Let me begin with a story.
A professor not too long ago had a conversation with his students about some social policies that were in the mainstream political world's discussion at the time. The students' views were that the it was the government's responsibility to take from those that have plenty and give to those that don't have enough. The professor stated that it sounded good, with the "Robin Hood" type heroics, but that it doesn't work as well as it sounds. The students insisted that they were right. So the Professor conceded and said if it was the best way, then their class would go by the same policies. After their first test, he told all the people with A's needed to give up some of their points because some people got F's on the test. The Professor decided that if everyone got somewhere around a C it would be fair. Not too surprisingly, on the second test the highest score was a B and there were a lot more F's. He once again gave the points from the highest scores and gave to the lowest. On the third test, almost everyone was below a C. Why? Were they affected by social policy (at a university class level)?
I bet most of you would say that the policies wouldn't affect your behavior much. But in this little experiment, the professor showed that even the apparently good students (those receiving A's at the beginning) were quickly affected by poor social policy.
Let's go to the whole marijuana deal. Recently a few states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Who cares, right? Now I've heard before that we shouldn't have control over other people's lives. If they want to smoke pot, they shouldn't be stopped by me. It is actually almost word for word (not necessarily regarding marijuana however) what Vice President Joe Biden said during the vice presidential debate.
However, laws are rarely neutral. They either encourage or discourage certain acts. In other words, if you legalize recreational use of marijuana that law, to some degree, is not neutral. By legalizing it, the law is in fact supporting the behavior. Possibly even encouraging it.
Can you start to see why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has such a strong stance on certain laws (e.g., same-sex marriage, etc.)? Social policy has a strong influence on the entire nation as a whole. If people were on a continuum, one side being the best citizen and the other being the worst, social policy essential shifts the majority of the continuum to whichever side it supports.
So for legalizing marijuana: those that want to smoke pot but didn't because of the laws now will smoke pot. Those that were slightly tempted before now will be tempted a lot more. Does this make sense? The policy, although not directly affecting us, does in fact influence our actions.
Of course we still have the choice. But it certainly increases the probability that people will indulge.
This explains two things. First, why the members of the LDS church are told to be "in the world, but not of the world." We are to purposefully step away from social policy the best we can and live in a more Christ-like way. Second, why the Church has such a strong stance with policy that goes against what doctrines and principles they are upholding. They fully understand that it is a law, something that cannot be altered, that policy and laws of the land influence actions.
So those who have questioned this, saying something similar to "Why should we have a say in how someone else lives their life? It won't affect me! They should be the ones to decide." Remember that you are being affected by it, maybe not by a lot all at once, but still it is affecting you. Also remember, you aren't controlling how they live. If they really want to live that way, they probably will (as much as they can) with or without the law's consent.
In the Bible, when there is a wicked king, how often do the people as a whole stay righteous? I don't believe that the United States is for some reason exempt from this influence. We still have the choice. But it has to be a conscious, committed choice in order for social policy not to affect you.
Just something to think about.
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