# You are given the ability to decide one of these social issues unequivocally and irrevocably **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146 "2013-04-30T21:11:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/1 "2013-04-30T21:11:40Z")
Abortion rights Gun Control LGBT rights You have been magically given the ability to decide all issues related to one of these three, in what ever way you wish. There will be no future debates. There will be no riots in the street. No one will even know that it is you making the decisions. Your word will be law, forever amen. There will be no backlash against the other two issues (You got your way on X, we get ours on Y). So which of the 3 do you most want to settle in your preferred way, and why that one? I’m not including an “other” option. At this point, I’m only interested in comparing these 3. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/2 "2013-04-30T21:34:19Z")
I picked gun control. LGBT rights are headed in the right direction without my super powers. Abortion’s status quo is tolerable. But with the power granted to me by the OP, I could remove all guns from the US without riots or controversy (maybe I’d craft a less drastic solution, depending on my mood). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/3 "2013-04-30T21:54:58Z")
Abortion rights. Complete right to choose on the part of the female, up to 18 years after birth. 😛 LGBT rights are rapidly moving in the right direction (hard left!) and gun control is such a mixed bag that I really don’t have fully deliniated yet. ---
**Author:** ![midnight-dreary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@midnight-dreary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midnight-dreary)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/4 "2013-04-30T22:12:48Z")
There 8 countries in which homosexuality is punishable by death, so LGBT. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/5 "2013-04-30T22:32:23Z")
**There will be no future debates.** I can’t even begin to believe I know enough or have enough of a stake in any of these topics to make a decision on them. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/6 "2013-04-30T22:35:57Z")
I’d like to decide all of them, but since I can only pick one I went with LGBT rights. The other two, no matter what the law is, people will do what they want, find a way. But for LGBT issues, someone decided for you what the laws are and you can’t really fight them or go behind their back. You can get an abortion, or a gun, on the sly, but you can’t bribe someone to give you rights. My take on moral, social, legal issues can be summed up as _“If it doesn’t harm the person or property of someone else, it shouldn’t be illegal”_ Or, as James J. Kilpatrick once said, \* “If there is one basice tenet of conservatism it is that government has no business meddling in the private lives of free people.”\* ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/7 "2013-04-30T22:36:18Z")
i think abortion right and LGBT rights are headed in the right direction already, and don’t need my help. So I get to decide on gun control. And since my opinion is the law, forever and ever, amen; Anybody can have any kind of firearm they want and can afford, provided: (surprise!, yes, there will be gun control, of a sort) They can demonstrate knowledge of the safety rules and a certain level of proficiency with firearms. They haven’t been determined, by someone competent to judge such things, to be violent or dangerous to others. (Yes, there would be a big national database to search. Conversely, anyone who found themselves on said list would have a right of appeal. None of this "\* because I said so, that’s why’\* I’m the only one who gets to say that.) They’ve never posted a video on youtube showing them acting like a 12 year old moron with a gun. And one other thing, anbody who commits a crime with a firearm goes away forever. No exceptions. Oh yeah, if you have a gun, you have to have a gun safe, and keep it/them in there when not in use. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/8 "2013-04-30T22:42:36Z")
I was going to say abortion, but then I read this: > [@Baker](#): > > I’d like to decide all of them, but since I can only pick one I went with LGBT rights. > > The other two, no matter what the law is, people will do what they want, find a way. But for LGBT issues, someone decided for you what the laws are and you can’t really fight them or go behind their back. You can get an abortion, or a gun, on the sly, but you can’t bribe someone to give you rights. > > My take on moral, social, legal issues can be summed up as _“If it doesn’t harm the person or property of someone else, it shouldn’t be illegal”_ > > Or, as James J. Kilpatrick once said, \* “If there is one basice tenet of conservatism it is that government has no business meddling in the private lives of free people.”\* Yeah, you’re right. I’ll pick LGBT rights and stock up on black market ru-486 for the women in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/9 "2013-04-30T22:46:37Z")
Wait! Did you mean inmy country, or worldwide? If world wide, I want to change my choice to LGBT rights, so that all the fundimentalists heads would explode. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/10 "2013-04-30T23:22:14Z")
Abortions and guns are complicated issues and there are arguments to be made for various positions. Gay rights is a simple issue with an obvious right answer. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/11 "2013-04-30T23:32:10Z")
Abortion. Push through a right to life amendment. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/12 "2013-04-30T23:45:19Z")
Pro-lifers are loud and obnoxious, but they have already lost the war. LGBT rights are an inevitability. Gun control is the only one of those three that is an immovable object. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/13 "2013-04-30T23:49:59Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I picked gun control. LGBT rights are headed in the right direction without my super powers. Abortion’s status quo is tolerable. But with the power granted to me by the OP, I could remove all guns from the US without riots or controversy (maybe I’d craft a less drastic solution, depending on my mood). I agree with this. I’d ban all guns ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/14 "2013-04-30T23:51:40Z")
I picked abortion, but the arguments in the thread (especially Baker’s) are making me think I should have picked LGBT rights. Hm. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/15 "2013-05-01T00:32:48Z")
I picked abortion, but only because I feel very strongly that women’s right and LGBT rights are deeply intertwined. Where abortion is safe and legal, women have control over their bodies and their abilities to express themselves sexually. Where women - including lesbians and bisexual women - are safe and their voices are heard, gay men, transsexuals, and otherwise queer folk are also safer. It’s been the same story in every civilized country. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/16 "2013-05-01T02:14:09Z")
LGBT is going in the right direction and will ultimately resolve without someone bringing down the hammer. I believe a woman’s right to choose will ultimately win out as well. So I went with guns. Anything available to an individual in the military short of explosives. But since I have had the final say and confiscation is now an impossibility, you do get complete registration and universal background checks along with mandatory proficiency training and testing. Also, anyone involuntarily committed for psych gets entered into a query-only database but will have the right to appeal to have themselves removed if judged no longer a threat. Query-only means just that, an individual name/ssn/other id can be queried, but there will be no published list that can just be read at will. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/17 "2013-05-01T02:42:32Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Abortion. Push through a right to life amendment. +1 ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/18 "2013-05-01T02:52:14Z")
Abortion. LBGT rights will rectify themselves because society is becoming more and more tolerant. But taking the abortion issue off the table would be nice. As far as gun control, the only thing that would work is confiscating all the guns, destroying them, then banning new gun sales to private citizens. I don’t see that happening, and don’t know if I’d support it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/19 "2013-05-01T03:04:04Z")
Politically and ideologically I don’t really support any kind of blanket ban on guns. _However,_ if I were able to _unequivocally and irrevocably_ ban all guns, from everyone, everywhere, forever? Not even a contest. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146/20 "2013-05-01T03:24:35Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > I picked abortion, but the arguments in the thread (especially Baker’s) are making me think I should have picked LGBT rights. Hm. Me too. Three. Many. Yeah, good arguments, and I should have read the thread before voting. Ultimately, and morally, would refrain from exercising such power. I don’t approve of exogenous legislation. If some god or demon or super-being came along and made the decision, I’d be ticked. Democracy forever. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-are-given-the-ability-to-decide-one-of-these-social-issues-unequivocally-and-irrevocably/657146.md?page=2)