On Civil Liberties

I think that I finally have the concept of “civil liberties” (and thus, “civil rights”) figured out. So long as the state has coercively prohibited a peaceful activity for every race, gender, sexual orientation, and religious belief equally, then civil liberties have not been violated. However, as soon as the law makes something illegal for one group and not another, the hue and cry from those who believe in civil liberties will be heard far and wide. As examples: prohibiting the consumption of marijuana = not a violation of civil liberties; prohibiting the consumption of water by blacks from a whites-only water fountain = a major violation of civil liberties. And there you have it, so long as the liberty in question is violated equally, it cannot be said to be violated at all, or so the story goes. (SMH.) And that’s today two cents.