The laws that "matter most" reflect ethics which are "no brainers". "Don't steal", "don't kill", "don't rape", etc.
These are ethical concepts that are easy to understand without resorting to consulting the law. The law in these cases is just an imperfect encoding of these obvious ethics. For the sake of governing, they work decently. However using them in an ethical discussion is using them for a purpose that they were not designed. There are so many better sources that we can look to in order to facilitate discussion.
Trying to use laws as a vehicle to discuss ethics is like examining Cheese Wiz to learn about dairy.
These are ethical concepts that are easy to understand without resorting to consulting the law. The law in these cases is just an imperfect encoding of these obvious ethics. For the sake of governing, they work decently. However using them in an ethical discussion is using them for a purpose that they were not designed. There are so many better sources that we can look to in order to facilitate discussion.
Trying to use laws as a vehicle to discuss ethics is like examining Cheese Wiz to learn about dairy.