Is it the job of the minority to bow to the whims of the majority???

Question

Is the saying "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one" really accurate???

If this is true...what are your feelings on minority rights?? Should the needs of the few be taken into consideration at all?

If so, in what ways???

Just a few examples to consider...

The majority was in favor of slavery...we even fought a war over this one.

When women were obtaining the right to vote, the male majority was greatly opposed to this....why?

The majority were in favor of prohibition. The minority had that amendment overturned.

I'm sure there are other examples I failed to mention.

Should the minority have any say in opposition to majority rights???

I chose to ask this question in this section because many feel that when it comes to the topic of religion, that anybody who is not a believer needs to "sit down and shut up."

"when it comes to teaching things in school, that are clearly against our faith, when tax money is being used to murder preborn children, when filth is paid for with our tax money in the name of art, you have crossed the line"

There's an easy solution to this problem....if you want your children taught your religion in school...send them to a private christian school. There they can get all the religion they want...if you're against abortion, don't have one...art is in the eye of the beholder. If you don't like it, don't look at it...problem solved.

Answer 1

I think that the needs of the few should be taken into consideration, certainly. And your examples seem to more prove than disprove that.

Our very constitution has protection for the few against the many. Why else would all states (regardless of population) have just two senate seats apiece? Freedom of speech is a protection for the few against the many. If you're saying something the majority of people agree with, that speech does not need protection. The popularity is protection enough.
Freedom of (and from) religion is another example. It was put into place so that minority faiths would not be stamped out and ruled by the faith of the majority.

And, by the way, even if the number of Atheists, Agnostics and other secularists in America is growing, we are still in many ways, a minority. Those safeguards against total majority rule are there to protect us as much as certain religious people who have a hard time getting along with others.

Answer 2

A more correct quote would be "Majority Rule and Minority Rights" In a society and a nation that is democratic the majority are the ones who have the support to make/change laws, etc. However part of the Constitution , more specifically the Bill of Rights, is about protecting the minority rights from being trampled by the majority.

Answer 3

I chose to ask this question in this section because many feel that when it comes to the topic of religion, that anybody who is not a believer needs to "sit down and shut up."

That's not quite the truth, when it comes to teaching things in school, that are clearly against our faith, when tax money is being used to murder preborn children, when filth is paid for with our tax money in the name of art, you have crossed the line,. If you can not understand that, sorry, cant help you.

Answer 4

Its not about "majority" or "minority" - it has more to do with who chooses to act and force a majority.

For example, prohibition was due to the voicing of the Christian minority - not by the majority.
The majority in this case - watched and let it happen. Which was eventually overturned due to the overwhelming support against it.

So, if you have something to say and there's enough people to listen to you and act on it. You can be the voice of change.

Answer 5

Minority rights should always be protected by the constitution.

Minorities shouldn't be able to dictate what the majority can do.

Minorities should be given the freedom to do whatever they wish as long as it doesn't infringe on others' right to do the same.

Answer 6

If you examine the US Constitution, you begin to recognize that it outlines the protection of the minority. No matter how the majority feels about it, they are poowerless to abrige one's right to government free of religious influence, the right to bear arms and due porocess of law.

Answer 7

I know what you mean; democracy is a somewhat erroneous concept. Face it, the majority are boneheads and if every decision affecting our countries was made by referendum of the majority, we would have some pretty crazy laws.

Answer 8

All of the things you mentioned proved to be wrong. I maintain the same thing will happen to religion. More and more people are seeing the bible and all that goes with it for what it is. Ancient man made beliefs.

Answer 9

look at the indian politial parties they are bending to the minority . When minority say bend some sarkari parties crawl

Answer 10

That difference is also one of the differences between God's way, and USA's way presently in this country!!!