Yeah, given that Mexico has legalized it (if ghetto-ized) I don’t think the Catholic argument is going to hold up.
And I’m not arguing that people are campaigning for it, nor am I arguing that it should be legalized.
I’m saying that it’s a source of revenue that states could use, will eventually notice, and then people will find a way to lobby for. It’s worked with gambling and alcohol, after all.
Why not this?
But that’s the point. I used Catholicism as an example of a very large religion that has no problem with alcohol, gambling, or cigarettes. They are fundamentally different “vices,” from the standpoint of many religious people. Yes, there are religious groups that find drinking immoral, but they are surely outnumbered by groups that don’t.
Prostitution, on the other hand, is immoral (to my knowledge) to all Christian denominations and probably some other faiths as well.
Julie
Julie
But my point is that countries with massive Catholic majorities have certainly found it viable.
Frankly, I’d expect the more conservative protestant denominations to cause more fuss than the Catholic Church over the ‘morals’ issue.
It should be legal. Two consenting adults should be able to enter into that agreement at any time on any day. If the only opposition to it being legal are religious concerns, let’s make it legal today!
The only people who are going to do it are people that want to do it. Why not make it legal? I’m sick and tired of vice squads out there rounding up prostitutes, yet the cops refusing to show up when there have been burglaries and thefts. This would help direct law enforcement in the direction of dealing with real criminal activity, where there are real victims, with real damages and losses.
I see the rapid spread of gambling in the US as having less to do with state governments’ eagerness for the resulting revenue as with the casinos’ continual full-court press on the lobbying front.
I don’t see a group similarly situated to make big bucks off prostitution. And relative to the current wave of state budget deficits, the $$ that JC is talking about are trivial.
I really don’t expect to live long enough to see widespread legal prostitution in the US, and I expect to live a long time yet.
If you’re a foreign (non-American) doper, I guess it’s time to clue you in. This whole thread is an extended joke. For some reason, there is a widespread myth that prostitution is illegal in the United States. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, prostitution is so central to our culture that small brothels are conveniently attached to most public facilities and retail businesses. Just look for the nearest door marked “Women”! Or the door marked “Men,” according to your preference.
I’m not making myself clear.
Despite the fact that Catholicism and the majority of Americans have no problem with gambling, the morality police interfere with the legalization of gambling. Gambling is still not legal in many places even though many churches have no specific doctrines against gambling.
The minority hold gambling to be immoral, but gambling is still held hostage in many places to that morality.
If you introduce an act that most Americans find immoral, it will be much much harder to get it legalized. Not only are you going up against the vocal minority, you’re going up against the silent majority.
I brought up Catholicism simply because it is (as far as I know) the largest single church in this country. I did not bring them up to “prove” anything, just to use as an example of a church that would not have fought gambling as a sin in and of itself but would fight prostitution as a sin in and of itself.
Other countries are pretty irrelevant considering we have some of the most restrictive “morality” laws in the civilized world.
Julie
Taxes are trumped by the thing politicians love above all else: votes.
Most people probably don’t really care one way or the other about whether or not prostitution is legal; they wouldn’t base their voting on it anyway. But there are people who do care and are opposed to legalizing prostitution; these people would vote against a politician who suggested it. And there’s virtually nobody who’s going to vote against a politician because he isn’t in favor of legalization.
So add up the numbers. Any politician running for office stands to lose some votes and not gain any for supporting legalization. Which means no politican will do so.
Thanks for the heads up! I won’t tell you what I’ve been doing behind those doors you mention, but whew! I never knew I was so kinky! 
In my state, it is against the law to play a “Video Poker” game, but you can spend as much money as you feel like on the State-sponsored Lottery. So, the message is that gambling is just fine if the only game in town is being ran by the government!
AFAIK it isn’t legalized here, tolerated yes, but legal no.
Have you got a cite?