“Legal is Legal”

“Legal is Legal.” That’s how someone started their comment on a post related to immigration. For them, legality is the most important aspect of how someone comes into the country. At least that’s the stated reason. As with most topics, the stated reasons are hardly ever the only reasons. They are just the easiest go-to statements.

“Legal is legal” is more of a statement saying that the person isn’t interested in considering new information or that there is complexity and nuance. “Legal is legal” is equivalent to saying “the Bible says so.”

Such statements are designed to shut down conversation, to exclude any information that doesn’t fit a pre-determined narrative, to protect the right/wrong dichotomy in order to keep things simple. These statements also have a tendency to blind oneself of the humanity of others and in so doing, inadvertently diminish one’s own humanity as well. It is an argument designed to show that the person is on the side of good, while anyone who disagrees is not just wrong, but on a morally bad side.

Often, there is not much point in arguing with these types of arguments. These types of statements are designed to insulate the speaker and protect them from being uncomfortable, from being presented with complexity, from having to question their beliefs, from the possibility that they are wrong in some way.

The biggest problem with such arguments is their short sightedness. “Legal is legal” sounds like an air tight case on the surface. But it’s not. Not even close. Legal, by definition, means permitted by law. Do you know how laws are made? Elected officials, regardless of what level of government you are talking about, get together, and write up a bill (in reality, staff does, but let’s not get bogged down in details). That bill gets debated, marked up (edited), and voted on. Depending on the government we are referring to, a bill might go to another chamber of the legislature, or it might go to the executive branch to sign off on. There’s a whole variety of things that can and do happen. Regardless, a law is nothing special. There is nothing divine about human laws. They are changed all the time. Some are reversed. Some expire after a given length of time.

Legal does not equal moral. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it is morally sound. It certainly doesn’t mean that it is God ordained or approved. It doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. We’ve had plenty of laws on the books that were horrible, unjust, and wrong. “Legal is legal” is ultimately a lazy argument. Laws change. That’s actually quite normal and a good thing in the long run. We amend laws and change policies in order to meet current needs.

If I could respond to the person who made the statement “legal is legal,” it would probably be something like this – so if the law changed in five minutes to where we just opened the border and let anyone come in, you would be ok with that because “legal is legal,” right? I suspect the answer would be no. Because as I said before, usually the stated reason is not the actual reason. It’s a convenient cop out designed to shut down conversation. Such statements are really based on a foundational belief that the ends justify the means. In other words, being right and winning, are the only things that matter. How you go about it doesn’t. There doesn’t need to be logical consistency in such a belief system. That belief system is dangerous in numerous ways. Not the least of which is that in such a system, everything and everyone is disposable.

“Legal is legal.” Yes, it is, by definition. But it is also not set in stone and is changeable. “Legal is legal” is an intellectually lazy argument that is covering up what a person actually believes. If you aren’t willing and open to talk about a difficult topic, just say so. I have far more respect for that. There are topics I am not interested in talking about either and subjects that I’m not open to considering alternatives to. That’s a part of what it means to be human. And having boundaries is healthy. “Legal is legal” is just a cop out. Be honest. I don’t think that’s asking for too much.