Twice now on Northwest Highway I’ve been approached by prostitutes. Each time it has caught me off guard, even though their methods have been similar. Here’s how it went this morning:
- I’m filling up my car. It’s light outside and seems fairly safe.
- A car pulls up next to me carrying 2-3 young women, maybe in their late teens or early twenties, dressed nicely. I immediately put my guard up any time someone approaches me in such a situation. Generally it’s a guy looking for money, sometimes with a fabricated story. Not today.
- One girl smiles and says, “I like your cute little car.”
- OK, this is weird. “Thanks,” I say.
- Girl 1: “Where are you going?”
- Me: “Home”.
- Girl 1: “Where you coming from?”
- Me: “Sorry, ladies, I’m not interested.”
- Girl 2: [Coy smile] “How do you know we’re not selling cologne or something?”
- Me: [Don’t BS me look]
- The girls drive off. Seemingly cars work better than walking the street. A fast getaway is easier if the cops show up.
My wife will be glad to know that I don’t normally talk to prostitutes. My lack of contact with them might be the main reason I got so defensive. I guess I didn’t know how else to react. In retrospect I wish I’d had some information on New Friends New Life to give them. All I knew about them was 1) they were young, female prostitutes, and 2) God loved them anyway, just like He loved me despite my own sins. I wish I had been kinder to them. I’m sure their lives are difficult, filled with plenty of unkind words. I wonder if they want out. Maybe they do, maybe not.
Despite my awkwardness and sympathy for them, I also wonder why prostitution is illegal. Hang on, hear me out for a second. Is sex for money wrong? Most people would say yes, as would the Bible. But how is it any different from any other sex outside marriage? Does adding money to the relationship make it any worse from a moral standpoint? How is sex for money any worse than pornography or strip clubs, both of which are legal? In terms of impact on society, I would suspect porn, alcohol, and tobacco cause significantly more harm than prostitution, yet all three are legal while prostitution (except in a few Nevada counties) is not.
To me, our law on individual behavior, including sexual conduct, seem very inconsistent. The law attempts to legislate morality in some circumstances (prohibiting murder, rape, kidnapping, insider trading, drug use, drunk driving, etc.) but allows us to make our own potentially harmful decisions in others (smoking, extramarital sex, gambling, gluttony, sloth, etc.). The government tries to protect us from each other and ourselves but also gives us enough rope to hang ourselves. I don’t understand. Maybe I’m trying to make things too black and white. What do you think?
Regarding sex and prostitution, we could make the law more consistent with either of two options:
- All consensual sex is legal (libertarian view), or
- All consensual sex outside marriage is illegal (conservative view).
Put another way, either we’re free to do what we want sexually, or we’re legally prohibited from doing anything harmful sexually. I think choice #1 would have some negative consequences (higher STD rates, for starters) but would be more politically acceptable. Choice #2 would be much better for society overall but also extremely difficult to enforce.
Thoughts?