Ah... I see. You are applying to the sense of libertarianism that is very strong in American culture, the idea that it is thinkable, possible and even normal for the people to allow or not allow something for the state. To me it is a very alien concept, I am used to it being the other way around, the state decided if we are allowed something or not. I mean it was very clearly the case in the time of absolute monarchy, so up to roughly 1920, and basically just democratizing it did not change it. Just because now kings are elected for 4 years, there are checks and balances, and lists of rights they are not allowed to violate, the basic setup did not change.
Can you formulate it in a way that someone who feels like a subject of the state who does not feel entitled to tell the state what it may or may not do can still identify with it?
The state is not an omnipotent entity who can make arbitrary choices. Its institutions are made of people, and its power is affected by how legitimate it is seen to be. Private individuals can make it stronger or weaker through their political, economic choices or even by breaking the law and using physical violence.
Freedom of religion is already a constitutional right in most western democracies and it is not at all futile to insist on it when religious lobby groups try to undermine it.
If you think of yourself as a slave who has no rights nor influence ag...
Scott Adams, the author of the Dilbert comic and several books, my favorite being How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, named his debating format The Rationality Engine. He calls it this way because he claims that it is "the system for turning irrational opinions into rational outcomes". He applies it to several polarizing issues, those this site tends to label "Politics" and "Mind Killer" and shy away from.
His first application, investigating the gender pay gap, seems to have worked pretty well, resulting in several unexpected conclusions. His second, Who is More Anti-Science? I found to be slightly less impressive, but still producing a rather balanced output.
Now he is applying it to the debate about Assisted Dying. Scott's goal is to have a law passed in California that is similar to the ones already in effect in Oregon and several other places.
Scott will debate Jimmy Akin, a prominent contributor to Catholic Answers.
I am quite attracted to Scott's attempts at hands-on instrumental rationality, and on a rather grand scale to boot. They are very much in the spirit of his latest book.
Currently he is accepting suggestions for questions and links for all sides of the issue. Feel free to contribute.
EDIT: I think adding cryonics to the discussion would only complicate the issue and not be helpful, but that's just a guess.