On the way home from work this evening, I saw a bumper sticker which looked like it said, "How can a moral wrong be a civil right?" I'm assuming that it was addressing the issue of gay marriage but I'm going to address the general case. The answer is that, in general, you have the right to do something provided there is no law against it. It makes no difference whether or not you believe the activity is moral or not. Saying something is a moral wrong is a personal opinion.
Morals are what you use to differentiate between what you believe is right and what is wrong. Many people obtain their moral code partially or entirely from religion, but not all. The law, on the other hand, is what you use to differentiate between what society has determined is right or wrong. In some cases, the law will agree with your morality. In some cases, it won't. Here's an example: On a recent episode of Animal Cops on the cable channel Animal Planet, investigators from the Houston, TX SPCA were notified of a possible incident of animal abuse. It appeared that a group of people had killed one or more goats as part of a sacrificial ceremony. Many people would consider that behavior immoral. However, it's actually legal, provided the animals are not abused and are slaughtered humanely. In other words, people who own goats can slaughter them if they wish, and for many possible reasons including religious ritual.
Now, if you keep your goats in dismal living conditions, and they're starving and dehydrated, the SPCA will come along and, with police support, confiscate your animals. You may also be charged with a crime and end up paying a fine, being sentenced to a period of community service, do some time in jail, or a combination thereof. This is because the society, as represented by the local government, has determined that this is unacceptable and has therefore prohibited it under threat of sanction.
Another classic example is going to a club where women dance while removing their clothing until they are partially or completely naked. Again, many people consider this to be immoral behavior, but it is legal in many places. It is not legal in many others. And in many places where it is legal, there are still certain restrictions placed on the dancers and patrons such as a requirement to maintain a minimum distance between the dancer and members of her audience or the prohibition of alcholic beverages in such establishments.
According to Dictionary.com, one definition of "civil rights" is:
The rights belonging to an individual by virtue of citizenship, especially the fundamental freedoms and privileges guaranteed by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and by subsequent acts of Congress, including civil liberties, due process, equal protection of the laws, and freedom from discrimination.
Note that this definition doesn't include the word moral, or even any word remotely similar in meaning. In fact, if you read the entirety of the Constitution, you will see only one instance of it actually limiting the rights of individuals: the eighteenth amendment which prohibited the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. And, not long after, it became the only amendment ever to be repealed. The morality of a large portion of the population was a major, if not the largest, driving force behind it. In the end, it was a disaster.
To sum up, the comparison made on the bumper sticker is essentially meaningless since moral right and wrong is not the same thing as civil rights. The best thing for everybody is if you keep your morality your own and not try to force it on others. Live according to your moral code and act as an example. Let everybody else do the same.
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