[Foundation-l] and what if...

[Geoffrey Plourde]

Where you see tyranny I see beauty. A majority of the people acted (A real majority!) to speak through their ballots. That is the purest form of democracy, and that is how California works. We are not a rightocracy. If people have an issue with that, there are 49 other states to live in. The best part about this is that all it takes to overturn this law is another vote. 

The main reason this law was so successful was that gay marriage was legalized by judicial fiat. The people of California do not like it when the courts act as legislators. All that is necessary to overturn this law is to ask the electorate again, and let the will of the people govern. 




________________________________
From: Ray Saintonge <saintonge at telus.net>
To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List <foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2008 11:02:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] and what if...

Thomas Dalton wrote:
>> Yes, all states have laws. It is the content of those laws which
>> determines whether or not the state is a free and open society. One
>> may have a free and open society that is not an anarchy.
>>    
>
> If the country has free and fair elections for its leaders then it is
> a democracy. A law made by democratically elected leaders that doesn't
> get in the way of free and fair elections cannot be undemocratic. Just
> because you don't like the law doesn't mean a majority of the
> electorate agrees with you.
So it seems that you feel that the tyranny of the majority is 
justified.  California recently voted by a small majority to outlaw gay 
marriages.  When democracy is used that way to needlessly suppress the 
rights of the minority it puts doubts into its democratic credentials.

Ec

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