoning excessive drinking, but I thought a few numbers here would maybe increase the awareness of how expensive it can be -- even if you don't have any "accident."  Not getting in a wreck while under the influence of drugs or alcohol is really kind of an 'accident' in itself, because once you go past that line where your judgment is impaired, it's more like dumb luck that you would not get hurt or not injure someone else or damage some property.

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Drinking and driving is GROSSLY irresponsible and immoral.  When you get behind a 1 ton piece of metal and pilot it at up to 70-80mph, you should have all of your faculties about you.  If you kill or maim someone, they have to suffer much more than the loss of $24k.

All of this is true, ggreg.  I am simply amazed to find otherwise intelligent people, some even trad Catholics, who equate the ability to get just as close as possible to the brink of drunkenness is some kind of achievement or proof of their virtues.  They think it's some kind of sporting event to show off that their reactions are still fast (playing games like having someone drop a swizzle stick between your fingers to see if you can catch it by pinching your fingers together before the end of the stick falls past) or even dare to get into their car and drive off when they're not even WALKING straight on the way to the car.

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$24,000 seems to me to be an appropriate punishment if people are going to learn not to do it again.  It represents the cost of an average new car.

BTW that's 24 k that's not tax deductible.  

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If I am driving I will either not drink at all or limit myself to a small glass of wine or beer for a SINGLE toast.  It's simple enough.  If you drink or plan to drink, then don't drive any car.

Have you ever demanded the car keys of a friend when he (or she) gets to that point where their movements and speech are getting affected?  Because telling them they need to stop is perhaps not a clear enough marker, but having to give up their car keys might be enough.

Even most modern-day pagans understand the difference between getting drunk, and getting drunk and then driving a car.

The problem with the "getting drunk" part is, once you're at that point, you cannot trust yourself to make wise judgments anymore, so the decision to not drive because it's dangerous can easily be a decision that you can no longer make.  And getting into the driver's seat and turning the ignition key (or whatever it is that starts the vehicle) is a matter of habit.  When habitual actions take over, that's the result.

Catholics shouldn't be getting drunk -- if they really have that vice, they should give up alcohol or really hit the fasting/abstaining this Lent because they obviously need it.

Habitual drunkenness, like any addiction, is in the same category of sin as the sin of Sodom:  it causes you to become subject, and willingly so, to a PHYSICAL dependency on a material substance to achieve a state of artificial euphoria or to satisfy a craving.  The addiction becomes your false god and your desire to serve it becomes your reason for living.

Anyone who habitually drinks but cannot give it up for 6 weeks, or during Lent, has a very serious addiction.

Drunkenness, as a vice, has two "best friends": gluttony and fornication. Where there is drunkenness, the other two are close by. And Our Lady said that more people go to Hell from sins of the flesh than for any other reason.

Put that on an index card and hand it to a friend.  That's a shocker.  

Have business cards printed up, with just that sentence on it, to pass out to people.

Don't be surprised sometimes, if they literally pass out.  




BTW:  I think it should be:  
Our Lady said that more people go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.

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