I thought I remember being taught America was based on Majority rules--why is that not the case anymore?

Question

My daughter started kindergarden this year and they do ever thing to be so politically correct--it was winterbreak(not Christmas)--and egg hunt not (easter egg). Which is fine but seems a little overboard. When the Founding Fathers said church and state seperate they did not say--We had to keep God out completely--what they meant was they did not want something like "The Church of England" which was involved in everything.

Answer 1

We got more and more PC over the years cause the majority tends to be wrong a lot. As far as America being based on Majority rules, it is not and has never been. We are much more of an oligarchy than a democracy anyway, and always have been. Originally only educated landowners made laws--and they weren't exactly the majority. The Puritans rather enjoyed lynching Quakers and anyone else who wasn't part of the majority. If you kill the minority it is quite easy to remain the majority. Still our lawmakers hardly are accountable to us and most definitely not the majority of us.

But as far as your added details, yeah I agree that it has gotten more and more overboard. I mean Winter break (as if it's random) would be great if it weren't for the fact that usually it is a good bit after Hannukah and really is just a break for Christmas-New Years. It should be called "End of Year Break". And the egg hunt is funny as if colored eggs could be hunted anytime other than easter--though that was changed due to the religious right for disliking the association of easter with colored eggs. So I guess they balanced it out--giving one to the religious right and one to the liberal left.

No one has quite figured out a way to keep God in while giving credit to other religions and cultures. No one has quite figured out how not to take the fun out of finding eggs with jelly beans in them, when it has nothing to do with the religious holiday. It's a difficult line to walk and the school system really does try.

Answer 2

Right on the religion statement, BUT there are several elements in the Constitution which were written to BLOCK "majority rule."

Consider the "electoral college." This was written to IMPEDE the will of the people. The average citizen CANNOT TRULY vote FOR a particular person as President. That is the job of the "electors" who meet several weeks AFTER the November election. These people are selected by the states in a manner determined by the state legislature. They are SUPPOSED to vote the way the state's voters did, BUT it HAS HAPPENED DIFFERENTLY over 150 times.

Quote from Art 2, sec 1 of the US Constitution,
"Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector."
...
THESE PEOPLE elect the President.

... As Mark Twain wrote in his 1904 notebook, "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect)."

My commentary: Just because MOST PEOPLE think something is no reason to accept it as truth.

Answer 3

So where do you draw the line then? Should public schools teach children the idea of creationism when not everyone agree with that. Should there be prayers in school and if so who's idea of the Divine do we use.

I hate to tell you but "Easter eggs" was a pagan idea long before the Christians adopted it. It was originally colored eggs for the Germanic Goddess Eoster who is their Goddess of fertility and the Spring. The only reason the Christian church adopted it was because of majority rule, they couldn't get the locals to stop their tradition so they adopted it.

Answer 4

Well if majority rules is the right way to go, then the Nazis were right?

Majority rules isn't the way our government was set up, regarding founding fathers, I think you will be surprised to learn that people like Thomas Jefferson hated religion.

Separation of church and state does include all religion, because of statements like your original one. Majority rules. That means that in Iran, they have a basic human right to chop off your hand if you are caught reading a bible? The majority of the people over there don't beleive in the same way you do right?

Answer 5

The USA was never founded on "majority rule." Our founding fathers were wise enough to see that could degenerate into mob rule. Instead we have a constitution that guarantees a bill of rights for all. The bill of rights prohibits the federal government from favoring any one religion. That is why the federal government stays out of religious matters, which even religious people should agree is a good thing.

Answer 6

The majority isn't always right. In fact the majority is wrong about a great many things:

A majority of people still think that Marie Antoinette said "Let them eat cake," a majority of people think that Galileo dropped objects from the leaning tower of Pisa, a majority of people think an apple fell on Newton's head, a majority of people think Columbus was the first European to visit the Americas, a majority of people think that the word "buoy" is pronounced boo-ee, a majority of people think that is perfectly correct to say "John and ME went fishing," a majority of people think Affirmative Action means racial quotas, a majority of people think Internet Explorer is a pretty neat browser. Need I go on?

Answer 7

You don't seem to understand the Bill of Rights. Majority does not rule when it comes to "inalienable rights", such as the freedom of religion.

I do think it's silly to refrain from saying "Christmas" or "Easter", but then, I'm an atheist, not a Jew or Muslim, and so I don't ever really expect to have my views respected.

Answer 8

Not sure where you got the idea that majority rules. Most rules/laws are in place to protect the minority. The majority can take care of themselves.

I agree that the PC police have gone overboard. Have you seen "Happy Harvest" signs? Halloween is taboo now.

Answer 9

some aspects of morality selection via usa/region, in accordance to the ideals of the final public. to illustrate, very non secular societies might have self belief that something that is going against their teachings is immoral, on a similar time as greater secular societies might forget approximately faith whilst judging morality. in spite of the shown fact that, maximum (if not all) societies agree that being courteous and friendly to others is an considerable part of being a ethical guy or woman; on a similar time as religions at the instant are not known, kindness and benevolence are.

Answer 10

No, it's not the majority rules. That's a democracy. We have a republic where reps govern according to a constitution. That way, everyone's rights are protected by the law whether or not you are in the majority. we have a right to decide what laws we will write into our constitution.

The liberals are so afraid of anything that tries to suggest any Judeo-Christian value (because it will expose them) that they are trying to put that light out. That's the origin of political correctness.