Beard Principle

Kevin at The Baron of Deseret put up a really insightful post a couple of months ago. It is really worth a read, especially if you have any responsibilities for trying to help youth understand the standards of the church. It is called the Beard Principle. (No, it doesn't have anything to do with BYU.)

Kevin illustrates the problem with standards that try to distinguish between a "little bit" of something and "too much" of something. Often, the distinctions that we'd create are arbitrary and have no logical moral basis. When a limit or boundary is arbitrary, it will always shift.

Essentially, Kevin is making the case for an absolute prohibition on certain things as opposed to trying to set some standard for "how much is too much."

While I don't agree with all of Kevin's conclusions or arguments (in that he leaves little room for appropriate places for arbitrary boundaries that are generally accepted such as a minimum marriage ages, etc.) I highly recommend the post.