If the ACLU defends against that, then they are against Democracy- the vote of the Majority.
Yes, they are for Liberty, but America's Government isn't based upon Liberty, but Democracy.
31 comments
"Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness"... the Constitution makes no mention of "democracy" and in fact the Founders warned against the "tyranny of the majority." That's why we have things like the Bill of Rights which guarentee freedoms, even if the majority are against them.
I was gonna reply on the guy's site, but who can be bother to, like, register and all that.
Anyway, it's just another idiot that is confusing the ACLU with the people they are defending.
At one point one of them says that the ACLU holds views that are anti-Christian, among other things. He doesn't realize that the ACLU has only one political opinion. They are not Christian or anti-Christian. They aren't Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative.
They only view held by the ACLU is that the minority should not have their constitutional rights destroyed by mob rule.
That's it. Nothing more. Yes, they have defended polygamists, because polygamists were the minority who believed they were being persecuted. After all, while I personally don't really like polygamy, isn't polygamy a religious view? How is the number of people who get married to the same person possibly a political issue?
If that were the case, why have much of a constitution at all? Why specifically enumerate the powers granted to the federal government? Why specifically list some things that the government CANNOT do, even with an overwhelming majority?
@Aristotle
The defining principle of democracy is liberty, one aspect of which is having a share in ruling.
Bullshit - I'm so proud of my ACLU membership, I keep it framed and hung in the den. The ACLU protects our Constitutional rights. I might not agree with everyone they defend, but I sure as hell believe they have a right that defense.
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."
- Samuel Adams
The founding fathers understood that the majority can't do anything it wants simply because it's the majority. That was why we have the Bill of Rights, which defines the limits to the majority's power. The majority can't get together and force their religion on someone. They can't stop the press from publishing information. They can't throw people in jail without a public trial or torture them to get evidence. If the majority always ruled, there'd be no reason why your neighbors couldn't get together and vote to kill you or take your house or car. The ACLU's mission is to enforce the constitutional rights of the individual against the majority.
David D.G.: Why Darth Vader? Vader couldn't give a rat's ass for the majority, the minority, the lunatic fringe, or anybody other than himself.
Hadenelith, I seem to recall a point in either Episode II or III in which Anakin said something to the effect that if the people were too stupid to know what was best for them, then they should just do what they're told by someone in power -- and eventually, he more or less saw to it that this was what happened. Yeah, he was largely self-motivated, but he also was doing what he thought was best for the Republic (or Empire), too, politically speaking. Vader was a fundie puppet of Sidious, no doubt about of it!
~David D.G.
We the people in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice and ensure domestic tranqulity, provide for the common defence, secure the general wealfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and out prosperity, do or dain and establish this constitution for the United States of America.
@Hadanelith and David D.G.: And don't forget, by the end of "Star Wars," Darth Vader did realize where he had gone wrong, enough to save the last person that he DID care about, his son. Which, unfortunately, is more than I can say for fundies.
"America's Government isn't based upon Liberty, but Democracy."
'I assume there are 4 parts to me'
Assumption is the mother of all fuckups. Especially what you think politics is.
The whole point of having a bill of rights is that some things shouldn't be up for majority vote. Look up the phrase "tyranny of the majority".
Also, I love how conservatives are all for democracy when the majority agrees with them but strict constitutionalists when it doesn't.
Finally, read some history. Your Founders were somewhat distrustful of democracy and for good reason.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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