Homosexual right to marry? not in our democracy

townhall.com ^ | 2/24/04 | Armstrong Williams

[kattracks]

Ever since the Massachusetts State Supreme Court's Nov. 19 decision to legalize same-sex unions, the nightly news has been saturated with images of gay couples rushing to the altar. This sickens me.

I am not alone. A recent Zogby poll indicated that 70 percent of Massachusetts's citizens do not favor the decision allowing homosexual couples to marry. And it's not just Massachusetts. Recent polls by "The New York Times" and CBS News and one by "USA Today" and CNN, all found that more than 60 percent of Americans oppose the legalization of homosexual unions.

Not surprisingly, respondents were uncomfortable with the Supreme Court redefining one of the fundamental building blocks of our culture - marriage. And rightly so. Appointed judges effectively short-circuit the democratic process when they assert their will on the culture. That's plainly the case here, as the judiciary used grand ideological sweeps to invent a new constitutional right.

This, the U.S. Constitution has never allowed. Thankfully, there remains room for the democratic process to play out. According to the Zogby poll, 69 percent of Massachusetts's voters favor an amendment to keep Massachusetts a traditional marriage state.

[SandRat]

.... not in our democracy ..

Uh, it's a REPUBLIC. Someone needs to remind the author. Maybe he should recite the pledge of allegiance one more time and really listen to the words.

[SevenDaysInMay]

This matter is simply whether we normals allow this small abnormal homosexual sector conspiring with fascists in and out of courts to pervert the definition and meaning of "marriage" in culture and law.

We shall not tolerate these abnormals and outlaws in high office buggering THE meaning of "marriage".

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Poll: Will the institution of marriage suffer if it fails to be inclusive of gays?

[Coleus]

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[swilhelm73]

de·moc·ra·cy    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (d-mkr-s)
n. pl. de·moc·ra·cies

1. Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
2. A political or social unit that has such a government.
3. The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.
4. Majority rule.
5. The principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.

---

[French démocratie, from Late Latin dmocratia, from Greek dmokrati : dmos, people; see d- in Indo-European Roots + -krati, -cracy.]

re·pub·lic    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (r-pblk)
n.

1. 1. A political order whose head of state is not a monarch and in modern times is usually a president.
   2. A nation that has such a political order.
2. 1. A political order in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them.
   2. A nation that has such a political order.
3. often Republic A specific republican government of a nation: the Fourth Republic of France.
4. An autonomous or partially autonomous political and territorial unit belonging to a sovereign federation.
5. A group of people working as equals in the same sphere or field: the republic of letters.

---

[French république, from Old French, from Latin rspblica : rs, thing; see r- in Indo-European Roots + pblica, feminine of pblicus, of the people; see public.]

Well our system is of government is indeed a republic, is is also a democracy, and specifically the most accurate terms would be a Democratic Republic or a Republican Democracy.

Democracy only means, as I highlighted, government by the people. It can be a representative form with a written constitution, as ours is, or a parlimentary one ala the UK, or a direct democracy as in ancient Greece.

So Williams is indeed right to talk about our democracy.

[Coleus]

actually we're a constitutional republic.

a lynch mob is a democracy.

[Coleus]

No, we are a constitutional republic and NOT a democracy, not all dictionaries are right. A lynch mob (majority rules) is a democracy, we are not.

[scan58]

Very surprised that there are more yes votes than no's at that website.

[VRW Conspirator]

We shall not tolerate these abnormals and outlaws in high office buggering THE meaning of "marriage".

Article: I am not alone. A recent Zogby poll indicated that 70 percent of Massachusetts's citizens do not favor the decision allowing homosexual couples to marry.

The direct and obvious answer is to impeach and remove the four rogue judges who decided for this monstrousity. Yet, the Mass. legislators do not seem to get it. Their power is being usurped. FWIW

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The CS Monitor tends to run on the LIBERAL side. But I expect the poll numbers will change.

[ntnychik]

It's a convoluted question. I think people may have misread it. "Will the institution of marriage suffer..." Someone reading hastily may answer yes without finishing reading the question. Just my humble opinion.

[scan58]

Hmmm...I never knew that, but I haven't been a reader, either. I just thought with the name Christian...well, you know.
Anyway, I went there and voted. Looks like it could use some more freeping.

[scan58]

That's very possible. I had to read it twice, myself, just to make sure I would be voting correctly.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The Monitor has morphed over the years. Taken has a whole, it most definitely has moved Left.

[scan58]

Those little boogers seem to get into everything and multiply fast, don't they? Just like cockroaches.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Boy, do they ever!!

[swilhelm73]

Its not a dictionary that you are arguing with, or even all dictionaries (as they have about the same definitions as I quoted you) it is the meaning of the term democracy itself. Break the term down into its original greek if you still have any doubts.

Democracy, which is again no more nor no less then "government by the people", can by *either* mob rule or a republic such as ours.

Further, a republic isn't necessarily democratic. While very rare now, non-democratic republics were very common in medieval Italy and Germany among the more trade oriented city states; ie Venice.

[Congressman Billybob]

Armstrong Williams is a smart cookie with a good sense of public opinion. (He's also a rousing speaker in person.) And he's dead right on this issue.

Notice the human zipcode, Teddy Kennedy, woke up long enough to denounce Bush's stand on homosexual marriage as a "campaign year stunt." The good Senator dud not explain how Bush pursuaded four Democrats on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, and one Democrat green-horn Mayor of San Francisco to play such essential roles in the Republican plan.

But then logic, other than the logic of Scotch single malts, has always been beyond the ken of Teddy. LOL.

Congressman Billybob

Click here, then click the blue CFR button, to join the anti-CFR effort (or visit the "Hugh & Series, Critical & Pulled by JimRob" thread). Don't delay. Do it now.

[goodnesswins]

LOL....that's how I taught an 11 year old grandson once....when I told him we were NOT a democracy.....works on an 11 year old, might work on ol' Armstrong, too.