In other words, we’re not dealing with the tyranny of the majority, but the tyranny of the minority.
We have lost nativity scenes in cities across America because one citizen of one city doesn’t like Christmas. We have lost freedom of religious expression in our public school system because a student here or there is bothered when people pray. We have lost crosses on many of our war memorials because atheists want to shield their children from religious exposure. And we are poised to lose even more freedoms if we don’t stop this scourge before it sweeps across our land and our intellectual landscape completely.
Every single year since the world was young, the firehouse in the Nacogdoches Township has displayed a creche. Now, the ACLU has filed suit against the township for displaying a religious symbol on public property. It's Christmas time. It's a creche. I could understand if we were in gosh-darn Scarsdale, but this is east Texas, and I want to know who we're offending. Except two lawyers from the ACLU.
That is a terribly interesting and complicated question. Let me make this suggestion, though. There's a church about a block and a half from that firehouse, First Baptist Church of Nacogdoches. They've got a beautiful rolling lawn out there in front.
No, no. This is a Christian country, Charlie, founded on Christian values.
Sure.
We welcome other faiths to worship as they wish, but when you can't put a nativity scene in front of a firehouse at Christmas time in Nacogdoches Township, something's gone terribly wrong.
Well, that's not really true, Larry. You could move that creche over to that church and everything's just fine.
That's not the point!
Okay. Why don't we just start back at the beginning? What can I do for you?
You can intervene in the case against the creche committee.
Intervene? How?
You appointed the judge.
I don't appoint judges.
I just made a recommendation to the President.
Uh-huh.
I think you and I both know what that means.
I cannot just call up a judge and tell him what to do.
Why?
Well, 'cause it's against a shitload of really good laws, Gary.
Larry.
Larry.
I got to go talk to this guy out here for a second. Will you excuse me? By the way, I love Jesus Christ and his mother Mary as much as anybody. About 38 churches you could move that creche to, everybody lives.
“In other words, we’re not dealing with the tyranny of the majority, but the tyranny of the minority.”
Actually the constitution was made to limit the power of government as well as make that power more difficult to weld by any one group.
The key matter being limiting that power, precisely to prevent all out tyranny of the majority on all matters if it must exist on a few.
Tyranny of the minority requires that a minority have total and absolute rule over all others, when in fact under a Constitutional system they don’t necessary have any rule, merely at best a veto over someone else’s rule.
It is not tyranny to refuses you the ability to rule absolute.
The problems your talking about with Judges allowing individuals in lawsuits to impose their activist will upon other people is not Constitutional government but rather dictatorship of the “justices”.
This is the inherit problem with the presumption that the court has the final word on the meaning of the Constitution.