I never thought I'd be in a nice house in a nice location — but there it is, with the foundation laid per state regulations for foundation stability during earthquakes while allowing for the type of soil beneath. The construction of the walls is per state regulations for stiffness and stability to withstand earthquakes and very high winds. The interior and exterior walls are painted with lead-free paint per federal regulations to prevent lead poisoning and birth defects. The windows are of a certain size and are no more than 44" high from the floor per state regulations to better allow egress in a time of emergency. The doors to the outside are designed to be 36" wide per state regulations to allow emergency personnel to better carry people through the door.
The electrical outlets in both the bathroom and the kitchen have Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI's) per federal regulations to keep us from being electrocuted. The electrical cords throughout the house are properly insulated per federal regulations to safely conduct the expected amount of electricity (and then some). The water is conducted through lead-free piping to faucets that are not close by to non-GFCI electrical outlets per federal regulation. The electricity for the house comes to us from underground power cables that are laid per state and federal regulations, buried deeply enough to not be a hazard to the normal homeowner. Their location is precisely recorded per federal regulation that construction workers are required to check before they put a shovel into the ground.
The car's nice, too. It's a four year-old Toyota Camry, with lifesaving seat belts and air bags that give substantial protection me and my family per federal regulations. The tires are built per federal regulations to be safely driven not only at a speed much higher than I can legally drive, but at speeds I might reach in a life-threatening emergency like when I drove my youngest son who'd just OD'd on liquid ibuprofen (he drank WAY too much of the orange-flavored liquid) five miles through city traffic to the Naval hospital...in four minutes. I made the trip at quite illegal speeds on roads that were designed and constructed per state and federal regulations to minimize confusion by drivers, to keep the flow of traffic organized (and safer without unduly sacrificing speed of transit), and to last much longer before potholes start forming (which they eventually will).
Article comments
1 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
It is kinda surprising that even though regulations on many things, as you pointed out, have been for the better, Religion has had a free reign at screwing people's lives up for centuries. Wanna talk about rules that were written in blood, yet, there is still no regulation to protect people from harm. Sure, a metal beam on your foot may sever some toes or crush it all together,but, that doesn't compare to damage that can be done by the amount of fear, intimidation & guilt that is placed on one's life when not in accordance with these superstitions & fairy tales. Then take into account that something with such power that is unregulated & unproven should have equal footing in our classrooms along with the brilliant knowledge from the likes of Einstein, etc... Now, imagine that line of thinking when someone is responsible for other people's lives?! That's definitely a formula for failure.
Exactly, There are over 36,000 "Christian" denominations out there because you can rehash nonsense that many times and it still doesn't equate to an ounce of truth.