I might get this screwed up slightly because I’m paraphrasing from my own faulty memory, but it should be pretty close. Upon ratification of the Constitution, as he was exiting, someone remarked to Benjamin Franklin that he was to be congratulated for his part in forming our new democracy. He replied that it is not a democracy, it is a republic, if you can keep it.
The point is that there is an important distinction between a democracy and a republic. A democracy is majority rule and with it comes the threat of tyranny of the majority over the minority. A republic adds the buffer of elected representation between the whims and passions of the majority and a helpless minority. Our Founding Fathers wisely sought to prevent the majority from forcing their agendas on the minority.
Sadly for us, they never envisioned an America where the pendulum could swing so far the other way that the minority has for decades been forcing their radical agendas down the collective throat of the majority. And they accomplish their goals, not through elected representatives as the founders intended, but through the courts.
Here’s an email I received today from a close friend in New York:
It seems to get worse daily. This is by a daughter of a murdered couple in Raytown who had a Bible and Bookstore on 63rd street.
Just one more example: When I had to testify at the murder trial of my parents a week ago, I was asked to raise my right hand. The bailiff started out "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" I stood there and waited but she said nothing. She said "Do you?" I was so stunned I blurted out "What happened to "so help me God’?" She came back with "Do you?" I replied yes, but I was perplexed.
Then the judge said ……………. "You can say that if you want to." I stopped, raised my right hand, and finished with "So help me God!" I told my son and daughter that when it came time for them to testify, they should do the same.
It’s no wonder we have so many problems in this country. If I’d had my wits about me I’d have told them that taking God out of the courtroom is only going to result in more criminals and murderers like him being in there! I don’t know what can be done about it, but it’s time we stepped up and did something.
NBC this morning had a poll on this question. They had the highest number of responses that they have ever had for one of their polls, and the percentage was the same as this: 86% to keep the words, 14% against. That is a pretty ‘commanding’ public response. It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore, I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a mess about having "In God We Trust" on our money and having God in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don’t we just tell the 14% to Sit Down and be Quiet,….. for a change!!!
I think this reaction is pretty typical. Americans more and more are speaking out about the disparity between what they believe to be right and what is being forced upon them, often by a very small and radical minority.
In the case of the pending amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the desecration of the American flag, the polls that have been conducted by independent polling organizations show that the vast majority of Americans want to see the American flag protected. Furthermore, they correctly surmise that an amendment protecting the American flag from desecration would not infringe upon their free speech rights one iota. Instead, it’s radical fringe groups like the ACLU, aided by the press, that are making all the noise in an effort to preserve their twisted right to burn American flags.